So I had the car shipped up end of Jan……
As Will Blackham said it was fine to drive at low speed but when you went above 50mph the temperature would quickly spike and the fan would kick in. So booked it into a garage to get it investigated. They had a look and could see the pistons were getting washed so diagnosed HGF. They replaced the gasket with a different type going by advice from Dave Andrews (liner heights were a bit low) so put on the Payen BW750.
Once the head was off you could see the gasket had some slight heat damage and the elastomer had started to degrade but they checked the cylinder head and was all OK and didn’t need skimmed etc. Time will tell.The oil was changed and the water pump/ cambelt done as well.
It has an OEM plastic end radiator rather than an alloy upgrade. It may have been replaced so might not be the 23-year-old original but there is no evidence of this in the well documented service folder I got with the car. So, the plan is to do this work sooner rather than later and I will replace all the crusty bits I can see while the clam is off.
The car also had the original bonded rubber footwell mats, so I ripped them out and gave it a good clean. There was a fair bit of pitting but only one pin prick hole to fill. It got a coat of Hammerite Primer and then Smooth Silver to make it look presentable. I need to get some new car mats, the passenger side is pristine, but the driver’s side is well worn. There is a single aluminium door panel fixing missing which I find annoying but it seems you have to buy a full set so I might just have to live with it.
I don’t often clean my car but I’m pretty sure the previous owner hadn’t ever cleaned it so I took the seats out and did my best, so at least it will be my own dirt and grime in the car and not someone else’s.
I swapped out the amber indicators for smoked ones. I bought the lens off NOXX on SELOC and separated the original lens and base. It was a bit of a mess so I ended up getting some bases 3D printed to use instead. There was a link on SELOC to a 3D scan of the base which was done by the guy who developed the Prodimex shifter and is a better match for the NOXX lens (slightly smaller than the original). I’ll see how long they last but I managed to pick up a cheap OEM amber set of indicators off ebay so can always go back to original if needed.
The other thing I had done was the driver’s seat re-upholstered just to match the original again. I will eventually get both done and might try something different (tan leather??), but it was in a bad state so happy with it for now.
I had it away for a trip to Skye and it was fantastic. I was a bit nervous it would break down on me so had AA cover but I think I will just cancel it again. Spotted a green S1 coming the other way but can’t remember exactly where in the journey that happened. I bought some Loop ‘experience’ ear plugs for the journey and was very surprised at how good they were. The website looks a bit apple/ ‘studentity’ but it mentions they can be used for motorbikes so bought a pair to try. They were great for reducing the wind noise but allowed me to hear the engine and also music from the car speakers.
Things on the to-do list are radiator/ fan and crusty bits under the front clam, paint job, suspension refresh, new tyres (will need these next year). I would like different wheels but that’s more of a want than need so will look out for any that pop up. A gull-wing came up for sale (the right colour as well) which I would have liked but £1850 is a bit pricey. I think I will get the soft top repaired this year but will just drive it for a bit before any more major work. Baby number three is due start of July so probably won’t get as much done as I would like!
