Hello again to all the folks kind enough to be interested in my old car.
I took it out for a mini shake down earlier this morning, it’s not had a run out for more years than I care to admit. Over a couple of miles near my house, round the pot holed industrial estate then around the two nearest housing estates at a time of day when most folks are still asleep. A couple of people stopped to stare, I assume the engine sound didn’t match the car shape in their minds! Outcome of it was a tiny drip of oil from the bell housing area – hopefully the rope oil seal will swell up with use and start doing its job properly - if not I will sort it by putting a drip tray on the drive. My other tinkerings since it was last used include a fuel pump overhaul, rear brakes relined in stainless together with all new hoses, refurbished and prettied up brake servo, second hand power steering pump (from my stock), screenwasher pump impeller replaced with one from a new old stock Trico pump (series Land Rover), all new fuel lines in as near to original plastic that I could find plus loads of other stuff which I’ve forgot about. You might understand how nervous I was when I took it out.
Glad to hear, Redrover , that your car is a bitsa like mine. I’m fairly sure almost every panel on mine is from different cars, I remember travelling miles to pick up a door from Humberside and leaving with a pair of rear headrests that had been brush painted with cellulose plus the door which for whatever reason took some choice swear words before it fitted! The panel gaps on my car could be accurately described as inter panel chasms but at least they all match. The headrests took several days to clean off with thinners and the bonus is that they were Buckskin underneath.
Anyway here’s another few pics of another of the car’s anomalies, the safety belts. Never seen them in any other car, they seem to be an inertia reel development of the static belts fitted to the series one cars. I can only assume they were fitted from new as there’s no indication of the “stalk” type belts ever being fitted. The first owner, a Doctor from Nottingham, would have specified front inertia belts because a good part of his work was house calls. The prevailing attitude in those days was “if you can walk to the doctors then you can walk to work”- how times change. I was 14 when my car was made and my Dad was running a very ropey Ford Anglia with the sills patched up using angle iron – he was a Colliery Blacksmith after all.
The Pics: