Rust-free Mk1s, do they exist?

[Adam W]

After a long time without a Mk1 I am thinking of returning to the fold. the reason I got rid of my last one was because of rust issues, and my current car (Fisher Fury) is all GRP so that is not a concern! The way I see it, there are two options.

1) Buy the cheapest half-decent MR2 I can find and a new bottle of gas for the MIG welder. Guaranteed to improve my welding technique, and leaves some money in the budget for spraying the thing once I've patched it up.

2) Buy a "cherished" Mk1 for £2 - 3k and hope there is no hidden rot in it. Obviously I would be happy to keep on top of waxoyling it.

The problems I can see are buying something that's so rusty it cant be repaired, or spending a lot of money on a car which looks great but is a timebomb underneath. I would rather buy a decent one and devote my energies to mechanical improvements, but I'm not sure if there are any decent ones left!

[Paul Woods]

The chassis on a Mk1 is the whole value of the car, forget about all of the mechanicals, go purely for as rot free a shell as you can find. My own Mk1 is 100% rot free and waxoyled to death.

The rot is what will eventually kill them all i'm afraid.

[Charged]

Yes, they do exist, I have two rust free tin top mk1s in fact. I could be forced to part with one if the price is right!

[JohnMcL]

Only the Fury body is GRP. I have seen some lethal Fury frames but it is relatively easy to put a new frame into a tired car. A rusty Mr2 however is dead - permanently. I know it is heresy here but I would stick with the Fury.

[nik]

huh??

[Paul Woods]

LOL! Where'd that come from?

Welcome to TB John, awesome first post :thumbsup:

[snowtigger]

thatb first post was very informative, it gave a detailed and exact in depth opinion on the state of the car industry and merits of kitcar ownership.

personaly half the fun is owning a car which there is not a lot of them on the road so mr2 and fury both fit the bill.

[Adam W]

The Fury is brilliant fun, 170bhp and 600kgs with 888 tyres means it has embarrassed some decent cars around Bedford GT circuit. However, on the road it's draughty (no windscreen), hopeless in the rain; and difficult to drive hard enough to get heat into the tyres and make it come alive.

I had just as much fun on the road in my AW11 (standard engine, big brakes and new suspension), and I am not able to do many track days now so the Fury never gets used properly.

Am I right in thinking that a bad Mk1 is essentially unrepairable, no matter how much time, love and mig wire you put into it? Obviously arches etc can be repaired easily, but which parts are the "car killers" once they start to dissolve?

[Charged]

but which parts are the "car killers" once they start to dissolve?

Rust around the front ARB mounts can be pretty catastrophic

[PERCULIS]

Get two! a cheap rusty one for winter and a minter 3k one for summer.

Then you can spend the summer doing up the crap one.

[Paul Woods]

Rust around the front ARB mounts can be pretty catastrophic

Amen to that! Once it extends onto the front lower control arm mounting point it is almost impossible to restore.

[Limeymk1]

I think round the rear trailing arm mount is pretty terminal as well. I need to treat the front chassis rails of my MK1 before she gets 're-exposed' to the elements.

[stenky]

How bad is this?

2061
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/3404/imag0019t.jpg

:icon_frown:

[cdwood2010]

Hi,

Looks a bit serious!

Has it shifted at all!? Can't quite see from the pics. I've seen similar rot welded up but it does take some skill for it to look tidy when finished.

In the UK it is difficult to get it back to a condition where it will pass the MOT test.

Chris.

[Paul Woods]

That i'm afraid is the end of that Mk1, all rot on a Mk1 can be properly repaired except that area. You can skin the outside of it to make it cosmetically good again but once the rot has extended down to the lower control arm mounting point it is no longer safe.

I repaired an extensively rotten car like this a few years ago and it needed so much work to make it right that it wasn't financially viable, you would be better off getting another one as there is just no point investing in one that badly gone, it will have even more serious issues in the areas you can't see.

Hate being the bearer of bad news but when they get that bad it really is time to call it a day.

[stenky]

Well Paul, i was expexting a similiar reply. Looks serious to me as well. I have a very skilled guy who told me he'll repair anything if the engine has not been tossed onto passengers seat... Id like to believe that but really, i do not.

Now imagine how my balls shrank after driving that car over 160kph and then discovering this underneath...
Next time im buying a car i am carrying jack and stands with me. Lesson learned: dont buy an MR2 on a rainy day when worrying about messing old jeans is more important than losing thousands of continental money.

Now. How hard is it to convert an UK car to LHD? :)

[Sharas_V6]

Now. How hard is it to convert an UK car to LHD? :)

If you have a full donor car with an intact front "firewall" it should be almost straight forward, but does require proper welding skill. Thou i have heard of MK II's being a royal pain in you know where, even with a full donor, so it might be the same story with the MK I.
Now if you don't have a donor its doable but very complicated and requires proper skill in customizing the metal body of the car, experience in the field of converting to LHD is a must as well.