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The latest project

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Rita_Poon said:
Did you pay him cash and cut ebay out? I don't like ebay, they're scum. What does the boss think of the car? I bet that lovely interior has kept that manicured leather smell. 4.2 litre, wasn't made for that oil crisis was it.
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Bank transfer ... I'm sure he had to pay ebay some commission- that's his problem not mine. The interior is fantastic... it has one small tear in a carpet, somehow and one in the drivers seat annoyingly, but you barely notice them. For something 49 years old it's as good as you can get unless you want to throw patina and history out of the window.
 
Always nice to see a fellow car enthusiast show his latest aquisition, nice one mate. Hope you enjoy the journey getiing the old girl looking the part and bomb proof!!
I've been in to sports and classics since I was an apprentice engineer, buying my first one for peanuts at 18 and being mocked by all for not buying a "proper" car lol Fortunately I was able to do my own engine work and welding etc.
As many years have now past I've owned most British Classics and a couple of Jap legends and still love to chop and change.
Beauty of this hobby is that overall you just don't lose money on them.....in fact most appreciate if looked after.
At present I have 2 "modern" classics in the garage, a Lotus and a TVR, both have been with me for over 6 years now and have climbed in price so they owe me nothing. I'm thinking of selling them now though for a classic I've not yet owned.
On the other hand I'm not a car snob, I probably have the oldest daily drive in our roadlol I just shudder at the depreciation of every day cars and shudder more at being trapped in a lease on one. If it's tidy, does 60mpg and has a bit of grunt I'm happy.
The hobby has also exploded in recent years. Not long ago the only chance you had of meeting up with other classic and Sports owners was at yearly meetings like Tatton Park, now there are "Cars and Coffee" events every weekend and stacks of local shows, usually packed to the rafters.
It's great to see kids in to this as well, just like I was when I was an apprentice, all showing cars they loved when they were kids. It's a great scene at the moment.
 
Street end man said:
Always nice to see a fellow car enthusiast show his latest aquisition, nice one mate. Hope you enjoy the journey getiing the old girl looking the part and bomb proof!!
I've been in to sports and classics since I was an apprentice engineer, buying my first one for peanuts at 18 and being mocked by all for not buying a "proper" car lol Fortunately I was able to do my own engine work and welding etc.
As many years have now past I've owned most British Classics and a couple of Jap legends and still love to chop and change.
Beauty of this hobby is that overall you just don't lose money on them.....in fact most appreciate if looked after.
At present I have 2 "modern" classics in the garage, a Lotus and a TVR, both have been with me for over 6 years now and have climbed in price so they owe me nothing. I'm thinking of selling them now though for a classic I've not yet owned.
On the other hand I'm not a car snob, I probably have the oldest daily drive in our roadlol I just shudder at the depreciation of every day cars and shudder more at being trapped in a lease on one. If it's tidy, does 60mpg and has a bit of grunt I'm happy.
The hobby has also exploded in recent years. Not long ago the only chance you had of meeting up with other classic and Sports owners was at yearly meetings like Tatton Park, now there are "Cars and Coffee" events every weekend and stacks of local shows, usually packed to the rafters.
It's great to see kids in to this as well, just like I was when I was an apprentice, all showing cars they loved when they were kids. It's a great scene at the moment.
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Every other new show on tv is a dream car/restoration/makeover/sos type show. We're lucky to have the breadth of history we so easily take for granted here. TVR - chassis rot. Lotus - electrics. Best guess best guess... Elise and erm... Cerbera?
 

Rita_Poon said:
Every other new show on tv is a dream car/restoration/makeover/sos type show. We're lucky to have the breadth of history we so easily take for granted here. TVR - chassis rot. Lotus - electrics. Best guess best guess... Elise and erm... Cerbera?
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Yes mate, it's a massive industry now supporting the classics and rarities, and as you say the TV has well and truly latched on to it. It's so big that if you want to get a slot at one of these meetings you have to be very early, I don't attend many now because of that.....it's manic the amount who turn up.
Yep, Chassis, although mainly outriggers was the TVR's biggest issue, Mines only a humble Chimaera but fortunately still has its powder coating intact on a solid chassis, I love the Cerbera you mention but that speed 6 motor worries me daft lol Good call on the Elise. It's an Elise Cup and the last one to be built by the now defunct Lotus Motorsport division in 2014, registered in 2015.
 
DualityNSNO said:
Also ace cars mate, I'm maybe a tiny bit jealous x
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I'm trying to get a fellow GOT poster in to it. He's had no interest in anything like this before but is now contemplating a "starter" classic. Fortunes do not have to be spent to get in to this. Some of my fave cars at shows will have cost less than a years lease on a boring Euro barge mate. Have a go yourself, it's addictive ;)
 
chrismpw said:
So now on to issues. Remember ... everything works other than the electric aerial and the handbrake.

Well the radio didn't work ... actually an 8 track radio ... with tapes! Mantovani! The reason it didn't work, is that it wasn't wired in ... at all. He must have forgot.

The rear windows went down, not up without help. The centre console illumination and fibre optic illumination (I kid you not) don't work.

One of the two heater fans works, but not the heater.

All of these are trivial and within the scope of a day or so fiddling about, as you do with old cars.

Hang on, Where's the ignition light and oil pressure light* ? None of the warning lights work (consults manusl) - main beam, hazards (it has hazards? Where's the switch), hand brake brake fluid etc. ... all dark. Ahhh geesh to I have to take the dashboard apart to get to bulbs? (An hour of research later and no - a cover pops off ... relief).

The speedo under-reads by 10mph at 30 and 70. Honest officer. For crying out loud! What random fault have we here?

wipers only work if you hold the hand to the stalk. Washers not at all. OK- he may never gave taken the car out in the rain.

I start to inspect the engine bay .... is that a cable tie holding the battery in place, with the positive terminal right next to the overhang of the bulkhead?

Is that a gas tap in the fuel line to the Automatic Enrichment Device (choke) and its turned off? That's why I struggled to start it this morning. I turned it on. It made no dufference other than the tap leaked .... of course it does its built for gas not petrol ...and then the engine stalled. What goes through somebody's head to go to the trouble of fitting a (incorrect) tap, in a cramped place, to isolate a component that doesn't work WHEN YOU'RE THE KIND OF PERSON WHO HAS THE ENTRAILS OF 4 DONOR CARS?

I Like a challenge. I have zero buyers remorse, just an increasing list of labours of love. The car is solid, it's worth every penny and effort to fix it up ... but come on! It has 4 new tyres at least.

Wait ... one front tyre is worn on the inside .... down to the threads! Out comes the jack. The wheel bearing is SO badly adjusted there is around 5mm of free play in the wheel. 5mm! 5 enormous mm where the normal permitted is something less than a tenth! This explains why sometimes there was a lot of travel on the brake pedal, and at other times barely any. I check the other wheel - better - only around 2mm ... only around 20 times out of spec. All now properly adjusted and a new tyre fitted.

Onto the carnage committed to the electrical system under the dashboard. Feet in the air, lying back on the seat squab, a position that took considerable time and groaning to get onto, I discover that all the wiring is far too close for my old eyes to focus on.

I get all the lights working and seek the help of Mrs Chrismpw to tell me what comes on. Everything but the brake fluid warning, despite its new bulb. A look into the reservoir shows the float seized. I whip it apart and clean the contacts when the cork float crumbles in my hand ... bugger! It's Friday night and I HAVE to open a bottle of red wine, to liberate the necessary raw material to affect a repair.

* "Yes!" shouts the missus, "all the lights are on, even the zero one one light, whatever that means."
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It’s a labour of love, you and an army of like mind souls are keeping a piece of history on the road 💙
 
Street end man said:
Yes mate, it's a massive industry now supporting the classics and rarities, and as you say the TV has well and truly latched on to it. It's so big that if you want to get a slot at one of these meetings you have to be very early, I don't attend many now because of that.....it's manic the amount who turn up.
Yep, Chassis, although mainly outriggers was the TVR's biggest issue, Mines only a humble Chimaera but fortunately still has its powder coating intact on a solid chassis, I love the Cerbera you mention but that speed 6 motor worries me daft lol Good call on the Elise. It's an Elise Cup and the last one to be built by the now defunct Lotus Motorsport division in 2014, registered in 2015.
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That's some going. Bet it handles like a dream on a rail. Don't know much about tvr's so nice work lookin after the chimaera. If you cash em in, what do you have your eye on next? There's none left now but I'd always wanted to recover an 80's 911.
 

Street end man said:
I'm trying to get a fellow GOT poster in to it. He's had no interest in anything like this before but is now contemplating a "starter" classic. Fortunes do not have to be spent to get in to this. Some of my fave cars at shows will have cost less than a years lease on a boring Euro barge mate. Have a go yourself, it's addictive ;)
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Modern classic Fords are affordable and the parts are cheap.

Got a good mate who restores them for a living.

He’s got a warehouse full of his own cars too, which are investments for the future :

Cossys x 3
Loads of RS Escorts
3.0 ghia Granadas
Loads of Capris
Loads of Mk 1 Mini Coopers
Audi Quatros
And bizarrely, Volvo T5’s which he reckons are a future classic !
 
Street end man said:
I'm trying to get a fellow GOT poster in to it. He's had no interest in anything like this before but is now contemplating a "starter" classic. Fortunes do not have to be spent to get in to this. Some of my fave cars at shows will have cost less than a years lease on a boring Euro barge mate. Have a go yourself, it's addictive ;)
Click to expand...
Honestly restoration is time and space consuming - I haven't the space currently, sadly, to try, but I want to provided I have in the future. I've done the "front of the house small mods" route on a few of my cars before, it's quite fun and feels great really.

My unasked for advice for this is to pick a car you'll have fun with, a-la "Mighty Car Mods" on YouTube - doesn't need to have 1000000000 bhp or be the super-specific V8 or something - restomod it so it makes you happy.
 

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