YGD - 1978 Flamenco Sprint!

[James467]

If you frequent the Facebook page and the Cars for Sale section here then you'll know that I bought Davids '78 Sprint project from him.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=32657

Most of you will know that I live in deepest darkest Hampshire and trying to go to Greeenock and back in a day was probably going to be ambitious without towing a trailer, however I had the help of our resident 'Sprint' saver, the lesser spotted Alun. Here pictured in his natural habitat, around a Sprint on a trailer!



And so it began on a very cold morning at 4am driving up the M3 to Stourbridge to collect Alun with an empty trailer!

I made it to Aluns for 6:30 and after dropping off a seat for Tony at Keele services we eventually made it to Greenock at about 2 in the afternoon.

David pulled the car out of the garage, the initial impressions were good, being tight for time we swiftly started loading up all the parts into the Land Rover and got the car onto the trailer.







The os doors had no windows in so we had to gaffer tape up the doors and by the time we had made the short journey to the other lock up and filled the car up with spares it was gone 5pm and dark so after a short stop at the local Tesco to fill up we set off back down south at about 6pm.



The good thing about leaving so late was that by the time we hit the M6 around Manchester it was empty. Now that's a sight you don't see every day!



I dropped Alun off at 12am and headed back down the M40 home. It was gone 3am by the time I pulled into the drive and I'll be honest I was in no mood to try and reverse the trailer in so I just drove it! That turned out to be a pain in the arse the next morning!

As you would expect the Discovery performed impeccably all day, felt rock solid with the loaded trailer attached and cruised effortlessly up and over Shap in the Lake District! It even got a compliment from Alun!


It took me all of Sunday to unload the car and Land Rover of spares eventually everything was sorted and stored away safely. The MG has come out of the garage for the time being as the Sprint has little or paint on it. The MG is painted and protected, it also has a hardtop on it so wont be affected by the weather.

So after 889 miles and over 16 hours of driving YGD is in its new home down south!





That is probably the furthest I have been to collect a car and I wont be doing it again any time soon!

I have some other jobs to do before I can start on it. Mechanically it is sorted, I need to mount and test fire the engine go through all of the spares etc... It is going to be my daily driver so I have already decided that I will put a glass fibre front end on it as the wings are only bolted on at the moment, I'd like to re-do some welding on it and put a new chassis rail on as the old one is damaged, get it painted and all of that the it just needs to go back together. Not a massive job once it is back from paint.

[Tony Burd]

Nice one James, I was very tempted by this when I saw it advertised but don't really have the space.

Epic journey to collect, well done.

Give me a shout if you need an extra pair of hands I am not that far from you.

[James467]

Have acquired an Omex ecu, am seriously considering fuel injection.

[Matt Cotton]

Nice article for D.M James. Nice story.

I thought you were 'cutting back' on the fleet at one point? or has that blown over now?!!

[davy67]

Hi James, I haven't really been on much since selling YGD and my recent move to Australia. How are you progressing with the car?

Dingo Dave

[James467]

Progress has been hampered by DTR, cold weather and illness. It is sitting in the garage at the moment, I have done some bits which I have been saving up for an update. I am going to fit a club fibreglass front end, and whilst the engine is out I will replace the chassis leg as it's a bit crumpled. Apart from that I have been going through all the parts making sure I have everything. I have ordered a vinyl roof and D pillar covers.

Unfortunately at the moment it's kind of 3rd on the list in front of NWL. Need to finish DTR first, then I ERO needs doing then the MG. That will give me the space then so I can get YGD done. Once YGD is done I can get NWL back in the garage and finish that off. So I have a plan, which is why I am not taking any more projects on at the moment (which is a strain because I know of a really nice 3500 P6 Rover that I'd LOVE to save!! )

[James467]

I believe you are all overdue an update!

Last weekend I collected a club GRP front end from Alun and temporarily placed it onto the front of the car. As you would expect, there is a degree of fettling required, not a lot though.











I am really pleased with it to be honest, it is going to make the car a true all year round everyday vehicle for me which is exactly what I was looking for.

Steve, this is where I am going to need your help. As you have fitted one of these before can you give me a brief run thorough of the procedure, thanks!

I pulled the car out of the garage and had a good look underneath, it looks to be in great condition and Dave has done a great job. Whilst the engine is out it makes sense to replace both chassis legs as they look a bit beaten up and there is a small area on the NS inner wheelarch that I'd like to do properly. I have some special axle stands which allow mne plenty of space to work under the car, I'll show you those when I do ERO.









I'll drop the axle and subframe and mount the body in the rotisserie after I have done the chassis legs then I can give the underside a good coat of Bilt Hamber to protect it.

Once that is done and it is back on it's wheels I will respray it. No don;t worry, not with a rattle can! I'll do a proper job with some 2K in a booth! Then it is just a case of reassembly, engine back in, rewire, stereo, new seatbelts etc... I am going to pinch the MGF seats out of the MG as I have a set of MX5 tombstones which fit better to go in that. The MGF seats from the MG are also softer than the ones I gave to Steve, I think they may be later from an MGTF possibly.

I do need to do ERO first though.

[Awaiting Repair]

Great stuff! I do love reading your threads, credit to you for posting as many photos as you do!

Cheers
Keith

[RSi]

You just can't beat a resto thread, great to see it step by step.

[Carledo]

Been away on me hols at the caravan, hence no instructions for you! Just got back tonight, i'll write something up and PM you!

Steve

[James467]

Now that ERO is basically finished (I'm just waiting on a couple of bits and the MOT) I can get on with YGD.

The first thing to do is to reassemble to car fully to the point that I can get it MOT'd if I wanted. It may seem counterproductive to assemble a car then take it apart but by doing this I can see whats missing, what needs fixing and have a good solid baseline to start at.

So first job, brakes!

It has new pipes on it, checked them all and they are fine, braided hoses as well as a bonus! Found the master cylinder, checked it over and fitted it. I cant bleed the brakes as I have lost the locking wheelnut key (I cant remember if Davey gave it to me!), not a problem as they arent difficult to remove, just need to weld a nut to them.



Clutch master in with new seals, connected to slave, reservoir fitted.



Steering column connected and tightened up



The loom was a mess, a lot of the tape had been removed and over the years various repairs had been made so I removed it to asses and repair.

On to the engine, pulled it out from the back of the garage and removed the inlet manifold to have a look at the carbs. Fitted the manifold, down pipe and starter (forgot the starter spacer plate doesn't matter at this stage!) Checked the clutch, it really needed replacing so I changed the plate, and slotted the engine into the bay!







This is where I encountered the first problem, the vast majority of the threads on the adaptor ring are stripped so I'll have to pull the engine out again to change the adaptor plate. I can pull the box as well and give that a check over, although it does feel fine. The engine mounts have also sagged, to the point that the down pipe is too close to the chassis leg so I'll replace them.

For the time being it's alternator on, fan on...





Blower on!



Looking good so far!



On to the rear, fitted the missing rear light, the other side isnt great I'll probably replace it with the spare I have.

Fitted the rear bumper as well



Found the spoiler and all of the trim for the car



I was fed up with the front wings falling off so I temporarily fitted them.



As I said, the loom has been butchered over the years, there are also signs of overheating in it so I'm not happy putting it back in the car. NWL's loom is exactly the same and in perfect condition, just dirty. I have a replacement loom from Autosparks for NWL so I'll just replace this loom with that.





I pulled the carbs to have a look at them, they look fine, just need a clean. Went to pull the stat cap off and the bolts broke so I have swapped the inlet for another that I have. The other thing was that the heater pipes has rotted through so I ordered a replacement from Chris Witor.





New leads, cap and rotor. Cap fits perfectly under the inlet. I already have the electronic module and will be using that.



So as far as I can see I have everything to put the car back together now, I'd like to get it running first but need a couple of bits before I can do that. The only bits of trim that I am missing are a pair of these...

[sprint95m]

To produce such long illustrated posts,
you must have some amount of time on your hands and patience too James!!

I cant bleed the brakes as I have lost the locking wheelnut key (I cant remember if Davey gave it to me!), not a problem as they arent difficult to remove, just need to weld a nut to them.

I pulled the carbs to have a look at them, they look fine, just need a clean. Went to pull the stat cap off and the bolts broke so I have swapped the inlet for another that I have.

If I may make a couple of suggestions,

re. the locking wheel nuts, I was told of a method which I have successfully employed,
this being to use a ring spanner with self tapping screws inserted between said spanner and the wheel nut.

This same man also advised that removing manifold bolts can best be done by slackening a little, retightening then slackening a little bit more,
retightening then slackening a little more again, retightening, and so on.



Ian.

[davy67]

Hi James. I haven’t been on the forum for quite some time but have just been reading your progress. So glad to see how much you have done!
As I recall the chassis legs took a bit of a beating years ago when I was over enthusiastic on a forestry track!
The locking wheel nut was in the glove box when you collected the car, remember double checking it was there and I’m sure I had both of the end chrome trim tails at the bottom of the C posts, perhaps on the rear parcel shelf?
Wiring was not my strong point, but while I owned the car I did not make any additions to the loom, that must have been a previous owner? But, I did fit a set of Lancia air horns, without a relay, and I believe this may have caused some of the melting wire you mention(I think I forgot to advise you of this when you collected the car).
Keep up the great work and don’t hesitate to ask me any questions. I’m sure you will do a better job on it than I could.
Still hoping for the day I can afford to buy another Sprint here in Perth WA!

David

[James467]

Thanks David, hope life in Perth is treating you well!

As I recall the chassis legs took a bit of a beating years ago when I was over enthusiastic on a forestry track!

Haha that will be why they are like that then! I have a pair of club chassis legs so I'm just going to put them on.

The locking wheel nut was in the glove box when you collected the car, remember double checking it was there and I’m sure I had both of the end chrome trim tails at the bottom of the C posts, perhaps on the rear parcel shelf?

I found the chrome trim tails and you definitely gave me the locking wheelnut key, I've just gone and put it somewhere really safe. So safe that I cant find it!!!

[davy67]

James, life here in Perth WA is good. Myself and my new wife, Lorna, are very happy. She goes with me to classic car events and pipe band competitions and I support her in her political/work events as a pay off.
It was probably the hardest decision I had to make to leave my career as a firefighter and start over, but that was matched by my decision to sell YGD too. I used to take Lorna out on dates in that car back in the 80’s before we lost touch and she moved here to Australia, so it had great sentimental value to me too.
The jobs “boom” I had heard of here in WA does not seem to exist and I have struggled to find employment. It is mostly casual work with no guarantees of hours or longevity.
Today was a good day though because I was offered a permanent position at Perth airport and start next week. So perhaps that Sprint might be closer than it was on my last post!
I have met Gerard Deegan here with his Sprint and he has my number if he ever needs help in his engine swap endeavours.
Once I start earning a wage again I shall renew my membership. It has been too easy to let my love of Dolomites slip, not having one in the garage anymore, but I will wait patiently until one day I can begin over. Watch this space....

David