Introducing... The Old Girl

[stilletto_rebel]

Guys and Gals,

I'd like to introduce my 1989 Mk.I - a.k.a. The Old Girl. I've wanted a Mk.I since they first came out in the UK. The g/f of the time had one as a company car and I drove it regularly and instantly fell in love with them!! I bought the Old Girl in April 2007, following a car crash that wrote off my old Nissan Sunny.

The Old Girl cost me £2,000 - which is lower-end decent price for a fairly ok MK.I. I have discovered over time, however, that I was somewhat misled by the seller, as the Old Girl has required a lot of work to keep her roadworthy. The majority of the work I have had done on her have been to keep her roadworthy or otherwise improve her handling and performance. Although I have added some bling, my intention has always been first and foremost to modify or add things only if they improve the car mechanically.

To date I have:

Converted to LPG (installation of PRINS multipoint sequential system),
Welded all-new sills and replaced rusted sections of the underchassis,
Replaced snapped stock coilsprings and worn out dampers with Flyin' Miata coilsprings and KYB AGX shocks,
Replaced stock brake calipers with powder-coated red calipers from a UK company called Bigg Red,
Replaced stock radiator with aluminium 42mm thick core lightweight-racing radiator,
Replaced standard exhaust with a stainless steel 'racing exhaust',
Added aftermarket windblocker,
Replaced standard orange reflectors and side-indicators with clear ones,
Replaced MK.I centre console with Mk.2.5 centre console,
Replaced standard double-din audio head unit with a Kenwood KDC 241SA Car CD Stereo unit,
Replaced unknown-brand door speakers with Fli FL6's 16.5cm speakers,
Installed Pioneer TS-A6901 2-way TS-A Series 6x9, 240Watts Speakers in the rear parcel-shelf,
Replaced standard bulbs in footwell lights with LEDs,
Replaced standard UK-spec door cards with 'Eunos' style doorcards with pockets,
Added removable boot-rack,

Already installed when purchased:
'Low-Pro' headlights (although I have replaced the stock bulbs with much brighter Osrams),
Mk.II seats,
MOMO steering wheel.

Total cost of modifications and work done during 2008 is approx. £3,200.

40-ltr doughnut gas tank...


Clear reflectors and side-indicators - outright bling:


New Pioneers:


Eunos doorcards (and doorspeaker covers):


Fitting the new calipers:


New racing exhaust:


Low-Pro headlights:

[Juffa]

Very nice looking old girl you have there. It is interesting that you converted to LPG. I always wondered how you would fit LPG to a sports car with limited boot space. Is it dual fuel conversion, or does she run on LPG only? Are you able to notice any engine performance difference? What is the difference in price between LPG and petrol over there?

Well done on keeping the old girl on the road.

Actually forget the questions, I just read your LPG Blog. I see that you are looking to move downunder in 2009/2010 and are thinking about bringing your 5 with you. I know a past member of the UK owners club that moved here a couple of years ago. He bought his 5 with him. He might have some good tips for anyone considering this. Let me know if you would like to be put in contact with him?

J

[TieNN89]

hey thats a neat gas tank

[stilletto_rebel]

Thanks! I'm resigned to the fact that I'll have to sell her before I emmigrate to Melb., but I intend to get a nice NA and convert that once I'm there. But finding information on what systems the convertors use, size of tanks, etc is impossible. I can't find anything listed anywhere! Seems I'll have to do all the leg-work once I've landed...

[floda]

not sure if it what you need


I know the doughnut gas tanks are available in 50 litre units.

I have seen one in a range rover

[stilletto_rebel]

The 40-litre tank is a tight fit, so I doubt a 50-litre would fit, tbh.

93_clubman has pm'ed me details of an LPG installer in Melbourne, so once I've acquired myself an NA I'll be off to get her converted.

[dingmaz]

I'll be off to get her converted.

It still intrigues me why would you do this??

[stilletto_rebel]

Basically? Half-price running costs. Here in the UK my converted NA had paid for its £1,515 conversion within 8 months and saved me an additional £500 within the twelve months. I commute about 70 miles a day and I simply wouldn't have been able to afford to do this if I hadn't had the conversion done.

Check out the link at the bottom of this post as I published my results and savings of running on gas for twelve months.

Also, as LPG is a clean fuel I found that I haven't had to replace my spark plugs at all in 2008! I checked them in November and they were still nice and clean with about 20,000 miles on them!

[floda]

It will be interesting to see the kilometres you do and the figures you use when you arrive in Australia. I wonder if you would commute such a distance for work each day.

Also 91 RON is 99.9 cent a litre currently and I imagine it will continue to drop in 2009, if you can find a conversion for your car, they typically cost between 3 - 4000.00 although you do get a government rebate after the conversion of (I think) $2,000.00 and are mainly done for the large cars like taxis who use a 4 litre motors (straight six)

The numbers defintiely stack up for petrol even with 98 RON at 12 cents dearer, and with diesel 25 - 35 cents dearer than 91 RON, you really need to be doing lots of annual KLMS for it all to make sense. My work truck, gets a healthy 11.5 litres per 100klms and I would have struggled to break even on a diesel in 10 years.

[93_Clubman]

There was a report in the paper late last week about the Midas bid to basically corner the LPG conversion market. Due to the falling price of oil they found themselves in financial difficulty after refinancing to restructure. Not sure what impact this has had on sources of info & distributors. Vicotrian Autogas Supplies seem to be MIA at least in terms of a Net-presence (www.vags.net.au).

[floda]

I read that MIDAS has closed some shops and may be in receivership very soon

[nick viner]

Not suprised Midas is going to the wall if they all do the same standard of work as they did on my BMW 5 series. Fitted a new exhaust and secured it with fencing wire as they didn't have the correct hangers in stock.
Took it back and they told me they would have the hangers in soon.
They did a moonlight before I ever got the parts.
Will never go to a midas shop again