Project PUS (Sapphire Sprint)

[Mad Mart]

David & Ben turned up around lunchtime with the shell.






I haven't had chance to have a good look over it yet but it does look up together.

[straylight]

ooooh, it is blue inside as well. I once had a suit that was a similar shade.

Another dolly put back onto the road in fine fettle mart style. Pure win.

thanks for the updates mart.

stu

[Purplebargeken]

If you need a new home for those door cards I think I know someone

No kippers were harmed in the writing of this thread by the way.

[sprint1976]

goodluck with it guys i have probably missed this earlier but did it have blue interior oringinally i think you should keep the blue but im biased lol, are you not tempted to keep this one jan

[Toledo Man]

In an ideal world, PUS' original shell would be repaired and the 1500TC would also be put back on the road but the economic reality (a £10K+ restoration bill if PUS' original shell was repaired) dictates otherwise as MikeyB has pointed out. I can understand how some of you feel about the TC being "sacrificed" but it is better that the shell is being recycled than ending up as scrap and what better than one of Mart's famous restos? I don't see anything wrong with reshelling. (Brown has been reshelled at some point before I bought the car) Brand new Heritage shells are available for the MGB and Mini. (I wish they'd do Dolomite & Acclaim ones!) The basic specification of the shell is going to be the same unlike those who reshell an MGB GT into a Roadster shell. I don't like those sort of reshells as the car's specification changes. The TC donor shell is close to the year of PUS' original shell. It is better to make one good car out of two, both of which may have ended up being scrapped.

Mart, I hope you're going to recycle the unique TC parts. I'm sure TC owners such as Ken would take them off your hands and you might even recoup some of your resto costs.

[mbellinger]

Been away for a few days so I tuned in expecting this to be finished with a nice photo of a glinty dark blue Dolomite next to Mary's tree.

Come on Mart, what's holding you up?

[Purplebargeken]

Yeah, progress is a bit slow on this one Mart, c'mon get it in gear (not the car).

MOT by 25th April then?

Yeah, any wee TC parts that aren't loved and wanted

[Mad Mart]

Sorry it's taking so long.

Mary's had a whale of a time today removing the seats, carpet, seat belts, trim & a bit of stripping. Unfortunately I haven't contributed anything thus far.







Ken, I may have some bits for you. I will let you know when I've decided what the way forward is.

[Toledo Man]

Mary's had a whale of a time today removing the seats, carpet, seat belts, trim & a bit of stripping.

Oo er! Won't she be a bit cold stripping in the garage?

Sorry, I couldn't resist it! Makes a change from the "pus" jokes.

[Mad Mart]

Moving swiftly on...

All the doors are now stripped of all furnishings, front & rear windscreens removed, dash, heater matrix, control pedals, wiring loom etc. all removed. Mary has got on really well with stripping the paint off of the car.

[mahony]

You don't hang about do you ,that looks a remarkably rustish free shell ( well the exterior panels that have had the paint removed do )

[SprintMWU773V]

I think there is a clear difference in what Mart is doing to what some others may have done. That is take a shell that was basically destined for scrap and will turn it into a fantastic car once again, surely the ultimate in recylcing?

When I first decided that I wanted to restore my Sprint I started to amass panels, in fact I have loads and have spent 000's on parts. The more I then started to dig at my Sprint I realised actually it was not going to be possible to restore it to a very high standard without spending a huge amount of money on labour. Undoing years of bodges costs a lot of money. I then thought, maybe i'll reshell into a lesser model. I managed to get hold of a solid and rather unloved 1500HL and may have utilised that had I not managed to get hold of a factory shell. My plan will therefore me similar to Mart's except the shell will not be a used car as it were. I'll then recyclye as much of the 'original' shell as possible which I am sure Mart will too.

Anyway sorry to hijack the thread but thought i'd contribute what with being in a similar position myself.

[Purplebargeken]

If only I had the space tp dp this in and a partner who gets involved. Dream on!

Cheers Martin. Cracking progress Gromit!

[hutch76]

Really looking forward to this Mart, well done for making sure PUS survives, at least in name.

Sapphire still my favourite colour for a Sprint, suits it so well.

To answer a couple of the points raised,I actually put PUS back on the road in Aug '94, just as the 'new' M registrations came out.

The tandem circuit was already fitted when I bought her, and was just left as is, as I wasn't quite as anal in my youth.

Interior on PUS was always black, and not blue.

I sold her around '99 as we were heading to the States for good (or so I thought). She was still pristine then. I have photo's somewhere of the work, and cills (inner & outer) were done and the rest of the shell was rust free also. All rot was cut out, and copious amounts of seam sealer and red lead was used prior to painting.

The vandal who bought her turned out to have no mechanical sympathy whatsoever. He passed it on to his wife who used it as everyday transport, with it living outdoors. When I contacted him around 2004 to see if he would sell it back, I found all this out, and the car was in a really sorry state. He very generously offered to sell it back to me for what he had paid me (around £1600 me thinks).

Next time I saw PUS I was collecting her by trailer for Mikey, in the condition you see her in my back garden.

[ToledoZombie]

Credit to you and Mary! A great project. I cannot believe how quick the disassembling and stripping has been done so far.
Anyone remember that Clint Eastwood film when he says "scrap the Caddy Clyde"?
If you have you'll know what i mean.
Watching this being done will be most usefull when it comes to my own project.