The start of a long journey

[warweezil]

I have recently acquired a 63 (A plate) 2 door in light blue. I'm assuming the number is original as it is a London area sequence. Shes in a sorry state having been off the road for several years and she has "transport damage" from careless lifting at the bottom of the n/s/r wheel arch.

So apart from spending a lot of money on new panels to replace the rotted ones, I'm thinking of building a tuned A+1275 motor or possibly running a 1340 project, I don't want to go to modern mechanics, I hate them and for me it would kinda defeat the object, something not quite standard looking and capable of holding its own when needed.

Ive just had a copy of Vizards A series bible, along with Owen Burtons' useful book, So I guess I need to start looking for some Marina/Ital parts.

I have to admit I'm pleased it has a lack of additional yellow indicator lights, they never looked right, I'm leaning towards keeping the old school white/red set up (assuming it is still legal - which I will chat with my MOT guy with the next time I am in there), It takes me back to my childhood when my Father owned 368LDE a black 2 door 948 model (I think), sadly there is no trace of that one on the DVLA site, and I cant recall the registration number of the van I rebuilt - annoyingly I CAN remember the damaged van that yielded its chassis for that project.

Im sure this one is going to cause me a lot of heartache

[Neil MG]

The original lighting/indicators is perfectly legal.

[warweezil]

A closer inspection of the 2 door last week revealed far more extensive corrosion damage than we first thought. with the constraints undercover space and time it really isnt do-able, Thats the amount of corrosion on the underside alone, without the upper bodywork. I was right - a whole lot of heartache.

It has been replaced with a 1960 4 door that I had running after just a quick ignition service, again no brakes (seems to be a theme) the clutch has seized and the DVLA website tells me it has been unlicenced since early 1988, having stood in a garage for many years. An ex driving school car that was retained by its owner as a family run around when he upgraded his school car.

It needs a rear screen, sills, a pair of inner arches at the rear, a Bootlid, a rear wing, a couple of doors (Maybe) and a full respray. She still has the semaphores in place but (sadly) decommissioned. I think it has had a previous refresh as the engine number is wrong and starts with 10MA, wrong for a 948cc I think, and it has post 64 amber indicator clusters all round. I am sure that soon I will be removing the rear screen from the 2 door for this one.

Yesterday I stripped the interior and temporarily sealed the rear window with Industrial shrinkwrap and masking tape. having removed the water from the floor and stripped out the domestic carpeting I have founf a sloid floor that has been treated with some thick coating which while it is now starting to crack and peel has done a great job of protecting the panels.

Shes 54, but she has life in her yet