Clearly there is a little bit of T.L.C to be delivered
before 2080 PO can be driven again. Restoration can be a tricky business
as it generates many questions on what the end product
should be as well as providing vast ground for
costly errors. Should the car be restored as it was when last driven ?
Should it be put back as when first raced ? should one use only period
spares or compromise ? Will it be a race car or a fast road car ? who
can I entrust to do the work ? etc... etc...The list is never ending...I
have now spent quite a few weeks researching the car as well as another
one which I intend to build as an FIA car to do the Monaco, but more on
that one later...Anyhow though there is still some degree of
uncertainties I seem to have answered most of my questions and concluded
as follows: I will restore 2080 PO to its former racing glory in a
sympathetic manner without being ultra-orthodox about details. Clearly I
intend to re-use as much as possible of the car but will be pragmatic
about it and put safety before age and beauty. I want to use the car for
track days and possibly at a later day in competitive events but
also enjoy it on the odd English country lane from time to time. Acknowledging my mechanic skill are somehow limited I have enrolled the help of Andrew Forster at Archers
Garage in Birmingham. Probably the best one can hope for in terms of
experience and skills. The below will illustrate the restoration and be populated as a function of the
progress made ....so I am afraid you will have to visit the site for
quite a few months before seeing the end result....
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2080 PO arrives at the farm in Sussex and
trigger much interest from the locals.... |
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The car get in its temporary residence |
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I cant wait for it to be roadworthy again, its
going be so much fun ! |
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Reacquainting myself with the use of a spanner... |
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Ready to be collected for its spa treatment by
Andrew...Not bad for a few weekends laboring.... |
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Best Mecano set I ever had...though i am
missing a few bits... |
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Can you see it ? Definitively has the racing
look ! |
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Just a little be more T.L.C and we are ready for
Goodwood... |
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On the 20th of July some of the joy of
re-chroming hit home...
The difference it brought to the vents was
quite amazing...whilst it preserved some of the nook and
crannies...
I was nearly tempted to keep the old
patina...but the chrome looked good and I can always park the
car under the rain...for another 50 years to get it back....
The company that did the work can be found at :
http://www.chromefix.co.uk/ , all I can say is excellent
door to door service and reasonable pricing... |
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What at difference ! The steering wheel was
restored by
Car Wood Restoration. The service was excellent just
dispatch the wheel , agree on the price wait a week or so and
receive the transformed item for a very reasonable
price....I
definitively recommend them. |
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All the gauges were preserved and sent to
Speedograph
in Nottingham who restored them. They repainted the casings,
changed the chrome rims (but for the exception of the ammeter) ,
replaced the sensors for the oil and water temperature gauges. I
asked them not to repaint the face of the instruments so to keep
the old patina. Overall I was fairly impressed by the result and
the speed of the service (3 weeks). the cost seemed reasonable
at around 50 pounds per gauge. I definitively recommend them.
Finally all gauges are now guaranteed for 12-month. The only
issue is that they do not specialize in the type of tachometer i
had so i polished it myself and hope the inners are still in
good condition...i guess we will see when we get the engine....
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4th of September 2011, Andrew came to visit me to pick up the car for
its beauty treatment. Great week end with a lot of frogeye talk
and much enjoyment.
On her way to
Archers Garage
....Can t wait to see her back.... |
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5th of October and a few news from
Birmingham about the
restoration ...some good some no so good... When trying to
take off the fiberglass covering the B post on the drivers side
Andrew found some significant corrosion in it as well as
some damage.... It also looks like the car has a had a bump on the
B post
as well and that the previous owners re-fibreglassed over the top.
Also the shroud was so brittle that he broke in pieces...I guess
the good news is that a B-post is not really expensive and that
back shroud are readily available.....Also the remainder of the
structure such as the wheel arches look fine.
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The Alfin have been shot blasted and look
really nice... I can' t wait to see them back on the car... |
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Andrew and team started to prep the bonnet to make a mould of it and cast
a new one....Also quite a
few bits and pieces such as back axle, engine went for an acid
dip...more news to come.... |
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A few more pictures from Andrew received on the
18th of October 2011. The front of the car has been tidied up. The
old bonnet hinges have been taken off and will be replaced by
new ones. The front wings have been cut so to be
replaced by full aluminum ones. |
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The shroud has now been fully taken off and so
has been the rusty b-post to be later replaced. |
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Some items have been returned from their acid
bath . The rear brake back plates and my good old (non longer
rusty)
back axle. |
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The wheels have been prepared to be shot blasted
and powder coated. I am not yet sure if I am going to use them
on 2080 PO or keep them as an extra set for my other car ( or
which more to come....) or else... The quarter elliptic have been dismantled
and acid dipped. they will later be rebuilt and painted. |
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Andrew bought a 1275 , a few conrods and a
marina crankshaft to build the new engine for the car. They also
have been acid dipped. The engine when rebuilt will probably
a 1330 cc which should bring much "vavavoom" to 2080 PO.....Obviously
this will need to be notified to the DVLA. |
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New lightened conrods and ARP bolts |
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rocker cover, timing chain and front plate ready
to be painted |
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Brake plates and blanking cover |
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14th November 2011 a quick trip to agree on
details with Andrew and a good opportunity to take a few more
pictures of the work on progress.
The shell has now been striped out of its old GRP
shroud
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Because the metallic frames which are embedded in the
old GRP doors seem to be rusty and will need much work and
hours to make them good I decided to replace them by full
aluminum doors . This aside being a cheaper and quicker option
has also the benefit of them being lighter
than the original doors. As for the old doors i will keep them
as a "souvenir" |
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The hinges will also be changed
from steel to aluminum and bring a significant weight advantage. |
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A few pictures of my set of straight cut gears
that will populate my ribbed case gearbox. Quite noisy but
supposedly near unbreakable. |
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The crankshaft on the lathe being wedged to
lighten it and provide better RPM response... |
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22/12/2012 and a few more pictures from
Birmingham. Andrew has started to repaint some items that were
acid dipped such as the back axle and some of the engine part
(to be shown later) . We decided to repaint the engine in Red
which should look nice in the bay which will be painted in
Healey blue. |
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Unfortunately the seats are not cleaning nicely,
so we will probably get them re-upholstered using the old vinyl
covers as a template., The frames look ok and will be re-used. |
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The shell has been shot blasted and etched
primed ready for some welding. Thankfully no bad surprises here.
Probably the outer sills to be renewed and welded as well as the
floor section under the driver. and the b-post on the
driver side. The rest should be minor stuff. |
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Ok time to start to be creative, now we are on
the rebuild phase we need to put some thoughts on what the car
will be like. This is a first draft of the dashboard and other
features of the car to be....probably will be
different at the end...but was fun to do..... |
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Archer's Garage Team has been hard at work
replacing floor panels , sills and strengtheners.... |
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Also the bonnet is soon to be
fully prepared so a mold
can be taken of it..... |
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23/01/2012...Andrew has finished the welding on
the shell...
First picture got me worried as misread Andrew's email
as " all that could be salvage from your car..."...nearly had a
heart attack...obviously was "all that we could not salvage
from your car..."
Second picture is the right hand side sill |
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left hand side A post of the car and aluminum
door in position |
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H frame has been cut to accommodate the front
hinge. |
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Driver underside panel replaced
bonnet hinge box removed & obstructed |
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strengthener welded
secure on passenger side.
inside view of the driver side panel and strengthener . |
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As per Ray English from down under who
produces the quintessential newsletter "Marque One"
"Made by LYNX of Sydney, Australia.
Lynx were one of the first companies in Australia to manufacture
their own speed equipment, and today their items are quite
sought after...." |
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The bonnet is now fully
prepared for the mold to be made. |
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The hinge boxes have been
removed and welded |
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The bulkhead has been
reinforced where the engine steady bar will be fixed. |
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The frame to which the
gasoline tank will be attached has been inserted in the
car. |
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The aluminium doors are being
fitted. |
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A few more pics from
Birmingham. The stanchions have been drilled to make the car
lighter.... |
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front aluminium inner wings
have been attached and the scuttle has been welded and leaded |
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B-post has been replaced |
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aluminium door have been
fitted. |
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Bonnet has been lacquered and
will be left to cure a few weeks before a mold is being taken of
it. |
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The adjustable shock absorber
have been repainted and the oil will be changed later on |
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The crankshaft is now
finished to specification. |
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The flywheel has been
scalloped so as to reduce its weight without compromising its
integrity.
should give better acceleration potential to the car. |
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Andrew and team have started
to work on the roll cage and have also installed the shroud. |
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Making sure that we have
clearance so the hood fit over the roll cage. |
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The backstay are in position
to be welded and two diagonal have been already welded....though
it looks like the drawing no 35 in the blue book ...I am still
not sure if this is right...the definitions in MSA the blue book
are really confusing.... |
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The aluminium boot floor is
now painted in the gorgeous Healey Ice Blue and ready to be
assembled |
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The Dan Dare Hardtop is being
prepared, so we can make a mold of it....quite tempted to keep
the same orange colour.....not ! |
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23/03/2012 great
progress at Archers Garage, the boot floor has been pop riveted, the
roll bar is being adjusted for the hardtop that will be painted
in old English white, the aero screens are fitted and the points
for the harnesses have been catered for.....can t wait.....It
suddenly start to look like a pretty car.. :)
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I spent a bit of time preparing
what will be my dashboard..and here is the result. Just need
some tidy up and to be covered with fabric....just need the rest
of the car now ..... |
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21/04/2012
The bonnet mould is being prepared. |
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The shroud
has been cut so the roll bar can
fit. It will be sanded and prepared for painting. The hedge line
will be sanded away to git it a nice smooth and rounded look. |
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The shell is now in the
painting boot and a coat of anti-grit has been applied all over
it. |
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The roll bar was finally
reassessed and seem to be more in tune with FIA regulations. The
diagonal is removable |
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The fuel cap has been polished with an
amazing result, I did not realise that some parts were made of
brass. |
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15/05/2012
The underside and inside of
the shell has now been painted Healey blue ice, next step will
be to paint the shroud and bonnet and assemble them...the roll
bar will be painted mat black and the white flanks will be
painted later |
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12/06/2012
The shroud has been assembled and the car has now been primed
ready for its color coat to be aplied. |
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The aluminium doors have been
primed as well as the hood frame |
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The
mould for the bonnet is partially finished, just need the wings
now.... |
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04/07/2012
Nothing like the smell of paint in the morning
:) !!! |
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Wings
and valance of the bonnet mould are done ... should be a new
bonnet coming out of that soon .... |
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20/07/2012 another visit to Birmingham to talk upholstery and
others as well a getting a quick ride in a Sebring equipped with
a similar engine and straight cut that 2080 PO will sport
in a hopefully not so distant day... the straight cut is
clearly noisy and provide a good incentive to reach 4th gear...
:)
The quality of the work is great but it looks like quality
is an inverse function of time spent unfortunately....I think it is
now
unlikely the car will be ready for the Speed Trials after
all....I guess there is always next year...hopefully it will be
for the Good wood Revival so we can drive there in style.... :)
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Now the
shell has just been painted in Healey ice blue, the white
strip will be painted probably next week and the car will then
be lacquered for protection and extra shine.... |
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The roll
bar fit snugly, the aluminium rails have been sent to the
polisher. |
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Can t
wait to see the filer cap and other chrome bit on the back of
the car, should be a nice contrast |
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engine block has now been bored to its desired 1330cc |
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31/07/2012
And now the white livery started to appear on the car.... how
great !!! Andrew now tells me the car soon will be on stands and
some of the mechanichal bits will be fixed to the car...still
won t quite cut it for the Speed Trials...I guess there is
always next year.... |
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28/08/2012
Aluminium flanges have been fitted to the bonnet and the mold
should be finished in a week....guess it will be 2 or 3 weeks
from now till we can see the end result coming out of the
mold.... |
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The
original seats frames have been re-enforced with a new
fibber glass coat and they will be sandwiched between two metal
plates for extra safety |
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06/06/2012 The bonnet mold is at long last
completed....hopefully we should soon see a new bonnet coming
out of it to complete the bodyshell.... |
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29/09/2012 at long last the mould is finished and assembled ... bonnet
in sight .. :)
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Good
news, some cardboard boxes have appeared aroudn teh shell d some
parts have started to migrate to the shell..... |
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Adjustable back on the shell but this time painted in red.... |
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Aero
screens have been fitted to both side of the car. Originally
only the driver had one but I am
somehow more compassionate to my fellow passengers... :) |
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9/11/2012
Front hub/brake assembly and anti-roll bar have been fitted |
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The twin cylinder pedal box has been fitted
rear lights, badge and fuel cap have been fitted |
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Anchor
points for the 5 points harnesses have been fitted |
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The
aluminium backplate for the engine has arrived and also the
forged pistons to complement the
lightened con-rods |
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The
piston have a nice recess which should flow gas better.
complete set of straight cut geras |
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the LSD
and the competition half-shaft have also arrived, |
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Front
hubs for the wire wheels |
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The
aluminium trims have been polished and fitted to the car |
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First
layer of gel applied to the bonnet mold.... |
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seals
are being fitted to the car.
the windscreen has come back from polishing |
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The
stantion have been polished and anodized but as pas weld points
remain apparent i have decided to have them painted blue as they
used to be when i took ownership of the car. |
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10/12/2012... Brakes have been assembled on the Riley 1.5
back plates.. |
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The
6-gallon tank has been painted black and the pipe and sender
unit has been fitted to the car.
dampers, engine mount steering rack clamps are now fitted.
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The
crankshaft, flywheel and clutch have been assembled ready to be
sent to be balanced...
the original spare spark plugs holder is fitted... |
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front
hub assembly nearly assembled... just waiting for the Brambo
disks |
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The
electric loom is being fitted to the car... |
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details
of the bonnet returns |
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The
returns for the bonnet have been positioned on the mold. |
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quarter
elliptics and dampers links have
been fitted |
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The
windscreen pillars have been painted healey blue |
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rear fog
light fitted and detail picture of rear
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17-12-2012
Good news , the seats are back from the upholsterer and they
look gorgeous |
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and so
do the dashboard and interior panelling |
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18-12-2012
Christmas has arrived early for 2080 PO. At long last the bonnet
has come off the mould and to the delight of everyone in one
piece... ! |
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11/01/2012
The bonnet is being fitted to the car...looking good |
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22/05/2013 I have a
dashboard and a steering wheel ! At long last it starts to look
like a car ! |
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The grid is being fitted to
the bonnet which has been primed ready to be painted. The
front hub are just missing the steering arms. |
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Something is happening
under the bonnet , but still no engine in sight.... |
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The seat have bee restored
in leather to the original pattern and look really great ! |
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The bonnet catches have
been fitted to the bonnet. |
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27/06/2013 A few more
bits have been fitted to the car. The painted aluminum doors
have also been fitted. |
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The bonnet vents which were
re-chromed have been fitted. Note the inner scoops for which I
am very thankful to Ray English down under for sending me a
template of its original ones. They are made of aluminum and
will be painted later. |
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The back axle has been
fitted to the car and there is no more work here than fitting
the wheels... The replica of the bonnet looks really great. I
can't wait to see it fitted to the car when it has been
painted... |
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The color scheme of the car
looks really good and is faithful to the original livery....it
will be a very pretty car for sure.... |
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I am really happy with the
inside of the car. The carpets should soon be fitted as well as
the seat and the roll-bar...and hopefully the engine so I can
drive it down to the GoodWood Revival.... |
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On the right hand side are the replica & restored badges that
will soon adorn the bonnet again... |
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