Nah keep the chromes, Mk3's look better with black trim but Mk2's suit the chrome.... looks alright on them new wheels actually!

You can't beat a bit of Minilite love on a 300. Your a brave man running the rubber band tyres and a 2" drop i reckon, BUT that said it does look sweet

The silver body with silver rims just makes it look so right IMO.

Steve, I like the chrome on the car, especially the bumpers and window surrounds lol. I think it would look canny still if I had a debadged mk3 grille and the surround was black. Would match the mirrors, bumpers etc. I almost think there's too much chrome on the front sometimes, with nothing to break it up between the grille surround and bumper. We shall see, it's only a grille swap TBF, so nothing permanent!

Magnum, I think when these tyres are fkd I will go for a larger profile. I do like it with these and can even handle the arch gaps. As the wheels have dish I think it gets away with it.
How much do you pay for tyres mate? Agreed on the ML's suiting these cars. If I had an early mk2 I would have been after Alley cats.

Cheers for the kind words gents.

I love it dude.

I've got Yoko A539's on mine i got them from a mate who works in a tyre shop so just under £50 a corner, looking around the net i didn't get a huge discount but better than full whack.

You can find people opinions of them here:
http://www.blackcircles.com/information ... d=11394408


If you could get it this low (without the opposite side being jacked up ) it would look awesome

Cheers Garth! Kermit was a favourite one of mine mate. Got a fair few pics saved somewhere.

Magnum, I have had Yoko A539's in the past and never rated them. Although they were 205/40/17's and it was a good few years back. Withought knowing I probably drove like a dick and pushed them beyond their comfort zone reguarly :/ Also, someone keyed my cars rear quarter to match the tread pattern!

I have grown up now though and would probably find them fine. I always hear mixed reviews concerning them though. I may have to try them out again in the future. A lot of the Mini lads seem to run them, but maybe that is more down to availability in size as IIRC there isn't such a wide choice. I'm on Michelin somethings ATM and they seem good.

I like your ML's, are they real splits? Look like Compomotives. A mate used to have a set of 15x19's on his MX5.
Don't tempt me with lowering lol. Yours looks cool in those pics! Unless I have Jimmy Shine channel the body it's not going any lower.

Well, it failed it's MOT





























1)Nearside front windscreen washer provides insufficient washer liquid
2)Nearside front coil spring not correctly located **DANGEROUS**
3)Offside front coil spring not correctly located **DANGEROUS**
4)Exhaust emissions carbon monoxide content excessive


I'm happy enough with that TBH as it was a lot more stringent that I expected and at least I now know it is 100%. The washer jet is very hit and miss. I have blasted it through with air, soaked in vinegar etc and it still doesn't function properly.
The springs only came out of the cups because when the car was jacked up on the 4 poster the tester had the wheels about 3 feet off the deck lol
He says if I remove the airfilter then it will pass the C0 test - it failed by 0.95% FFS

Swapped chopped springs back to standard this afternoon, he told me not to worry about the washer jet too.

Taking it back up in the morning to have those things rechecked, and see no reason why it won't pass.

Check my current 'gasser' stance!

Looking good!

quick note on the Springs vs. MOT i have by springs cable tied to both the top and bottom spring cups to keep them located. passed an MOT with no issues. obviously use proper man sized cable ties but they carry very little weight

Cheers dude TBH I would have cable tied them in but they never come loose when I jack the car up, and I do jack it very high on occasion. I didn't want to just tie these ones in and then go back to the test station only to be turned away lol.

Will cable tie them in when I refit my chopped ones though That should only be short term as I am going to shortern some damper rods.

good news man.

no major issues for the winzz

A result there!

Indeed good stuff, no major headaches with the MoT so all good


No sadly my ML's aren't proper splits just looky likeys. The Yoko's grip like sh*t to a blanket in the dry if just driving normaly but quickly, if you want to kick the ass out it will but it's more the power than my driving skill for sure
However in the wet i find them very unprdictable the grip to a point then just let without warning near enough.
Not good when in 4th accelerating and it steps out.

I'd love to get it that low, but as the opposite side is jacked up it gives it massive camber so the tyre tucks in the arch which is cool, but if dropped with blocks that low i'm sure the arch would sit on the tyres.

Oh and with regards to your front grill i like it just as it is, it seems to suit the car perfectly but obviously thats just MO and it's your car after all lol.

Go for the slam Magnum! Get you wheels machined so they're a higher ET.

In all seriousness, I think 2" and some larger profile tyres will be the order of the day for me. It was scraping the centre pipe when 3 up on flat roads on Saturday!

Cheers about the grille dude, I like it, but I need to fill the centre ion properly. I may do that this week if it's not too cold in the garage. Think I will whack my standard mk3 job on whilst it's being done.


Oh yeah, it passed the retest with no issues BTW Tomorrow, I can get tax - yep, I left it LATE!

It worked

Weapon of choice

This one's never coming off thanks to the Loctite!


TBH It surprised me how easily it parted company with the rest of the unit. Just got a shit load of glue to run around the other side now so it can't do the same!

Before. Bleurgh.

After. Awww yeeeaaah (I really like these lights if you can't tell)

sweet as!