1971 Humber Sceptre

[lusciousthelock]

Hiya Folks, this is my first post after getting back into car's (Bikes are easier to push when they break down and don't get stuck in traffic lol). The wife is pregnant with child No.4 and so was forced to get another car, you know, something safe and practical...
Anyway, I've always had retro car's but found the current prices of anything RWD or with a Ford badge to be ridiculous! I've ended up with an unusual choice, and not really sure what to do with it. Any Ideas?





I keep getting told off by everybody that see's the car. Those sticker's ruin a beautiful classic car! So I sat down today and removed them (along with some of the paint). The previous owner left the original hub-caps in the boot along with a ton of spares so I returned to 70's bland




The body is far from mint and the paint is literally polished off on all the corner's by it's previous owners along with many small parking dent's that you can't see in these pictures. I like it though, it feels genuine if not a little bland. I was considering lowering the suspension and fitting a set of Weller 8-spoke wheels. Thought they would look smart if painted black with nice tyres, I was given four of these with perished 225/60HR/13 tyres. A bit wide for this perhaps, but maybe with 205/60/13's.



I can't be bothered with "Mint" or fresh paint. I like it a little ratty, just not sure how to achieve what I want yet.

[madwelshman]

Welcome to RR.
A posh Hunter, lol. Looks quite nice. I had a turquoise one years ago.
A little agricultural with leaf springs on the back and a long stroke engine, but quite strong and dependable and, with a bit of work, can be a rapid car.
Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

[madwelshman]

P.s, personally I hate wellers(each to their own and obviously cheap is good), so if it was mine, I'd look for some nice alloys or deep dish steels. After all, 4x108mm pcd, so choices are far from limited.

[Mercdan68]

Nice car had one back in the late 80s,,, lower it and fit 7x13 superlites, job done

[fogey]

Good to see another Rootesmobile on here - would have left the stickers in place though . . .

[jpsmit]

Nice though I kind of liked the stickers...

[docjock]

Love it.
Had my first legal (public road) lesson in my auld fella's Sceptre.

Suggestions?

They look good on Rostyles.
Ditch the black bonnet.
Black out the headlamp surrounds.

[79cord]

Very nice.
De-stickered does suit its character much better, in the same way black bonnet & vinyl roof is a contradiction of styles.
Not normally a fan of Wellers either but black painted centers should look good with the extra rim width giving a more purposeful image. Now has me wondering if the hubcaps would fit more deeply within them though.

[lusciousthelock]

I liked the sticker's. It was supposed to look like a production saloon car from the 70's "Avon tour of Britain" I could imagine this whizzing round a track on Avon cross-ply's! Those car's were just like that- actual production showroom cars running standard wheels and suspension etc.

I do own a large set of Minilites 7x13, which came from my old Mk2 Capri. I hate them though Seem to collect brake dust like a curse word (None laquered versions) and "Everybody" has them. Nobody run's Weller's anymore so they may make a nice change. 79cord, I like your thinking. Maybe I could do the center's of the wheel black, with the dish part done in a matching metallic orange?

[grifterkid]

That is very nice indeed, I have always liked these Rootes motors...

If it were mine I'd try and source some Cosmic alloys or Dunlop D1's for an ultra-1970's look!

This is great and I will certainly be following this thread closely...

[qwerty]

Some lowering springs, lowering blocks for the back, paint the wellers and stick some 185/60's on them and job will be jobbed!

[nomad]

Oct 4, 2014 16:30:10 GMT lusciousthelock said:

I've ended up with an unusual choice, and not really sure what to do with it. Any Ideas?
I can't be bothered with "Mint" or fresh paint. I like it a little ratty, just not sure how to achieve what I want yet.

Welcome to the Rootes way of life - see the build in my sig for some ideas that might help (& some that won't) 

Have fun!

[tenman]

cooler than a penguins knackers, IMHO looks equally good either with or without the stickers, they were period and not a Japanese Tuning company shopping list at least ..

[lusciousthelock]

Just an update. Car's been running okay, she has a top speed of 104mph according to the stock speedo at dead on 5500rpm as discovered on a quick Christmas trip to Germany. Not bad for a 3 speed auto, although I didn't push it for long but sit's quite comfortably at 80mph. She didn't like traffic as she got very hot but giving the full system a flush through cured this last week. Had to replace the thermostat housing and cap, as these shattered like glass trying to remove ancient pipes and seized bolts. The thermostat itself was the original brass item which someone had glued in place with copious amounts of instant gasket. Had to replace many perished pipes as well, so this should see her in good stead for a few years.

Got a few electrical niggles to sort. No inhibitor switch on the gearbox at the moment and can't get into the Park position as the cable needs adjusting. Also don't have an ignition light which is weird as everything tests fine at the alternator end but found the birds nest of wires behind the dash somewhat scary. Gonna need 100's of sticky labels, as Rootes loves a spade connector or two! Also don't appear to have fuel gauge but the low fuel warning light works perfectly.

Still running the skinny wheels as I haven't had time to install the new wheels yet. I'm thinking of fitting wheel arch extensions so I can have my 205/13 wheels fitted and would also help me cure another problem that the salt under those chrome wheel arch embelishers has eaten my arches

This mornings job, apart from trying to find the fault of an occasional misfire was to start cleaning up the engine bay. After blowing the starter solenoid looking for loose wires I gave her a clean around with maintenance spray and pulled the flaking insulation from the bulkhead to tidy it up a bit.



Well its a start

[fred]

Looks a peach of a car - Me - wouldnt do a thing
just fettle it up, and run it as is.

[Hillmanjames]

Very nice, there's a few of us on here with Hunters/ scepters now!

[bazzateer]

Ignition light might just be the bulb?

[lusciousthelock]

Sadly not a bulb, also tested the bulb and holder and both work fine. I need to remove that part of the dash eventually as the varnish is horrible and I've managed to redo the rest of the interior fairly easily but the actual trim with all the switches attached is a nightmare due to the shear number of random wires and spade connections. When did car manufacturers get around to inventing the multi-plug?

[Hillmanjames]

I wouldn't be surprised it if looks something like this under your dash:



Yes, some of those connectors that were just dangling there were live all the time.....

I've had 2 hunters and a look at a few more and everyone of them looked like Medusa's mop under the dash! Sometimes its best to just rip it all out and start again, as you can forever be chasing faults from 40+ year old crusty wiring like I was on my first one (good way to learn though! )


James

[pistonpopper]

My Mum had a 1970 Singer Gazelle in the eighties with wiring that hung out under the dash like this! I loved that car, i wish i knew it's whereabouts now!

Just a thought, but time for an update? Maybe with a few more photos... Please!