MY SPRINT VXG 707N (W london)

[xvivalve]

You should have found wires under the passenger seat only, they are for the seat belt warning lamp.

Not on a '74/'75 car you shouldn't for there was no warning lamp on the early dash. Later cars should have them on both front seats. You have later seats than your car originally left the factory with, but then the headrests tell us that also.

[Mad Mart]

I don't believe any of the driver's seats had the pressure pad fitted. You'll only find wires (from the pressure pad) under the passenger seat, on the later models. The theory being that there's bound to be someone in the driver's seat but not necessarily in the passenger seat.

[johnnyv1]

Hi, so i guess iv'e got newer seats than what it started out with. I thought that anyway as there in v good condition. So, about the resto...well, Iv'e been tackling some serious rust the old school way as quite limited on funds and am repairing parts by hand cutting/shaping/welding(which i quite enjoy even though it gets tiring).

I'm still concentrating on the frontend, the garage owner is telling me i need to fit the engine back as he needs the space,(quite alot of stuff in the garage), so i guess il paint the engine bay separately first as its going to prob be standard black anyway.
So i'm going buy a new clutch while its out and maybe paint the engine & rocker cover, change a few gaskets and i'm going to wrap the exhaust manifold in racing heat shield tape (should keep the engine heat levels down, but also, im having some starter problems,maybe soleniod, which might be just due to being close to the exhaust heat i hope)

I'm also trying to not get annoyed with everyone saying to me that i am crazy to spend time and money on this car when i wont get it back, that I ''shouldv'e bought a classic worth more money''.

Well, this is not about the money to me. Obviously i would like to get the worth back when i sell it, But im not doing this to then sell it, i love this car and want to keep it for a while at least. Its a piece of history to me, i grew up as i said with my dad driving me around and tinkering with old british cars so i am restoring it out of personal enjoyment not as a business. My answer to them is that you dont gain profit from smoking or drinking etc, you do it out of enjoyment (or addiction) so i guess im both with the dolly. .

Anyway a few more pics for now.Cheers again for all the replys
john.

Oh, and does anyone have any advice on cheap and easy power gain jobs that i can do myself to the engine while i have it out? I'm quite handy with tools.

[johnnyv1]

...

[johnnyv1]

A pic of the passenger side post i made and repaired on friday. I zinc primered it inside and out and then fibreglassed over it to waterproof it even more before i prime it again (I know im excessive but i want it done right) Then before wings go on i will underseal all underneath wing and surrounding area...

[xvivalve]

Standard engine bay colour is body colour, its ziebarting or 1500SE livery that make some appear black.

I've definitely had wired in driver's seats. Its the bum pressure makes the light come on and the seat belt stalk switch makes it go out.

[johnnyv1]

This was under wing post before, when i took the wing off.

As for the engine bay colour i meant that as im painting the car black i might do the engine bay standard black (non metallic) I havent decided about the metalflake yet but either way i will match the engine bay colour to the body colour. Its certainly not the first big project iv'e sprayed...

[DOLLY76]

Good on ya John.

Never let anyone convince you that your dolly isn't worth the time. I've seen people pour there heart and soul into austin marinas, no-one likes those but the modification and restoration side of things makes any car a dream to work on.

In terms of cheapy mods for your engine.... All I can suggest is having a look at the dolly models that have a cold air intake fitted (I love the idea of a cold air set up) Other then that, I'm getting a straight through exhaust (so it doesn't have restricted flow through that oddly placed centre muffler) and custom made extractors. Not all the cheapest ideas but all up I'm spending just over $930.00 aus.

A good cloke to speak to would be that lively fellow from Sprintparts here in aus. They do some amazing stuff that I will one day fit to my dolly when funds permit.

Keep up the good work champ.

Aaron.

[VYO 372M]

Never let anyone convince you that your dolly isn't worth the time.

Yes it's your car and your money and if you are happy with it, then that's all that matters. Keep up the good work.

Steve

[DOLLY76]

Never let anyone convince you that your dolly isn't worth the time.

Yes it's your car and your money and if you are happy with it, then that's all that matters. Keep up the good work.

Steve

The thing I think that it comes down to is personal taste. The Dollies have such an iconic shape, some of the bodywork borrowed from The Holden torana, styling from the BMW..... it's a British icon that just makes you light up whenever you see one in good condition.

When I bought mine, it was sitting in an auction shed, mint condition but I knew I had to have it

[Purplebargeken]

Well done on the work so far John. It's all looking pretty impressive. Glad you are handy with the tools too. I am the other way round, useless with tools, reasonable re: bodywork. A nice balance would have been helpful

These cars are pretty reasonable to work on, once you get the wings off, it's all pretty straightforward for let in/fabricate new stuff.

Good on you for doing it. Keep at it, it'll be worthwhile in the end when you have a great car and the satisfaction of knowing that you did it yourself.

All the best.

Ken

[xvivalve]

that's a handy repair alright, I've never seen a reinforcer quite that bad, though VLKs did need plating. Did the car have the under wing plastic shields when you took it apart, I suspect the upper horizontal one may have been missing to cause what you found. Might be a worthwhile purchase if so to protect your handiwork...

[montythemole]

Sure I replied already but seems to have vanished?!

Loving the work, looking good. I'm also glad it stayed together around the track

Manifold was a spare that came with it, good as far as I know.

[johnnyv1]

Hi, all.

After some hairy moments of whether to leave the resto or keep at it (had some difficulties with storage-long story), I've been hard at it. Still focusing on the front after what seems to be a never ending war on rust/bad repairs and enjoying the many cuts,sweat,welding burns and near loss of the use of my eyes due to so much metal going in them even when wearing eyeguards. oh, and did i mention that i'm carrying home the dolomite 'one piece at a time' in my hair (an egg cup full of metal/rust) it seems most days.lol

Anyway, after what i thought was the end of the welding i found yet more rust in various places that needed work, also some bad repars that would make even the bodgers weep. I've since taken the subframe off as near its mountings on the car it was rusted so i've been repairing that up to xmas eve.

I'm posting some more pics again as a visual progress report as it seems i don't ever get the time to do a full write up, I'm doing so much on this car that to write it up in detail now would take awhile.

So, next week i'm going to start to get the fibreglass wings ready for fitting, that should be fun...

[johnnyv1]

Offside under wing welding/rust treatment finished and undersealed with added waxoil