I've had this for just under a year now - so this is a very brief summary of progress so far:
The day I first saw it:
The car was owned by the same person for the first 30 years of its life, then sold to a guy who tragically was found in a local river. He'd had it for 10 years, during which time I suspect it was never serviced.
The clutch was seized, suspension was wrecked, steering was iffy, and there were virtually no brakes. The front cylinders were seized solid, one rear was seized, the one that was moving had no lining left on the shoes - even the rivets were ground off, and the drum was a right mess.
First job I set myself was to get the basic running gear sorted
Engine wise it wasn't too bad, I think the oil leaks at least meant it had had some fresh oil over the years. The dizzy had a problem in that the threads in the lower plate where the points are secured had been stripped. Some clown had stuck a self tapper in there which had not only further wrecked the plate, but had also dug into the mounting plate below that which meant the vacuum advance was stuffed.
I managed to re-tap the threads, but had to drill it out larger which means the points plate has to be filed out to allow the new bolt to fit. If they fail on the side of a wet dark motorway I'm goosed. I've got an electronic kit to fit so at least that will take the points out of the equation.
Back on its wheels again so I can get the work done so far checked by the local MOT guy - and then the next job is to sort out the corrosion - not too bad really, both outer sills need patching at the back, inner sill on n/s need a plate, o/s inner wing is rotten (not load bearing on these), rear wheelarches are crusty and the bottom of the spare wheel well has extra drainage holes that shouldn't be there.
Driving it to the MOT place I launched it over a few speed bumps just to check the suspension etc - pleased to say it rode the bumps very smoothly.
Future plans are to sort out the bodywork and fit a new carpet. It's not going to be concours, but it'll be presentable.
The day I first saw it:
The car was owned by the same person for the first 30 years of its life, then sold to a guy who tragically was found in a local river. He'd had it for 10 years, during which time I suspect it was never serviced.
The clutch was seized, suspension was wrecked, steering was iffy, and there were virtually no brakes. The front cylinders were seized solid, one rear was seized, the one that was moving had no lining left on the shoes - even the rivets were ground off, and the drum was a right mess.
First job I set myself was to get the basic running gear sorted
Engine wise it wasn't too bad, I think the oil leaks at least meant it had had some fresh oil over the years. The dizzy had a problem in that the threads in the lower plate where the points are secured had been stripped. Some clown had stuck a self tapper in there which had not only further wrecked the plate, but had also dug into the mounting plate below that which meant the vacuum advance was stuffed.
I managed to re-tap the threads, but had to drill it out larger which means the points plate has to be filed out to allow the new bolt to fit. If they fail on the side of a wet dark motorway I'm goosed. I've got an electronic kit to fit so at least that will take the points out of the equation.
Back on its wheels again so I can get the work done so far checked by the local MOT guy - and then the next job is to sort out the corrosion - not too bad really, both outer sills need patching at the back, inner sill on n/s need a plate, o/s inner wing is rotten (not load bearing on these), rear wheelarches are crusty and the bottom of the spare wheel well has extra drainage holes that shouldn't be there.
Driving it to the MOT place I launched it over a few speed bumps just to check the suspension etc - pleased to say it rode the bumps very smoothly.
Future plans are to sort out the bodywork and fit a new carpet. It's not going to be concours, but it'll be presentable.