The 1972 Dolomite (pre-HL, in spite of what it says both on eBay and on the car's BMIHT certificate
) that I used to own is currently back on eBay and desperately needs someone to care for it. Structurally, you'd struggle to find better, the noise described as coming from the transmission is actually a diff noise and the interior is very good indeed, bar a slight bit of lacquer peel on the n/s/f door top.
VED is free, being a '72 and all and the current disc expires at the end of March. I bought the car 300 miles away and drove home, then used the car as a daily driver for three years and doubled the original 40,000 miles.
The engine's a peach and only needs the dribble from the oil pump dealing with (O rings are cheap) as it did the head gasket failure trick back at 47k and I sorted it properly with the result that it'll see you right for long enough to come.
The gearbox changes smoothly and with the high overall gearing, provides comfy cruising at a mere 3500rpm at 70mph in 3rd.
Suspension, steering and structural bits are all either new within the last year (mechanical bits) or well kept and largely original (floors, chassis legs, sill structures, doors, wings, rear arches, boot floor, etc.) due to regular top ups of the car's Ensis fluid rust preventative measures.
The fault that the seller describes would be cured easily by flushing the thick tractor oil out of the carb dampers and refilling with the correct ATF.
Here he is.
Don't be put off by the remote location, the car stays just less than a mile from the main road to Edinburgh so driving away would be simple. Just insure it, book it in for an MOT and set off home. Simple and I suspect that it'll be cheap as a result of the sparse description, which misses out all of the massive amount of new bits and work done as well as the sh*te pictures.
I don't gain anything by mentioning this here, bar the immense satisfaction of seeing someone who knows what they're doing taking on the car.
The body is utterly sound and the images make it look much less presentable than the car actually is.