Kevin the owner of HJ 1700, who sadly has to cope with Parkinson’s, and I, have now had a good look over the car and have developed a plan that will see the car restored. Between us we have stripped some of the car and have been able to establish that the body is in much better shape than was evident when it was first removed from where it had been garaged since in the early 1990’s.
I will undertake to restore the car on Kevin’s behalf but unlike the effort which Mad Mart and Mary put into their restorations this will be a much slower project for we have a number of hurdles to overcome in order to restore it to a condition where it can be legally driven on the road.
The registration has lapsed on this car which means that in order to re-register it the car must undergo a safety inspection before certification by the New Zealand Land Transport Authority and only following certification can it be registered, number plates issued and a warrant of fitness obtained so that it can then be used on the road.
In order to pass that safety inspection one of the steps that must be undertaken is to remove all structural rust and repair it. That work must be undertaken by someone suitably qualified to do so. That requirement was introduced some years ago when it became clear that such work carried out by those who did not have either the training, skills, or experience was sometimes not structurally sound.
I am going to attempt to do the work myself but unlike many of you in the UK I must first complete a course at the local Polytechnic following which I shall enrol in a restoration course and undertake the rust removal and repair work at the Polytechnic where the work will be done and supervised by the course tutor.
We have established that it will be possible to retain the original black and silver number plates that are presently on the car.
Kevin and I have removed the mud shields from inside the front wheel arches and aside from a substantial quantity of sand and gravel trapped behind both shields both were bone dry and there was no evidence of rust at all in the bottom of the front wings which you can see in this photo of the left hand side wing.
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20160102-0736Ptx HJ 1700 LH inner & front wing.jpg [ 202.97 KiB | Viewed 2980 times ]
When we removed the shield on the right hand side out fell two very rusty but identical 7/16 spanners which look like they have been there since the day the car was assembled. If anybody comes across the BL fitter complaining that he has lost two spanners ask him to make contact and I will happily return them.
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I have attempted to clean one of them in the hope that I might find some form of identification mark on them. The steel from which those spanners were made is clearly not as rust resistant as the steel used by BL at the time.
Kevin and I lifted the fuel tank out and sitting both beside and underneath the tank was practically a full set of cheap Asian made sockets. Lots of potential rattles!! The two large bungs that sit in the outer skin in the cavity below the tank had long since disappeared - to our advantage I suspect, for the underneath of the tank and the bottom of the boot show no signs of real rust at all. The same goes for the spare wheel well.
There is a rather poor repair to the right rear quarter panel which has been dented and rather than pushing out the dent it has been filled and painted. I expect it can be knocked back into shape relatively easily.
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20151228-5683Ptx HJ 1700 Right rear damage.jpg [ 190.93 KiB | Viewed 2980 times ]
There was all sorts of rubbish lying trapped between the internal boot reinforcing panels and the outer wings and the back of the car. After vacuuming all the sand out and putting mirrors down into various corners all seems very rust free. There was some rust inside the petrol tank itself when we drained the fuel out.
The front left sill has a couple of holes in it, as can be seen in this photo.
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20160104-5692Pxt HJ 1700 LH front sill corrosion.jpg [ 211.6 KiB | Viewed 2980 times ]
The jacking point has also been damaged.
There is a hole in the right hand front door pillar, above the top hinge and at that awkward corner where the top of the wing comes in and meets the drip rail running down the side of the windscreen. Some little holes there but none further down.
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20160103-0760Ptx HJ 1700 Right front door pillar front wing junction.jpg [ 208.18 KiB | Viewed 2980 times ]
I have my fingers crossed that this might not be too major.
Only one of the four doors, the left rear, shows any signs of rust coming through the paint work.
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20151228-5675Ptx HJ 1700 Left hand rear door rust bottom panel.jpg [ 198.34 KiB | Viewed 2980 times ]
While I know has replacement panels available and have been in touch with Alun it may be more economic for me to fabricate a replacement panel for this door bottom and for the external sill.
There is rust in the left hand side of the roof, as I show in this photo.
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20151228-5679Ptx HJ 1700 Left rear roof holes.jpg [ 205.87 KiB | Viewed 2980 times ]
And probably in the corresponding position in the right hand side, but not yet evident.
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20151228-5681Ptx HJ 1700 Right rear roof rust.jpg [ 214.26 KiB | Viewed 2980 times ]
I am not overly concerned for I do not see it as a major structural problem. The only problem will be that in order to weld in that area the headlining and insulation will have to come out when I carry out the repair. In my experience it will be a long and laborious process to refit the existing headlining back in perfectly. It may be easier to purchase a new headlining and fit that. If that looks like being the case then I will throw away the existing pull down grab handles and fit the later style.
I would prefer not to fit another vinyl covering to the roof. I can see no merit at all in doing so and am in fact considering removing the vinyl roof covering from my own car. It serves no useful purpose at all and simply makes the car hotter in the summer.
Someone has done an excellent job of re-laminating and re-varnishing the door wood cappings. The crash pad has holes in it. All the chrome is badly pitted but can probably be refurbished. Windscreen and door rubbers will have to be replaced. I hold spare sets of new quarter light rubbers if it becomes necessary to replace them.
The car is certainly in better condition than I imagined on first viewing it. There is only one minor issue to overcome at this point. The car was given a quick flick of green paint some years ago. There is plenty of white paint still evident. I think the car should go back to white which would save having to strip the car completely before repainting. Kevin I think, would like to see it remain green.
Perhaps when we complete the restoration of this car I should just swap cars with him.
Robert