MK3 XR3i Mini Resto
She’s here!!
I’m a sucker for punishment.
It’s been over 7 years since I had anything other than one parking space to put anything on. But we bought our house, I’ve refurbed inside, and thought I’d treat myself to a project. Problem is I now have to landscape the front, build a huge wall whilst working round my new purchase (and sneaking time to restore her) ha ha.
I bought it off e bay on a whim, I think I might have paid over the odds for it a little at £450. It’s a 1983 MK3 XR3i in black, with a documented 58K. That’s where the good news ends ha ha. It’s a running car the engine seems fine and the running gear is in great condition including brakes tyres suspension etc.
Problem area’s are as follows.
Offside sill rotten
Offside rear arch replaced but filled badly
Offside wing has rot to the top (50 pence sized hole)
Nearside sill rotten
Nearside rear arch replaced but rotten at the bottom and badly filled
Nearside wing, rotten through at the bottom.
Drivers floor pan badly repaired
Spare wheel tub showing some paper thinning and rot
No dash
No bonnet pull
No interior panels
No rear lock
No rear light bulbs and holders to connect to the loom
No fittings for the front nearside light and indicator
No exhuast from the downpipe
The underside( apart from the drivers floor pan) is in good condition and is looking good. Generally I’m happy that I can get the car sorted for next years show season. It’s a phase 1 plan. Obviously sort all the issues with the rot and get the shell prepped for a re spray. Luckily my brother is a painter so this aspect of getting the car straight and painted will be a piece of the yellow watery stuff. The major issues I can see, are all the small fixings I’m missing and getting the dash back in once a suitable one has been sourced. I’ll be putting on an rs1600 front valance, and alloys. A cheap ashley exhaust system and a Gmax -60mm full suspension kit for next year.
Then the plan is for a full strip down and re build with big brakes, proper suspension, RS Focus gearbox (already have this stashed away) and some sort of mega engine, I may be putting in something completely different than the norm, and my other brother-the engineer-is looking into retro fitting a quattro 4x4 system to a ford engine/volvo T5 5 pot. Lots of ideas but for now, It just needs to get sorted so I can enjoy it for 12 months as after that, I should imagine it will be off the road for 2-3 years.
Any parts will be grately appreciated, I have a small budget sat waiting so any help would be proper mazin!
Last edited by matt_jagger; 23-04-2011 at 08:03 AM.
Reason: pictures