I started this project in December 2012 as a new challenge to take on after having the car sat on our driveway not moving for over 30 years. It started as a plan to get it back onto the road for my Mum who was the second owner all those years back who had it pulled off the road with believed OD problems. I had ideas on using it as my first car, but recent checks (after passing my test last week) show the insurance premiums are ridiculous!
I'll try to keep this thread pretty brief but I may struggle as I have hundreds of photos of how it went a long but wont be going into exact detail of each one as I'm sure you'd just get bored
Anyway, some pics of how the car started -
Thankfully I had a nearly mint interior with basically solid floors.
Low mileage too.
I stripped the carbs down rebuilding with new gaskets and seals and replenished all hoses for new.
Stripped the starter motor which had no wear on the bendix coinciding with the mileage of the car. But a new solenoid was source as the old was seized up.
New spark plugs, leads, distributor cap, rotor and condensor and I had a spark! This led me onto finally getting her fired up from a bottle of petrol connected up to the fuel pump.
Although there had been only one PO, it was a DPO for sure! New patches had clearly been bodged in with underseal and filler.
Pulled my fuel tank and tested out electrolysis with good results! Got a completely clean fuel tank within a few days, very chuffed with the results.
Even tried the method on my discs which came up well. Will be replacing these anyway but should be OK for MOT as they've got a bit of chunk left in them.
Removed the bodged rear quarter, cut away the bad metal and welded in some new with a repair panel. Much better... Bare in mind this was the first thing I'd ever welded in my life!
The chassis also got a going over and primered up.
Everything off the bulkhead and that primered.
Everything back on after cleaning up brackets and painting them. Also gave my MCS a rehaul whilst I was at it.
Stripped my steering rack down repacking with grease completely with a new steering knuckle.
I also carried out some repairs on my bootlid after finding replacements on eBay at ridiculous prices with the same rot in the same places as mine!Both sides needed repair. I've since sanded down the "brushed" primer and sprayed it.
Next challenge; My sill! Rust Rust Rust.
Cut it all out and welded in some sheet panels.
Spraying my sills inside whilst I was at it.
Other side was the next challenge...
Bought some KN Filters too for a bit of bling. Will need new needles when on the road to avoid any lump idle though I believe. At £40 I got a bargain on them.
Painted my chassis black after the primer and also cleaned up the insides of the bonnet hinge boxes which as awkward even with the smallest wire brush on the drill...!
Picked up some new valances in fibreglass for another bargain price of 99p! Fillered, sanded and primed those ready for the future. Can't go wrong at those prices.
Picked up a new bonnet as well as my metal one was knackered beyond repair. Came with bonnet latches and lights for only £60. Got lucky with my purchases
Will sell the latches and lights to recoup some of my money too.
Cut away more sill rust on the drivers side...
Getting there
Fillered and primered the doors, sills, rear quarters on both sides and then the rear deck. First time without the roof in a LONG LONG TIME!
My drivers door also required some restoration
Next task was the cleaning up of the door jambs and all of the sills.
Rehung the door with a pleasing door gap and new hinge bolts.
Again I completed more sill work this time replicating the passenger side. Very patchy, but strong!
I have a bulkhead panel to weld in to this side, but havn't gotten round to it yet. I also started painting the underside of my bonnet, and reinstalling the hinge location brackets into the bonnet hinge boxes.
That's it basically upto date! Sorry for the massive picture dump. I have probably missed some steps out, but it's difficult to remember everything which has been completed.
Well done if you got far enough to read this!
Cheers,
Louis.