South African Mk3

I'm sure there are are much 'stranger' collections out there !
I collect Vanguards, Lledo, Corgi and Oxford Diecast 1:43 scale Mini Vans myself - and have currently got 55 different ones.

Much better than my collection of ex-wives.

Red Riley wrote:Much better than my collection of ex-wives.

Hahaha!

I only got one of them RR and not planning on any more thanks very much ! Far too expensive !!!

Red Riley wrote:Much better than my collection of ex-wives.

This made me laugh

And just out of interest, these are the rocker covers I have :

Back on her wheels for the reps to have a look at today :



Not the best weather to be viewing a car in though - strong winds and rain . . . Sigh.

No rain here today - warm & dry & sunny - and about bloody time too !!!

No show. Maybe tomorrow.

boris710 wrote:

No rain here today - warm & dry & sunny - and about bloody time too !!!  

We've been having gail force winds, rain, sleet, sunshine and cold, all in one day. This town really does experience all four seasons at one go

So the reps came around and had a look at the car. Thankfully they suggest I only get the driver's door and passenger fender resprayed, but it means taking it down to metal - the joys. I did get a snap of her in the sun though :

I'm going to see what's happening about my second tank today hopefully. I did get this epoxy sealant kit for both tanks though. This should mean no rust in the tank :



It's a local product, so I'm happy to support South African.

Let me know how it goes with that Tank treatment cos a mate of mine used something similar on a Mini Countryman Estate tank a while ago.
Of course you never know how good or bad it is if your tank(s) were in good condition in the first place.

I'm keen to see how it goes as well From the pictures I saw it looks quite good, but I've never done this before, so I could be ruining my tanks, or saving them. Time shall reveal all!

Decided to break her out for a wash. Was wanting to make a little progress today, but a little over it. Hopefully I'll get my right hand tank back on Monday.

1 step forward, 5 backward. I have to get another side quarter light window. The current passenger one leaks worse than a sieve (the window itself, not the seal). In other news, my right hand tank is still not done. Oh and my Minispares order is lost, I assume.

On the bright side, I have a package coming from Cape Town for me.

I've been hearing from 'Mini' people over here that Mini Spares are really really slow on getting internet orders out at the moment - they say they are very busy - we say they should take on more staff if they are that busy !!!

The rear side window itself is outside of the window seal and so even if it does let water through the frame it should never get past a properly fitted good new window seal. Have you checked to see if its fitted tightly in the corners Jared?
I've just replaced that seal on the near side rear on my car and where it was leaking before its now watertight.

I have my doubts on using anyone anymore for parts.

It's definitely the frame. The rubber seating strip inside the chrome frame that holds the glass has gone brittle. It's created a hole on that side, so the water just pushes in. I had a problem on the driver's side where the frame sat away from the seal, so I had to space out the rear mounting point on the hinge in order to bring it closer and actually seal

Have you thought of trying some silicone sealant on the frame ? Seems a bit of a waste to discard it alltogether ?

boris710 wrote:Have you thought of trying some silicone sealant on the frame ?  Seems a bit of a waste to discard it alltogether ?

I have tried some silicone - didn't work out too well. I think I need to take the window off the car and try again. Definitely won't be throwing the frame away

Well, I took the quarter window out and have spent a considerable amount of time sealing it off with some clear silicon. If it leaks now, it's getting replaced. I also adjusted the quarter window on the driver's side. It was scraping on the body, so I spaced out the bottom mount and there's now enough space to clear the window frame.

Quarter window refitted and hopefully sealed properly this time. Gave the car a vacuum and cleaned marks off the windows.

Lastly, this should keep me busy this weekend :

Hahaha!

That should stop you getting bored at least !!!

I'll have to give the car another spray off and see if it stays leak free

I sanded the LHS petrol tank down today. With my luck I didn't have any etch primer, so I'll have to get some tomorrow or Monday - yay for dry climate. It still needs some work, but it's mostly ready for a respray soon.



I just need to do the two tank straps and then wait for the RHS to come back.

Cleaned out the rust from inside the tank in preparation for the epoxy coat :

After allowing the tank to dry, I mixed the epoxy coating poured it in today. Came out like this :



Just have to let it cure properly now and then I can repaint the tank soon.

One tank down, another to go.

The epoxy coating has cured and smoothed out a bit. Looks to be nice and well covered. Also managed to get the tank and straps in etch primer. Hopefully I can get them both in some primer tomorrow, ready for the black.

I finally got some post today - the parts I've been waiting for. Apparently the box had been sitting at the post office for the last month. Luckily a guy who knows me there kept it aside before it got sent back. I received no notification that it was there.



I also swapped out my alloy rocker cover and got a Motortune item in return :





So happy!