"Famous" MK3 Cabriolet

A place for members to have a real time diary of what they have done to their car/s. Use one post per person/car and add to it as you work on your pride & joy. Please add the year and model in the title (example: - Dave's 1992 Metro 1.4SL)
Erick
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:54 pm

"Famous" MK3 Cabriolet

Post by Erick »

Hello there!

A friend of mine and me bought a 1995 Mk3 Cabriolet a few weeks ago, whothout even knowing this car was famous !
Famous because it had been posted on AROnline a few years ago when it was found in Germany being almost 20 years old bot had only 58 km on the clock! (36 miles). The story can be found here: http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/news/ne ... d-germany/

The owner we bought it from had to go through some loops in order to get a registration on the car. When he first brought it in for registration they declared it as being a "new" car, so it had to apply to all the 2014 laws of emissions and crash safety and so on.
I'll explain how they got it registered later.. ;)

Now, the car is in Holland, and despite it being an almost new car (former owner has done aroune 1200 miles in it) there are quite a few things that need to be done before it can be used. At first we obviously want to replace the timing belt, since that's only done around 1200 miels, but it IS 22 years old now!
The rear brakes apparently tend to lock up after a short trip, since it's not yet registered in Holland we haven't been able to drive it for longer than up and down the street. To be save we will have a look at the rear brakes and probably replace both wheel cylinders.

Some optical work needs doing too.. Tha car has been stored under a car port for several years, which hasn't really approved the look of the paintwork. Since this friend of mine is very good with a polishing machine I'm pretty convinced it will be shiny again soon!

Biggest job to do is to replace the roof, since being stored under a carport hasn't helped keeping the roof in a good shape, so it has several rips and holes at the moment. We already ordered a new mohair roof for it and hope to fit that within the next few weeks.
Since the car came with the 4 million pages official Rover workshop manual (in German!), that won't be too difficult to sort out hopefully..

Under the hood there's a lot of things and pieces that have started to rust from standing outside. Small things like the upper radiator brackets, the plate under the servo and the bracket holding the battery have become brown from surface rust, so these things will be replaced or refurbished soon..

I'll try to keep posting pics of the car and hope to meet some of you at an event somewhere in the UK!

Image

Image
Greetings,
Erick

'03 MG ZT-T+ CDTi [Daily driver]
'95 MK3 Rover 114 Cabriolet
'91 Mini 1000 Checkmate [Checkie] Awaiting MoT repairs
'77 Mini 850 [Currently in restoration
]
User avatar
Mini-mad-craig
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 8:41 pm

Re: "Famous" MK3 Cabriolet

Post by Mini-mad-craig »

Oy! Mini bro! Looking forward to letting our cabbys get to know each other at the end of the month when we have our roof swapping weekend! Two worn out vinyl roofs swapped for two black mohairs! exciting times!
Erick
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:54 pm

Re: "Famous" MK3 Cabriolet

Post by Erick »

Haha.. Jep ! Both will look AWESOME with a new roof on ! :D
Greetings,
Erick

'03 MG ZT-T+ CDTi [Daily driver]
'95 MK3 Rover 114 Cabriolet
'91 Mini 1000 Checkmate [Checkie] Awaiting MoT repairs
'77 Mini 850 [Currently in restoration
]
User avatar
gshaw
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2016 6:03 pm

Re: "Famous" MK3 Cabriolet

Post by gshaw »

Look forward to seeing more about this car, has quite a story behind it 8-)
User avatar
DotMatrix
Posts: 451
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:28 pm
Location: Denmark

Re: "Famous" MK3 Cabriolet

Post by DotMatrix »

exciting car you bought and nice towing car:)
111SLi
Posts: 31
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:33 pm
Location: Biggin Hill, Kent

Re: "Famous" MK3 Cabriolet

Post by 111SLi »

I'm so glad this car can be enjoyed at last but definately needs storing away out of the weather. Cover Zone do an excellent Storm Force custom tailored Metro cover and it really is the bee's knee's.

Hear your coming to PoL? Be great to see it, never seen a mk3 cabby!
Erick
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:54 pm

Re: "Famous" MK3 Cabriolet

Post by Erick »

DotMatrix wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2017 8:49 am exciting car you bought and nice towing car:)
Haha.. thanks.. both are rare as f*** in Holland ! :)
Most of my colleagues and friends think I'm crazy for driving British cars.. but at least I drive cars I don't see at every street corner like the most people do in Holland..
Greetings,
Erick

'03 MG ZT-T+ CDTi [Daily driver]
'95 MK3 Rover 114 Cabriolet
'91 Mini 1000 Checkmate [Checkie] Awaiting MoT repairs
'77 Mini 850 [Currently in restoration
]
Erick
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:54 pm

Re: "Famous" MK3 Cabriolet

Post by Erick »

111SLi wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2017 9:15 am I'm so glad this car can be enjoyed at last but definately needs storing away out of the weather. Cover Zone do an excellent Storm Force custom tailored Metro cover and it really is the bee's knee's.

Hear your coming to PoL? Be great to see it, never seen a mk3 cabby!
PoL is not certain yet, need to see if the cabby is ready for it and need to see if I can get time of work for the trip to the UK..

I have a garage, but that's reserved for the Mini.. 2 other Mini's are parked in front of it, but the plan is to make room in my back garden so the 2 Mini's can go there, and then build a carport in front of the garage so it will at least be parked under that. During the winters I might use a car cover for extra protection, or maybe store it in a barn somewhere locally.. Lots of farms around the area where I can rent some space..
Greetings,
Erick

'03 MG ZT-T+ CDTi [Daily driver]
'95 MK3 Rover 114 Cabriolet
'91 Mini 1000 Checkmate [Checkie] Awaiting MoT repairs
'77 Mini 850 [Currently in restoration
]
Erick
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:54 pm

Re: "Famous" MK3 Cabriolet

Post by Erick »

Yesterday it went to the Dutch DVLA to get it registered in Holland.. Of course it wasn't a problem although they didn't know which model it was to put on the registration, so it'll probably just be registered as a Rover 100 ;)
Now wait for the registration papers to come in the mail, then order some Dutch plates and get it MoT'd asap.. hopefully somewhere this week.. :)

Pic shows the car with the home-made 1-day registration, which we can use to drive it to the DVLA test station.
Image

As you can see it still needs A LOT of polishing.. and a new bonnet logo, which has faded a bit over time..
Greetings,
Erick

'03 MG ZT-T+ CDTi [Daily driver]
'95 MK3 Rover 114 Cabriolet
'91 Mini 1000 Checkmate [Checkie] Awaiting MoT repairs
'77 Mini 850 [Currently in restoration
]
111SLi
Posts: 31
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:33 pm
Location: Biggin Hill, Kent

Re: "Famous" MK3 Cabriolet

Post by 111SLi »

Looks good, maybe you could consider a Krown full rust proofing? Metropower members get 15% off and details can be found on the main website :)

Since it's so original it would be good to keep the welder away.

Hope it's ready for PoL in time
:)
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