37 years in a Barn

Julian

Member
This is my new project, it was put into store around 1985 (ish). I went to prep the car today, remove wheels +make sure they rotate so it will be ready to move.

Opened the boot today as it was locked and no keys so had to pick the lock (10 seconds to pic, don't think i will be keeping anything valuable in there ) The car seems fairly good if you can look through the cobwebs, dust and spiders!!!. I had a good dig and tap around and found three points on the floor pan that will need a bit metal glue, outer sill covers are gone as well, but inner sill's feel solid, next pics hope to have it relocated and washed, 1 back wing needs some TLC as well, Then strip car and rebuild simple! + it looks like some critter has been living on the engine, only 50k on the clock as well20210723_130916.jpg20210723_131039.jpg20210723_131245.jpg20210723_125336.jpg4 Barn July 2021.jpg20210710_102716.jpg20210723_130927.jpg.
 
Opened the boot today as it was locked and no keys so had to pick the lock (10 seconds to pic, don't think i will be keeping anything valuable in there )

You can take the boy out of Barnet….

It looks like a challenge, but hopefully an enjoyable one. There is an enormous amount of help and support on this forum.
Good luck.
 
Collected my barn find today, found a tax disc in the screen that had expired in 1982, could not see it from outside as to much dirt on he screenDSCF5038.JPG

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Looking forward to following your progress towards getting it back on the road for 2022.
 
Stripped body panels from the rear today, rear wings, bumper, valence, rear deck panel (or what ever its called) + those sacrificial anodes (i mean outer sill covers!) had a good stab at everything with a screwdriver, some rust holes found, nothing major but it will need a bit of welding. needs new outer sills but might have a bash at making some. (then through them away and buy some ones that fit!). Also the driver side floor pan next to inner sill needs a lot of welding, just seems to have a 25mm strip front to back that has rusted out (failed the screwdriver and hammer test.
I think I have vacuumed about 2 kg of cobwebs so far.
Getting front end up tomorrow, weather permitting, to remove the front end and if time permits start stripping the engine bay. The engine and box are to come out anyway as they will need a bit of TLC at some stage once the body is done. I have another week of work, then its weekends only :(


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progress was slower today and yesterday mainly due to the weather, most of the interior is out, front panels off, found some more holes that will need sorting, metal ordered. Engine out tomorrow, then start welding, noted all the steel brake and fuel return lines are corroded and will need replacing with a more modern material, especially the fuel line as this new E10 fuel is hydroscopic as I understand it and it can corrode the fuel lines (bit of research needed) and yes I know the carbs will corrode as well with E10 fuel as well as other problems.
Spreader beam worked a treat for lifting the car. I will need more wooden packers. Cleaned car, started as a muddy brown colour and now it is just brown!

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Rain stopped play today, started feeling like Noah! Engine ready to lift, front and middle exhaust off, Heater box off (not fun) + lots of other parts removed. Thinking about using electric fuel pumps, gets rid of the return fuel line and mechanical fuel pump, but I want to keep the reserve valve system + need to link it to oil pressure switch via relay so pump stops if engine stops in event of an accident.

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Getting on with it then :)

My fuel pump is rigged through an inertia switch so it turns off in the event of an impact.
 
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