A good friend of mine owns a rather lovely Rover P4, ex-concourse winner and he offered me this brilliant bit of advice. Don't see the restoration as a huge job to be done all at once, just think little bits at a time, always forward, relentlessly. Sort of a 'relentless incrementalism'..
Wise words indeed, but can I get this lovely car which I've owned for half my life and used to drive as a daily back in the 90's back on the road where it belongs? Who knows?
Anyway, the basics:
Built in November '61, despatched the same day as a Tartan Red Austin Seven Deluxe with optional heater (!) and registered two weeks later after being sold from F.G Smiths of Goodmayes. The first owner, name unknown and so the second owner told me, had loads of trouble with the coil spring clutch and the leaky primary gear oil seals. So, second owner in his fifteen years or so of ownership instead of doing the decent thing and getting a 'deva bush' conversion done, presumably just put up with it as the car still wears it original wet flywheel set up. Things were no better when it was my daily; 19 years old and abjectly unable to perform a wheelspin..
It's got it's original 850 engine, which last ran some fifteen years ago, it has it's original floors, inner wings and front panel and a lovely collection of terribly welded bodge up patches all over it.
When I got it, it was very very tidy indeed, having been treated to a respray by the previous owner who also made a nice job of the retrim of the seat facings in what looks to be velour from an XR3. Unfortunately, they bird-poop-welded-on oversills, leaving the rear inner sill and heelboard joint dangerously weak. I only really noticed when the door used to pop open during 'vigorous' cornering! So, I took it off the road and replaced it with a very sadly missed Rover Cooper 1.3i (J242HMF - if you know anything about it, what happened to it as it got Cat B'd in 2010 :-(, where it is, or where it's remains lie, please let me know..)
Since then it's been moved around with me from house to house, in and out of lockups, vandalised, used as a shed, had things dropped on it, bits go missing and all the usual. But now it's time has come. I've made a start. Here's some pictures..
Near Side looks quite good, and isn't really that bad. Would probably sail through an MOT
The offside isn't so clever however - the aforementioned vandal attack left the scars on the door and A panel, and the other vandal who fitted oversills has had his 'work' laid bare through the hole chopped in the rear quarter (actually, I removed an off cut from an old Castrol can here..
The remnants of a once proud and rather important bit of Longbridge's finest metalwork..
Must have had an 'L' plate on it at some time - Red to Stop and Green to Go. Lovely drain hole in the side of the footwell where an inner sill and A post once was..
Such a shame it's not a '59; I've heard they don't have to concern themselves with MOT's anymore!
Anyway, more to follow..
