Oops I did it again!

[alfacat]

Hi Darren
Nice find. +1 for Bruce's idea narrow body, standard bumpers and LWT Int but I'd stay white (with a safty stripe)and a nice set of black R rep wheels. Kind of TR but LWB, far to many ST reps about at the mo (great tho they are) time to start a new trend...

All the best
Ian F.

[hot66]

you're all wrong ... early 70's was all about the flares

[alfacat]

I was a 'drain pipe' man myself...

all the best
Ian F.

[sdelan]

Hey Darren - if it helps - you can always give me the engine and I'll stick it in the back of my car..........

[Gary71]

I'd restore the body back to near stock, with an S front spoiler, flat rear deck but add some genuine RS rear flares ( so it looks like a flared S ) , painted in a period safety colour

The ideal spec

Nice find by the way! I need to search some barns, one of the few left unconverted around here must have an early 911 in it!

[Darren65]

Thanks for all the replies - I was awake all night contemplating options!

It's going to be quite a while before I get on with this which will at least give me a chance to come up with a definitive wish list, source parts, research other cars, book a slot with Barry etc. - Nice not to have any pre-set limitations!

I'm loving those orange cars

Cheers,

[johnM]

Hi Darren
Congrats! some people have all the luck.
Kind Regards

[Darren65]

Thanks John,

Funny really - I wasn't looking for a car, am pretty skint, really hectic at work, have two projects on the go and last thing I needed was another car! - I have been telling everyone who listens though that I'd got the bug and was lusting after a hotrod project 'one day'

I remember reading about Noel Edmunds being in touch with the 'cosmos' and getting everything he really, really wants so maybe it's something like that - saying that, the cosmos never helped all those years ago when I used to lust over Natasha Kinski

Love this car...

[Bootsy]

Forward date it and build it as a stock SC

It's the future, trust me

[ims101]

Forward date it and build it as a stock SC

It's the future, trust me

Haha
On a serious note I'm with James on this one. Good luck which ever way you go!

[Darren65]

Had a dig around to assess the car today...

On the up side....
Four of the five alloys, all gauges, steering wheel etc are date stamped late 1971 correctly (car was first registered Dec 71).
The engine turns over easily and hasn't seized with all the right items in place.
The 915 5-Speed box seems to engage nicely in each gear and looks in generally good shape.
Although there's plenty of rust, a prod with a sharp pointy thing seems to indicate that it's actually quite solid in most areas and the rear quarters appear original and solid.
The engine bay and the under the bonnet look original and never restored.
The dash is in good shape.

The not so good...
The floor pan has seen a bit of life and is dented in a few areas.
The roof and front of the bonnet have been heavily filled at some point (I think the car may have been walked on/dented, the car was vandalised shortly before being stored).
All brake callipers are missing.
All of the interior, door cards, pockets etc are toast.

All I plan to do now is cover the car up and wait a year or so before I can get going. I'll be searching for parts and inspiration in the meantime.

A quick tip if don't want to damage your door cards when fitting stereo speakers - just cut a couple of holes in the bulkhead above the footwells and fit them upside down there



Cheers,

[Bootsy]

Nice tip on the speakers, going to take a cutter to mine now

[Darren65]

A nice little story I thought I'd share….

Prior to restoration I set about trying to dig up some history on this car.

An application to the DVLA revealed all the previous owners and I sent a letter to each, a long shot after so many years but you never know.

The owner whom I thought it least likely to make contact with the was third who owned the car back in the early eighties. Then the car was registered to a company rather than an individual with company having been dissolved in the mid eighties, however at the time the car had a private number plate and there was a name on the registration transfer document plus a second address.

A search on the name and addresses I had revealed nothing so I decided to HPI the number plate and this revealed it had been transferred onto a Bristol 412 for the past twenty years.

Hoping the owner might belong to the Bristol Owners Club I sent an email to the Secretary with details who later that very evening replied saying he did indeed know the gentleman in question and would pass on my details.

A few days later I received a phone call from a wonderful gentleman in his 70's who remembered this car and told me some fantastic tales of all the various cars he and his petrol head brothers had enjoyed over the years. He also mentioned he might have something to send me….

….a couple of weeks later and this arrived today…



…who would have thought that some 30 years later the car would be reunited with its original handbook and service book. As they say, seek and yee shall find

A special thank you to the gentleman in question, I'll be making a suitable donation to the charity of his choice.

Cheers,

[Bootsy]

Superb story

[KS]

Fantastic story!