Forum:
well, its been a long time scrubbing the rust away and replacing parts for this sportrak, but today it took its first drive off my garden for three months.
what a thing it is! purrs like a kitten, and handles like a dream thanks to uprated bushes on the front antiroll bar. new speaker installed, and the old door card from the rear totally ripped out and replaced.
k&n installed, new rocker cover, new gasket, new oil, new oil filter, new wipers, masses of welding done to the chassis, new brake pipes all round, new rear wheel cylinders, new brakes shoes and pads, decals removed, panel below grille replaced with new, grille repaired, new bigger battery installed with larger battery tray, 250w sony XPlod amp and Kenwood head unit, chassis fully waxoiled, all petrol pipes and fuel pump pipes replaced and new jubilee clips, bumper corners renovated and clearcoated, interior stripped bare cleaned and replaced, new petrol sender unit wiring.
the list could go on but im forgetting things. there are a few niggly things to do such as:
bleed brakes
get matched paint for wing repair
replace one mudflap
spare wheel cover
foglights
maybe wheel spacers
but to be honest itll be in for a test next month and on the road very soon. with 86k on the clock, i might sell it on towards the end of summer and get a new project (maybe a fourtrak!)
latest pictures: (ignore the white wire hanging down from the back - its the new petrol sender unit wire and it came loose)
Fancy doing all that to my
Fancy doing all that to my identical (model and year) sporty? Give me a quote
Jason "Foxdie" Gaunt
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Jason "Foxdie" Gaunt
looks great
F20 Driver in Australia
F20 Driver in Australia
Id quite happily take
Id quite happily take another one on to be honest, got to have been the easiest car ive ever worked on. easy access, parts are cheap and with places like milner offroad etc you cant loose.
not sure but i might sell this one on soon and get another project, hopefully another sportrak or a fourtrak - although ive been looking at fourtraks and they dont seem to be any younger than about 1989!
hey foxdie, tell me whats wrong and where you are i might be able to help
anytime mate.
pw
PM me if you need Sportrak Help..
Hi Paul, I was "kinda"
Hi Paul, I was "kinda" joking in my previous post but if you're serious about it then thats even cooler!
Here's a list of whats wrong with my sporty in order of importance:
* Semi-corroded brake pipes, need replacing
* Stench of fuel (particularly underneath n/s rear wheel arch) but no physical fuel leaking out nor any increase in fuel consumption.
* Engine seems to cut out during heavy motorway driving. It seems to be fine if I keep to 60 or below but if I gun it, and I like to do, the car will start to judder with a loss of power, if I take my foot off the accelerator the juddering stops and when I reapply the power is back again temporarily for about 5 seconds then it starts juddering again. Pulling over to the hard shoulder and letting the engine idle for about 5 mins seems to solve this problem so long as I keep it under 60 again.
* Tracking is off, car pulls a little to the left when you let go of the steering wheel, this one I know is my fault because it started happening immediately after a particularly gruesome offroading session (woo bofa4x4.com for the win!)
* Although I've managed to fix one or two minor issues pertaining to this, it seems the wiring on the car is cowboy. The indicators and brake lights work with no key in the ignition, the previous owner appears to have fit an isolation switch to the fan/heater (this again was part of the "always-working-with-key-out" ring but I rewired the fusebox to make sure that gets cut off with the ignition now).
* Car generally needs a good clean and a waxoyl, went offroading and used a jet washer to clean off most of the crap, but I'm a little intimidated about doing the same under the bonnet (where there's a load of dried up mud currently) and I'm not "flexible" enough to get down and spray the undercarriage.
* Speedo and Tachometer are out, speedo tends to read about -5mph to what I'm actually travelling at and the tach is about -2000rpm out at the limiter. I've gotten used to this by comparing my actual speed to a gps based system and comparing it to one of those speed warning signs that show you how fast you're going as you approach. Not a biggy but if I ever sell my sporty (not that I want to) I think this needs fixing.
* I think the handbrake cable needs tightening, after the offroading event (and trying to park on steep hills) its got a little slack.
* No actual fault with this bullet point, but I'd like a snorkel and the electrics waterproofing so I can go swimming with the big boys
Let me know if you're interested in doing any number of these things, I live in South Birmingham and may travel if needs be.
Regards,
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Jason "Foxdie" Gaunt
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Jason "Foxdie" Gaunt
to be honest the only thing
to be honest the only thing on there that would worry me is the fact it cuts out when your doing 70mph. itll probs be something to do with temperature or ecu related. its up to you, do you want to sell it or to get the things sorted?
ill be in plymouth for a course for five weeks starting 25th june, with my sportrak hopefully, so i might be able to pop up one weekend and take a look. the electricals will be a pain but itll just be a case of looking for bodges and repairing them.
the rest of the jobs can be sorted in an afternoon, the tracking will have to be done in a garage will cost about £20. the stench of fuel will almost certainly be a breather pipe come off. the handbrake will take about 20 seconds, and waxoiling the chassis will take about an hour and youll need £6 of waxoil, a wire brush and a paintbrush.
brake pipes are easy to repair ive done all mine (which ones are they that need replacing??). the snorkel is very easy to fit, you would just have to buy one. as i said above ill be down south in a few weeks if you want a hand. shouldnt be too hard mate
and if you want to sell it - thats a different story!! (send me a pm id love a midnight)
PM me if you need Sportrak Help..
finally - the sportrak is completed
hi paul
looks the dogs mate
good job
regards Howard
Finished Sporty
Hi Paul,
Well done car looks good. Glad you got the petrol tank sorted, the problem was the wiring then on the sender to the guage. I'm sure it will pass the MOT with flying colours and then possible sell it for a new project, brave man as they are fetching rock bottom prices for some really good motors. I used to restore Mini's and have just finished one which I promised to be my last. Total restoration cost was £6600 and the car probably wouldn't fetch half that, but like you I love a challenge and am looking for another Mini to do up. Problem is the £25 basket cases have all gone or are silly money.
Good luck and great hearing of your work.
OLDMINIMAN
Mike
M J Young