I was on ebay searching for cars nearby for any buy to sell bargains and I stumbled across this. So I had a cheeky little bid which I thought would be unlikely to win. I did actually win and am now the proud owner of a little resto project.
It was owned by the same bloke since 2000 and has been off the road for around 4 years (parked in his garden under a berry tree).
After winning it i decided I needed to try and get it home, so I decided to see if it would run so I could book an MOT and drive it home. That didn't work so I had to get it trailered.
After being stood for 4 years I was happy to find that all 4 tyres still had some air in, none of the brakes were stuck/seized, radiator solid and still full of coolant, still full of fairly clean oil, interior is dry and free from mould and it rolled/dragged out of his garden with relative ease.
I got it back to the unit and decided on a plan.
1) G3 the paint to see whats what.
2) Get it running (suspect fuel supply issue)
3) Sort any rust/MOT issues
4) MOT, tax and insure it
5) Drive it JAE
As with all plans, its didnt go as anticipated. Upon G3'ing the paint it was noticed that both front wheel arches will need welding/rebuilding (bottom half), including a small hole in sill behind, an A4 size sheet will need replacing on the drivers side footwell (outerskin only, inner is solid), part of the sill lip on the driverside, bubbles on the passenger rear arch, a 2" hole on the passenger sill and a little of the lip needs replacing too and finally it needs a new sunroof panel as its completely rotten.
Not bad for a 24 year old car IMO.
Now that sorts out my paint/rust inspections. Onto the running. I had suspected a fuel supply issue as it didnt sound like the pump was priming. So off with the supply pipe and cranked it over, fuel squirting everywhere. Doh. So then off with the dizzy to clean the contacts and out with the plugs to give them a clean up. Still no luck. Quick check of the airbox/inlet revealed nothing (was expecting to find a squirrel in there or something).
So that ended Number 3, 4 & 5. Shame really.
The plan now is;
1) Weld up rust/panels
2) Strip underside/arches back the metal
3) Zinc Primer
4) Dinitrol 455 Stonechip/Underseal
5) Dinitrol 3125 Cavity Wax
6) Touch up paint on arches/welded areas
Once those tasks are complete Ill move on to sorting out the dodgy electrics, which im putting down to relay or earth fault. Then give the interior a good going over, a few carpet repairs are needed but its generally in great condition and will just need a deep clean to bring back to life.
Then Ill decided on what to do power wise. Im still undecided if I want to pursue with the rotary or throw in an SR20DE.
Anyway, heres how it stands after its G3 session. Not bad considering the age of the paint and the pad was quite worn.
Progress is going to be slow so ill update as and when but don't be pestering as I havent got the spare funds really, Im only on this because of that cheeky bid a few weeks ago. Damn ebay.
It was owned by the same bloke since 2000 and has been off the road for around 4 years (parked in his garden under a berry tree).
After winning it i decided I needed to try and get it home, so I decided to see if it would run so I could book an MOT and drive it home. That didn't work so I had to get it trailered.
After being stood for 4 years I was happy to find that all 4 tyres still had some air in, none of the brakes were stuck/seized, radiator solid and still full of coolant, still full of fairly clean oil, interior is dry and free from mould and it rolled/dragged out of his garden with relative ease.
I got it back to the unit and decided on a plan.
1) G3 the paint to see whats what.
2) Get it running (suspect fuel supply issue)
3) Sort any rust/MOT issues
4) MOT, tax and insure it
5) Drive it JAE
As with all plans, its didnt go as anticipated. Upon G3'ing the paint it was noticed that both front wheel arches will need welding/rebuilding (bottom half), including a small hole in sill behind, an A4 size sheet will need replacing on the drivers side footwell (outerskin only, inner is solid), part of the sill lip on the driverside, bubbles on the passenger rear arch, a 2" hole on the passenger sill and a little of the lip needs replacing too and finally it needs a new sunroof panel as its completely rotten.
Not bad for a 24 year old car IMO.
Now that sorts out my paint/rust inspections. Onto the running. I had suspected a fuel supply issue as it didnt sound like the pump was priming. So off with the supply pipe and cranked it over, fuel squirting everywhere. Doh. So then off with the dizzy to clean the contacts and out with the plugs to give them a clean up. Still no luck. Quick check of the airbox/inlet revealed nothing (was expecting to find a squirrel in there or something).
So that ended Number 3, 4 & 5. Shame really.
The plan now is;
1) Weld up rust/panels
2) Strip underside/arches back the metal
3) Zinc Primer
4) Dinitrol 455 Stonechip/Underseal
5) Dinitrol 3125 Cavity Wax
6) Touch up paint on arches/welded areas
Once those tasks are complete Ill move on to sorting out the dodgy electrics, which im putting down to relay or earth fault. Then give the interior a good going over, a few carpet repairs are needed but its generally in great condition and will just need a deep clean to bring back to life.
Then Ill decided on what to do power wise. Im still undecided if I want to pursue with the rotary or throw in an SR20DE.
Anyway, heres how it stands after its G3 session. Not bad considering the age of the paint and the pad was quite worn.
Progress is going to be slow so ill update as and when but don't be pestering as I havent got the spare funds really, Im only on this because of that cheeky bid a few weeks ago. Damn ebay.
