In the beginning there was MNX500V. I bought this from Ed (as mentioned previously) and have never let him live it down! At the time I worked for the hateful Lloyds Bank on an outrageously small amount of cash. This was the first mistake as it soon became clear that one can not own a TR7 whilst earning bugger all.
Despite the filled arches and filled sills and filled rear petrol panel and filled inner arches and badly welded inner fitches and very average paint job, I wanted it. It had 2 seats. It was a sports car. I was only 19 after all!
Rather like the nobbers who “speed” around the neighbourhood in crappy plastic Corsas and Puntos, I was more interested in silly bits as opposed to bodywork and thus spent money on suspension bits and exhaust pipes as opposed to wings and arches. Bad idea. The Janspeed exhaust system sounded good though, and the lowered springs and Spax adjustables gave a very hard but improved ride.
It would take oh so many pages to explain what went wrong over the years so a brief list will have to do: gearbox exploded at 100mph on the M5, petrol tank sprung leak, pop up lights that didn’t, lots and lots of welding, replacement propshaft, replacement rear panels, a little more welding, some inner arch filling, suspension bushes, the odd wheel bearing, lots of window winders, a steering rack, a distributor, dead brakes, another few more buckets of P45, an assortment of starter motors and a radiator.
Poor old MNX500V became known as the “teabag” as it had so many holes in it. I eventually gave up not long after buying the house. It wouldn’t rev beyond 3000rpm (oh the irony) and I hadn’t the readies to find out why (double irony). It eventually ended up in Betty’s garage next door where it would stay until it was time to “do it up”.
Eight years later (!), it has been replaced and will shortly be stripped for spares. With metal at silly prices these days, it is now worth more than it has in a decade. The interior is the first to be attacked as that in the V8 could do with replacing. It will be sad to see it go but it really is beyond economic repair. It will always be remembered as the reason why I like these ridiculous cars so much!
Despite the filled arches and filled sills and filled rear petrol panel and filled inner arches and badly welded inner fitches and very average paint job, I wanted it. It had 2 seats. It was a sports car. I was only 19 after all!
Rather like the nobbers who “speed” around the neighbourhood in crappy plastic Corsas and Puntos, I was more interested in silly bits as opposed to bodywork and thus spent money on suspension bits and exhaust pipes as opposed to wings and arches. Bad idea. The Janspeed exhaust system sounded good though, and the lowered springs and Spax adjustables gave a very hard but improved ride.
It would take oh so many pages to explain what went wrong over the years so a brief list will have to do: gearbox exploded at 100mph on the M5, petrol tank sprung leak, pop up lights that didn’t, lots and lots of welding, replacement propshaft, replacement rear panels, a little more welding, some inner arch filling, suspension bushes, the odd wheel bearing, lots of window winders, a steering rack, a distributor, dead brakes, another few more buckets of P45, an assortment of starter motors and a radiator.
Poor old MNX500V became known as the “teabag” as it had so many holes in it. I eventually gave up not long after buying the house. It wouldn’t rev beyond 3000rpm (oh the irony) and I hadn’t the readies to find out why (double irony). It eventually ended up in Betty’s garage next door where it would stay until it was time to “do it up”.
Eight years later (!), it has been replaced and will shortly be stripped for spares. With metal at silly prices these days, it is now worth more than it has in a decade. The interior is the first to be attacked as that in the V8 could do with replacing. It will be sad to see it go but it really is beyond economic repair. It will always be remembered as the reason why I like these ridiculous cars so much!
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