Looking pretty

 

The chassis has now taken two years to reach this stage of all repairs, modifications and the final paint in gloss black.

This is mainly due to my workshop being a forty mile round trip from home, and work commitments which effectively means I can only visit the workshop once every ten days.

However things are moving on a plumb.

The back axle was delivered to UK Axles ( Tel No 01895 438333) for a complete overhaul.

As no bearings have rotated for thirty years on any of the mechanical components, I will replace every bearing and oil seal. This is not as dramatic as it sounds, as all will be revealed.

The axle was sent away for reconditioning as it is critical they are rebuilt properly. UK charged me £445 for the job, £214 of this was for parts supplied by David Manners. The only fly in the ointment was that the cover gasket supplied by Manners was completely wrong. I re-ordered one myself from them but found this was also the wrong item. They assured me over the phone I had the correct one and it must fit!

In the end I made one myself from a sheet of gasket paper.

A new pair of leaf springs were obtained from Barry Thorne (Tel No 01306 711789) for the total sum of £105. The old springs were badly corroded and had one or two broken leafs. Replacement bushes were fitted in the spring shackles.

I have installed the new springs, refitted the back axle and installed the telescopic rear dampers.

 

The engine that came with the car looked awful. Water had been dripping on the carbs which have caused the slides to corrode so badly that they were now at one with the carb bodies. To make matters worse I couldn't turn the engine over by hand. I eventually managed to dismantle the engine and although worn, did not contain any internal corrosion. On pricing up replacement parts to recondition the unit I came up with an estimate of approx. £1500 (ouch!).

In the meantime I was offered another Dart engine. This had been removed for the installation of a 5 litre ( I think) engine and was reputed to be in good condition, this was backed up with a rolling road BHP test report which was only a couple of months old ( 115 BHP @ 4665 RPM). I paid £850 and collected it from Torquay.

The original engine will be rebuilt at a later date, this effectively released £650 back into the rebuild, and was a physiological boost to have a nice shinny engine.

 

The gearbox was another problem, as it would require at the very least new bearings and seals. It is also a standard four speed with no overdrive. I intend to use the car for touring on the Continent etc and so an overdrive or fifth gear would be essential. Due to both the cost of reconditioning the original box with overdrive, and the fact it has no sincro in first I have decided to install a five speed Toyota Supra gearbox.

The conversion kit is being supplied by Conversion Components LTD in New Zealand ( Tel No 0064 7863 8509)

This kit includes everything apart from the gearbox, they are freely available in the UK and should cost no more than £200.

The kit has cost me £1,017.00 including shipping and a spare clutch kit, I will also have to pay an import duty when it eventually arrives. I am hoping the complete conversion will cost somewhere in the region of £1400.  

 

Before the installation of the gearbox and engine I need to finish rebuilding the back end, this entails restoring the brake calipers and linkages, new discs and reconditioning of the handbrake assembly.