mrjohnbridge - '89 Clipper Cabrio

[mrjohnbridge]

Well time has come to start a new thread for my newest car my little black cabby.

Location was Dinton, Salisbury...a cool 3 hours away from home (which i told Nealey it was 1 hour so i could have a parnter in crime to take my sorry **** down there).

Buying it from the Mk1 owners club, i knew what the seller was telling me was spot on and everything he said just brought a smile to my face...this guy was a true enthusiast and treated the car like one of his own children.After negotiating a price the journey was on...

Saturday morning at stupid o clock Nealey was here,i rustled up some Pikey directions on a scrap piece of paper...Already there was a wrong turning waiting to happen.

Around half way there cruising at a cool 60mph on a dual carrige way passing a spanner toeing a caravan he decides to cross into our lane. I kid you not there was less than 1 metre gap between us and the caravan...now traveling at that speed thats scarey stuff, Nealey swerves into the central reservation...luckily there was a wide verge otherwise we were gone'ers....suprise suprise the driver has tunnel vision and we give him a few fingers and verbal (not very satisfying when you know the driver isnt looking but its the best we could do)....
Comming up to Dinton Village we pass a "local lady" prunning her weeds in the middle of a county lane with a high vis' jacket on....we were slightly lost so no choice but to speak to the lovely lady.
" excuse me can you tell me where this is" i say.
there is a pause,a delay,another pause, look miss your taking the **** now.
" im sorry you appear to be lost" she replys in a very soft and slow voice.
I was thinking... Jesus ive only gone and found brains of Britain here havnt i.
I gave up and a few phone calls later we had found the place.

Sitting there in the drive was a mint cabby,it couldnt have been any shinner if the guy spent an extra day on it...it was mint to say the least.
About to take it for a test drive and the owner comes out with the meguiars (spelling) and cleans a smudge on the window...this was anal but i knew i was onto a winner.
Test drive done,money parted hands and i was on my way home.

The owner and the wife literally said bye to the car ( named Golfy) waving us on our way (thanks for the cup of tea,i must add)
It hammered it down with rain most of the way back so sadly i couldnt have the roof down.
The journey was worth every minute and hope the pics can justify it a wee bit.








There she is.

Updates to come thick and fast as i have big plans for her.

John

[mrjohnbridge]

So like evety project/ new car there is always a plan.
Im not going to dive in and look behind the arch trims and things yet as i want to enjoy my car before i rip it apart. so for now its just a case of making it into something i like.

The list:-

-Put the coilovers on...
-Refurbish the 1970's Bentley wheels,
-Treat the car to plently of chrome goodies...
-Single headlamp grill....-Minimalise the engine bay (relocate everything)...
-Accent the black car with cream Interior

Like everything plans dont always work out but its something to work towards.

First on the list was to change the grill to a single lamp...i prefere these as it makes the car look wider. A quick session on ebay and a nice one came up at a fair price.
Didnt fancy a cheap one as the fit isnt always that great (learnt from experience)
5 days later it was at my door. 10 minutes later it was on my car.


Dodgey pic taken with my phone at a dodgey angle so doesnt really show anything i wanted it too,lol.

Coilovers was next on the list put like most old cabby's the rear bolts seize into the bush on the strut so had to wait until i could get into a garage and use the real tools, junior hacksaws just dont cut it.

[mrjohnbridge]

Took my car round to my mates house Nealey as three of us were having a bit of a car session fitting a sub and amp for a mate. (like usual i was late so by the time i had got there Nealey had the thing wired up) i was there more for moral support than anything now.

Decided to have another crack at my rear suspension...failure...another hack saw blade snapped. Moral was low and had to get the car to a garage and saw the bolt off.
To raise spirits again i knew there was a nice unused MK2 bonnet bra sitting in the garage so a quick snoop and look what we found.

I justified trying it on my car to see if Mk2 bras will fit Mk1's well they do and it looked sweet.



Nealey wouldnt let me keep it though so i browsed the for sale ads and one came up on the Mk1 owners club at a bargain of a price. Sold to the man in the ice cream van.

The one i brought doesnt have the toblerones on the front and is a bit more subtle...goes with the Mk1 styling abit more.
Pictures to follow.

[mrjohnbridge]

A quick update,

Like i said above i wanted to go for the minimal engine look, so first on the list was a Top Fill Rad,had to wait around for a bit for one to come up (and when it did,bloody hell they were everywhere,sods law)

Before.


After.

Its held in place in true Pikey fashion until i get myself to the metal workshop and make up some brackets.

Spot the difference? No the engine isnt cleaner one picture...i must get round to doing that as this is the only area that really lets the car down.

Next thing will be to relocate the washer bottle,battery and get a smaller airfiler box or even a K&N style.
Im not sure how far i want to go with the minimal look as it could go a bit extreme and ill be too scared to drive it,so ill take it as it comes...