300 replies to this topic

[spraybeater]

On a bit of a break from this at the moment and kind of missing it so thought 

a bit of an update would help! I did a bit of digging about on the history of

the Contessa after getting some details back from DVLA, called at the 

address of first owner unfortunately he passed away a few years ago so

drew a blank with that, have others to try when I get some time , did however

get the rear seat back from the upholsterer did a real job on it and is getting

some other work from me on it ,started stripping of some of under bonnet

ancillaries ready for engine removal, and cleaned up tops of inner wings,

 

 they are in very good condition under the Cadulac have decided that the tops will be

finished in the body colour and not recoated with Cadulac type material with the

lower part redone with under wax type material decision on what to use under

consideration, gave it all a coat of epoxy primmer for the moment,

 

then started cleaning up rear parcel shelf it was in pretty good condition despite 

having had the speaker holes cut out there was some surface rust round them,

 

once I got the wax treatment removed from behind the fuel tank area it showed

up the work that was done to strengthen the rear seams when it was de seamed,

 

 the rest of the boot floor cleaned up small bit of surface rust in corner of

battery box will be further checked from underside once the rear subframe is

removed , the rear of the spare wheel housing had what appears to be a pool

of the black ecoat material which is bl**dy hard seem to remember seeing something

like it back in the day , with the boot floor being in exalt condition for a forty year old

gave it a couple of coats of epoxy primer for now will be all redone when it comes

to the refinishing phase. All for now  thanks for looking and comments.

[JC T ONE]

Some nice details on this car :) 

 

Not only did Contessa fit a 1275GT dashboard, they also fitted a under bonnet light - never seen that on a Wood & Pickett.

 

The sound insulation under the bonnet has a nice finish.

 

The rare details show just how original the car is = original Lucas battery connector, and rubber seals that match the interior, very rare.

 

Whats the thing in the corner of the battery box ?  

 

 

A pleasure to follow the progress on this rare car. 

 

Jens Christian

Edited by JC T ONE, 09 May 2017 - 08:49 PM.

[spraybeater]

Some nice details on this car :) 

 

Not only did Contessa fit a 1275GT dashboard, they also fitted a under bonnet light - never seen that on a Wood & Pickett.

 

The sound insulation under the bonnet has a nice finish.

 

The rare details show just how original the car is = original Lucas battery connector, and rubber seals that match the interior, very rare.

 

Whats the thing in the corner of the battery box ?  

 

 

A pleasure to follow the progress on this rare car. 

 

Jens Christian

Thanks for the comments nice to see that at least some share my views on this,

at the moment I am away from it, as for the thing in corner! investigating it seems

as though some sort of Battery securing device as to it bolted to side and along

underneath the Battery and although have seen the original type Battery connector

slaged of by some my experience back in the day was if you kept them clean and

smeared in vaseline they didn't give a lot of trouble.

The door seals coloured in the same as interior having some difficulty in sourcing

replacement but I will give it my best shot.

[Homersimpson]

 

Some nice details on this car :) 

 

Not only did Contessa fit a 1275GT dashboard, they also fitted a under bonnet light - never seen that on a Wood & Pickett.

 

The sound insulation under the bonnet has a nice finish.

 

The rare details show just how original the car is = original Lucas battery connector, and rubber seals that match the interior, very rare.

 

Whats the thing in the corner of the battery box ?  

 

 

A pleasure to follow the progress on this rare car. 

 

Jens Christian

Thanks for the comments nice to see that at least some share my views on this,

at the moment I am away from it, as for the thing in corner! investigating it seems

as though some sort of Battery securing device as to it bolted to side and along

underneath the Battery and although have seen the original type Battery connector

slaged of by some my experience back in the day was if you kept them clean and

smeared in vaseline they didn't give a lot of trouble.

The door seals coloured in the same as interior having some difficulty in sourcing

replacement but I will give it my best shot.

 

Hi, I'm not sure what colour door seals your looking for but Woolies do seals with a coloured edge if thats what they should be like?

 

http://www.woolies-t...side-seals.aspx

 

Hope this is of help.

[panky]

Cant believe how well preserved it is - a little gem

[minimissions]

Nice to see you cracking on again, this thing is such a nice bit of history, surely has to be a keeper when done. Some to look after and show off. Like the comment above I cant believe how well preserved this car is.

[spraybeater]

Great to get back working on this, after a 5 wk break in Cyprus and a visit

to MCR day at Beaulieu, made a 2 day trip down to New Forest stayed in

Lyndhurst! rounded of our holiday nicely.

Thanks for all the comments!, I feel quite privileged to have found and bought

this car, and the fact that its well preserved! 

 

First job was to temporary fit front bumper and grille, and fabricate a couple of 

spot lamp brackets, have decided for the time being not to fit the Wolsley 2200 

front grille that was previously fitted as the chrome work is badly pitted, and

would probably be hard to source another one, also found it difficult to get

spot lamp brackets it seem that most drill the bumper! but  want to be able

to put it back to original,

 

cleaned up the hubs a bit before stripping them of for cleaning and painting the

ball joints ect although showing no play will be stripped and checked at the same

time,

engine and gearbox although needing a good clean and paint not showing any 

oil leaks apart from the usual gear shaft slightly,

 

 

rear subframe removed! and given a clean up ready for stripping, used a cold 

water pressure cleaner, would have liked to done it with a steam cleaner but

that meant taking it of site,

 

subframe is in great condition for original!

 

condition of brake pipes under the Cadulac treatment is amazing for 40years old,

most parts that will be needed for rebuild are brake cylinders, handbrake cables 

and quadrants Happy Days.

 

More to follow thanks for looking.

[Northernpower]

Good to see you back on the rebuild. I can't believe how good the condition is, It shows the quality of the Cadulac treatment. When I first started off in the industry I was aware of Cadulac but like a lot of people at the time was very cynical regarding the claims made for it. Its certainly worked on yours.

[spraybeater]

Good to see you back on the rebuild. I can't believe how good the condition is, It shows the quality of the Cadulac treatment. When I first started off in the industry I was aware of Cadulac but like a lot of people at the time was very cynical regarding the claims made for it. Its certainly worked on yours.

 

I used to do a lot of body repair work for a local BL dealer back in the 70s! he had a mobile

guy that rust treated the cars he sold, don't remember what he used , I thought it was Ziebart!

On my looking into the history of this car and Oyler Contessa car in general was speaking to

a friend of my Daughter in Law a couple of weeks ago! and she believes that her late Father

had one and that the car was previously owned by one of the Bradford group Smokie!

hopefully more info will turn up 

So on with the story, hopefully Photos will work,

 

stripped rear subframe, scraped all the Cadulac from accessible areas gave it a good going over 

with wie wheel on grinder, then did the complete POR15 process on it decided that with the 

amount Cadulac inside the seams ect that blasting would be counter productive, and it was

going to be re waxed,

 

original MOWOG stamp,

 

the boot floor and heel board were in great condition so cleaned up, the small bits of surface rust

were treated with Deox and given a coat of zinc primer,

 

then all the parts that the Cadulac was removed from were Stone Chiped primed flatted

back and the wheel housings painted in body colour! the boot floor and heel board were done in

Matblack, the areas that would be inaccessible the subframe was in place were given a

coat of under wax!

 

 

subframe was then refitted, would really  have liked to leave this of till all the painting was

don! but space for storage is at a premium, last job on the rear for the moment was to refit

the brake limiter valve and the original brake pipes with were in like new condition,

Engine crane being delivered on Friday so will get front end done next.

 

Thanks for looking! more to follow.

[spraybeater]

Because of the ongoing crap with PB?????? whilst its still working for me,

got engine out this morning and removed front subframe,

 

 

requires a good clean up and a paint,

 

 

subframe the same rely only needs cleaning and paining, 

 

 

bulkhead just a bit of surface rust where brake fluid has run down,

Thanks for looking! more to follow as long as my bucket keeps going

although all my photos are backed up elsewhere, don't know whether its worth

using another hosting site as the same thing will probably happen there, IMOP

[andyt]

Really great rebuild, try Imgur for picture hosting so much faster and easier look in the thread in Mini chat about photobucket problem.

[mab01uk]

Good to see your Oyler Contessa restoration project is featured in the 'Coachbuilt Mini Register' section of the July 'CooperWorld' MCR magazine (page 49-50) and described by Steve Burkinshaw as the 'rarest of all coach built Minis'.

Edited by mab01uk, 06 July 2017 - 11:01 PM.

[spraybeater]

Good to see your Oyler Contessa restoration project is featured in the 'Coachbuilt Mini Register' section of the July 'CooperWorld' MCR magazine (page 49-50) and described by Steve Burkinshaw as the 'rarest of all coach built Minis'.

Good to see it in CooperWorld! and Steve managed to come up with some info

that I didn't know, would you believe that I first got in touch with him just after I

bought it! still got there eventually, HaHa 

Next update over the weekend whilst Potobucket still good for me, at the moment

reluctant to start trying somewhere else.

[panky]

All my links have gone today, it is only a matter of time before your do the same. Use Imgur, it's easier, quicker and very user friendly - and I'm an old fart

[PNL629G]

Love it. What an interesting Mini variant. Thanks for posting, really enjoyed reading it so far, and looking forward to the next updates! :)