Finally I have got around to working on this car. I've been meaning to for ages but I've not had time.
This was it when I got it.
A couple of weeks ago Paul B came over to help me start the job.
We did a lot.... sorting out the brakes which although they looked fantastic were all stuck together. We managed to free the clutch and it moved under it's own steam for the first time since the 80s. The guy who owned the car from new was in the Royal Engineers - and it shows. He looked after it meticulously and did some really clever modifications. I'll stick photos of these on here later.
The brakes looked perfect. They had obviously been done before the car was laid up, but the rubbers had stuck in all the psitons, so we went to replace the slave cylinders only to find he had replaced the back plates with those from a newer HC - so the parts wouldn't fit! So we renovated the old ones and refitted. All works perfectly!
Anyway here's a bad photo of us cleaning it from nearly 25 years worth of dust and crud.
The car is solid in all the important places. Some scabby bits at the bottom of the NS front wing and rear wing behind the wheel. Everything else is amazing. He coated everything in either wayoyl or some other preservative which I've never come across before but it forms like a brown hard coating. He's done everything, even under the carpet.
Today I had a very unannounced day off - a meeting was cancelled and I was at a loose end. So out with the car!
Did the inside. Not much to do to be fair other than clean but it's like a little time capsule. All carpets intact, seats perfect, so is the dash etc.
Front
This is the mods etc he's done to the dash. The clock is really neat. You can see fog light switches on the dash (one for each side?) and the gooseneck map light. What you can't see is how he has made metal fixtures and other things which have improved the original design. he was really clever at this stuff.
What I have to do next is get some tyres, get an MOT and drive it to Billing!
Paint is rough but it will do for now.
He also kept a logbook of everything he did - meticulously again. Even down to what day he did something, what he did, how much he paid for it etc. I have labels off old tyres saying what side they were on, when bought, how many miles etc... amazing detail.
Been a good day. Just hope I can do some more over the weekend.