It came fitted with full scorpion stainless exhaust, tinted rear lights and plate surround, stage 1 chip, konis and chassis dynamic springs -30mm.

The gearbox was pretty noisey (whine) in all gears apart from 4th but still worked fine.
This finally gave up after a year so i got another from a guy on here.
He had only just had it rebuilt but he smashed his sapphire up and was breaking it.

It stayed that way for a couple of weeks until i bought a set of Team dynamics Monza.

A few pics of it after a wash and polish.















I added the blue hoses, oil breather and swirl pot.

I used to keep it in a rented garage but after splitting from gf moved back to the folks house and then kept it at a friends parents
Only really used it on dry days and taking it to shows.

After a few months of using their garage they needed it back and i couldnt find anywhere else close to keep it so decided to use it alot more
It was nice to drive but after using it through the winter in all sorts of bad weather things needing replacing but i couldnt be bothered to do it

After using it for about 2 years and using it alot when it came to MOT time i gave it a check over at work (toyota garage).
I found it would need a bit of work to get it through an MOT;

Front discs,
brake pipes front/rear,
handbrake siezed,
both trailing arms excessive play,

So i decided to take it off the road and sort these bits and a few other things out all in one go.

Still not able to find somewhere to store it/work on it i ended up just leaving it down the side of the house and lost interest





Thats all for now, getting bored of typing.
Will add more in a couple of days.

Mart[/u]

 

Really like the look of this mate and to be fair i don't like moonstone blue i look forward to more pics and progress

 

keep with m8 ive just kicked the dust off mine in garage after 6 yrs .

 

don't let her get dented up the sideway you gott'a save her she is a nice one .

 

It 'was' a nice car guys.

The last pics are from over 18 months ago now.

I will update what has happened to it over that time tomorrow or thursday.

Thanks for looking.


Mart

 

Here are a few more pics.

The car stayed down the side for nearly a year ended up a little dirty and mouldy Didnt get many pics of it in this state.





Finally found another garage to rent behind a mates house so he towed me over there (not the safest feeling being towed in a car thats not moved in a year and you cant see much when you are being towed by a 3dr. All you can see is rear wing!!)

Got it to the rented garage and left it for a couple of weeks until one saturday i decided to start stripping it down.


















Not much difference in the above pics but i thought i would post them all up.

More tomorrow

Mart.

 

looks a nice car mate keep at it

 

It'll be really nice when its all done mate, keep us posted!

Any shots of the new shell?

 

Got pics of EVERYTHING!
will update it over the weekend, will be more of the strip down and parts refurbing etc before the new shell

Need a resto thread of yours now Karl, if you have any pics that is?

Mart

 

Cool

Be interesting to see mate, i've got some pics of mine but not as many as i would like, i wanted to do a kind of photo resto record when mine was being done but it just didnt happen for some reason.

I'm going to start on the underside of it soon though so i will take plenty of pics then!

 

Good plan Karl, the top half is looking great so the underside will finish it off a treat!
Sorted out the other rear light cluster and a brand new bulb holder for bargain prices!

Mart

 

More pics from the same saturday.

Got the rad and intercooler off.



The bottom metal pipe was so corroded it was untrue!!




Engine front view




Big oil/coolant leak down one side!







Belt etc off.



Underneath view, sump etc covered in oil



Thanks for looking.
More later.

Mart

 

Thats good mate, have you rebuilt the engine yet or are you sorting the shell first?

 

Cheers Karl,

I built the bottom end months ago. Its in my mates dads garage at the mo.
The head has been stripped/faced/pressure tested and rebuilt.
Im just concentrating on the underside of the new shell just now.

Mart

 

hi Mart

Youve done some superb work there mate,having that garage will be a massive help Keep the updates coming mate and if you need a hand im only a few miles away

Mart

 

Thanks Mart.

Yes the garage helps but there isnt much room down the sides with all the parts stuffed around it! It used to be alot worse but i sold most of the parts i wasnt going to use and threw the crap away

Will be updating the thread again today.

The pics i have posted so far are from FEB/MARCH '06 so ive got plenty more.

Thanks for looking/commenting

Mart

 

Nice project, well worth keeping and saving matey

 

Cheers MrCapri....

But this didnt get saved, the pics so far are of the strip down of the old car.
When stripping it down i found too much rot and got rid of the shell and got myself a crystal blue shell from PAUL@NORTHYORKS.

More pics to come shortly

Mart

 

Seeing that pics of the rad fans etc i just glad mine has been stored in a garage for all those years ,i think i have deff saved myself some work ,but the lotus sunbeam i own has been open to the elements for yrs is not lookin 2 good ,keep up the good work mart .

 

Cam cover off,




Head off in one go. Was pretty heavy for one person but gave it a go.
Surprised i didnt drop it the amount of oil all over the place




Inlet off.



Exhaust off.



Plugs were black when i took them out. Car was overfuelling and did need a set up though.



Head off, found block was wire ringed.




Another filthy/oil block pic




Keep the comments coming

Mart

 

Got another sunny day so the car was rolled out and i borrowed the engine crane from work.





Bit of old tow rope sorted the lifting.
Engine mounts out.



Unbolted the gearbox



Bottom end out.



Empty bay.



Bottom end ready to strip.



Clutch off.



Flywheel looking a bit uneven.







Sump off.



Random 'bits all over the carpark' pic.



Underside pic of a gearbox covered in oil (bit of a theme with this car!)



Gearbox out.



Had a bit of a slip up taking the 'box out, left a bit of a stain on the tarmac



Bellhousing off.


Stainless Scorpion exhaust off, was pretty beaten and had quite a few dodgy repairs done to it over the years.
Sold it on ebay to get it out of the way.





Mart

 

Blimey!! You have got lots of pics havent you Mart!! lol

That was quite a leak on the engine, where was it from?

What spec is the rebuilt bottom end?

Karl

 

Yeah karl, took plenty of pics to show it had been rebuilt etc plus also for reference when building it back up .

The leak was from the headgasket, looked like it was mostly coolant mixed with oil already on the block.

The bottom end is just standard rebuild with brand new +0.5 pistons, new little end bushes, arp bolts, skimmed flywheel, weight matched rods and got the whole lot balanced.
Head is all built up ready to go back on but been thinking about fitting the block before fitting the head. This is all when i eventually get the new shell underside stripped, cut out and weld in new metal where needed and have it painted of course. So be a few years at the rate im going lately

Mart

 

keep up the good work mate

 

Why are you re shelling? That shell doesn't look bad from what i can see and it sounds like the other shell isn't plain sailing if you've got some welding to do, Good luck anyway mate

 

Grant,

I have still to put the pics of the old shell up mate, wanted too much work to get it how i wanted it so got rid.
The car looked nice until it was stripped...this is when you find all the probs!

Wanted a whole boot floor, both rear arches, front wing, inner wing rusted/split, trans tunnel heavily corroded under carpet, inner sills, and alot of holes in floor pans.

The new shell wants a couple of small bits cutting out and new metal putting in then painting.

More pics tomorrow

Mart.

 

keep at it mate, was a shame too leave it to rott in the first place hate it when this happens to nice cars, happend to my fast ford featured escort just seems a waste

looking forward to see it come back to its former glory

 

Ahh i see, Crack on with the pics then pal

 

Good thread

Soon be ready to fit that cooler then!

 

Lol i wish that was the case kev
Gonna be alot of time going by before the cooler comes out from under a big pile of car parts

More pics shortly.


Mart

 

Some more pic of a battered exhaust
















When i sold this one, i bought the blueflame system off 3drstretch.
Nice exhaust in great condition, just needs a clean



Mart

 

Couple more engine bay strip pics.











Thanks for looking.

Mart

 

enjoying it I love the way you left all the twigs etc in the scuttle pannel for added knackered effect

 

Well spotted Trev lol

I did think about giving it a proper wash before we towed it to the garage but..........couldnt be bothered really.

I did wash it now and again when it was at my folks house but with the trees overhanging it, it was soon covered in leaves and bird muck.
Some of the muck cracked the laquer and paint!!!
Thise birds must have been drinking paint stripper!

More pics tomorrow.


Mart

 

A few (loads ) more pics of underside stripping.

Crusty dirty N/S/R arch.


Diff and driveshaft covered in rust and crap.



Brake pipe corroded, snapped when undoing.



Driveshaft off.


CV grease, no longer greasy.


Diff stub axle.


Hub stub axle.


Rear ARB off.


Diff off rear beam.


Rear diff mount on chassis. All bolt from underside came off a treat, nothing snapped


Filthy diff and prop.


Bottom of diff ground off from launching over the years!


Rear disc, very corroded.


Tank


Pump and holder.


Pump off,all hoses perished and mountings rusted.


Dropped the tank.





Was pretty rusted so went in the skip. Will get a new one when i build it up.

More in a few days.

Mart

 

Good Work... Keep 'em coming!!!

 

Cheers Simmo.

Plenty more pics were they came from!

Just recieve a set of brand new amber rear light lenses for a bargain price.
Will get pics of the new stuff up when the strip pics are finished.

Thanks for looking.

Mart

 

Great thread this, that's one rusty saff..

Keep up the great work Mart..

 

Cheers Staffi,

The rust in the pics i have posted so far is nothing compared to the rust in the pics waiting to be added!

Will update later when i get time.


Thanks

Mart

 

After this i pushed it back into the garage and left it for a few weeks.
In this time i was stripping/cleaning and rebuilding parts (will post the pics further on)
When i did get back to working on it i decided to strip front suspension etc.






Quite a bit of inner wear on the front tyres









Front suspension and hubs off.


Very rusty front discs and calipers

Caliper seals looking pretty tired and split.


Rack and subframe off.



Seperated rack. Covered in oil as usual.


Subframe - Rusty and dirty.




Thats it for now, enjoy the pics.

Comments welcome.

Mart