Levi the 1300 FWD

[drpaul0209]

Okay Ladies and Gentlemen,

Some of you will know this car and her previous owner and will hopefully be pleased to know that she has been saved!

I know the previous owner had his detractors on here, perhaps with reason, but he was decent enough with me. He trailered the car 250 miles to me for petrol money, threw in a mass of spares I never asked for and put on the Monty wheels as the tyres on the original steels were shot. I quite like the wheels...

She has a genuine 43,000 miles on the clock, a great little folder of history and now has a new home and new name, Levi, as the other half and I think she looks like a pile of old jeans!

She is surprisingly tidy. The interior only needs a small amount of work to tidy, revarnishing the wood, and eventually some new carpets. The running gear runs sweetly but will get a service and oil change. I need to change the drive shaft 'doughnuts'(?) but have spares to go on. The bodywork needs a fair bit of time but not the worst I have dealt with. One sill, one patch on the inner front arch and rebuilding the front valance. Then filler, finishing and paint! The majority of the paint just needs T-Cutting and wax so it will be patch painting.

I might keep the Monty steels, I think they would smarten up nicely. What do you think?

Any tips and advice would be much appreciated.

Dan

[Purplebargeken]

Hi Dan and welcome to the forum, glad to hear that the car has gone to a decent home.

There didn't appear to be a lot wrong with it from the description and picture that have been posted previously.

Interestingly enough, there is very advanced talk of the front valances being reproduced in fibreglass. A worthwhile thing as steel replacements are very rare indeed. Watch these pages. Alun (xvivalve) is the culprit for this by the way.

Lots of help and advice available on these pages. Just ask.

Whereabouts are you?

Ken

[VYO 372M]

Welcome to the forum Dan. Great to hear it's going to be saved.

Steve

[DoloWIGHTY]

Indeed , this great news that this car is saved, hope we can all be of benefit to you with our knowledge and enthusiasm to see this car through to be presereved for the future.

[Purplebargeken]

We like pictures too, lots and lots of pictures.

[drpaul0209]

Many thanks chaps! Okay, lots of pictures, I only have some of her just after delivery. Progress will be slow to be honest as it is all about the funds. Well, here we go, more pictures...

[drpaul0209]

This will do for now, I forgot to take some of the engine bay and undersides, durr!

Next on the jobs list is to change the doughnuts, engine service kit from Quiller and repair the handbrake, it's a little loose! Hopefully then she'll be sound as a knut and will just need some fettling. Then to sort the bodywork...

[Phil_G]

just out of interest did he have all his limbs present and correct?

[1300dolly]

just out of interest did he have all his limbs present and correct?

Phil, how could you ask such a sensitive question on the forum, that was a tad out of order and of you, you do not know the previous owner and his limbless plight may have been true.








Good to see that car has been saved from a fate worse than scrapping, can I ask how much you paid for it?

[drpaul0209]

You can ask! It was probably over the odds at £300, and petrol money on top of that, but I was happy to pay that, and I suppose at the end of it all it's worth to me what I am prepared to pay!

I'm a soppy sod too and hate to see a good car go to a 'fate worse than scrapping', so it is all in a good cause!

As I have said, it came with a load of spares and is a runner. Shouldn't be too hard or expensive to get roadworthy again...

Couldn't possibly comment on her last owners health other than to say yes, his troubles as previously mentioned are genuine.

Thanks again for your encouragement and offers of help,I am sure I will need it!

Oh and Ken, the car is in Borough Green, Kent at a member of family has a large dry shed/workshop. I'm in St Albans, Herts most of the time.

[1300dolly]

£300 isnt really that high considering the price that fwds are starting to fetch now.

[Purplebargeken]

That's a decent price actually.

Snorbens eh? Know it well.

[NickMorgan]

Great to hear that you have the car Dan. Funny, I was just thinking about that car yesterday and was wondering if it had found a new home or had been scrapped.
Good luck with the restoration. I look forward to reading about it.

[drpaul0209]

Many thanks again for the encouragement everyone!

St Albans will be her home once finished, so if you are nearby Ken, keep an eye out for her! Are you in Herts yourself? Hopefully when she is running I'll be out to a meet or two.

There might be a small update in the next week or so, just a bit of cleaning up.

[Purplebargeken]

Used to live in London Colney many years ago. Still have friends there. I know St. A very well and actually just work down the road in Borehamwood although I live in Edmonton.

Look forward to seeing the progress being made

Ken