Well, here is at long last as promised back in November 2011, a fuller account of the restoration of my HC, ‘Arthur Dent’. I purchased this S74 from VVOC member Paul Bottomley in January 2009 after a year long search for a suitable vehicle. I initially intended to carry out a light restoration once the MOT had expired. I was sold a very solid vehicle that had no major issues. However, the temptation to strip the vehicle down to the bare bodyshell was too much, everything was removed, cleaned painted and stored in my loft pending eventual reassembly. The rationale behind this was to get everything out of the way in order to have a vehicle that would need very little attention for years to come. With hindsight perhaps a rolling restoration might have been a better idea.
Once Arthur was in bits progress more or less stopped for well over a year. I decided to get my entire house double glazed followed by the re-roofing ofthe garage. Other house/garden/car projects soon followed taking me further away from the serious business of Viva restoration.
Arthur’s restoration was fairly straightforward, The engine was left well alone, it performed superbly on its delivery trip from Nuneaton to the South Coast without missing a beat. I did remove the cylinder head for a quick decoke and valve lapping but that was it. I have taken the opportunity to fit an auxiliary electric fan as queues in my part of the world make such a precaution necessary at times. At the moment though the existing viscuous fan is sufficient. Other work involved just tidying up and removing as many of the bodywork dents as possible. There were one or two areas where I carried out a little pre-emptive welding but nothing serious. Externally Arthur looks very much as it did in 1974, the interior however was to see a few changes.
Deviations from original spec included the fitting of rear seat belts (Securon) and head restraints on the front seats. All later HC seats have provision for head rests although these were optional items and to the best of my knowledge never fitted as standard. Given that the original interior had suffered from 36 years or so of UV, I took the decision to spray it all black and at the same time dye the carpet. Never again! To this day my bath is still suffering from the effects of black Dylon carpet dye!
A parcel shelf mounted centre brake light was also fitted, I take the view that every little helps in reducing the likehood of being rear ended and the subseqent after effects. Other additions are side indicators and rear fog lamps plus a seven dial dash. I have however retained the original dash for possible reinstatement. Effectively I have recreated the interior of my 1979 1300L from my mispent youth!
A rolling bodyshell. Strictly speaking that new sill was not really needed, but I was longing to try out some serious seam welding!
Rear three point seat belts. Vauxhall thoughtfully made provision for this.
Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 12:13 am
good to see Arthur is back....
