I collected the car today, on the face of it the cars not to bad. However that is based on the condition of the spitfire when it landed on my drive.
The car has been partially stripped.There seems to be over two cars worth of bits sorting them out will be a challenge. The good news is that i think everything is in the boxes apart fron one front indicator assembly. So overall not to bad.
The car itself has a few issues as most of these cars do.
- Various bubbles of rust on various panels.
- The Bootlid and bonnet panel gaps are not very good, hopfully when i re-install the catches and adjust them everything will be Ok.
- The door gap however are very bad but i managed to twist the passenger door to fit the opening. i suspect the door has been reskinned and the not welded in a few points to lock the door in the correct shape. This hopefully is an easy fix.
- The engine bay is clean apart fron rust bubbles on the strut tower tops.
- Front wings are very good.
- Sills look good but will need more investigation to confirm.
- Roof panel and rain channels look good.
- Rear quarters are good but i suspect the wheel arch lips have been replaced.
- Rear light panel is good as are the front and rear valances.
- Now the bad part the boot and floor panels. The front floor panels have been patched badly and are rusty and full of water. These might be salvagable with some better welding otherwise i will by replacement panels. The boot Oh my God the welding looks like it been done by a blind man in a rush. So the plan is to buy repair panel from Jaymic with new suspension reinforcement panels and weld into place. Easy to say but a bitch to do properly in the confined space. The boot area is also very rusty. I will have to give it a good clean to find the full story, hopefully small patches rather than a new boot floor is all it will need.
- The good news is that the car is repairable, it could have been a lot worse.
- I will have to go over the car and soort out most rust spots so that i can halt the rust going and further SOON!
- The interior is a mixed bag the back seat cover is in good nick, i will just have to replace the old padding underneath so not a problem, the front seat will need more attention. It might also be trimmed in leather.
- The carpet is shot, waterlogged and yellow - Bin order charcoal or black replacement.
- Front door cards are in bad shape rear card are spot on, just needs a clean.
- The dash and centre console is good clean.
- The pedal work, the accelorator need sorting, might opt for a roller rather than the standard setup- worked well on my VW 20 years ago.
- I couldn't start the engine it's either fuel or spark and maybe compression. The wiring loom is part Tii which is not helping, i'll wire a new circuit and add an electric fuel pump to get her running.
- Also i will have to do the mechanical inspection and asses what needs doing.
Overall an Ok car, not that easy to sort but not to bad, certainly i have until April next year to sort it for the MOT and hopefully next summer i'll get all the mods done in readiness for the teardown and restoration next winter.
The plan for now is
- Stop the rust going any further.
- Get the engine started.
- Reinstall some parts to get the panel gaps correct.
- clean it.
- Start the injection system build.
