1980 Austin Allegro

[chrisdcapri]

Right, I bought this way back in February but progress has been somewhere between slow an non existent since then as I haven't really had much luck with it. I'm hoping that by doing a thread it will encourage me to get a move on.
The optimistic notion was that this would serve as a reliable daily hack but after a 2 hour drive home I wasn't so convinced and after using it for work for a week the tired old 1500 E series and autobox pretty much gave up the ghost, buring most of it's oil and dumping the rest on the drive. Here she is after making it back (you can't see from the pic but one of the headlight lenses fell out on the driveway)



I found a guy breaking a car and agreed to buy the engine but would have to wait a month for it, after a month I couldn't get hold of him

Whilst waiting for the non existent engine I decided to take off the plastic sill and arch covers to 'investigate' yeah, I know - like poking a wasp's nest, anyway



Not the end of the world, but a bit disapointing on an MOT'd car
I ordered a sill from Ebay - and a sill arrived, but after talking to the seller it transpired to be a wrongly labelled Austin Princess sill and he didn't have an Allegro one. So with a bit of fettling it didn't fit too badly actually



In the meantime I ordered a wheelarch panel from the Allegro club and the picture above shows what they sent (the crucial part is missing) after much wrangling they agreed to repalce it, which they did - with a 2 door panel which did not have the step for the door shut, by this time I decided I would have to run with what I had and use it



Not the best job in the world I'm afraid, I tried to cut out as little metal as possible and ended up joining it on the curve, losing the shape a little bit, at least it's metal, not rust and filler. Anyway, that's as far as I've got so far but hopefully there will be more progress to report soon

[RRT 22R]

Very nice. You don't see many Allegro's with the twin headlamp arrangement.

What are the plans?

[djefk]

It's got twin headlamps because it's a 1500 - Only those and the 1750's had them and they are pretty rare, surpisingly quick too I've heard, plus come with 5 speed boxes as standard, so it should make a very practical cheap car once you're done with it!

Had a 1300 mk1 with the quartic wheel a couple of years ago - Bought it for a laugh to smoke around in and then sell on but I ended up keeping it for 18 months because it was such a laugh to drive, raised smiles wherever it went and (after installing a 30 quid Accuspark leccy ignition kit), the most reliable car I've owned ;D

By chance I happened to be in Wareham on the way through to Brighton a year after I sold it and saw it in a Sainsbury's car park - Quite a coincidence seeing as I lived in Ealing when I sold it!

Some pics:







Good luck with the project.

[graham1200]

This is my mates old car, its got round headlights because he fitted them. Before buying that one he had an equipe but the body was too far gone.

i believe this one was a 1500 auto when he bought it.

The wheels, headlights, engine and box from the eqiupe ended up in this one. To start with the 1750 lump ran on a pair of mg meastro carbs. later it ran a big su and a supercharger form a bmw mini.

I cant remember what the set up was when he ended up selling it to a guy in Kent.

Nice to see the body getting some attention, it had a bit of filler in it but was basically a good one!

[chrisdcapri]

Yeah I got it from a guy called Tony in Kent, if I remember correctly he used the 1750 in his Vanden Plas project and this one got the old lump from that, so it must be on at least it's third engine now, oh and there's still plenty of filler in it.

[jomfun]

BL tin is the future. Nice project

[<Type desired username here>]

Is it just me or does anyone really like the shape of the allegro estate?
I saw one recently on ebay and it got me building go faster ones in my head! Very seventies! ;D





Good luck with yours! ;D

[sarkie83]

Jun 30, 2012 22:22:25 GMT <Type desired username here> said:

Is it just me or does anyone really like the shape of the allegro estate?
I saw one recently on ebay and it got me building go faster ones in my head! Very seventies! ;D

Yep - you're not alone!

[gt]

my dad used to own a 1750 allegro on twin carbs it was fast and felt bloody lethal to drive...lol

[roddersc4]

when I had my first car in 87(mk2 Escort 1300L 2-dr) the receptionist at my work reversed into the side of it,she offered to get it fixed for me at her local garage out in the sticks,who would in turn give me a courtesy car,so out I trundled about 20-ish miles out of Aberdeen(I forget where it was) to drop off my Escort for repair and get this courtesy car,so to say my expectations where high was an understatement,I was thinking Mk3 or 4 Escort lol,anyway I get handed a set of non-discript keys and got told its round the back,so you can imagine the look on my 18yo face at the sight of a 76P-reg Orange Allegro 1.3HL(I think) sitting there,anyway I had the car a whole weekend and absolutely loved it to bits,even if it was uncool to be seen in,it drove beautifully compared to my 78T-reg Escort,didnt leak when it rained and was one of the most comfortable cars to be sitting in and drive,I've always hankered after one,but they are very few and far between up here in the North East of Scotland

[chrisdcapri]

A bit of progress this weekend, more along the lines of dismantling at this stage but don't panic I have a plan, this weekend I did this:



Blimey this was heavy, I reckon the E series has to be a contender for the heaviest Front wheel drive engine in the world. I really hope I never have to change the engine in a princess!

Then I went on a very long drive and came back with this: ;D
Will all go smoothly?- I very much doubt it, update soon hopefully

[moggydan]

Hi, My mate put me on to this thread as your Allegro used to be mine, I am a little shocked at the state of that arch/sill area.
I bought this car unseen from a guy in Glasgow after putting a wanted ad on ebay and drove it the 450 miles home without any issues. As my mate pointed out it was originally a 1500 special automatic and ran well, having only done 30 odd thousand miles, it was rather gutless and thirsty though!
I transplanted the running gear from a very rusty equipe, converting it to manual in the process. It also received the wheels, instruments and the equipe steering wheel. The quad lamps are from a series 3 HL.
The 1750 mill initially ran on twin DCNF 40's from an MG maestro 1600 and went quite well but as we do I wanted more power so I later bolted on an eaton super charger sucking through a single SU. This set up went like stink but I had to revert to twin carbs as the transmission was unable to cope with the torque (it would slip the clutch badly the moment the boost came in)
I am really glad to see this car again and I well pleased it is getting some love and attention.
Keep up the good work.

Dan

[chrisdcapri]

^^^^^^^
Great to hear from you mate. One of the things that really struck me with this car is how well the twin headlights work with the chrome bumper. Funny how things work out - I've just spent the weekend converting it to manual again, however my engine plans are somewhat less ambitious than yours, I'm hoping fitting the stock MG Metro 1275 will make the car more usable. I've got next week off work so I hope to make a bit of progress then.

[grifterkid]

That is really very nice... I would love an Allegro so I cannot wait to see how this little project turns out! Long live BL...!!!

[chrisdcapri]

Right, I'd hoped to have a bit more to report by now but as is always the way with old cars things never go as smoothly as planned. I have done a bit ....honest (in between ducking in and out of the rain) Got the engine in with the much needed help of my mate Stinger



When I removed the coolant pipe running under the radiator it looked like this




So I replaced it with this nice shiney copper from my neighbour's scrap bin- proper retro materials being used here;D



I'm having a real problem with the Metro twin downpipe not pointing in the right place then while removing the exhaust this happened



This doesn't look too special either



All in all this is costing more in time and money than I'd hoped, sound familiar? I'd really like to have this on the road for the Gathering, not so sure I'm gonna make it

[chrisdcapri]

Right then, finally got the car running and had it booked in for MOT at 8:00am this morning, I thought it best to take it for a test drive yesterday around lunchtime. The test drive lasted about 200 yards before I lost the use of the clutch and had to get a tow back from my mate. Sadly I didn't get any photos of this but it provided an amusing sight for the local residents. Once home we identified the problem - the rubber hydraulic hose had given up, by now it was Sunday afternoon. A panic dash was made to the only scrapyard I know open on a Sunday, by the time we got there it was raining harder than I've ever seen before but on the plus side the yard does have a burger van and we managed to get the last two burgers on the grill before it closed.
An old Range Rover in a forgotten corner of the yard yielded a rather manky but usable clutch hose just before the yard owner started kicking out at 4:00pm. Back home, pipe was fitted, clutch bled and test drive again - thankfully it held up
Made it to the MOT this morning and the result ...............

FAIL


I wasn't really expecting it to pass but all in all not too bad. ball joints and bearing ordered, if they arrive promptly it might still make RRG12!!

[danburger28]

Not too bad on the mot.Keep at it mate, it'll be worth it in the end!

[orioncrazycarl]

any retro owner would be happy with that MOT result!good work

[chrisdcapri]

Yeeeeeehah - we have an MOT, passed this morning so I'm gonna use it for work this week and try really hard not to break it before the weekend. Not really sure what the long term plans are for it yet, I had planned to use it as a daily driver I think I'll use it for a bit and see how we get on.
Anyway added a couple of retro touches to it before the gathering
Retro roof rack, got this for a fiver at an autojumble ;D



Obligatory gear knob:



and of course:



Looking forward to sunday ;D see you there

[chrisdcapri]

You know I said I must try really hard not break it - well I didn't manage it
With the MOT certificate still warm and insurance purchased I proudly drove it to work this morning and back............. but at an angle as one of the rear hydragas displacers had leaked it's fluid out - AAAARGHHHH This is the worst car I've ever bought
Currently looking into options but safe to say it won't be making it to the RR gathering - well and truly gutted