Project Memoirs: Mini on the Move.

[timolloyd]

+1 looks lovely. Wuld

[KWhite]

It looks great!

[alf892]

Looks great!

 

 

 

No .........actually looks fucking marvellous.

[AndyW201]

So SO much better now! Just the right balance of 'age' and tidiness now and those wheels make such a difference.

 

The ol' bus has been done proud, she deserves it!

[cort16]

That looks great. If you'd fitted venoms and lexus lights then that wouldn't have been great a idea but tidying it up and removing some rust can't be a bad thing.

Did you do a management buy out on it?

[BorniteIdentity]

Did you do a management buy out on it?

Yes and no.

 

Yes because it lives here permanently with me and has done since October. Also, AngryDicky aside, there was little interest from other members of the collective to actually have it. No - because the deal is yet to be finalised. No also because, if any of them want to take it on holiday, they'd be welcome.

[Vantman]

Oh dear,it's just another shiny car now.

[alf892]

Oh dear,it's just another shiny car now.

Not really.......it has had maintenance to ensure it can stay in use...........in contrast to something which has been stripped down and rebuilt to better then original.

 

Running repairs if you like......but unlike mechanical repairs of this type it happens to be the body so it is visible.

 

And that rear quarter was totally buggered.....it would have taken very little effort to put your fist/foot through it!

[BorniteIdentity]

Oh dear,it's just another shiny car now.

 

I'm not sure what the alternative was really.

 

As Alf892 says, the rear quarter was absolutely buggered.  It had 95% rusted through, and was letting water into the boot.  I can't always guarantee that the car is covered and dry (I like to use it) and rain water in the spare wheel well etc isn't conducive to long term ownership.  Also, the guy charged me £350 to fit a front wing, rear quarter, beat the dents out of the doors and spray the lot.  It was £350 regardless of whether he did a pucker job or a shit job with the paint, so it seemed stupid to ask him to do it badly with rattle cans of red oxide.  He'd never have matched it, so we decided to do it properly and then go back to polish the rest of the car at a later date.

 

The wheels got changed for two reasons.  1) I had the opportunity to acquire a complete set.  This isn't an offer that is likely to be repeated very often into the future.  2) I wanted tyres that weren't pushing 20 years old in a matching size.  I frequently do 100 miles in a day in it, using the M1 and the M25.  Seeing as it's the only thing between a 34 year old car and the road - I'd like them to work.

 

I think part of the problem is, as I said back in April of last year, EVERY photograph of it - flatters it.  There are real issues with the Sierra, not just comical shortcomings.  If it's to survive into the next decade, a few pragmatic steps need to be taken now.  I'm already struggling to find a door and a bumper which is basic stuff.  It's not going to get any easier.

 

Sorry if people disagree with the direction of travel but, to repeat my first words, I'm not sure what the alternative is? Even under the ownership of Leroy, the car was changing.  If I did absolutely nothing, it wouldn't stay the same either.

 

 

*See Alf892 for details 

[Vantman]

I wasn't disagreeing with you for getting it ship shape I just don't like shiny older cars! Fair play to you for getting the wheels and other oily bits done and keeping it going and using it.

[PhilA]

Looks fine. Just put up half a carport and claim the sun shines on that half.

 

Seriously though, good job on helping it from becoming a garden ornament/paperclips. If that wasn't an intended way of repairing and protecting said repair then repair panels and paint would be outlawed.

 

From the previous owner's perspective, if what you have done cost him nothing and kept the car going it would have probably already happened.

 

Phil

[Shep Shepherd]

I totally approve of the direction that the car is heading; sympathetic running repairs to the body and interior will keep it looking half-decent and will enable it to last far longer than it otherwise would, a bit like my approach to The Volvo.

[trigger]

It would say you've had your fun with a tatty looking well used car, now that novelty has past it's time to preserve it for the future, it wasn't going to last as it was and to be frank, I'd sooner see it looking well loved and cared for rather than just another tatty survivor looking like one MOT failure from the bridge of doom.

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Guest Hooli]

There is a big difference between fixing a car properly as needed & restoring it till all it's history is gone. The bASe seems to be staying on the correct side of that line to my eyes.

[Parky]

You have to do regular maintenance, otherwise cars would be losing points on concours competitions for not having the same brake fluid as it left the factory with 35 years ago.

 

Incidentally have you changed that yet?

[Felly Magic]

You have done what needed to be done to keep this car alive, if you hadn't, it would be a Beko washing machine in the not too distant future, I think a rear bumper in another colour painted to match the front could be a possible option for it, there are loads of vinyl trim paints out there now

[Captain Furious]

Don't see how anyone would take objection to it, it's not like you're making it into another cossie rep.

 

And while this might be totally anti the autoshite 'ethos', perception is a thing, and the majority of people are not going to perceive it as we do. They're just going to think it's a clapped out piece of shit. Nothing wrong with making it look like someone cares a little bit

[danthecapriman]

There comes a point with old tatty cars where it can't really be bodged up and left. They get to the stage it's really got to be either fixed well and properly or it's going to end up scrapped. I've had cars like it myself, you like the lived in look but keeping on top of the distressed bits gets difficult.

 

Imho, you've done the right thing here and it looks great too now without being overdone to the point of a full on restoration. It'll keep the car going and keep it sound and reliable.

[PhilA]

The thing is, this isn't going the concours direction anyway.

 

If it were, the old rear quarter would now be made from Isopon.

 

Phil

[Braddon81]

I absolutely applaud the direction you've taking with the car. It needs preservation. For it to have survived intact for over 30yrs it must have been well looked after for at least the first 20 of them.As we entered the latter half of the 90s most early Sierras were being crushed. If you can get the car to look theoretically as it might have looked in 1991... just as we all remember them, that would be tops! ☺️

[Hendry]

Id be quite happy to see it having a full nut and bolt rebuild/resto, I know thats not what youre doing and im not suggesting that should happen, but if it came to it where it was the only way of keeping it alive, fair play, its an early base Sierra, its like no other, as long as it survives thats the main thing.

 

The other good thing is its staying as intended, its not being upgraded or the "character" of it being base taken away, not even it being almost perfect condition could take that away IMO, as long as its still a base Sierra. 

 

Top work it looks superb!!

[Timewaster]

Leaving it to rot would have been a shame. As would fitting alloys, gihar seats and a cossa spoiler.

 

As far as I am concerned, replacing a knackered wing and rear quarter is just maintenance.

[Honey Badger]

You get nothing but praise from me for the work your doing on this, it is the very essence of what Autoshite is about, taking an unlovced base spec car and treating it with affection while spending a small fortune it probably doesn't justify in many peoples minds improving it, bravo Sir.

 

 

Even with new panels and a matching bumper it's still the Autoshite Sierra Base, it just now has a chance to survive many more years than it would have.

 

I'm enjoying the blog as well Bornite, I'll try to get over to the next Earls Barton meet to have a look at the car.

[alf892]

It is Earls Barton next Weds..........

[BorniteIdentity]

Sadly I'm not around next week. Bugger.

[BorniteIdentity]

Much happening ATM.

 

*AVENSIS - not in the rudest of health. It has lots of little things conspiring against it.

 

*80 - probably going to take a punt on a reconditioned distributor from the internet, that is id they're not lying about stock.

 

*W202 - I do rather like this red one that I've found. Nervous about pulling the trigger as the price isn't quite right.

 

*SIERRA - More pics and update on the blog. I host it there after stuff got lost and so I can get a slightly wider audience via FB etc.

 

https://sierrabase.wordpress.com

[adw1977]

Well something had to be done with that rear quarter, good to see it getting a bit of TLC.
The paint on that side wasn't all original anyway, here's my pic from 2011 with recent fresh paint and Leroy looking on.

[Parky]

Paint job looks really good in the pics! Delighted to see it getting better with each update

[artdjones]

This is absolutely identical,even in colour, to a car that a friend hired to take four of us up to a wedding in Sheffield just a couple of months after the Sierra was first released.It seemed very exciting and modern compared with what everyone in our circle was driving at the time.Said friend liked it so much he bought a 1.6L six months later.

[purplebargeken]

I had a Y reg 1.6L.

 

It had a clock, RWW and headrests. Sorry.

 

This is totally the ace of bASe, keep doing what you are doing.