tblaney

Unfortunately I have no pics of this car when i first got it. In December 2005!!!

I found this car under the trees at lower hyde holiday park on the Isle of Wight, looking abandoned!, you could see it had not run for ages but every panel on it looked straight. So i put a my telephone number on a bit of paper and posted it through the hood! I got a call In FEB2006 saying the car needs a home or its going to scrap so said there and then id have it and picked up the keys 15min later! After giving her £20 quid i think!. The lady said it rattled, but used until the MOT ran out then just left it there for about 2years!

Now let me just describe what we got to, there was mushrooms in the carpet and everything was mouldy, the steering wheel wasn’t like the usual 6month mould it was like jelly! The roof was green and the bonnet had gone from dark green mould to complete black. It was thick with gunge! My Poor mate Kev drew the short straw and had to be towed back 5mile with the roof down in the rain because it stunk so bad!

We got it home and I went and got a fresh can of petrol for it straight away, 3rd turn from the booster pack and the bloody thing started!, couldn’t believe it, woman said it had been there 2years!... I had to give it 3 buckets of water before putting the trade plates on it and running it to the jet wash. 10pound later I had got all the mould off the roof and in all the cracks and pieces.

I was off work anyway with a family bereavement so I got stuck right into it for the week.. Took the bumpers off and the lights out then the seats and carpet. Gave everything an acid clean, hamerite or greased everything, got it all back together and slapped a bit of p45 down the sills followed by a can of stone chip and took for an MOT. Failed on a CV boot and a tyre! all done.







Then the summer came, so i taxed it and used it as my daily drive... big mistake! New job was very demanding and i never had the time to keep it clean, working sometimes 7 days a week and trying to fit a social life in also it just wasn’t possible to keep on top of it.

I needed a reliable car again that would only ever need servicing. So went and got a c200 in April 07... I had plans to restore the cab but not the facilities any more, so it sat for a year outside and never moved. Eventually I moved it to my girlfriends farm where.. again, fresh petrol and it started first time and drove there fine..

Now its at my girlfriends farm where it is simply rotting away, i dont have the time/tools/space myself to do the work....







The girlfriend told me, the car has to go!.. but now it has a sentimental value.. and i just dont have the heart to scrap it.. So see if you can follow my thought pattern

I have to restore the car - and there is no time span......... If i restore it and if i ever "do" change my mind and sell it... id get more money with a turbo lump in it!

I have some good friends in the car trade that I have chatted to already that said they would help where possible..

.............So im thinking this is a big task that needs careful planning....

Going to pop out in a bit and take some pic's of how it is... as of TODAY...

Tell me what you think so far and let me know if you think im a nutter! but everyone has to start somewhere!?

-=-
Trev

tblaney

Just uploading 39 pics on photobucket of the CURRENT state of it.... also today i have sourced a bonnet - std xr3i! not bad for the first day eh! Have a feeling that will be the only progress for this month! need to sort a dry place out for it to live while i strip it...

oh yeah, forgot, only other items i have under my bed is... clear indicators, and koni springs n shockers kit.. and thankfully (you will see why in the pic's... 2 not new but better doors!!!! whoooo


-= s l e e p e r m k 4 c a b ? =-

I know its a 3i.. but i was reading the sleeper thread and was thinking?... what if... i put this 3i totaly original again, so sleeperish?... with the white 14" teledial covers (remember them??) over some steelies with some good tyres on them... would it pass as one? debadged of course...

if not, what could i do to make it sleeperish... other than put ghia bumpers on it

tblaney

OK... HERE GOES... DONT LAUGH!!....










































as you can see.... its in a bit of a tacking!

where to start?.... anyone?... lol

danny_boy699

iTrader: (5)

i would strip it to a bare shell mate

Twins

iTrader: (18)

Good luck with the resto and welcome to pf ,it may be better in your situation to tackle sections of the car at a time ,this way it wont be a daunting

tblaney

Cheers DannyBoy &Twins
Yes i have been sat working out an action plan.... and i am indeed going to do this in stages, as basically im a salesman and have good months then badmonths, so cant pin a budget on spending.. will just buy bits as and when...

My first thing i need to do is to find a place (beg father or father in law) as they both have their own garages, to spare me some workshop floor first. but it needs to be inside and dry all the time...

I personally have unlimited time, but they prob wont want me invading thier floor space for long, so im setting a time limit of 6months to get it back to a complete car again minus engine...

Im capable of doing the removal of items and refitting myself, as im not planning on stripping as far as the dash out.

Armed with a grinder and some primer i should be ok at finding any rust, cutting it out and temporary priming until dave the weld comes along and stitches it back together..

I should also be ok at cutting out the land panel and cross member as well as removing and throwing away the engine and gearbox

I will leave the mfi loom in as im totally unsure what route to go down when it comes to an engine... and dont particualy want to think about that at the moment.

Then the car should be ready for spraying, along with, bumpers bonnet and new doors .... diamond white again...

I would like to work out what style to do the car in i have a few options...
#Sleeper style - black mohair roof, teledial trims...
#S1kit - Blue mohair roof, porsche cup alloys (bcus i know where there is sum!)
#euro look - fat 13" rims - smoothed out bumpers (not practical for iow roads)
#or plain old s2kit... pre 90 specs always my fave...


Any opinions??

studabear

I know this is your project and has sentimental value but I reckon you could easily find a much better condition cabrio for not a lot of money and use that as ur base

Either way good luck what ever you choose and be sure to keep us all posted with your progress, sleeper sounds good