Discussion
OPC100 said:
roca1976 said:
This looks fantastic
https://www.iconicauctioneers.com/1988-middlebridg...
I really like the look of this too. It didn't sell, but you can "buy it now" for £23k. When you think what some 80's cars go for these days, that doesn't sound too bad to me depending on actual condition, but it certainly looks great in the photos.https://www.iconicauctioneers.com/1988-middlebridg...
Is this the going rate for a Middlebridge, or are they normally even less?
Bilbatch said:
I bought the Banana Butty (BAP) last year, my fourth 5/A. Realised that if I were to get another I'd need to hurry up as prices are on the rise with people realising what useful, characterful motors they are.
Had a body-off resto in 2010ish which is holding up pretty well, paint is Maserati Giallo Ginestra. Jag Powerlok LSD axle, 3.1 Essex with flowed/ported heads, steel timing gear, 286 cam, stainless exhaust, new Spax coilovers all round. Goes and handles very well indeed. Paid a smidge under £5k for her.
Bloody hell that was a steal Had a body-off resto in 2010ish which is holding up pretty well, paint is Maserati Giallo Ginestra. Jag Powerlok LSD axle, 3.1 Essex with flowed/ported heads, steel timing gear, 286 cam, stainless exhaust, new Spax coilovers all round. Goes and handles very well indeed. Paid a smidge under £5k for her.
nice example and nice spec , I have a big softspot for the Essex 
and like an SE5Mine has been festering outside on its trailer for a long while, and certainly doesn't look like this anymore, but once upon a time...
John Wade engine - standard valves, but improved heads, punchy cam and a bored-out 38DGAS: revs to 7,000 for 177bhp at the wheels
BGH 4-speed box with close ratios
3.54 axle with Power-Lock diff, ramp angles modified to suit hillclimbing
AVO dampers, shorter springs
Compomotive rims and 205/50-15 fronts, 225/50-15 rears
Iain Daniels ARB
6-point cage
Polycarbonate windows
Got the weight down to a shade under 1,000kg. If I ever get round to it I've got another 100kg I can get rid of, plus there's an Eaton M90 on the floor under my desk.
John Wade engine - standard valves, but improved heads, punchy cam and a bored-out 38DGAS: revs to 7,000 for 177bhp at the wheels
BGH 4-speed box with close ratios
3.54 axle with Power-Lock diff, ramp angles modified to suit hillclimbing
AVO dampers, shorter springs
Compomotive rims and 205/50-15 fronts, 225/50-15 rears
Iain Daniels ARB
6-point cage
Polycarbonate windows
Got the weight down to a shade under 1,000kg. If I ever get round to it I've got another 100kg I can get rid of, plus there's an Eaton M90 on the floor under my desk.
I've had two, a basket-case 1977 SE6A that I bought with the intention of recomissioning (before I realised how bad it was and what recommissioning would cost) and a 1980 SE6B (which was pointed out to me as available when I called a parts supplier with a list of bits as long as my arm that my 6A needed). The 6B was a million times better in every respect except it needed a new fuel tank (which I probably could have taken off the 6A as it had a stainless one on it, but I'd already sold it for spares by then) and the carb was knackered - which was incredibly hard to track down a replacement for as it was a Pierburg jobbie that aside from the 6B was only fitted to 2.8 non-injection Granadas for a couple of years in the early 80s. Found a NOS one in Germany though and once fitted, had a couple of years of mostly trouble free hairy chested wafting to the utter bewilderment of my mates who all had GTIs and the like at the time. I would have been in my early 20s back then.
Sardonicus said:
Bloody hell that was a steal nice example and nice spec , I have a big softspot for the Essex and like an SE5
Thanks for your kind words, Sardonicus. I searched for a long time for the right one for me and I didn't even buy a return train ticket when I went to pick it up, such was my confidence. The Essex is much maligned, but has bags of character - especially when breathed on a bit. nice example and nice spec , I have a big softspot for the Essex and like an SE5IroningMan said:
Mine has been festering outside on its trailer for a long while, and certainly doesn't look like this anymore, but once upon a time...
John Wade engine - standard valves, but improved heads, punchy cam and a bored-out 38DGAS: revs to 7,000 for 177bhp at the wheels
BGH 4-speed box with close ratios
3.54 axle with Power-Lock diff, ramp angles modified to suit hillclimbing
AVO dampers, shorter springs
Compomotive rims and 205/50-15 fronts, 225/50-15 rears
Iain Daniels ARB
6-point cage
Polycarbonate windows
Got the weight down to a shade under 1,000kg. If I ever get round to it I've got another 100kg I can get rid of, plus there's an Eaton M90 on the floor under my desk.
That's an incredibly impressive setup - bet it feels fantastic. I've a Holley and manifold sitting under my bench (I'm not allowed a desk these days) that glares accusingly at me from time to time. I've heard terrifying tales of bore wash, so am undecided about proceeding with fitment.John Wade engine - standard valves, but improved heads, punchy cam and a bored-out 38DGAS: revs to 7,000 for 177bhp at the wheels
BGH 4-speed box with close ratios
3.54 axle with Power-Lock diff, ramp angles modified to suit hillclimbing
AVO dampers, shorter springs
Compomotive rims and 205/50-15 fronts, 225/50-15 rears
Iain Daniels ARB
6-point cage
Polycarbonate windows
Got the weight down to a shade under 1,000kg. If I ever get round to it I've got another 100kg I can get rid of, plus there's an Eaton M90 on the floor under my desk.
Nice rear light treatment btw *cough*
dandarez said:
I've related this before lots of times over the years on PHs. I bought a Scimitar GT Coupe SE4 2.5 V6 around mid 1980s on a whim on my way home from work. I was driving past a packed garage forecourt of 'normal' cars for sale and caught just a top roofline glimpse of what had to be a sports car. I thought (wrongly) that it might have been the evasive Ginetta G11 Coupe (only 2 'genuine' G11 Coupes were ever made). I had, still have, chassis No. 2.
Number 1 has evaded me now (and others searching for it) for over 40 yrs: yes, still utterly convinced it's out there, in some lock up or garage
Don't give up! After nearly forty years of searching for a particular hardtop for my E-type one turned up on Ebay. The owner, who had dabbled in racing, had bought it and there it laid in his garage for all those years.Refurbished and awaiting painting, it'll be on the car next month. One of these days, just like me, you'll find it.Number 1 has evaded me now (and others searching for it) for over 40 yrs: yes, still utterly convinced it's out there, in some lock up or garage
Edited by lowdrag on Saturday 23 September 03:32
Bilbatch said:
That's an incredibly impressive setup - bet it feels fantastic. I've a Holley and manifold sitting under my bench (I'm not allowed a desk these days) that glares accusingly at me from time to time. I've heard terrifying tales of bore wash, so am undecided about proceeding with fitment.
Nice rear light treatment btw *cough*
Ha! Great minds, and all that. I think I opted for that solution because the fixings on the originals were all horribly rotten and I just couldn’t face drilling everything out.Nice rear light treatment btw *cough*
Also because racecar, obvs.
lowdrag said:
dandarez said:
I've related this before lots of times over the years on PHs. I bought a Scimitar GT Coupe SE4 2.5 V6 around mid 1980s on a whim on my way home from work. I was driving past a packed garage forecourt of 'normal' cars for sale and caught just a top roofline glimpse of what had to be a sports car. I thought (wrongly) that it might have been the evasive Ginetta G11 Coupe (only 2 'genuine' G11 Coupes were ever made). I had, still have, chassis No. 2.
Number 1 has evaded me now (and others searching for it) for over 40 yrs: yes, still utterly convinced it's out there, in some lock up or garage
Don't give up! After nearly forty years of searching for a particular hardtop for my E-type one turned up on Ebay. The owner, who had dabbled in racing, had bought it and there it laid in his garage for all those years.Refurbished and awaiting painting, it'll be on the car next month. One of these days, just like me, you'll find it.Number 1 has evaded me now (and others searching for it) for over 40 yrs: yes, still utterly convinced it's out there, in some lock up or garage
Edited by lowdrag on Saturday 23 September 03:32
Completely ruins the lines and I would warrant effects the aerodynamics , it doesn't look at though this would seal well , which i would imagine is one iof the reasons to fit
bizarre ,
Well, I had seen one once and liked it, so whether you like it is not important to me. Anyway, I might not like it either, and that isn't my car underneath but just a template. Once it is fitted it will be watertight, and if you have never driven a roadster in the rain then you don't know that water comes in anywhere. Under the doors, through the headrail and anywhere it finds a hole. And I use my car in the winter, so this was just a try to drive dry and warm. It's cost not a lot and it was an itch I needed to scratch. Look further and you'll see many more were made of all shapes and sizes. Hardtops were common in the day. I've built a Jaguar that didn't exist, Bought and driven four replicas, and we don't have to be the same. They are only toys after all.
lowdrag said:
Well, I had seen one once and liked it, so whether you like it is not important to me. Anyway, I might not like it either, and that isn't my car underneath but just a template. Once it is fitted it will be watertight, and if you have never driven a roadster in the rain then you don't know that water comes in anywhere. Under the doors, through the headrail and anywhere it finds a hole. And I use my car in the winter, so this was just a try to drive dry and warm. It's cost not a lot and it was an itch I needed to scratch. Look further and you'll see many more were made of all shapes and sizes. Hardtops were common in the day. I've built a Jaguar that didn't exist, Bought and driven four replicas, and we don't have to be the same. They are only toys after all.
one the reasons i bought an FHC over an OTS , but each to their own IroningMan said:
Mine has been festering outside on its trailer for a long while, and certainly doesn't look like this anymore, but once upon a time...
John Wade engine - standard valves, but improved heads, punchy cam and a bored-out 38DGAS: revs to 7,000 for 177bhp at the wheels
BGH 4-speed box with close ratios
3.54 axle with Power-Lock diff, ramp angles modified to suit hillclimbing
AVO dampers, shorter springs
Compomotive rims and 205/50-15 fronts, 225/50-15 rears
Iain Daniels ARB
6-point cage
Polycarbonate windows
Got the weight down to a shade under 1,000kg. If I ever get round to it I've got another 100kg I can get rid of, plus there's an Eaton M90 on the floor under my desk.
What a fantastic colour and an overdraft car as well!John Wade engine - standard valves, but improved heads, punchy cam and a bored-out 38DGAS: revs to 7,000 for 177bhp at the wheels
BGH 4-speed box with close ratios
3.54 axle with Power-Lock diff, ramp angles modified to suit hillclimbing
AVO dampers, shorter springs
Compomotive rims and 205/50-15 fronts, 225/50-15 rears
Iain Daniels ARB
6-point cage
Polycarbonate windows
Got the weight down to a shade under 1,000kg. If I ever get round to it I've got another 100kg I can get rid of, plus there's an Eaton M90 on the floor under my desk.
IroningMan said:
Ha! Great minds, and all that. I think I opted for that solution because the fixings on the originals were all horribly rotten and I just couldn’t face drilling everything out.
Also because racecar, obvs.
The rear lights came to me like this. As you know, the factory setup is a leaky, ill fitting and britlle Achilles heel on the GTE and whilst I have a tidy set of 5 (ie non-reverse light) clusters in the stash and ready to fit, I have more pressing issues on this and my other cars to spend time sorting! The round ones have actually grown on me, too - reminiscent of the original Ogle design study, which had a similar setup,as of course did the SE4.Also because racecar, obvs.
lowdrag said:
dandarez said:
I've related this before lots of times over the years on PHs. I bought a Scimitar GT Coupe SE4 2.5 V6 around mid 1980s on a whim on my way home from work. I was driving past a packed garage forecourt of 'normal' cars for sale and caught just a top roofline glimpse of what had to be a sports car. I thought (wrongly) that it might have been the evasive Ginetta G11 Coupe (only 2 'genuine' G11 Coupes were ever made). I had, still have, chassis No. 2.
Number 1 has evaded me now (and others searching for it) for over 40 yrs: yes, still utterly convinced it's out there, in some lock up or garage
Don't give up! After nearly forty years of searching for a particular hardtop for my E-type one turned up on Ebay. The owner, who had dabbled in racing, had bought it and there it laid in his garage for all those years.Refurbished and awaiting painting, it'll be on the car next month. One of these days, just like me, you'll find it.Number 1 has evaded me now (and others searching for it) for over 40 yrs: yes, still utterly convinced it's out there, in some lock up or garage
Edited by lowdrag on Saturday 23 September 03:32
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