Discussion
What a day, where do I start...
To my immense relief, everything went according to plan but not without a lot of stress! Cash handed over, documents in return; the car wears a private plate but it's been transferred off, so it should be D488 PHG. The Autocar magazine featured car from May '87.
The car was bought from the factory by Barry Zee; he was a race team manager/driver and subsequently raced/managed Tuscans. There's a youtube clip of Steve Cole driving (well... not actually driving!) one of his cars. Zee was a property developer and ran into cash flow problems, the guy I bought the car off basically took it as collateral for a loan so wasn't too interested in the car itself, hence the lay up. Apparently there were three wedges involved in the deal; a supercharged 350 (with the supercharger poking through the bonnet, flared body and Lamborghini rear end (don't shoot the messenger, it sounds far fetched to me too!)); and the press car 450SE (in red, 600 miles on it apparently - again don't shoot the messenger!). The supercharged car went back to Zee, not sure about the 450. The SEAC was on the road for a while, then laid up; then recommisioned when last taxed (1995); scared the owner s**tless in an incident on the A127 involving high speed and has been laid up since. It was re-MOTed in 2005 for the number plate transfer and appears to have been outside since. Two independent people have said it was running fine when it was laid up; the (now ex!) owner has insisted it will be easy to get going again...
The car was near West Horndon close to the A127 in Essex; I live in Billericay and work in Dagenham (Ford R+D); I like to drive across country rather than use the M25 and on one of my meanders along tiny roads I came across this...
It's a yard used by a car dealer and usually the car was blocked in and hidden by other cars; I was lucky one day to spot it when the rest of the yard was clear.
Finding the owner was surprisingly quite easy; persuading him to sell wasn't. He didn't need the money and knew he was sitting on a unique and very special car. Hence the stressful time for me!
Today... took two hiab drivers quite a while to extract it...
And bring it to my place...
Now I have a much better idea of what I'm up against; I have about 250 photos of the thing!! I feel lots of posting coming on...
To my immense relief, everything went according to plan but not without a lot of stress! Cash handed over, documents in return; the car wears a private plate but it's been transferred off, so it should be D488 PHG. The Autocar magazine featured car from May '87.
The car was bought from the factory by Barry Zee; he was a race team manager/driver and subsequently raced/managed Tuscans. There's a youtube clip of Steve Cole driving (well... not actually driving!) one of his cars. Zee was a property developer and ran into cash flow problems, the guy I bought the car off basically took it as collateral for a loan so wasn't too interested in the car itself, hence the lay up. Apparently there were three wedges involved in the deal; a supercharged 350 (with the supercharger poking through the bonnet, flared body and Lamborghini rear end (don't shoot the messenger, it sounds far fetched to me too!)); and the press car 450SE (in red, 600 miles on it apparently - again don't shoot the messenger!). The supercharged car went back to Zee, not sure about the 450. The SEAC was on the road for a while, then laid up; then recommisioned when last taxed (1995); scared the owner s**tless in an incident on the A127 involving high speed and has been laid up since. It was re-MOTed in 2005 for the number plate transfer and appears to have been outside since. Two independent people have said it was running fine when it was laid up; the (now ex!) owner has insisted it will be easy to get going again...
The car was near West Horndon close to the A127 in Essex; I live in Billericay and work in Dagenham (Ford R+D); I like to drive across country rather than use the M25 and on one of my meanders along tiny roads I came across this...
It's a yard used by a car dealer and usually the car was blocked in and hidden by other cars; I was lucky one day to spot it when the rest of the yard was clear.
Finding the owner was surprisingly quite easy; persuading him to sell wasn't. He didn't need the money and knew he was sitting on a unique and very special car. Hence the stressful time for me!
Today... took two hiab drivers quite a while to extract it...
And bring it to my place...
Now I have a much better idea of what I'm up against; I have about 250 photos of the thing!! I feel lots of posting coming on...
Edited by The Hatter on Sunday 20th March 20:33
Still on cloud 9, still can't believe my luck!!
Down to earth though, the engine's an unknown quantity and the interior's trash...
On the plus side, the engine's looking complete. On the negitive side, the air filter and plug leads have been pulled off. It certainly hasn't run since 2005, could be 1995 - ouch. Plan is to pull the plugs, look down the bores with an endoscope and go from there.
Interior? Ha! I laugh at mould, I have plant life!!
Yes that's grass growing in the middle of the back shelf. Phil Dickie to the rescue! Alternative interior is needed...
Down to earth though, the engine's an unknown quantity and the interior's trash...
On the plus side, the engine's looking complete. On the negitive side, the air filter and plug leads have been pulled off. It certainly hasn't run since 2005, could be 1995 - ouch. Plan is to pull the plugs, look down the bores with an endoscope and go from there.
Interior? Ha! I laugh at mould, I have plant life!!
Yes that's grass growing in the middle of the back shelf. Phil Dickie to the rescue! Alternative interior is needed...
Hi Steve,
What brakes, I can't see any brakes!!!
Getting the wheels off was a fight, locking bolt covers with no key caused a bit of a hicough.
Looks like standard 2.8i granny brakes to me; 'competition brakes' must have meant competition pads.
Suits me for road use, I can put sensible pads in.
What brakes, I can't see any brakes!!!
Getting the wheels off was a fight, locking bolt covers with no key caused a bit of a hicough.
Looks like standard 2.8i granny brakes to me; 'competition brakes' must have meant competition pads.
Suits me for road use, I can put sensible pads in.
So... body night. It should be Kevlar, it was built in Sept '86. There's some pie crust ripples on the sides of the car which confirms it's not GRP but I couldn't get any decent photos that show it.
It's been resprayed at some point, no obvious reason why. As it's been laid up since 1995 it must have been resprayed early in it's life, maybe because the owner wasn't happy with the Kevlar finish?
The body's got plenty of cracks, and some damage on the front spoiler where some oaf has tried to tow it - very annoying!
The front nearside corner looks like it's been in some kind of altercation...
The passenger door's suffered too, and had some ineffective local paint repair:
And random cracks elsewhere:
The dirtiest ducktail in the world...
None of the above is life threatening; this , however, does concern me. What's within the screen frame moulding? I assume a mild steel frame. The screen's cracked so doesn't lend any strength to the screen frame, but it does seem to be extraordinarily flexible. Any ideas what to do with this?
It's been resprayed at some point, no obvious reason why. As it's been laid up since 1995 it must have been resprayed early in it's life, maybe because the owner wasn't happy with the Kevlar finish?
The body's got plenty of cracks, and some damage on the front spoiler where some oaf has tried to tow it - very annoying!
The front nearside corner looks like it's been in some kind of altercation...
The passenger door's suffered too, and had some ineffective local paint repair:
And random cracks elsewhere:
The dirtiest ducktail in the world...
None of the above is life threatening; this , however, does concern me. What's within the screen frame moulding? I assume a mild steel frame. The screen's cracked so doesn't lend any strength to the screen frame, but it does seem to be extraordinarily flexible. Any ideas what to do with this?
The numberplate on that flared arch car has a certain similarity to the one mine's wearing... confirms the story I was told. I was told the supercharged 350i was green, and that it had an enormous bonnet to cover a supercharger; that must have been after the posted photos were taken. Clearly it was a 390SE not a 350, the car's still with BZ as far as my car's previous owner is aware.
Drilled out the locks on the rear wheels today for a check and clean up. It was pretty mucky under there:
Not bad condition after all. Exhaust is shot; brakes weren't stuck too badly - car now rolls. Something strange going on with the bottom shock mount, not sure if it's a knackered bush or some kind of rose joint.
Someone's made a point of highlighting the make of the shocks too:
I'm not sure what make the shocks on the car actually are, anyone recognise them?
Martin
Not bad condition after all. Exhaust is shot; brakes weren't stuck too badly - car now rolls. Something strange going on with the bottom shock mount, not sure if it's a knackered bush or some kind of rose joint.
Someone's made a point of highlighting the make of the shocks too:
I'm not sure what make the shocks on the car actually are, anyone recognise them?
Martin
Edited by The Hatter on Friday 25th March 22:21
Yep, plan is to rent/borrow (anybody?) a trailer to get it to BBWF; I've just booked a room at the hotel.
Carried on cleaning up the rear end yesterday; removed the rear section of the exhaust, I had to cut/drill all the bolts out.
Fixed the passenger door latch mechanism after spending ages getting the door trim off, the screws were rusted so that a posidriv bit wouldn't bite - very awkward. It's things like this that'll stop me getting it back on the road quickly!
Inside of the door trim was marked; date is 6 months after the chassis number date so maybe it was retrimmed? Or are chassis numbers allocated before cars are actually built? Anyone know?
Then took the seats out; the interior's still not dry after a week so I wanted to expose more carpet area, plus I want to inspect the metal chassis/door frame re-enforcement bars in the interior. The seats came out surprisingly easily.
The seat frames, foam, recliner and slider mechanisms and metal springs/wires are in very poor condition. I'd like to get new frames and use the original material to recover them - but I don't recognise the type of seat, they're certainly not the same as my 350i. I assume they're standard seats from another vehicle, does anyone recognise them?
Carried on cleaning up the rear end yesterday; removed the rear section of the exhaust, I had to cut/drill all the bolts out.
Fixed the passenger door latch mechanism after spending ages getting the door trim off, the screws were rusted so that a posidriv bit wouldn't bite - very awkward. It's things like this that'll stop me getting it back on the road quickly!
Inside of the door trim was marked; date is 6 months after the chassis number date so maybe it was retrimmed? Or are chassis numbers allocated before cars are actually built? Anyone know?
Then took the seats out; the interior's still not dry after a week so I wanted to expose more carpet area, plus I want to inspect the metal chassis/door frame re-enforcement bars in the interior. The seats came out surprisingly easily.
The seat frames, foam, recliner and slider mechanisms and metal springs/wires are in very poor condition. I'd like to get new frames and use the original material to recover them - but I don't recognise the type of seat, they're certainly not the same as my 350i. I assume they're standard seats from another vehicle, does anyone recognise them?
Not sure about letting anybody touch it at BBWF... I'm looking forward to the light relief of polishing it after the hard slog of the rest of it!
It was great to meet you guys and compare to Andy's SEAC, thanks for coming over and the advice. I was amazed at all the differences too!
Leigh, thanks for the trailer offer, if we can pull that off it'll be fab.
Stripped more of the interior now, predictably enough it's pretty awful. You can see the Kevlar weave in this pic though.
This is what's left of the steel bracket at the base of the B pillar/hood frame close to the seat belt mounting point. Not a lot left of the bracket, but the bolts are still there - you can see the space between the bolt heads and the body where the bracket and washers used to be... Getting the bolts out is going to be interesting, the nuts they go into are captive and hidden between the two shells of the body. Plus there's no access space for a drill. bug*er!
I haven't fully investigated the bars within the body that support the door hinges, but they don't look much better:
Not sure what these hieroglyphics mean...
It was great to meet you guys and compare to Andy's SEAC, thanks for coming over and the advice. I was amazed at all the differences too!
Leigh, thanks for the trailer offer, if we can pull that off it'll be fab.
Stripped more of the interior now, predictably enough it's pretty awful. You can see the Kevlar weave in this pic though.
This is what's left of the steel bracket at the base of the B pillar/hood frame close to the seat belt mounting point. Not a lot left of the bracket, but the bolts are still there - you can see the space between the bolt heads and the body where the bracket and washers used to be... Getting the bolts out is going to be interesting, the nuts they go into are captive and hidden between the two shells of the body. Plus there's no access space for a drill. bug*er!
I haven't fully investigated the bars within the body that support the door hinges, but they don't look much better:
Not sure what these hieroglyphics mean...
Edited by The Hatter on Tuesday 29th March 21:06
I was pondering roll cage and harnesses, and might go that way in the future. I read somewhere that harnesses are no good for an MOT though; you need 3 point lap/diagonal belts for the MOT - although It'd make my job easier if that's not the case!
I needn't have worried about seized bolts and hard to get at captive nuts; the whole lot came out in one go...
Hopefully the top bolt will come out more easily now I can get to the back of it.
The construction of the car appears to be Kevlar top and bottom body halves, joined together with conventional fibreglass matting and re-enforced with fibreglass where necessary. The metal plate that's broken away appears to have been embedded in the fibreglass matting so it's a relatively easy repair. It seems slightly dodgy to have the metal frame that holds the seat belts bolted to metal plates embedded in fibreglass rather than bolting direct to the chassis, but that appears to be how this car was built. Maybe they are all like that?
It puts me in a bit of a dilemma, do I attempt to rebuild it to how it left the factory or do I modify it where I see fit? Answers on a post card...
I needn't have worried about seized bolts and hard to get at captive nuts; the whole lot came out in one go...
Hopefully the top bolt will come out more easily now I can get to the back of it.
The construction of the car appears to be Kevlar top and bottom body halves, joined together with conventional fibreglass matting and re-enforced with fibreglass where necessary. The metal plate that's broken away appears to have been embedded in the fibreglass matting so it's a relatively easy repair. It seems slightly dodgy to have the metal frame that holds the seat belts bolted to metal plates embedded in fibreglass rather than bolting direct to the chassis, but that appears to be how this car was built. Maybe they are all like that?
It puts me in a bit of a dilemma, do I attempt to rebuild it to how it left the factory or do I modify it where I see fit? Answers on a post card...
Yes, I meant roll bar not roll cage; I know some cars have them so I'll do the rounds for research at BBWF!
I've found some alternative seat belt mounts that are attached to the main chassis by metal re-enforcement plates, but they weren't in use! You can see them approx 1 foot further forward than the normal mounts in this pic. Curious.
Lots of progress this weekend, managed to get all the seat belt bolts out without damaging anything; difficult when the heads of the bolts are rusted to round.
I finally got the hood bar to move; after a week of trying I eventually had to split the bracket to break it free. Good job I should have another hood shortly!
Looks like it was made by 'Eric'. The other words say 'Primer and Spray NO HEAT' I guess that refers to painting Kevlar.
Next stage, dash out...
Not too difficult, wiring is a mess though; looks like the radio's been stolen and the wires in the centre console ripped out, and a complex alarm system had been spliced in.
These are redundant alarm wires/units! Saves a bit of weight...
I've found some alternative seat belt mounts that are attached to the main chassis by metal re-enforcement plates, but they weren't in use! You can see them approx 1 foot further forward than the normal mounts in this pic. Curious.
Lots of progress this weekend, managed to get all the seat belt bolts out without damaging anything; difficult when the heads of the bolts are rusted to round.
I finally got the hood bar to move; after a week of trying I eventually had to split the bracket to break it free. Good job I should have another hood shortly!
Looks like it was made by 'Eric'. The other words say 'Primer and Spray NO HEAT' I guess that refers to painting Kevlar.
Next stage, dash out...
Not too difficult, wiring is a mess though; looks like the radio's been stolen and the wires in the centre console ripped out, and a complex alarm system had been spliced in.
These are redundant alarm wires/units! Saves a bit of weight...
Stripped almost all of the interior out now; I've investigated all the metalwork inside the car and it's not as bad as I had feared. This is the passenger side footwell with the mounting for the door hinge re-enforcement, after peeling away the de-laminated fibreglass. It looks pretty awful in the pic but the metal is sound under the corrosion so it just needs treating and re-glassing over.
Driver's side is even better, the glassfibre is still holding tight:
The seat belt mount on the driver's side is much better than the passenger side; but I'm not happy with the original design so I'm going to re-enforce it anyway. I'm going to make something up to tie the H-frame behind the seats back to the chassis; I reckon I can hide most of it behind the original trim so it should look OK. I can then think about roll bars later if necessary; a cursory look hasn't identified any obvious mounting positions for a roll bar.
Took the heater out too: it looks like a right Heath Robinson affair! It's made of flat sheets of plastic with some scored folds, bathroom waste pipes and gallons of mastic. I'm going to have to cut it open to re-attach the heater control cables, plus it appears to have been built in situ and wouldn't come out without some 'modification' to the windscreen duct.
It also projects through into the engine bay; I don't think I've seen another wedge like it?
PS note the condition of the chassis exposed around the gearstick...
Driver's side is even better, the glassfibre is still holding tight:
The seat belt mount on the driver's side is much better than the passenger side; but I'm not happy with the original design so I'm going to re-enforce it anyway. I'm going to make something up to tie the H-frame behind the seats back to the chassis; I reckon I can hide most of it behind the original trim so it should look OK. I can then think about roll bars later if necessary; a cursory look hasn't identified any obvious mounting positions for a roll bar.
Took the heater out too: it looks like a right Heath Robinson affair! It's made of flat sheets of plastic with some scored folds, bathroom waste pipes and gallons of mastic. I'm going to have to cut it open to re-attach the heater control cables, plus it appears to have been built in situ and wouldn't come out without some 'modification' to the windscreen duct.
It also projects through into the engine bay; I don't think I've seen another wedge like it?
PS note the condition of the chassis exposed around the gearstick...
Edited by The Hatter on Saturday 9th April 21:25
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