[Mk1 ] A couple of mk1 questions

[Lunarmatic]

Hi,

I sold my mk1 in September last year (1990 t-bar in dark mica blue) but now miss it so I'm looking at getting another mk1!

After having a quick gander on Autotrader I've decided that I might go for a red coupe this time - I have a couple of questions though:

Do all the red ones suffer from paint fade? i.e. Are the faded ones faded because they've been outside more than the non-faded ones or is it a lottery about whether the original paint job was any good? Is the paint fade better/worse with the later mk1s?

Has anyone had any problems with the sunroof leaking? I got really annoyed by my leaky T-bar so I'm not keen to repeat that again! I noticed from reading some topics on this forum that the sunroof can be removed - does this mean it will suffer from the same leakyness as a T-bar?


I was also wondering what the metallic sky blue colour is called? Not the pale blue metallic but the zingy blue that I've seen on circa 1985 cars. Was it only available on the early mk1s?

Thank you for any help! Looking forward to getting a mk1 soon!
Andrew

[Lauren]

The red paint does tend to oxidise over time, so any cars that have bright red paint have either been stored in a garage or have had re-spray work.

All red MK1s suffer about the same with paint fade, though obviously older cars have the potential to fade more for obvious reasons.

If you are looking for a good example i would expect it to have had the rear arches repaired at least which will mean its more likely to have been resprayed. Obviously you have to weigh all this up on its individual merit.

Sunroofs don't tend to leak tbh. Its not an issue. That the sunroof can be removed does not make any difference to whether its going to leak or not. I for one have never heard of a sunroof car leaking.

the light blue colour is called 'helios' blue.

HTH

[Lunarmatic]

Thanks for the info.

I've seen a few red cars for sale on the web that look to be in very good condition with no sign of paint fade and I expect this is more because they have been garaged rather than re-painted since they are being sold by older drivers. As always though I will be keeping an eye out for the rear wings when I go looking at some!

I'm glad to hear that the sunroofs don't leak. I thought having the T-bar would be kinda cool but I found it really wasn't that great as I could rarely be bothered to take them out and when I did the buffetting and noise (Janspeed exhaust!) were a bit of a headache.

I was reading one of the older topics earlier about the differences between mk1a and mk1b. I noticed you replied and said that the mk1a had two air intakes. Does this mean a louvred vent on both sides of the car? I remember my mk1 only had one intake on the driver's side but I'm fairly sure the petrol filler was in the corresponding place on the passenger side.

[Lauren]

I was reading one of the older topics earlier about the differences between mk1a and mk1b. I noticed you replied and said that the mk1a had two air intakes. Does this mean a louvred vent on both sides of the car? I remember my mk1 only had one intake on the driver's side but I'm fairly sure the petrol filler was in the corresponding place on the passenger side.

No, i didn't say that. What i think you are talking about is that the early MK1 air vent has a double vent in the vent panel:



Rather than the late car which has one louvre:



there is no vent on the near side.

HTH

[System-G]

Just to add my perspective...

The paint work on my red MK1a was almost white is was so pink from sun fade. But after a number of polishes and waxes, you'd never say it

Granted it took me a long time to get it to that point. Now with the recently nice weather and working 7 days a week, I haven't had a chance to clean, polish or wax for 2.5 weeks and it's starting to fade again

I will probably get a respray sometime when I can afford to.

Just for info, the earlier cars are reported to be lighter (in weight) than the later cars as well as cars with sunroofs being lighter than T-bars. I don't think there's much difference in noise levels though, cause mine's pretty loud with just the windows down and it only has a K&N

[Lunarmatic]

the light blue colour is called 'helios' blue.

I thought Helios Blue was the pale bluey/silver colour? I saw this car on Autotrader - the ad says it's Azure Blue but is that an original colour or has it been resprayed?

[Lauren]

the light blue colour is called 'helios' blue.

I thought Helios Blue was the pale bluey/silver colour? I saw this car on Autotrader - the ad says it's Azure Blue but is that an original colour or has it been resprayed?

Helios blue is the light silveryish blue.

the darker blue is called Mica blue which is the one in the pic. OEM colour basically.

[Tiamat]

had my 2 for around 2 1/2 years now and the roof is out at every opportunity possible and it has never leaked.
can't comment about noise in respect of tin-top vs t-bar but you will still get to appreciate the noise coming from exhaust / filter or whatever if the roof is out.
but to be honest i cannot see the difference between a t-bar and a tin-top once the roofs are off and the windows down, its minimal bodywork addition.

[Lauren]

had my 2 for around 2 1/2 years now and the roof is out at every opportunity possible and it has never leaked.
can't comment about noise in respect of tin-top vs t-bar but you will still get to appreciate the noise coming from exhaust / filter or whatever if the roof is out.
but to be honest i cannot see the difference between a t-bar and a tin-top once the roofs are off and the windows down, its minimal bodywork addition.

The b-pillars are substanially reinforced on the t-bar.

[Lunarmatic]

The paint work on my red MK1a was almost white is was so pink from sun fade. But after a number of polishes and waxes, you'd never say it

Granted it took me a long time to get it to that point. Now with the recently nice weather and working 7 days a week, I haven't had a chance to clean, polish or wax for 2.5 weeks and it's starting to fade again

Do you think it does more harm than good to over polish the red cars? If I found a pristine, garaged example would there be anything I could do to prevent the paint fading (aside from garaging it myself since I don't have one)? Would regular waxing or polishing be good or bad for the paint?

I don't think there's much difference in noise levels though, cause mine's pretty loud with just the windows down and it only has a K&N

I had a K&N cone filter and a Janspeed exhaust on my mk1 and it was very loud! Too loud, in fact, since I could never enjoy a relaxing drive as there was a nasty zing from the Janspeed at about 3000rpm. The sound as it went from 4500rpm up to the rev limit was fantastic though, it always brought a big grin to my face particularly when accelerating through the Dartford Tunnel

[Tiamat]

appreciate the pillars are reinforced on the t-bar, but was more talking about noise reduction from having the additional pieces of bodywork making up the roof.

[Lauren]

appreciate the pillars are reinforced on the t-bar, but was more talking about noise reduction from having the additional pieces of bodywork making up the roof.

yep makes no difference either way IME (i've had t-bars and coupes).

[Lunarmatic]

Helios blue is the light silveryish blue.

the darker blue is called Mica blue which is the one in the pic. OEM colour basically.

My mk1 was mica blue and I'm sure it was darker than the blue in that picture. Unless the sun just happens to be bringing the colour out much more in that picture than normal.

Are there two different shades of mica blue?

I'm pretty sure there is a blue between the helios blue and dark mica blue colours. I wish I had another picture of one to hand as I remember seeing one for sale before. I've just had a look in the forum garage but can't see any in there...

[Lauren]

Helios blue is the light silveryish blue.

the darker blue is called Mica blue which is the one in the pic. OEM colour basically.

My mk1 was mica blue and I'm sure it was darker than the blue in that picture. Unless the sun just happens to be bringing the colour out much more in that picture than normal.

Are there two different shades of mica blue?

I'm pretty sure there is a blue between the helios blue and dark mica blue colours. I wish I had another picture of one to hand as I remember seeing one for sale before. I've just had a look in the forum garage but can't see any in there...

There are two shades of mica blue, but the other shade is only found on the super edition so you can pretty much discard that as its certainly not a superedition (earlier pic of late vent is of my boyf's super edition).

It can look different in the light, especially if the sun is on it. Would suggest that is what it is.

The only other shade of blue, was a greeny blue found on early mk1s only.

[tonigmr2]

There were turquoisey type coloured MK1a cars, wonder if that is what you're thinking of? They are pretty striking, not many of them about.
T

[ENSMR2]

Get a polish with UV protectant in it. It will stop any fading.

[Lunarmatic]

The only other shade of blue, was a greeny blue found on early mk1s only.

There were turquoisey type coloured MK1a cars, wonder if that is what you're thinking of? They are pretty striking, not many of them about.

I think this is the colour I was thinking of! It seems surprising that there are no examples in the forum garage as I would imagine they'd be popular with enthusiasts. They must be rare though as I don't ever recall seeing one "in the metal" so to speak.

[tonigmr2]

I had a friend who had one in MK - engine went so that was that!

Turquoise and the goldy beigy ones are both MK1a and both quite rare.

T

[crazylegs]

the paint for the 85/86 cars was not called hellios,mica,or any other fancy blue it was light blue metalic, blue metalic and the one i have never seen but is a great colour on the chart is bright blue metalic.this is a sort of sky blue,very striking.i cant see why there were not more of them.the fancy named colours only came out after 86.interestingly there were 6 different shades of red on the very early cars,would halfords know that!!

[Lunarmatic]

Do you happen to have a copy of the colour chart? Could you scan it and post it on the web to give a rough idea of all the different colours that were available?

Interesting that there were so many reds, I always thought there was just the one for all mk1s.