1978 MGB Restoration

Not all restorations are a down to the shell 'nut and bolt' job, but are more a case of a thorough recommission.
This late MGB roadster was in reasonable order as it was on the road and working. However it was a little tired, with a few dodgy previous repairs, multi coloured paint and in need of some mechanical work.

Both the rear wing/sills had been badly patched and filled in the past. Both sides were cut out, the ends of the sill repaired, and the the lower portion of the wing re-made. A few small repairs were needed to the passenger door, and the drivers door was replaced with a new item. A few other small areas received attention, but on the whole the shell was in amazingly good condition. The car was then stripped of its glass, trim, lights and external items and was re-painted in its original colour.

The engine bay had been painted with underseal at some point in its life, and generally looked a mess. All sundry components were removed, cleaned and painted, wiring tidied and repaired, and the engine bay stripped and repainted back to body colour. The engine was partially rebuilt, with a modified head, new fast road camshaft, followers and timing chain. The carburettors were rebuilt with needles to suit and k&n filters and a new sports exhaust system was fitted. The before and after pictures speak for themselves.

The interior was re-fitted with new carpets and new sports seats, and all new trim panels. All exterior components were cleaned and/or painted before being re-fitted and new stainless side trims were used.
The suspension and brakes were checked and rebuilt with new parts as needed. Finally the car was extensively injected with cavity wax, and the underside coated with a high quality under body sealant to hopefully keep things good for years to come.

New Workshop

For anyone who has noticed the lack of posts recently, this has been down to it being a very busy year, rather than lack of things to write about.
One big piece of news is that I have moved to a bigger workshop located on the same site (so the address on the website still applies).

As well as being larger, the new workshop has a divided area to keep the cutting, grinding and messier activities separated from the cleaner jobs.

For Sale - Triumph 2000 Mk2 1972

VEHICLE IS NOW SOLD

Selling on behalf of a customer, I have worked on and looked after this car for him for the last 4 years, but due to commitment to other vehicles he has now asked me to sell his 2000 for him.

Very original Mk2 Triumph 2000, covered just over 60,000 miles with history to prove - comes with the original bill of sale, service book and hand book. Paint is mostly original, and still polishes up quite nicely. interior is totally original and the seats look like they've hardly been sat in.
Fitted from new with various factory optional extras including power steering and automatic transmission.
Drives perfectly, everything works as it should and really is a very enjoyable place to be. The auto box is surprisingly enjoyable to use and with the power steering makes this a very easy classic car to drive.

Fitted with many new parts such as stainless exhaust, rebuilt carbs, new hoses, power steering pipes and much more.

Recent MOT with no advisories, and is tax exempt.

If you are interested and would like to know more about the vehicle please call me on:

07872 654139

Offers around £2600

VEHICLE IS NOW SOLD

Triumph Spitfire - finished and ready for action

The last time I wrote about this project, it was no more than a painted body shell, but as I write this, the car is all ready back with its owner and being given some gentle mileage to bed everything in. Hopefully the following pictures will show how the cars turned out, and ill endeavour to explain what was done to turn this car from wreck to racer.

Virtually every single component of the car was rebuilt or re-conditioned along with countless modifications to make the car suitable (and legal) for some weekend motor sport, such as sprinting/hill-climbing and track use. The boot and front end (including the valances) are fibreglass to reduce weight.

Sitting on its AVO dampers and stiffer springs (see previous posts) the suspension has also been put together with adjustable rear tie bars and a few other mods to prevent the dreaded 'tuck under' these cars are known for. With careful setting up of front and rear camber and tracking, the car is predictable and planted, and due to strengthening in the shell, along with the full roll cage, scuttle shake is totally banished.

On the inside, FIA legal Recaro bucket seats have been squeezed in (quite literally) along with four point harnesses. All the internal trim panels have been replaced with sheet aluminium (the boot being effectively 'fire-walled' from the main cabin) although the original dash board has been refurbished and retained. The original centre console now houses a battery cut out switch and extra gauges and switches.

The engine was rebuilt 'in house' with bigger valves, lightened and balanced internals and many other internal modifications to produce a unit that was docile enough to be drivable on the road, yet should give 50% more power than in standard form (despite its externally standard appearance). An oil cooler, electric fan and US spec radiator have been used to keep everything cool, and electronic ignition and electric fuel pump to keep everything reliable.

The wheels are currently refurbished GT6 items with road going yokohama tyres, the idea being that a second set of 'track' wheels and tyres can be purchased when needed to suit the cars future use.

I'm sure this wont be the last time this car appear on this site and I look forward in the future to further setting up the car and getting it ready for what ever events the owner decides to use it for.

Not just restoration projects...

I have to admit that I don't get around to posting the latest news quite as often as I would like. Mostly the news and pictures displayed here show ongoing restoration projects, due to the fact that showing pictures and explaining the finer points of greasing a trunion doesn't make for the most gripping read. However, at least 50% of the work we do here is servicing and other smaller jobs on classic and cherished vehicles.
Just to give an idea of what's going on in between the projects, here's just some of the cars that have been under the spanner in the last few months.

This selection shows the wide variety and range of work undertaken. Everything from working on the suspension and brakes of the XK120, preparing the A40 Somerset for a trip to France, a complete engine rebuild on the 73 midget and many other servicing, body and mechanical repairs on lots of other vehicles.

A long overdue update....

Unfortunately Ive been a bit lazy with the updates lately, so ill try and catch up with whats been going on with various projects last year. Firstly, the Triumph Spitfire race car.
The body was prepped for paint, including the underside and inside, every surface will be body colour and finish.
The underside was painted first, then the inside of the vehicle. These were then masked off while the outside of the vehicle was painted.
With the body mounted back on the rolling chassis, the doors and boot lid were prepped, painted and hung. All panel gaps had been checked during the build/welding stage.with the shell rolling on the chassis and painted, the real build work can start.

Triumph Spitfire competition car - latest

The spitfires chassis is now painted and all the suspension has been rebuilt and fitted. New polybushes have been used throughout, New bearings, new drive shaft joints and everything has been painted. A lowered rear swing spring is fitted along with uprated front springs. Adjustable AVO dampers have been used - the fronts being adjustable for height as well as damping.
Rebuilt GT6 uprights have been used on the front, as they are stronger and provide bigger brakes - with new discs and refurbished callipers being used.

1965 MGB roadster - Finished

Its been a long while since I last posted anything, so first of all ill give a quick catch up on the '65 MGB roadster. The rebuilt engine and gearbox were fitted with new mountings, all ancillaries were either new or rebuilt components. All brake, clutch and fuel lines were made up new and the brakes and clutch bled and tested. All clips, nuts and bolts were of course, new.
A few modifications were added, in the form of a thermostatically controlled electric fan, electronic ignition, and a facet fuel pump and pressure regulator.

Under the car, as well as the rebuilt suspension, a rebuilt propshaft was fitted, a new stainless exhaust system, stainless fuel tank and all the pipes and wires routed as original.
The wiring loom is a new item with the correct braided covering, supplied by Autosparks.
A new dash top covering was fitted, and a refurbished windscreen bolted in place.
The car was then delivered back to its owner, who is going to fit the interior, bumpers and lights himself, and hopefully the car will be back on the road and being enjoyed before the summer is over.

MG Midget competition car - For Sale

Yes, my own Mg Midget sprint/hillclimb car is up for sale. Anyone seriously interested please contact me - find my contact details on my main website (there's a link above).

1966 MG Midget, the car is road legal, and has just been MOTed and is of course tax exempt.

I built the car 4 years ago on a brand new shell. Every part on the car is either new or rebuilt. Over 10k spent on parts alone. Those aren't ripples on the bonnet, they're the reflection of the clouds in the sky...This in one very presentable and well looked after competition car.
Finished in Tartan red and Old English white - works colours.

Built to comply to MSA rules for the 'road going' class for sprinting and hillclimbing in the up to 1400cc class. The car is competitive, and has the potential to do well. It could be used for many things, including the MGCC sprint championship, and various historic events, subject to rules.

1380cc engine built to a very high standard, superb power curve and dynoed at 107BHP and 95 lbs/ft of torque and has only covered 1000 miles. Straight cut close ratio gearbox, built on a new JK gear set, again, has only covered 1000 miles. Suspension is fully rebuilt and modified, 370lb springs, 3/4 anti roll bar, one off adjustable camber top link conversion (replaces lever arm shock) and AVO adjustable shocks back and front. Also comes with rebuilt lever arm shocks for the front, should you wish to use it for historic events. There are too many small tweaks to list (or that I don't wish to disclose!) but the car is well set up and handles really well - capable of running in the top of its class.
Brand new 4 pot front calipers and discs - only used for one event, again comes with rebuilt original calipers and fittings for historic events.
Comes with various spares, hard top and soft top, 2 sets of wheels and tyres (road tyres and soft compound Yokohama track tyres)

I could literally write pages on the car, but the easiest thing is if any potential buyers give me a call.

Looking for offers in the region of £7000

1965 MGB roadster - rolling again

Another project Ive not mentioned since last year, is the 1965 MGB roadster. After the body was painted, the underside was given several coats of a high quality stone guard, and the sills, doors and all the box sections were injected with copious amounts of cavity wax. It was then time to start rebuilding some mechanical parts to get the car back on its wheels. The rear axle and differential were fully rebuilt with all new bearings and seals, and refitted to the car with all new bushes and bolts. The front subframe was fully rebuilt in a similar manner, replacing any parts that were past there best, and anything good enough to re-use was thoroughly cleaned and painted.
With the car now rolling on a set of 'slave' wheels, the slightly nerve wracking job of fitting new stainless body trims was undertaken. The results are pleasing, and its certainly nice to see the 'B' looking more like a car again.
The most recent task has been the rebuilding of the engine. The engine being used is a later 5 bearing B series, with a few minor tweaks. As usual, everything was checked, and anything that needed to be replaced or machined was. The engine is bored +30 with new pistons, the crank was polished, all new bearings were fitted and the flywheel had a new ring gear fitted. The cylinder head has been mildly re-worked to improve breathing, and a fast road camshaft has been fitted along with new timing and rocker gear.

The next job is to rebuild the gearbox, and then both engine and gearbox can be fitted back into the car.

Triumph Spitfire competition car - latest news

Its about time I wrote whats been happening with this project, since I introduced it last year.
Once stripped, the body was fully sand blasted, as was the chassis, and then given a coat of primer to stop surface rust forming. The body was then bolted back onto the chassis to keep everything in alignment.
I wont bore you with all the details, but quite alot of the shell was replaced, both floor pans, the inner A panels, inner and outer sills, rear valance, o/s rear wing not to mention numerous repairs to various other small areas. The inner sills which are just a flat sheet of steel, were cut from much thicker material than standard, to hopefully add a little rigidity to the bodyshell for its competition future.
Once all the welding was done to the body, it was time to weld in strengthening plates to take a bolt in FIA legal roll cage. As well as making the car legal for whatever form of motor sport the owner chooses to take part in, it also adds some much needed stiffness to the whole structure.
The body is now removed from the chassis, and the next stage will be to paint and build up a rolling chassis, with new parts where needed, and various modifications to tame the handling.

1972 Audi 100s Coupe

Plenty of work has been happening on the Audi 100s coupe in the last few months, and here's some of what's been happening.
The first thing to receive attention was the rear arches, although they looked reasonable, they were infact mostly made of solid body filler that even sand blasting didn't remove!
The main problem with the 100s is availability of parts, and body and repair panels just don't exist, even second hand. However, a pair of Audi 100 saloon rear arches were the correct profile for the job, but were a bit short on either end.
The first job was to cut away the old wheel arch, and also large sections of the corroded inner chassis leg.
The 100 saloon rear arches proved a good substitute for the originals. Repairs to the inner chassis leg and the front of the arch are also visible, along with the bottom of the rear 1/4, which had previously been 'repaired' with a piece of tin tacked in place, and lots of filler.
Also, a repair section had to be made to join the inner arch to outer, as there was virtually nothing left of the original edge.
And once one side is done, it's time to repeat the work on the other side. Again, repairs were also needed to the inner chassis legs and inner arch. The rear quater in front of the wheel arch was also severely dented, with about half an inch of filler hiding it!
A lot more repairs have already been made to the shell, hopefully some more pictures to follow - if you happen to have any Audi 100s coupe panels or parts stashed in your garden shed, please contact me!

Another New project - Triumph Spitfire Race Car

This 1979 Spitfire 1500 has been with the same owner for many years, being used regularly and living outside. Despite past restoration work, it has deteriorated and needs some serious repairs. Now that the car has a nice double garage to live in, the owner decided now is the time to get it restored, but not quite as it left the factory.
The car is going to receive full top to bottom restoration, but it's going to be built for a new life, as a road legal sprint and hillclimb car.
As well as all the normal restoration work, the car will be fitted with a full roll cage, tuned engine and modified suspension, and will be stripped out as light as sensibly possible while still keeping it usable.
On getting the car to the workshop, it was stripped down to the bare body and chassis, and was taken for sand blasting. The car is now blasted and primed. More pictures to follow soon. It's going to be a busy winter!

New project - 1972 Audi 100S Coupe

Well, this is the new project I'd previously pictured, and well done to those of you who correctly guessed what is was! The Audi 100S coupe is a very rare beast in this country, with only around 20 being registered with the DVLA. Produced from 1969 to 1976, not many of them sold in this country, which is a great shame, as their stylish lines and lively performance makes for an unusual and competent choice of classic.

The car and all the panels have now been sand blasted and etch primed, to reveal all the true horrors that lurked beneath the filler.....
As I write this, large steps have allready been made into repairing the shell. Some pictures will be posted shortly.

1965 MGB Roadster: Feeling (Iris) Blue

The MGB is now painted and looking rather nice back in its original factory colour. The car was painted in a very durable 2k etch primer after it was sand blasted, and during the prep recieved 4 more coats of 2k primer (flatted between coats). Once everything was ready, the body recieved 4 coats of 2k top coat. The wheel arches have been coated with a high quality wax-rich stone chip, the next job will be to get the shell up on the lift, and coat the rest of the underside.