Hi all, after happily lurking (and posting a bit) over the past few months I thought it was high time to share mine with everyone, so here goes:
This is as it came to me in Sept last year after I'd viewed/driven five others in various states of disintegration over the preceeding two months! Already on an 18 year old galvanised chassis, I was fortunate with this one in that the previous owner, a fellow enthusiast, had virtually rebuilt the engine the previous winter and his wife was using the car as daily transport since then and as it was going to be used by me in much the same way this suited me fine. I wasn't looking for concours or a restoration project and not that concerned with originality, but wanted a useable classic vehicle. Seen here receiving its first Cat scan
As his fabulous rebuild had included a new clutch, new 9:1 pistons/barrels, new fuel pump, new oil cooler and much more, including resprayed secondhand wings front and rear and refurbed suspension, all done 'in house' as it were, I was content to just get on and use it, which I did. What a laugh, Grin Factor 10! Then, after discovering that there is virtually no part unavailable either new or refurb/secondhand, I decided to refurb the seats completely, which meant replacing the non original front cloth seats with the original ones (which came with the car) and fitting a nice bespoke seat cover set to match the red pinstripes I'd put on the outside in an effort to brighten it up a bit. New wheels and Michelin 135's all round, massively expensive but worth every penny, believe me. Also, I went for new carpets too as the old ones smelt of Stale Dog. I quite like the tubular bumpers but removed them anyway and using a mixture of eBay and new parts (front bumper mainly) furnished the car with original stuff, although rivet counters will no doubt point out that they are not actually Charleston Grey but neither are the wheels.
Thats pretty much it so far, apart from some tidying up under the bonnet and inside the car. It has a small oil weep from the RH cylinder head area which I can live with for the moment as Spring is here and time to remove my radiator muff and roll back the hood! Trips so far, apart from regular drive to work stuff, have included a couple of runs with a local group and one hilarious trip to a party at Blandford in Dorset with a mate. Loaded with two tents and two persons camping gear we bounced all the way there and back for a measly £23 in petrol. Amazing! Thanks for looking.
