R53 Police Auction Project
Discussion
Hainey said:
Crikey that brings back memories, more than you know 
There should be some later BMW ones as well and definitely one with an M3 on the cover. I know, I bought it!
If you find a load of Men Only mags as well those were mine. A partucular favourite was the one with 19yr old Leah on the cover
Man I feel old.
I'll have a poke around see what i can find. Did pop my head into one of the old doors up the side and found a load of old 80's/90's men mags but they looked very worse for wear... There should be some later BMW ones as well and definitely one with an M3 on the cover. I know, I bought it!
If you find a load of Men Only mags as well those were mine. A partucular favourite was the one with 19yr old Leah on the cover
Man I feel old.
If you ever did manager there, i'd probably be able to find you on the old cash books. Last one i saw dated to 73, with one of the more 'recent' ones being 1999.
I'll keep my eye out for the M3 mag though, anything else you remember i might be able to find still kicking about??
-01SQ- said:
Bobberoo99 said:
WOW!!!! That collection of Haynes manuals is magnificent!!!! 
I cant take credit for assembling the collection... but you're right, its spectacular. Can't say ive seen some of the cars on the road before.We had several people during my time buy the Haynes to have a crack at something only to go on and make an arse of it. We at the club would then fix it.
Part of the cost of the fix was donating the manual. It got to be something of a tradition during my stint!
Hainey said:
-01SQ- said:
Bobberoo99 said:
WOW!!!! That collection of Haynes manuals is magnificent!!!!
I cant take credit for assembling the collection... but you're right, its spectacular. Can't say ive seen some of the cars on the road before.We had several people during my time buy the Haynes to have a crack at something only to go on and make an arse of it. We at the club would then fix it.
Part of the cost of the fix was donating the manual. It got to be something of a tradition during my stint!
B'stard Child said:
Hainey said:
-01SQ- said:
Bobberoo99 said:
WOW!!!! That collection of Haynes manuals is magnificent!!!!
I cant take credit for assembling the collection... but you're right, its spectacular. Can't say ive seen some of the cars on the road before.We had several people during my time buy the Haynes to have a crack at something only to go on and make an arse of it. We at the club would then fix it.
Part of the cost of the fix was donating the manual. It got to be something of a tradition during my stint!
Where do i even start with this....
So a few things have happened since i last posted on here.
I've been living in glasgow, moved house, got married and and ive been back on a course down on the south-east for about a year. To be be quit honest my passion died off for this little beast when i bought my Lotus in early 2018 and i haven't touched it since then. Now i n reflection it feels like an utter shame to have left this where it is. So pre covid i went back up to see the car and a few years of being exposed to the south coast and being parked on soil/ grass meant that i had to almost machete my way through the growth to get to it. im fortunate in the sense that only the exterior has faded a little bit, the interior was pretty much how i left it but the paint job i did on the plastic back then and the hydro dipping don't seem to have stood the test of time. The covering on the dash has all but sun faded now and the beast just looks very sorry for itself.
With my thoughts moving to different areas in life now, i am contemplating selling my lotus, however after chatting to a few dealers im probably better off waiting until the prices go back up, another unfortunate event of covid.
What that has left me room for is a different way of thinking returning to this. I'm quite interested with a few more years of experience behind me now how i would approach this.
Do i sell it? in its current state it wouldn't be worth much more than scrap
OR
Do i start again? seems a bit bizarre to be contemplating this because i did quite a lot of work to it back then but in hindsight i think i focused on the wrong areas. equally, there aren't many of these left especially with the JCW factory engine upgrade and the factory fit LSD gearbox
What i should have done it replaced only the parts that needed fixing and then when all back on the road undertake any improvements but i rushed into a lot of the choices i made, creating extra work for me and realistically making me lose interest in the project.
SO
My plan - With having been to minitopia again recently and getting a bit enthusiastic again, i plan to remove everything from the car and buy ( relatively cheaply by all accounts ) all the parts i messed about with on the interior again as stock. All matching and stock for now. ill keep all the parts i painted and messed around with but leave them for when i feel like customisation.
After the success of power coating a few parts on the lotus, im going to remove most of the suspension parts and get them powder coated or replaced along with the bushes ( standard for now) .
The brakes will be refurbished and the only "upgrade" ill be doing is replacing the fronts with R56 callipers. very inexpensive and that way it saves me reconditioning the old callipers
I'm also going to remove the engine again and take it apart fully, giving it the rebuild it will most likely now need.
the bodywork will also require a lot of attention. This however will be my last priority.
I'm going to start with the interior. It'll cost me about 100 quid to get it fully back to the way it was stock and having weighed that off, ill be able to see a good amount of measurable progress and just take things step by step to bring myself back into this slowly.
I look forward to being able to share the progress a bit more thoroughly over the next few months!
So a few things have happened since i last posted on here.
I've been living in glasgow, moved house, got married and and ive been back on a course down on the south-east for about a year. To be be quit honest my passion died off for this little beast when i bought my Lotus in early 2018 and i haven't touched it since then. Now i n reflection it feels like an utter shame to have left this where it is. So pre covid i went back up to see the car and a few years of being exposed to the south coast and being parked on soil/ grass meant that i had to almost machete my way through the growth to get to it. im fortunate in the sense that only the exterior has faded a little bit, the interior was pretty much how i left it but the paint job i did on the plastic back then and the hydro dipping don't seem to have stood the test of time. The covering on the dash has all but sun faded now and the beast just looks very sorry for itself.
With my thoughts moving to different areas in life now, i am contemplating selling my lotus, however after chatting to a few dealers im probably better off waiting until the prices go back up, another unfortunate event of covid.
What that has left me room for is a different way of thinking returning to this. I'm quite interested with a few more years of experience behind me now how i would approach this.
Do i sell it? in its current state it wouldn't be worth much more than scrap
OR
Do i start again? seems a bit bizarre to be contemplating this because i did quite a lot of work to it back then but in hindsight i think i focused on the wrong areas. equally, there aren't many of these left especially with the JCW factory engine upgrade and the factory fit LSD gearbox
What i should have done it replaced only the parts that needed fixing and then when all back on the road undertake any improvements but i rushed into a lot of the choices i made, creating extra work for me and realistically making me lose interest in the project.
SO
My plan - With having been to minitopia again recently and getting a bit enthusiastic again, i plan to remove everything from the car and buy ( relatively cheaply by all accounts ) all the parts i messed about with on the interior again as stock. All matching and stock for now. ill keep all the parts i painted and messed around with but leave them for when i feel like customisation.
After the success of power coating a few parts on the lotus, im going to remove most of the suspension parts and get them powder coated or replaced along with the bushes ( standard for now) .
The brakes will be refurbished and the only "upgrade" ill be doing is replacing the fronts with R56 callipers. very inexpensive and that way it saves me reconditioning the old callipers
I'm also going to remove the engine again and take it apart fully, giving it the rebuild it will most likely now need.
the bodywork will also require a lot of attention. This however will be my last priority.
I'm going to start with the interior. It'll cost me about 100 quid to get it fully back to the way it was stock and having weighed that off, ill be able to see a good amount of measurable progress and just take things step by step to bring myself back into this slowly.
I look forward to being able to share the progress a bit more thoroughly over the next few months!
Scrump said:
I was with you until you said engine rebuild.
Don’t make the same mistake again, but this time with the engine rather than the interior.
Get it on the road and use it a bit.
Whichever way you go, keep us up to date
cheers bud, Don’t make the same mistake again, but this time with the engine rather than the interior.
Get it on the road and use it a bit.
Whichever way you go, keep us up to date
I should have probably been more specific: Ill swap the chain, HG belts fluids ETC and do a S/c service. Defo not taking the bottom end apart!
Scrump said:
Sounds a bit more realistic. I thought you were going to take out the engine and strip it for a rebuild which would inevitably escalate into new pistons, rods etc. etc.
Are you still using the RN car club facilities?
I'm not at the moment, it's still closed in line with SD guidelines but in hoping when they seem it safe to open I'll be able to get there and do a good load asap. The majority of everything I'll be doing will be there thoughAre you still using the RN car club facilities?
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