Chaps,
*Mods -remove this if it is out of line with the board rules, but I thought I could save someone a wasted day*
Just a headsup on the Monza red 3500s that's for sale in Wigan currently on eBay. I went to view this car with a friend the other week. The car is saveable if you have a lot of time (and dry working space) but needs far more work than the ad would have you believe. We wasted our time going to view what we thought would be a reasonable (but slightly tatty) car, and it was much worse than that.
First of all the good bits:
· The rear top link mount points had been re-welded at some point, this was a nice neat repair (from the inside anyway) properly welded in.
· The car has new HT leads and a new facet pump.
· The car has a fairly new looking exhaust.
· It had the boot mounted spare gubbins.
· The engine oil looked clean.
· The back seats were ok.
· The doors seemed relatively rust free.
· The front sidelights still had their prisms attached, and not broken off.
· It has a towbar.
Now the bad bits, Structural stuff first:
· The car has had lots of welding done to it (as is typical for a lot of our cars by now) but 90% of it would need to be chopped out and done again. Both inner sills had been badly plated for their full length with only small tacks and the odd stitch holding the plates. None of the rust had been cut out at all, and the repair patches had not even been painted in a lot of places, simply banged over the top of what was there.
· The rear door shut (passenger) was knackered.
· The back of the d-post/bottom of wheelarch was full of filler and silicone sealer.
· The inner sill under both back seats had been plated, but again the rust had not been cut out, and the plate didn’t even cover the holes! You could stick your hand around the plates and into the sills. One sill had a wet oily rag stuffed into it for some reason.
· The front inner wings had previous (again bad) repairs and were corroded through in places.
· The drivers side floor under the pedals had further plating, they looked to be about 3 deep in places, plates on plates on plates….
And the rest of the bad, interior first:
· The back windscreen seal was shot, and likely the reason for the floor pan under the drivers side rear seat being quite heavily rusted.
· The original carpets had all been removed and it appeared that someone had chopped up a Persian rug and fitted it in its place.
· The drivers seat had a tear on the right hand bolster.
· The speaker grill was broken
· The “wood” panelling on the dash and door tops was knackered
· The front section of headlining (the separate bit at the front) was knackered.
· All the door cards were knackered and badly rippled, speakers had been cut into the front ones.
· The rear passenger door lock pull thing was bent over at a 45 degree angle.
· The battery tray had had the rear end cut off (maybe to fit a larger battery) and the top flange was completely missing. Someone had tried to rivet a section of angle to it to retain it, but this was knackered too. New tray required for sure. The battery cover had the usual broken bit where the j-bolts screw through.
And now the exterior:
· Both rear quarters need replacing, drivers side vinyl had come away quite badly and was bent. Passenger side badly bent, almost like someone had tried to prise the back door open with a crowbar and bent it all. The passenger rear door top was also slightly bent outward, which would correspond with this theory.
· The roof had three gouges in the vinyl, two quite deep – the vinyl around these areas was starting to lift as the roof has started to rust beneath.
· The rear passenger wing was holed through with rust (this is shown in the new advert and was not shown before)
· The front drivers side wing was badly damaged at the leading edge, and had been fillered to the front valance.
· The front valance was bent, especially the grille and was again full of filler.
· The front passenger wing was holed with rust, and yes, had areas of filler.
· The chromework was fairly rusted and would need replacing.
And a few other bits:
· The facet pump was mounted to the inlet manifold on bits of wood.
· The wiring in general looked like it probably had been hacked about a bit and would need further checking. Extra wires added with bare ends twisted together, wires running straight from here to there unclipped etc.
So in a nutshell, if you are looking for a heroic save, have a fair bit of money and time then this might be the project for you.
If however you are looking for something that could be brought back into service relatively quickly (i.e less than 6 months) and then slowly sorted out fully afterwards then this not the car for you.
Makes me appreciate how good my car was at the price I paid for it (£750). I didn’t need a new interior, any new body panels or vinylwork.
*Mods -remove this if it is out of line with the board rules, but I thought I could save someone a wasted day*
Just a headsup on the Monza red 3500s that's for sale in Wigan currently on eBay. I went to view this car with a friend the other week. The car is saveable if you have a lot of time (and dry working space) but needs far more work than the ad would have you believe. We wasted our time going to view what we thought would be a reasonable (but slightly tatty) car, and it was much worse than that.
First of all the good bits:
· The rear top link mount points had been re-welded at some point, this was a nice neat repair (from the inside anyway) properly welded in.
· The car has new HT leads and a new facet pump.
· The car has a fairly new looking exhaust.
· It had the boot mounted spare gubbins.
· The engine oil looked clean.
· The back seats were ok.
· The doors seemed relatively rust free.
· The front sidelights still had their prisms attached, and not broken off.
· It has a towbar.
Now the bad bits, Structural stuff first:
· The car has had lots of welding done to it (as is typical for a lot of our cars by now) but 90% of it would need to be chopped out and done again. Both inner sills had been badly plated for their full length with only small tacks and the odd stitch holding the plates. None of the rust had been cut out at all, and the repair patches had not even been painted in a lot of places, simply banged over the top of what was there.
· The rear door shut (passenger) was knackered.
· The back of the d-post/bottom of wheelarch was full of filler and silicone sealer.
· The inner sill under both back seats had been plated, but again the rust had not been cut out, and the plate didn’t even cover the holes! You could stick your hand around the plates and into the sills. One sill had a wet oily rag stuffed into it for some reason.
· The front inner wings had previous (again bad) repairs and were corroded through in places.
· The drivers side floor under the pedals had further plating, they looked to be about 3 deep in places, plates on plates on plates….
And the rest of the bad, interior first:
· The back windscreen seal was shot, and likely the reason for the floor pan under the drivers side rear seat being quite heavily rusted.
· The original carpets had all been removed and it appeared that someone had chopped up a Persian rug and fitted it in its place.
· The drivers seat had a tear on the right hand bolster.
· The speaker grill was broken
· The “wood” panelling on the dash and door tops was knackered
· The front section of headlining (the separate bit at the front) was knackered.
· All the door cards were knackered and badly rippled, speakers had been cut into the front ones.
· The rear passenger door lock pull thing was bent over at a 45 degree angle.
· The battery tray had had the rear end cut off (maybe to fit a larger battery) and the top flange was completely missing. Someone had tried to rivet a section of angle to it to retain it, but this was knackered too. New tray required for sure. The battery cover had the usual broken bit where the j-bolts screw through.
And now the exterior:
· Both rear quarters need replacing, drivers side vinyl had come away quite badly and was bent. Passenger side badly bent, almost like someone had tried to prise the back door open with a crowbar and bent it all. The passenger rear door top was also slightly bent outward, which would correspond with this theory.
· The roof had three gouges in the vinyl, two quite deep – the vinyl around these areas was starting to lift as the roof has started to rust beneath.
· The rear passenger wing was holed through with rust (this is shown in the new advert and was not shown before)
· The front drivers side wing was badly damaged at the leading edge, and had been fillered to the front valance.
· The front valance was bent, especially the grille and was again full of filler.
· The front passenger wing was holed with rust, and yes, had areas of filler.
· The chromework was fairly rusted and would need replacing.
And a few other bits:
· The facet pump was mounted to the inlet manifold on bits of wood.
· The wiring in general looked like it probably had been hacked about a bit and would need further checking. Extra wires added with bare ends twisted together, wires running straight from here to there unclipped etc.
So in a nutshell, if you are looking for a heroic save, have a fair bit of money and time then this might be the project for you.
If however you are looking for something that could be brought back into service relatively quickly (i.e less than 6 months) and then slowly sorted out fully afterwards then this not the car for you.
Makes me appreciate how good my car was at the price I paid for it (£750). I didn’t need a new interior, any new body panels or vinylwork.
