Just Beat it............ A new one

[Gavin]

Initially saw this on gumtree and after getting in contact with the owner it was on ebay where someone had won it but hadn't made contact for over a week then when they did show up picking lots of small faults up trying to knock the price down which was already cheap for a Beat imo.

Bit of background history imported 2003, cat c write off in 2011 due to someone in a bigger car opening their door into the little beats rear quarter on the driver side resultant damage about the size of an A5 sheet of paper improperly valued car meant it was written off. So it is very very important you get agreed value for your car insurance wise if possible imo anyway back to the car had the car picked up from Sundbury on Thames Surrey and delivered to Oswestry, Shropshire by my friend Matt who runs Bournemouth 24hr Recoveries.

Had a few hours on it already and just basically took the seats out hoovered everything underneath, hoovered the seats and replaced a few missing screws. From initial impressions I will need 2 new mirrors, a new hood or a good second hand one possibly a new instrument cluster as mine seems to have the sticky rev needle problem, driver side front caliper is sticky so going to upgrade to 240mm civic brakes. Bodywork is so so need to sort the arches out as both sides have a tiny amount starting to come through but that will be a sand down rust treat and paint job, will need a new drivers door as it has rotted through on the bottom somehow and the paint is pretty bad all round looks ok in pics but in person it's bad but I am thinking of wrapping or getting some paint in and doing the whole car myself a different colour.

[Gavin]

Few pics to start off with

[Gavin]

Clocks are still in KM, a service wouldn't go amiss tbh, aircon just about still works, alloy wheels if anyone is interested are for sale to 14s rear 13s front.

Going to look for more bits for myself tonight but won't be till end of this month start of August before I put the order in.

[Gavin]

Decided to change insurance over and tax the car yesterday, rushed around to get everything sorted in typical fashion when I was ready to go the car wouldn't start immediate thoughts turned to dodgy relay or ecu changed both and still did it. Bit stumped at this point as there was fuel in the car but stuck fresh fuel and some cleaner through it and boom started first time and ran well.

Went to visit a mate who'd never seen one before loves this now, offered to lower the car for me so looks bit better now but will take another step when wheels show up. First impressions after not driving one for a few years are it isn't as slow as similar powered cars I've had recently (60bhp 1.1 106, 64bhp 1.3 Logo) the noise is very addictive and in all honesty it does get up to speed well enough.

Few issues to sort out are sticky rev counter, wire up fog light to one of the reverse lights and repaint said light so rear is tidier are the ones that come to mind right away. Will need 2 new mirrors, new hood and fit new brake setup but they will come in the next few weeks.




Oh since I've got an ecu spare (the original one) that although still runs the car looks to have had questionable repairs in the past as you can see damage on the board (pics in the week) will be donating it's life towards becoming a standalone ecu. Will mean that when I eventually get the exhaust system sorted out I can get working on a new type of inlet trumpet / funnel.



Oh I am loving the fact it costs about £25 ish to fill!

[MAMOOK]

Hi Gavin,
I solved my fog light problem by purchasing two slim LED fog light strips from ebay that with a slight trim fitted nicely into the rear bumper slots. I'll take a photo and post it for all to see. Nice and bright and really unobtrusive.

[Gavin]

So 262mm brake conversion, coilovers and new wheels have shown up. Colour won't be to everyone's liking but since I am plasti dipping the car pearl white I think it will suit nicely

[Gavin]

Still got a few things to come from Japan namely new mirrors, new driver side vent, new speedometer, new hood plus bolts and side clips eta for that lot at a guess is going to be 2 weeks ish, hopefully be ok to use in next week or so regardless.


Got tyres sorted and wheels fitted rear no problems but fronts needed spacing by 8mm to clear will get some proper 10mm hubcentrics when I can. Excuse the red bits still work in progress sorting the bodywork out ready for plasti dip

[cliov6]

Will look great with the hard top. I'm looking forward to seeing it.
I considered a hard top for mine, but kinda defeats the purpose of a convertible car, so I opted to order a new OEM roof instead.

[Gavin]

Problem I got with the car over here Bob is no garage to keep it in and when it does rain the seals aren't that great, can get new seals but talking around £220 shipped a new hood is around £250 with getting the velcro straps made up for it plus the rear plastic window isn't good either was going to replace that with mx5 rear glass but to do that and get it mounted properly talking another £60-80.

Can see where you are coming from though but with the plans I have the hardtop is the way to go

[cliov6]

The rear plastic can be replaced with glass?
How can it fold?

[Gavin]

That was another issue lol you'd need to unzip then drop which is a pain not something I was totally keen on

[C-Rex]

That splitter looks great and still subtle

[TADO]

looking good gav! is that the garage 660 bumper? looks smart!
seeing all these new bits makes me want to order the automac front bumper and a the rsmach r-1 exhaust

[Gavin]

mike it's made by a company over there called us racing, yeah I looked at loads of front bumpers and preffered this will go with the final look quite well. We should share a box in new year as I need sideskirts lol