Well back in the mid eighties I had a Sprint and having had I'd guess several hundreds of various makes and models of cars ever since I've got a need to buy another Sprint. I've been checking out the 'Bay of Plenty' for the last few years and thinking perhaps one day I should scratch the itch and it looks like that day may be getting rather close
I've been told about one but don't want to give too much away at the moment as you never know who i looking and watching
It's sitting in a shed unused for a long time, it's been mostly dry stored but has seen a little weather to the one side due to roof leaking in the shed in the past although it is now bone dry again. The car is mostly unmolested and pretty complete, it's I think a 76 but maybe a 75 year. It's a little difficult to get around it for the 1st look I've taken but it looks to be very solid although the owner says it does need outer sills he says that the inner's are solid along with all the floors, in the past the outer sills have been started to be cut away which is how he knows the inner's are so good, the car was last taxed in 89 and has been inside ever since. His words/opinion are that the only welding needed is the sills apart from any minor body work repairs. There is a little bubbling to the front panel next to the offside wing/panel joint, the offside wing shows no bubbling at all, the near side wing will need looking at but again there does not seem to be enough there to worry about replacement wing.....which is good as I know steel wings are unavailable new anymore....... He has the sill sections all ready to fit. The rear arches look to be good or at least very reasonable from what I can see, I guess there will need to be some work on the near side door bottoms as I remember these were always an issue with Sprints although the offside doors look to be really sound from the outside, again I've not been able to get to open the doors to check them out properly as the car is too tight next to other cars to open them yet and investigate.
Under the bonnet although dirty with the time it's been sat looks very good, surface corrosion on the ally and bare steel parts but other than that all looks to be sound. It's an overdrive car as well
The boot floor and inner arches all look to be very good with no sign of any rust at all and no previous bodges.The car is local so there will be no cost to me to get it home as I have my own trailer, it will need a repaint in full at some point but as a rolling restoration once the initial repairs/welding are done and mechanical's sorted and recommissioned with a good polish and quick blow over to the repair sections it could look reasonable to use. I'm more than capable of doing all the work myself with no added labour costs.
So although I've not been able to give it a proper look over and investigation I'm confidant it's a sound car and well worth the effort but at what price???
I know without you all seeing the car and without pictures, from my description and allowing for the fact that the current owner does know about cars as do I, we've both got plenty of experience in restoring cars so know the ins and outs of things, with the engine and box unknown at this stage but assured that it was running and driving fine before being parked up in the shed which I've no reason to doubt as it all looks very sound and un-messed with, even the spark plug tubes looked very dry inside! So what is the value at current market rates? I've looked at past Ebay prices but not many on there in comparable condition to get a decent gauge of price? The seller and I have our ideas but I'm wondering on yours 1st before I let you know ours so as not to cloud your judgment
Sorry for long 1st
But in the interest of getting the project up and running as soon as possible once I do manage to get it home I've been starting to think what I'm going to need, the car does come with a pair of sills, an inner and outer for one side and just an outer for the other though I'm not sure yet which way around! It also apparently comes with a full set of coolant / heating hoses and I think that's about it, the car looks to be pretty much complete although some of the interior is removed it apparently is all there apart from maybe some carpets, the prop is off as it needs a center support bearing and there is no exhaust.