Dave

Been busy after work tonight....New wind deflector in bag all cleaned and made perfect by Gayle and now residing in the boot The old red dash inserts (on closer inspection found these weren't red factory add ons (even though those are available) but plain silver ones sprayed (badly) redTacky as hell imo!New dash parts arrived from Ebay. have to say these were in perfect condition, n o marks or broken tabs and arrived mega quick.And new dash all fitted.. And a couple of better photos as the ad ones were blurry. Also bought the chrome mirroe casings for her (yes, I like chrome on a car!!) So soooooo happy with this wee gem! Did find that the headlight washers aren't working for some reason, not sure why as resevior on pass side is full (as is the windscreen one on the other side). Maybe a fuse hopefully.

We bought an OEM wind deflector for Poppy. Gayle is the queen of bargains, managed to find one that was like new with its original bag etc for only £45 so well happy. These have been going for £120 to £140 on eBay so she did well to find it! Nice wee trip to Grangemouth in Poppy to pick it up (well, the sun was out!!). On the EML front, I ordered a OBD2 reader to get to the bottom of the EML light. Went out to the car today to go to the wee shop, started her up, boom, the EML light went off and hasn't come back on since!! Sods bloody law after buying a code reader!! lol Still, I'm well happy, least it mean it ain't anything major so fingers crossed it stays off. I did possibly find something that may have triggered it (more of that in a sec).Decided that as it was peeing down with rain when we viewed the car (and it was on a kind of farm so not the kinda ground to lie down on in the rain!) I didnt get as good a look underneath as I would have liked. I assumed that as she looks not bad on top, drives sweet as, then surely she'd be ok underneath right?Well, had a look today............OMG! She is totally spotless underneath!!!! Suspension arms, subframes, floors are totally rust free! No signs of oil anywhere or anything else. Came out from under the car much to Gayle's amusement going yaaas!! Ya Beauty!! Really sooooo happy with this wee car!Only thing that had rust is the rear silencer on the drivers side (classed as the front to rear section?) The box is totally gone to the point the whole thing is breaking up in chunks. I tapped it and the whole thing just sounds like crushing rusty metal, so assuming the bafles have also collapsed inside too. Could this have triggered the engine light (as that light is mainly to do with emissions etc)? The actual rear box (pass side rear) looks to be fine. Anyhoo, figured if all I have to worry about is an exhaust then win win. Only other thing is the gearchange......it's mega stiff. It has freed off a little since we bought her, but still not how it should be. I think the clutch is fine, bites almost as soon as the pedal leaves the floor. The car has sat for a long time (has only done 200 miles this year) so thinking it may be with just sitting. Really want to get under and grease up all the linkages etc but unfortunately due to my health, until I get a ramp in the garage I won't be going under. Well, I might be going under, but probably wont be able to get back up again!!! lol Even with that, she is such a lovely wee car to drive. Totally get why everyone goes for the Cooper S and not just the Cooper now. Never had so many giggles in a car lolOh and interior wise, full dash kit coming tomorrow from the good old E of Bay! Went for silver, know its just the same as all the other Cooper S's but I like the standard dash anyways on these. So that'll be changed this week! Will get some better pics of her tomorrow

Thanks guys, was hand on heavy heart letting her go but know its the right thing to do. She was going to end up just sitting in the garage needing lots of work done that I was never gonna be able to do. Don't even mind admitting that I actually cried as she drove away the wee scone But we're both fine with it now, know it was the right decision. The news gets better though as we have a new "bairn" to look after. See here >>> CLICK

We decided early on that when the mx5 went, we wanted another convertible, something fun and with character to replace her. After looking at BMW's (not really my taste) then Audis (could fall asleep looking at those) we harked back to when we had Carly, our 2nd gen Cooper. Loved that wee car! So the hunt was on for a 1st gen as I prefer the interior/exterior of them and also think the engines are better than the gen2.After travelling down to Durham to see a Cooper (that was a One!) with approx 57K on the clock (more like 157K the state it was in and the way it drove), we finally found "the one" (only it's not a one! lol) So that 1st one in Durham was an absolute shed, with a boot full of water, every panel marked, wrong interior and "Cooper S" badges all over its rear. It drove like a pile of spanners, brakes rattling/rumbling/knocking, suspension knocks and generally felt horrible. It was also only 90bhp due to being the One model. So that was abandoned and we were going to continue hunting for Coopers....then though stuff it, if we're gonna get one, might as well do it right! So the hunt was on for a cooper S!Called about 3, which all turned out to be apparently damaged/repaired but not logged and all had no history. then Gayle found one up in Aberdeen. It was one I'd initially dismissed as somebody had sprayed the dash inserts red and that looked tacky to me. Gayle then suggested "you're good at vinyl wrapping, could you not wrap them"? What a bloody good idea! So we went up to see it .........it has been sitting for a while as the chap bought it for his wife but she decided the convertible wasn't for her so he bought her Cooper S gen 2 hatchback. Even though its been sitting about (only done 200 miles since its MOT in April) he'd had the advisories from the mot fixed and she has all her service history etc. She's on a 06 plate with only 72K on the clock, lowest miles one we'd seen in our price range. First Cooper S I've driven and she drives spot on. No knocks from suspension or anything, engine runs sweet! We bought her for 200 quid less than asking price, so well chuffed. Pulled away from the guys house, half a mile down road engine management light came on!! Swear to god you couldn't make it up! We had her on a very long test drive, drove spot on! Funny thing is, even though we had a 3 and a half hour drive ahead of us, she drove it all faultlessly (apart from the wee engine light being on) Read the owners book and looks like it might be something to do with emissions? Thinking egr valve or poss lamba? Not sure but going to get her on the diagnostics to see. The other EML light goes off no probs so bit of a strange one. Anyways, she's not our daily driver so plenty time to fix, as she's only our weekend/good weather car.Sooo.......here she is, Dave and Gayle's 1st gen MCS R52 (also now known as "Poppy" lol) (these are just the photos from the ad) Well happy with her, hope you like!

Well, its been 3 years of fun, but sadly had to sell Mindy our mk1 tonight. Only sold her due to our health. Nice lad who bought her who's going to look after her. Miss ya Mindy, thank you for the memories x

Thats an amazing find! Always been a fan of the bigger fogs!

There's usually rear lights on ebay mate. Found a nearside one: 1997-2000 HONDA CIVIC AERODECK / ESTATE NEARSIDE PASSENGERS LEFT REAR LIGHT LAMP | eBay Off side rear light: HONDA CIVIC AERODECK MODELS 1997 TO 2001 DRIVER SIDE REAR LAMP LIGHT LAMP (citycarparts.co.uk) And silver rear bumper (although just noticed the bumper is in Germany!): Org. Rear Bumper Rear Bumper Vti Honda Civic MB6 MC2 AERODECK 98-00 | eBay Worth getting in touch see if the lights are still there mate. Hope this helps

That gear surround looks good mate.

Was it taken on an iPhone? A lot of apple products don't put the image data in the file (orientation etc) so forum just puts it to what it thinks is the default view.

Joined your page! yeah, funny thing is the Aerodeck back when new was actually a really great car. Honda brought it out to compete with the BMW 3 series tourer as they wanted to try and enter that market (small premium estate). The fact that they are so rare on the roads today has most people thinking either "What's that?" or "I remember those"! I didn't think the decks would reach classic car status (or rather modern classic status) but I can see it coming now. Folk love to see these mint aerodecks so keep her looking good!

PS: thought you were meant to be taking it easy Your Mrs will go nuts lol

That looks amazing mate!! Actually like the contrast of the white side trims in the rear with the black headlining, makes it look really modern and up to date!

All in the details! I didn't even know things like these existed mate! Really cleans up the dizzy that

Yeah, I'm staying well clear of it. Looks like DD and Mindy will be enjoying the super unleaded now

Thanks for the mention mate , did take a while to get the Double Din surround made and lots of work but glad to see it finally fitted (even if it isn't fitted to my car! lol ) That looks soooooo good in there! Really brings the dash up to date and gives it a much more modern feel/look. Need to hook up again soon mate, looking forward to seeing your civic and the dd conversion in place! Be nice to get some photos of the two decks together eh!

Welcome to the club mate. Thats a really clean Vti Aerodeck you've found, really hard to find them with low miles like that and in nice condition. Looking forward to seeing how you go with this, turbo sounds fun!

Nice!

Haha, love the fact you were watching the wee truck on the map waiting on her being delivered! Was great to meet you the other day mate, and think you've found a good one there. Looks mint in the photos, and if those wheels are Honda ones (there are a lot that look similar) those were in the accessory book when these were new, and suit it so well.

Loving this! Your VTiS is the best one out there imo, such is the standard you've restored it/modified it to mate. She's looking sweet as always. Be interesting to see the difference the latest mods make once you get her back from Dynodaze. The Hilux looks awesome!! It's a shame it's giving you headaches but thats generally the way with 2nd hand/old cars. The rewards you get when they do behave though is well worth it! When you compare how the Hilux looks to the latest cars in that segment look, I'd have the Hilux any day!!

Yeah, I'm deffo staying clear of it to mate. I deff wouldn't put it in you VTiS, like you say, she's tuned for the 99 so best to keep her on that. Not sure what other damage this E10 might do that will no doubt come out in time. Think you're right, ecu reset might have helped with the mpg. lol Its funny, first time I saw a car with a plastic fuel tank I thought "jeese! that is dangerous!" but looking back I think they are far better than the metal ones. Wonder if we'll be able to eventually get a platric one for our civics (seeing as the metal ones are already like gold dust new)

I read that link too, and a bit confusing. Can't remember off hand but not sure ours is the pgm-fi, almost certain ours is the earlier multipoint injection system. Issue is, the E10 fuel rusts out the bottom of metal fuel tanks (which all our civics and 90's cars have) along with the fuel lines. Most cars after 2010 have plastic fuel tanks. We had to fill DD up the other day and as the garage here has stopped selling E5, had to use E10. One thing I noticed straight away is fuel consumption! On her last E5 tankful, DD did 340miles. At half tank she had already done 200miles On E10, I almost shit myself!! Down to half tank, 98 miles!!! what the actual F***! And this is doing exactly the same driving, on the same roads, in the same conditions as the last tank of E5. I actually went underneath as I thought she must surely have a leaking tank or something. But no, all good under there. No idea why such a dramatic drop in mpg, maybe needs the ecu reset for this fuel? Anyhoo, she'll not be getting any more E10. Theres a Shell garage 7 miles away that sells both E5 (super unleaded) and E10 so will be going there. Just filled Mindy up there so means it's going to cost us more to fill them. Think this is another ploy by the government to get older cars off the road. The wankers! lol Has anyone else tried a tankful of E10 yet to see if they get any notable difference in performance/mpg?

Yeah, Marcus the used to be on here (think he's mainly just on fb now) had a white mb6 if I remember rightly. And there was another one, young guy from Birmingham had one in the forum. Both were stunning (saw the Birmingham one at the J12 meet we had years ago) Deffo few and far between. White decks, most famous one was Rob Kyekye09's one but that was a D16. Did Marcus have a white vti deck aswell?? know we've had one at some point in the club

really good photos especially if they were done with your phone mate! My fav one is this! But the editing youve done to make it look like below pic is awesome!

I had a rear seat belt on the TypeR FN2 that got soaking wet, but seat was bone dry as was rest of the car! Eventually tracked it down to the seal under the plastic roof/gutter rails. had stripped the whole rear of the car out at that point trying to trace it!! Bloody new cars are a mare to take apart! Might well be under the plastic roof gutter strips, I had DD's off earlier this year tracing a leak and there was a tiny pin hole (hardly could see it) in the sealant around the bolts for the roof rails. If you can get them off without breaking them thats where I'd look. Could be a small break/hole in the sealer, letting it run down the inside of the B pillar and into belt real (or spool or whatever it's called)?

DAB arial was useless, the threadded bolt part of it was not long enough so couldn't get the nut to hold it securely. Binned it in the end in disgust! Back to oem arial now.