16-02-2021, 05:41 PM
I picked up a little 2 seat tourer a week ago that hadn't been run in 20 years and was in a state of general disassembly and neglect. After spending most of a week working on it (with some help and advice from you knowledgeable people) I've now got nearly everything working!
To some extent.
I have yet to road test the car, but the engine runs reasonably well, the clutch works, the gearbox seems to have all the gears it should have, the brakes work to a reasonable level and most electrical things work although I haven't managed to get it charging yet. I'm hopeful of a test drive later this week if the weather clears up - I have a very steep drive so the little car will need to be fettled into reasonably good health before the blast out of the garage and up the drive backwards - it needs to be done in one action as a hill start in reverse on my drive is not achievable. (It will involve some excitement and a lot of wheelspin if it's anything like the RN saloon I had last year!).
So on to the point of the thread. When I get it finally working properly I will need to decide if it is preferable to leave it in it's current scruffy state that looks all of it's 90 years, or do I treat it to a nice coat of paint and make it shiny? It's got scratches and small dents all over, but nothing serious and it has some areas of light surface rust - the wings look to have been coach painted at some time in the past (I've already cleaned and treated underneath). I have the facilities to do bodywork and paint myself so cost isn't necessarily the issue. I also bought the car with the intention of trying trials so it's going to get new scratches at some point. I'll get a better outside photo when the weather clears, but this is how it looks at the minute - your thought appreciated..:
To some extent.
I have yet to road test the car, but the engine runs reasonably well, the clutch works, the gearbox seems to have all the gears it should have, the brakes work to a reasonable level and most electrical things work although I haven't managed to get it charging yet. I'm hopeful of a test drive later this week if the weather clears up - I have a very steep drive so the little car will need to be fettled into reasonably good health before the blast out of the garage and up the drive backwards - it needs to be done in one action as a hill start in reverse on my drive is not achievable. (It will involve some excitement and a lot of wheelspin if it's anything like the RN saloon I had last year!).
So on to the point of the thread. When I get it finally working properly I will need to decide if it is preferable to leave it in it's current scruffy state that looks all of it's 90 years, or do I treat it to a nice coat of paint and make it shiny? It's got scratches and small dents all over, but nothing serious and it has some areas of light surface rust - the wings look to have been coach painted at some time in the past (I've already cleaned and treated underneath). I have the facilities to do bodywork and paint myself so cost isn't necessarily the issue. I also bought the car with the intention of trying trials so it's going to get new scratches at some point. I'll get a better outside photo when the weather clears, but this is how it looks at the minute - your thought appreciated..:
