A little project I picked up this weekend

[jonat127]

Collected this from a chap I met at a show during the summer.
It will form the basis of the six cylinder conversion I have promised myself. I've had the engine for several years but haven't been able to bring myself to take my 4 cylinder car off the road.
Now I don't have to but it may take a while!

The shell is in good condition





But the rest of the components are in a bit of a muddle!



And the engine needs some work too



Hopefully my project will not take as long as the guy I bought it from, he got it to its current state over a 20 year period!

[ollieg]

Watching with interest!…great project. All looks very very familiar. I can sympathise with the previous owner taking 20 years to get it to that stage…sounds like he was motoring ahead!

Body looks in really good shape. Keeping it narrow-bodied? What's the engine?

Ollie.

[jonat127]

Yes the one thing the previous owner did was sort out the shell.
It is all solid with additional chassis strengthening plates in at the rear. He also started a RHD conversion but I will be putting it back to LHD.
It started life as a 1971 1.7.
I have to stay narrow body because the entrance to my garage ir really tight, but I fancy squeazing some 7" 5 stud fuchs into the arches. I like the understated but slightly aggressive look.
The engine is a 2.4T but I haven't decided what to do with that. If it is in good condition when I strip the top end down I might just put it back together as is. If it needs parts I may do a little bit of upgrading.

We had to literally pick all the pieces off of shelves, out of cupboards and off the floor in his garage and then search round the atic with a torch for the interior. The wheels and doors were under a hedge in the garden!!
Just been on the Bigdug website looking at racking and storage boxes. I think sorting the huge pile of bits will be the first job, at least then I will know what I've got.

I had intended this to be a retirement project but I'm getting all excited about it and cant wait another two years before starting. Anyway, I have to clear the parts out the way so I can get my orange car out.

[middlefour1]

Hi Jon,

Should keep you out of mischief for a good while!! It does look a very good shell.

Keep us posted.

[Nige]

Looks great, is the shell literally hanging on the wall in those pics or on some sort of dolly?

[ollieg]

I reckon BigDug do good business out of us DDKers..my garage is fitted out with their stuff too!

Good luck with it all..it's a big project as I am finding out myself! At least you have a lot of the bits already and aren't starting from absolute zero. I've just invested in a 6 conversion project myself which is currently in a container probably somewhere around the Gulf of Mexico right now!

[Mr Pharmacist]

Nice looking project jon!

Ollie - is this 6 conversion you've bought just a short cut to getting yours done?!

[jonat127]

Looks great, is the shell literally hanging on the wall in those pics or on some sort of dolly?

It's on a custom made dolly. Just as well too as it fitted really neatly inside the van.
I think one of the first jobs after sorting out the pile of pieces will be to get it the right way up on a dolly.

[ollieg]

Nice looking project jon!

Ollie - is this 6 conversion you've bought just a short cut to getting yours done?!

Sorry Jon, don't want to hijack your thread!!..

Stuart…ummm…..yeah….is that so wrong?!!! Otherwise it was never going to be finished, not in my lifetime anyway…too little time and money to do it piece by piece. So I'm using the shell in my garage with the good bits transferred over from the purchase..nuff said.

[Mr Pharmacist]

Yes - sorry for the hijack Jon

And no Ollie, its not wrong - sounds like a sensible route to take to me!!

[Ian Gunney]

It does look a decent shell from the pics - have you set a timeframe for completion?

[jackstowers]

Let me know if you need some extra muscle to get it on the dolly, be happy to come for a nose

[jonat127]

It does look a decent shell from the pics - have you set a timeframe for completion?

Yes I think about 5 years!!!
Original plan was for a retirement project but I don't retire for over two years. This project came a bit earlier than I was planning but it was too good an opportunity to let go.

Let me know if you need some extra muscle to get it on the dolly, be happy to come for a nose

Will do, I think it will take several bodies to do the roll in a controlled manner.

[ollieg]

Yes I think about 5 years!!!

That would be good going Jon!..Ian, yours took 7 right?..and I'm into yr4 on mine and still got years ahead of me..

[Mr Pharmacist]

Mine took 5 years and that was working on most weekends

there was a lot of cutting and welding though so should take you much less time