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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | Hi all,
Well, I am proud to say I am now a metro owner ... with a difference ... and a bit of story to it so here it is ....
A couple of months ago I got a call from someone I know that had a car in storage but for one reason had come up for sale.
It had been stored in a barn at his place for best part of 5 years but knowing that I love hot hatchbacks reckoned I should "come and have a look at it" before he puts it on ebay.
No detail was given just the "come and have a look at it" statement..
Anyway, a drive out with my friendly mechanic to the property where the car was kept, I could see a white metro and thought ok its nothing special but hey I'm here now so lets have a look.
As I got closer you could see things were not "factory" as the stand out items were big wheels and a roll cage.
As we started looking round it was clear that the car was a bit different ... the interior was stripped out, the cage, two front seats with 4 point harness' fitted.
We popped the bonnet and there lived a K-series so the key was put into the ignition, fired her up and in short the sound was in-toxicating. There is another story from the previous owner on how the car came into existence however I am yet to track him down but was it was clear, the car was special as it was prepared with
K Series engine with it's capacity upped to 1796cc capacity
Re-Welded Floor Pans and Sills
New Clutch and Release Bearing
2 Core High Capacity Radiator
Front and Rear Anti-Rollbars
GTi Vented Front Discs and Calipers
14" Alloy Wheels with Toyo Proxes T1R Tyres
Individualised and modified hydragas units
New Custom Designed Exhaust
150 MPH Clocks with Rev Counter
Stripped Interior
Roll-Cage
PG1 Gearbox with MGF driveshafts
Limited Slip Differential
Lightweight GRP Bonnet
Big Brake Conversion
As the car was on a SORN, the car was test driven on a short private road ... it went like hell fire and I was laughing out loud as I pressed the right pedal .. I was hooked.
A quick look round showed the lie up in a dry barn meant the metro was structurally sound, the engine proved to still be in good health so had a good chance of being road worthy again.
A deal was done and a week our so later the car was on a trailer to my mechanics work shop.
My mechanic was really keen to help me get this car on the road as he preps a lot of Japanese fast road cars for a living so I know the modified metro was in good hands to get it on the road again.
First thing to do was to put the car in for a MOT to find out what was legally wrong with it before spending any more money.
To be honest I was sort of dreading the report but came back with the following failures :
headlight alignment out
brake disks worn out
brake pads worn out
front tyres worn out (not surprised with the power its throwing down)
rear braking efficiency insufficient (one side was sticking)
Fog light not working
Indicator bulb out
The list was a lot shorter than expected so was pretty chuffed really.
The work was done and hey presto 2nd time round it passed its MOT.
This made the car legal but now to attend to the detail of cleaning it up and making it reliable....
Fully aware that the car had stood for 5 years, it needed a full service and fluid flush/change which was done along with a new cam-belt kit just to ensure that the engine was in the best of shape before use.
Work is still on going as currently
fitting a new lock set for security
stripping out the un-necessary hi-fi as it will just distract from the cars own sound track
In the process of purchasing a few daily driving items so I can use it on the road (spare wheel, jack kit etc)
Tax it for Dec
The plan is to get the car ready for Xmas as present to myself and possibly look at trying some track events in 2015 but will more than likely go to high performance front discs and pads than the current MG items fitted just so I could get it road worthy.
pictures to follow :
Edited by qedrat 20/11/2016 11:53 PM
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 763
 
| mgf brakes are fine, mintex pads are the best upgrade 1166 pads used to be the choice of alot of the metro cup, I wouldnt bother with bigger brakes, you proberbly think they are crap because you have to put more effort in at the pedal end than braking in a modern car, they are old school, just good quality disks and pads for the mgf are whats needed,
I remember the car coming up for grabs on facebook, I was arguing that the car was worth alot more than some were saying, parts alone are worth a fair bit |
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Expert
Posts: 4458
Location: Jelling, Denmark | nice car! put some pictures up  |
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | TBH think I may go hill climb/sprint route.
Don't know if the mintex pads will be suitable as they need to warm up and hill climbing/sprint runs it will be over and done with by then :) however really appreciate the input.
possible pad could be EBC yellow stuff for sprint/hill climb ??
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Transport Guru
MP Moderator
Posts: 4947
Location: Bromley, Kent | Cool story!
Deffo get some pics up of how you found it and your progress |
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | pictures added |
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | Finally got the Rover 100R back home ... was a fun drive back 
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | First big run out with the Talon. Headed down to Swindon Wiltshire on Saturday so decided to take the car a run along the scenic route round Birdlip .. went up and down the B-road hill (not the by-pass route) a few times to see how the old girl coped. Glad to say she had no problems at all with the hill. Took the picture overlooking the drop from Wilts to Glos just outside Birdlip. Really is turning out to be a rewarding car to drive.
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock |
Edited by qedrat 1/12/2014 1:39 PM
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock |
Edited by qedrat 1/12/2014 1:39 PM
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | |
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Expert
Posts: 11052
 
Location: Wolverhampton | Yeah thats definitely the car Ive seen around my town. Guy who had it built by Talon used to have a tuned Smart cars I believe |
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | The log book said previous owner was from Wolverhampton so make sense you probably have seen the car around. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 539
Location: Swindon, Wilts | where are you based? I am in Swindon with a 143 vvc |
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | I am based in West Midlands but work in Swindon Wilts in the week so up and down every week.
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | Building confidence in the Talon, took the 100R to Curbrough sprint circuit near Litchfield for the Boxing Day Bash.. Great fun (lovely bacon sarnies too) and got 4 runs round the circuit. Can honestly say that its a great place to take your 'tro for a blast and the club members made me feel welcome as a new runner. Plan to run the car in a few modified production classes in 2015. |
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Expert
Posts: 8490
Location: Midlands | I'm regularly up Curborough in My 100 Ascot VVC on members days. Missed out on the boxing day bash. Have you been round in the dry? I've surprised many a person with just how well and how composed the Metro/100 can be on track Hope to see you about in 2015 |
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | It was my first time at Curborough on Boxing Day, but even so still had a good time on the dammp track.
Hopefully will catch up in 2015 for a few runs ... just in process of filling out my members form. |
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | Today was a nice little drive out back to Talon Sports Cars to catch up with the guys that built the car.
Dudley of Talon kindly gave her the once over and re-pressurised with fluid the hydro-gas system. Talon also gave me some pointers on what should be the recommended pressures to run the individualised hydro-gas so that I to get the optimum performance from the system.
Also managed to iron out the play the steering ... slightly loose steering wheel nut... of all the things !
The guys at Talon were glad to see one of their car back on the road and I really appreciated their help and feedback on some questions concerning the build up of the car and sorting out the last of the advisors from the MOT.
Last thing to do now is the solid brake lines converting them from steel to copper then can concentrate on getting the white paint work up to scratch.
Edited by qedrat 7/2/2015 7:01 PM
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | at Talon getting the once over .. notice the Lancia Stratos kit in the background
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | Been a bit quiet as working on the car getting it MSA ready for sprint events along with the purchase of race suit/helmet/gloves etc for yours truly
The fitted roll cage needed extra plating and a MSA approved harness fitted so a big thanks to RJ Motors of Unit 24/Yates Ind Est/Lime La, Walsall for the work they did to get it ready.
Anyway managed to get 2 sprints done at curborough and here is a picture of the car in action on the last event for the year before we go back into the workshop for winter.
Edited by qedrat 20/11/2016 11:57 PM
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Expert
Posts: 11052
Location: Wolverhampton | Are talon still in business? Thats a pleasant surprise in todays climate.
Car is looking good Where are you local to in the west midlands considering you mentioned it has been to walsall for work? |
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | winter project work for the 100R will be to tweak more power and better tyres for the track
1) Convert from the "restrictive" mems2 to a mems3 ecu so currently getting the shopping list together from Jeff at "We love MGFs" near Walsall
2) Then a trip to the tuners to install the conversion from Mem2 to Mems3, throttle body rework and an ECU remap to reap the benefits of the ECU upgrade for a power hike to a tractable 170bhp.
3) Track tyre selection purchase but that activity depends on the MSA requirements for the Mod prod class so waiting for the new MSA blue book to get the correct tyre type.
Edited by qedrat 27/6/2016 12:46 PM
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Member
Posts: 66
Location: Cannock | Based in Cannock.
Talon still do bits and bobs for the rover but mainly focus on kit cars nowadays.
funds allowing hope to get her paint work touched up too.
Edited by qedrat 13/10/2015 11:29 AM
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Rover 100 ... with a difference
