Restoration of 128/4430

[Pymmie]

Looks great Dave,

Have you considered coach lines and mirrors?

Mine had a gold coach line similar to yours but i'm drawn to silver.

[DPP]

Thanks John it looks like a couple more Blue Interceptors will be back on the road soon

I'm waiting until the window frames and quarter lights are fitted before positioning my mirrors.

I was 100% going to have a twin gold coach line put back on when it went for paint now I am undecided and will probably leave it this year and see how I feel in a few months.

[Phil Hayes]

Hi Dave,
Have you referbed the tailgate hinge pins?
If yes, what did you use.

[DPP]

Hi Phil
My tailgate hinges were in good condition so just refitted what I had.
Shame the rest of the car wasn't so good.

[DPP]

Its been 2 years and 5 months since I first started the restoration of my car and today it passed its first MOT since 2007

Still lots of finishing touches to be done but now its MOTed and insured I can get my FREE road tax and start test driving it to see if there are any problems.

[zacmarshall]

Congratulations Dave, I must get up there and see the car in the flesh

[Trevithick]

Good man, well done.

[Darren]

Excellent, will you be in it Wednesday Dave?

[DPP]

I don't think it will be ready unfortunately, the only thing stopping me from taking it out is the building of the door window frames with all new seals and then refitting them to make the car watertight.

Still lots of other finishing touches to do but I want to get a few miles on it to make sure everything's ok but at least now it's taxed and MOTd I can take it for a quick test drive when the sun comes out.

I had always set myself the unofficial target of the end of May and this now looks doable so I'm happy with that.

[colin7673]

Well done Dave, we now need a video of the car on the road......

[DPP]

As its drive it day I decided to fit the last window in the passenger door and make the car watertight, so after a quick wash I took her for a test drive and got the chance to see how the paint looked in the sun

20 miles now on the rebuilt car and everything seemed fine apart from some rattling from the handbrake assemblies on the rear callipers which I shall look into. The suspension easily handled the numerous potholes and poor road finishes on the test.
The list of remaining jobs keeps getting smaller so I just have to keep the momentum up for a few more weeks and then I can have a rest whilst I consider my next project.

[Pymmie]

The list of remaining jobs keeps getting smaller so I just have to keep the momentum up for a few more weeks and then I can have a rest whilst I consider my next project.

Dave , Your next project should be using that wonderful car at every opportunity, simply stunning

(I remember it when at Godin Banks!)

[DPP]

Unfortunately my test runs revealed a fault with the rear axle and the windscreen wipers after driving in the rain for 10 minutes the wipers decided to stop.
The motor has now been stripped and rebuilt with a long test to make sure the problem does not recur, but being a bank holiday i am having to wait to buy some new rear hub bearings for my axle.

So with most jobs stopped as the car is sat on the ramp and access to the interior is difficult I decided to make a battery clamp. I had previously measured one lent to me by another JOC member and had the materials ready I had a pleasant afternoon cutting and welding. It would have been far easier to buy one but its nice to know you have made some parts yourself and I feel I connect more with the car by doing it myself.

Heres the finished part ready to go for powder coating tomorrow.

[Mark1Stu]

Neat job Dave. Hopefully the car shake-down will be complete soon so you can fully enjoy your effort.

[DPP]

The axle is now rebuilt and I have driven 200 miles since the mechanical work was completed, with 160 of these after the axle rebuild. The weather was really good on Wednesday so I took it for its first real outing other than a test drive to the Northwest JOC meeting.