Mk 1 Maize Mexico Needing a bit of TLC

[MexInTheForest]

Yours is a very rare survivor, Mark....I can't imagine that there would be more than a handful left with original paint in such good condition.

My car was used a fair bit more than yours, with nearly 100,000 miles on the clock, so it's not really surprising that it's had a few bodywork repairs in the past! What amazes me with both cars is the lack of rust. My Mk 2 Lotus Cortina that I had in 1974, when it was under 5 years old, had new wings, and was starting to go around the windscreen and the rear arches!

I bought a Jag over from California 15 or so years ago, and that had its original Primrose Yellow paint. It was matt, so I thought that a quick T Cut and polish would bring it back. For some reason, it was matt all the way to the primer coat...it just wouldn't polish up! I even got a body shop to mop it properly, and they couldn't get any sort of finish on it! I was very miffed when that had to be totally re-painted!
Mark

[Quickrack-Alan]

Will you keep the twin tanks???
Lovely find btw

[fox2fox]

Sorry to hijack your thread,but mr harper,any pictures of your Mex if poss??..

[MexInTheForest]

The twin tanks are definately staying, along with quite a few other 'period' mods that were done in the 70s. Stuart is making the 'spare' tank fit a little better, as the original cap sits proud of the bodywork currently.

I took the Contour Recliners out when I forst got the car because I wanted to see what the original seats were like in there. The original owner had put the Contours in after only a week, so the originals had hardly been sat on. I can see why, 'cos they are are not too comfy! More period mods that will stay.
Mark

[Quickrack-Alan]

The twin tanks are definately staying, along with quite a few other 'period' mods that were done in the 70s.

Good man. Very very rare now

[Br0nze M0nkey]

Fantastically original car...and one to be proud of.

[John Savage]

good stuff mark keep going!

[MexInTheForest]

good stuff mark keep going!

No choice now!!



Mark

[John Savage]

looks a familiar site mate!!

[Mark Harper]

Sorry to hijack your thread,but mr harper,any pictures of your Mex if poss??..

Still a dullard in the way of posting pictures Foxy,
PM email address and I will send you a few.
Regards, Mark H

[south west restorations]

nice progress there m8.

[mexicoste74]

great looking mexico.The ziebart looks to have kept the inner wings in good order.Very smart

[Hoogi]

Great car and a fantastic read........

[MexInTheForest]

Once the front wings were removed, it was pretty obvious that the nearside wing rail was rusted, and had some botch repairs when the new wing was brazed / pop-riveted on in the 70s! The flitch panel, which extends the wing rail from the inner wing to the bulkhead, was in a poor state as well.



Once the flitch panel was removed, the area that neither paint nor Ziebart could get to was revealed!



The bad metal was cut out..,..



And made good...



and a new flitch panel fettled to fit



and that joined up with the new wing rail that had already been fitted to complete the metalwork on the nearside.



Next, the offside wing rail, once Stuart is back from holiday! The slam panel has to have a small repair on the nearside as well, and a new front panel (that I'd bought a few years ago) fitted, replacing the front panel that was also fitted in the 70s. When they replaced it back then, they fitted the later one without the hole-with-rubber-bung of the early cars. It was also quite rotten around one headlamp with some hideous repairs....an easy decision to sacrifice that to save the front outer wings when they were removed.

I love this sort of detail work, all of which is being done so that it looks totally original. The rusty bits and botch repairs justify having what looked like a beautiful original car pulled apart and done properly!

Mark

[tony-mac]

How long was it from when the membership ran out until taken off the forum? If you didn't have a closed forum I would still be a member, but working 16 hour days sometimes folks can't always comply when the admin folks need them to. But hey, your club, your rules and obviously my loss.

Has the membership increased since the forum has been closed?

Mark

Hear Hear Nice car John