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 My 1990 Rover Metro GTi spi and other cars.Moderators: Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] | |
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Paula |
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| Member Posts: 38  Location: Surrey | INTRODUCTION & MY OTHER CARS ‘Hi everyone’ Now, where do I start !! Down the years, I have owned quite a few British Motor Corporation, British Leyland and finally Rover Group cars. My first was a new 1963 Smoke Grey Morris Minor 1000 Traveller, followed by two new MG MGB GT’s, a Mineral Blue in 1966 and then a Tartan Red in 1969. Between the two MGB’s, I purchased a new MG 1300 Mk2 in 1968 which was Dark Blue. This car I took to the continent in the early spring of 1969 and really had fun. Then in August 1973 on the day of it’s announcement, I bought a new Glacier White MG MGB GT V8 which I had ordered earlier that year. This car with it's V8 engine was simply awesome and I kept her until 1991. I also had use of a dark green company 1970 Austin 1800 (The Land Crab) for a time in the early 70’s…. a great car with one of the most torsionally stiff bodies ever made. In 1983, I bought a 'Costello' Glacier White V8 MGB Roadster which simply flew and was a 'Porsche Beater'. I only kept her for the summer as I had to sell the beast in order to buy a house in Bracknell that autumn. In 1985, I bought a nice used 1983 Zircon Blue Austin Metro City – Reg no A842 DPJ that went to Spain in 1990 after I sold her privately in 1989 to purchase that same year from a local dealer, a lovely used Targa Red 1986 MG Metro 1300 Mk 2 – Reg no: C413 SCF that seems to have left us unless she's stored somewhere. I then sold her privately to a young man in Sandhurst for around £2500 in April 1992 to help finance the Metro GTi. For a short while I was driving both the MG Metro and Metro GTi. I found both cars very different but equally nice in their own special ways. MY 1986 MG METRO MK 2 - April 1992      In between these various cars above, I have owned a used 1960 Standard 10 Companion Estate Car, two new Renault 5 TS’s, a dark blue car in 1975 and a bright yellow one in 1976 (one of which was converted in 1977 to a Renault 5 Alpine). After selling the 5 Alpine in late 1978 and buying a new red Alfa Romeo Alfasud 1500 Ti later that same year, I went on to purchase two new factory Renault 5 Gordini’s , a black car in 1979 and a red one in 1980. Before buying the first Gordini, I sold the Alfasud, of course, and despite having great handling, the boxer engine ran out of revs way too early and I never really liked the car. Finally in September 1981, I specially imported a new red LHD Alpine Renault A310 V6 from Renault Exportation in Paris. That car was rather special and is around to this very day like my 1973 MG MGB GT V8. From 2000 to 2007, I owned a very good condition 1989 red Volvo 340DL 1.4 as a runaround. It was a very solid car (nicknamed Trundle 2) and because these cars are built like a tank, I felt very secure in her. I sold it to my next door neighbour who proceeded to wreck the engine after the head gasket blew by continuing to drive her ..  Here's the car being taken away by the young man who bought her and Trundle 2 is still running around.  Finally in April 2005, I bought a wonderful one owner 1997 Noble Green II Mazda MX-6 from my local Mazda dealer which I still run. Like the Metro GTi, I will never sell this classic Japanese sports coupe - Zoom …. Zoom …. Zoom!! MY 1997 MAZDA MX-6 - NOVEMBER 2011  AT WALTON-ON-THAMES - NOVEMBER 2011  My final British car is the fabulous 1990 Rover Metro GTI 16v spi which I bought secondhand in April 1992 from Warners of Windlesham, my local Rover dealer where I was living at the time. It was nearly two years old and had 8823 miles on the clock. The original lady owner found the steering too heavy and downgraded to a smaller engined Rover Metro. Her husband fanatically looked after her (all my cars are girls) and I have continued his great work at preserving this historic classic. EOO to date has covered 59850 miles. She has only been out in the wet weather half a dozen times since my purchase and is totally original and mint.The colour is the awesome Flame Red ..  There are no marks on her inside or out and the interior still smells like new. It really is a great car and reminds me very much of the two Renault 5 Gordini’s that I used to have, in terms of comfort, handling and performance. For the first ten years of my ownership from April 1992 to July 2002, the car covered 44947 miles, an average of 362.4 miles a month or 4350 miles a year. From July 2002 to February 2012, the car has covered 6080 miles, an average of 52.4 miles a month or 629 miles a year. So over the last 20 years less one month (to February 2012), the total mileage of 51027 miles that I have driven EOO. she has averaged 213.5 miles a month or 2562 miles a year. During all the periods of inactivity, the engine has always been run once a week and driven on a private road when it was not taxed and/or without an MOT. Now that the car’s ECU has been replaced, I will be using her a lot more to attend MOC events and every time I drive her now it brings a smile to my face with her just road legal exhaust note, increased performance and ‘Go Kart’ handling. Like the Mazda, I will never sell EOO and one day I will arrange for her to spend the rest of her retirement days in a nice, warm Motor Museum to be preserved for posterity. EOO’s MAJOR SERVICE HISTORY June 1st 1990 – Bought new for £9940.00 and originally registered to Mrs P.M.Forbes of Camberley, Surrey July 24th 1990 – 1st Service – Mileage 824 April 2nd 1991 – 2nd Service – Mileage 3700 March 12th 1992 – 12000 Mile Service – Mileage 8814 April 16th 1992 – Bought used for £7250.00 and registered to Paula H in Bracknell, Berkshire – Mileage 8823 May 5th 1992 – All suspension components and underbody waxoyled by Paula H – Mileage 9737 July 18th 1994 – Reconditioned engine fitted by Lex Rover, Weybridge due to noisy worn camshaft & piston slap. Also replacement clutch kit fitted as a preventative measure(original clutch was one third worn). Despite being over four years old, Rover said that I only had to pay for the labour. Wonderful service – Mileage 25288 August 8th 1994 – Rear engine and gearbox mounting bracket rewelded to body (at Rover’s expense) by Lex Rover, Weybridge and right hand side crankshaft oil seal changed to cure oil leak from reconditioned engine – Mileage 26044 August 15th 1994 – Oil still leaking from engine, so second replacement exchange engine fitted due to crankshaft not being machined properly on first replacement engine – Mileage 26147 May 12th 1995 – Front Disc Brake Pads changed – Mileage 28737 March 23rd 1996 - Two new Dunlop SP SPORT D8 – 185/55HR R13 77H tyres fitted to front wheels as the originals were down to 3mm, the N/S/F tyre being more worn on the outside edge – Also new battery fitted - Mileage 32446 May 19th 1998 - 2 inch bore Sports Exhaust System and Pipercross Induction Kit fitted by Motobuild of Hounslow. Car was tested before and after on a rolling road with the bhp increasing from 96 at 6000 rpm to 107 bhp at 5800 rpm. The torque also increased from 102 lbs/ft at 4450 rpm to 110 lbs/ft at 4000 rpm. So not only EOO developed more power at slightly lower revs but the greater maximum torque was developed at much lower revs. Also the Power to Weight Ratio increased from 108.47 bhp per tonne to 120.90 – Mileage 38359 Please note that a Rover Metro GTi 16v mpi road tested on 18/12/91 by Autocar & Motor achieved 103 bhp at 6000 rpm and 94 lbs/ft of torque at 5000 rpm !! BEFORE CONVERSION   AFTER CONVERSION   July 9th 1998 – Replacement front downpipe fitted from manifold to exhaust – Mileage 38880 August 9th 1999 – Camshaft drivebelt replaced (18300 miles since second exchange replacement engine fitted on August 16th 1994 and virtually 5 years). Also front disc brake pads found to be still serviceable and bonnet was realigned on it’s hinges. Work done by Trident Garages – Rover dealer in Ottershaw, Surrey – Mileage 44447 September10th 1999 – Gearbox oil changed to Amsoil Synthetic Gear Lube SAE 75W-90 – Gearbox much smoother and quicker change plus less friction improving car’s performance – Mileage 44997 October 15th 1999 – Two new Dunlop SP SPORT D8 185/55HR R13 77H tyres fitted to rear wheels. The original tyres on the rear were on the car since new in 1990 and were out of true, causing severe vibration at speed (90mph) and rumbling like a worn wheel bearing at lower speeds. Before fitting these new rear tyres another garage checked the rear shock absorbers, dampers, anti-roll bar mountings and sub-frames for wear so it would appear that either the original rear tyres were over inflated from new or became oval-shaped later in their lives. – Mileage 45501 October 19th 1999 – After driving up the M1 on Friday October 15th 1999 to bed-in the new rear tyres, the car felt totally unstable at any speed and downright lethal over 50 mph. The rear end would sway at speed and going around a low speed corner, the rear end broke away violently. After driving over 400 miles that weekend, the following Tuesday, the tyre fitters removed the two new rear tyres to the front and fitted the partially worn front tyres to the rear. The car was then transformed back to her original great handling. (These partially worn front tyres that were changed to the rear had done 13499 miles since new when fitted on March 23rd 1996) - Mileage 45945 March 23rd 2000 – New Ice Blue headlamp bulbs fitted – Mileage 47717 July 25th 2000 – Nearside front top knuckle renewed in front suspension. Work done by Trident Garages, Rover dealer in Ottershaw, Surrey – Mileage 49532 August 23rd 2000 – Clutch Cable replaced at Trident Garages – Mileage 50208 May 22nd 2001 - New battery fitted – Mileage 50883 July 10th 2001 – Noisy nearside rear hub bearing replaced, rear brakes dedusted and handbrake linkage adjusted. Nearside rear red reflector also replaced – Work done at Trident Garages – Mileage 51951 July 11th 2002 – Nearside and offside rear wheel cylinders replaced and system bled – Work done by Combination Autos in Addlestone, Surrey – Mileage 53170 July 30th 2002 – Cooling system flushed and refilled with de-ironised water and antifreeze – Work done by Paul Armstrong – Mileage 53770 October 18th 2007 – New Battery fitted and battery lead replaced – Mileage 58959 May 19th 2010 – Pipercross Air Filter cleaned and re-oiled – Work done by Paul Armstrong – Mileage 58980 May 25th 2010 – Cambelt and Tensioner replaced (14536 miles and second change since previous cambelt change on August 9th 1999 and nearly 11 years) – Work done by Russell Walsh – MG Rover Solutions – Mileage 58983 June 17th 2010 – Replacement HT leads, new NGK sparking plugs, distributor cap & rotor arm fitted by MOT Shop in Addlestone, Surrey, also they re-welded the exhaust system – Mileage 59275 March 26th 2011 – New Fuel Filter fitted by Russell Walsh – Mileage 59278 September 5th 2011 – Exchange replacement ECU fitted by Russell Walsh – Mileage 59279 February 3rd 2012 - To date at 59850 miles, the second replacement engine has covered 33703 miles .. TYRE HISTORY As at February 2010, the front two Dunlop tyres have done 14349 miles. These were originally fitted to the rear on October 15th 1999 when the mileage was 45501. So these tyres are 12 years and 4 months old. They still have plenty of tread on them and passed the latest MOT on December 20th 2011. The two rear Dunlop tyres have done 27404 miles. These were originally fitted to the front on March 23rd 1996 when the mileage was 32446 and then changed to the rear on October 19th 1999 when the mileage was 45945. So these tyres which have covered 13499 miles on the front and a further 13905 miles now on the rear are virtually 16 years old. They still have loads of tread on them but have minor crazing on the walls but still passed the latest MOT on December 20th 2011. In November 2011, I bought 4 x New Toyo R610 185/55 R13 77H Tyres to be fitted in 2012. They look really good and I am looking forward to using them. The supplier told me that Dunlop D8's are now only made for a few cars such as some old Jaguars !!! I paid £240.00 plus £11.00 Delivery = £251 inc Vat @ 20% for the Toyos. Back in October 1999, I paid £64.62 inc Vat @ 17.5% for each Dunlop D8 fully fitted with new valve and balanced. OK the Toyo's have to be fitted and balanced etc but this is really a good deal considering we are 12 years down the line and the Toyo’s price excluding Vat is the same price as the D8's @ £50 each !!!! NEW TOYOS  ENGINE, INTERIOR, SPEEDOMETER & WHEELS    MILEAGE - APRIL 8th 2006     EOO’s REGULAR SERVICE HISTORY All three engines have had regular oil & filter changes, suspension nipples greased, suspension pumped up etc. The original engine was filled with Castrol TXT 10W/40 Semi-Synthetic Oil. First replacement engine was run-in for 471 miles in July 1994 using special running-in SAE 30 Mineral Oil. This was changed along with the oil filter to Gulf 15W/40 Mineral Oil also in July 1994. Second replacement engine was run-in using special running-in mineral oil SAE 30 in August 1994. This was changed along with oil filter to Gulf 15W/40 Mineral Oil in October 1994 after 773 miles. Next oil change and oil filter replacement were done after a further 1958 miles using Gulf ZX 15W/50 Mineral Oil in May 1995. Finally the car went over to Amsoil 10W/40 Fully Synthetic Oil after a further 3024 miles in August 1995. The oil filter was again changed. Originally this change to synthetic oil was going to be done 5000 miles after the engine replacement but a little longer at 5755 miles, probably benefitted the engine as it was then fully bedded-in and not using any oil. All this advice was given to me by Performance Oils. EOO – COURSE CAR In September 2002, I used her as the “Course Car” at a 750 Motor Club meeting up at Snetterton in Norfolk. The Deputy Clerk of the Course who came around the circuit with me that day “Hung on for dear life”...  !!!  GAYDON - MAY 2010 At the end of May 2010, I attended my first Metro Owner's Club Meeting to celebrate the Austin Metro's 30th Anniversary and the Rover Metro's 20th Anniversary. It was wonderful meeting all the members and their lovely cars. CERTIFICATE  EOO ARRIVING AT GAYDON 2010  RECENT PHOTOS JANUARY 11th 2012 at SANDOWN PARK, ESHER. SURREY       JANUARY 11th 2012 AT WALTON-ON-THAMES    JANUARY 13th 2012 AT BROOKLANDS, WEYBRIDGE, SURREY & CONCORDE   Edited by Paula 20/2/2013 2:27 PM | ||
| GTaddz |
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 Expert Posts: 2568   Location: Up in the lakes | Bloody hell! Nice introduction. Bet that took a while to type! Love all the past and present cars you own. Take it you plan to keep the spi gti completely original? Looks immaculate bud, welcome aboard Edit: look forward to seeing you and the gti at pol  Edited by GTaddz 20/2/2013 2:39 PM | ||
| Paula |
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| Member Posts: 38 Location: Surrey | Hiya .. Thanks for the welcome ... It did take ages to prepare but a year ago for the Metro Owner's Club, so I had it on file still. You betcha, I keep all my cars original apart from the GTi's 'Motobuild' mods. Hope to make Pride of Longbridge but depends on the weather as it's a dry day car. Take care GTaddz - 20/2/2013 2:38 PM Bloody hell! Nice introduction. Bet that took a while to type! Love all the past and present cars you own. Take it you plan to keep the spi gti completely original? Looks immaculate bud, welcome aboard Edit: look forward to seeing you and the gti at pol Edited by Paula 20/2/2013 2:52 PM | ||
| AdrianSi |
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 Expert Posts: 8490    Location: Midlands | Welcome Paula Saw this car about 2 years ago at Gaydon and it was absolutely mint! | ||
| JohnA88 |
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 114 GTa Posts: 1982 Location: Chertsey,Surrey | That is one mint GTi you have there if I see you around I'll give you a flash as your local | ||
| Paula |
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| Member Posts: 38 Location: Surrey | Hi Adrian, Thank you Yes Gaydon in 2011 was the first event that I went to with EOO. Take care AdrianSi - 20/2/2013 7:59 PM Welcome Paula Saw this car about 2 years ago at Gaydon and it was absolutely mint! | ||
| Paula |
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| Member Posts: 38 Location: Surrey | Hi John, Ta very much Hope to see you about. JohnA88 - 20/2/2013 9:33 PM That is one mint GTi you have there if I see you around I'll give you a flash as your local | ||
| Saxokid100 |
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e469.jpg?memberid=3428&type=profile) dot dot dot Rally Spec Location: Northwest | Not many standard clean looking Gti"s left  | ||
| Paula |
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| Member Posts: 38 Location: Surrey | Thank you .. Does anyone know the exact number of spi's and mpi's remaining ? My MX-6 is a rare beast too. Saxokid100 - 26/2/2013 1:21 AM Not many standard clean looking Gti"s left Edited by Paula 27/2/2013 11:08 AM | ||
| munday |
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 Expert Posts: 5629 Location: Letchworth/Basildon | Wow thats a pretty comprehensive write up! Nice work, and lovely cars | ||
| Paula |
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| Member Posts: 38 Location: Surrey | A' wwwwww thank you ... munday - 27/2/2013 2:53 PM Wow thats a pretty comprehensive write up! Nice work, and lovely cars | ||
| 100Vi |
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| Expert Posts: 1228 | |||
| Paula |
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| Member Posts: 38 Location: Surrey | Hi Julie ... You are welcome ... My enthusiasm comes from my late father who was a car nut as well. I polished his 1951 Riley 2 1/2 litre as a kid while he was underneath doing various jobs. This car is still being used today up in Scotland. He then moved on to a 1960 Sunbeam Rapier Series III and finally two secondhand Astons, a 1960 DB4 and then a 1966 DB6. The DB4 is raced now and the DB 6 is still about. Dad's brother (my uncle) owned a Rootes Dealership (hence the Sunbeam )and he was an Aston enthusiast too. 100Vi - 1/3/2013 10:37 PM Very interesting read, looks like you have petrol in the blood! Thanks for sharing this Edited by Paula 2/3/2013 1:01 AM | ||
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