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Garage find hb 1600 auto!

PostPosted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:31 pm
by Retro morgs
Wahey,i've finally stumbled across some vehicular treasure (well my cousin did really) and it turned out to be a viva! :D Basically the story goes that my cousin lewis(a plumber by trade) had to replace a boiler in the garage of an elderly ladies house in Tunbridge wells. Whilst in the garage curiosity got the better of him and he couldnt resist pulling the cover off the car to see what it was. As it turned out to be a viva he spoke to the lady about it who informed him that it was her late husbands car that had been sitting there since his death 28 years ago. Lewis wasted no time letting her know about my vivaring antics and making the obvious enquiry into would it be for sale. As it goes,Ellen having had quite a bit of work done to the house lately (bet the boiler wasnt cheap!) could do with reigning in a few quid and agreed to let lewis pass on her contact details to me. Several phonecall's and a few weeks later a viewing was arranged. So i popped over to T.wells last night with my stepdad and we had as good a look as we could with the car being surrounded by furniture,lawn mowers and all sorts of other clutter that had built up in the garage! What we found was an hb 4 door 1600 auto deluxe,not sure what colour/shade it's meant to be as with the inadequate artificial light,rust,rot,filler and what looks like underseal and dulux gloss it was a bit hard to tell. It all looks relatively complete but worse for wear although very saveable. There is the usual rot to the inner wings with a few remote spots here and there but overall it seems quite solid. The floor has surface rust but a good poking made no holes,the sills seem ok,the boot floor is mostly ok with there being a small area that needs attention. The roof has surface rust prob caused by the non breathable cover and the rest of the body has various dings,dents and repairs. We tried turning the engine over but seems seized,but then that's to be expected after a 28yr lay up i guess! Rather amusing is that the exhaust has rotted clean off and is just laying as it fell under the car! I had a chat with Ellen after poking around the car to make doubly sure that she wanted to sell,which she did. She has offered me the car for £350 which i think seems fairly reasonable,what do you guys think? Was thinking of buying it and sticking it in the lock up whilst i get the firenza done,which will also allow me to collect parts for the hb as i go. I took pics but only one came out,the one which barely shows anything but here it is anyway!

Re: Garage find hb 1600 auto!

PostPosted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 8:06 pm
by pbottomley
£350 is a superb price for a 1600 auto.... boy your going to need a loan for the fuel bill mind ! LOL

Re: Garage find hb 1600 auto!

PostPosted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:14 pm
by Retro morgs
pbottomley wrote:£350 is a superb price for a 1600 auto.... boy your going to need a loan for the fuel bill mind ! LOL

Started of reassuring,ended worryingly..... :D Would it be sacrilage to convert it to manual?

Re: Garage find hb 1600 auto!

PostPosted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 10:44 pm
by hbpeter
Leave it auto, a 1600 auto is a very rare beast. £350 seems ok as its such a rare model.
Many years ago a club member had a GT registered SUD 80G.
Get back and get it out the garage and lets have more pics.
From that photo it could be Pampas Green, or Oyster Grey, or Saxon Blue.

Peter

Re: Garage find hb 1600 auto!

PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 10:11 am
by Retro morgs
Ok,i'll consider myself told on the gearbox front then! :D i'm going to try and arrange collection for when i'm off over christmas,i'll get plenty of photo's then! Need to get some tyres sorted so we can push it out and onto the trailer etc.

Re: Garage find hb 1600 auto!

PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 4:17 pm
by BobbyMel
Good find Nick, look forward to seeing this at Billing 2013...

Re: Garage find hb 1600 auto!

PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 4:28 pm
by shamm
Grab it while it's there, I can help with 1600 bits if you need them.

Re: Garage find hb 1600 auto!

PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 5:33 pm
by Retro morgs
BobbyMel wrote:Good find Nick, look forward to seeing this at Billing 2013...

Ha ha ha ha!!! At least you have a good sense of humour bob :lol: :lol: :lol:

Re: Garage find hb 1600 auto!

PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 5:35 pm
by Retro morgs
shamm wrote:Grab it while it's there, I can help with 1600 bits if you need them.

Well i'm def buying it so start dusting those 1600 parts off Mr H!

Re: Garage find hb 1600 auto!

PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 10:17 pm
by hbpeter
Brilliant, well saved that man. Look forward to the pictures.

Peter :respekt: