Acquired a project Griffith - wish me luck

[PreCat Griffith]

I've taken on a project precat Griffith. The previous owner sadly died and consequently not much is known about the car's history, other than it's been dry stored it's whole life, and done very few miles over the last decade.

It's done just over 50K. The outrigger corners appear good so much as I'm able to ascertain; what's visible is solid, and the metal I'm able to reach on top of by cramming my fingers in is also solid. Half of the body-to-chassis nuts and washers have been replaced (they look brand new), so may be an indication of the body having been lifted at some point?

Engine sounds good, and it goes well throughout the rev range. No shunting/stuttering even at slow crawling traffic speeds. There's a puff of smoke on start up, but nothing else. Ride is good and it tracks well. Still seems quite stiff and tight handling wise (once you get past play in the steering). It has red coilovers if that means anything?

Bad points:
-Takes a lot of cranking to start when warm.
-You can smell fuel in the cabin as soon as the car starts.
-Steering has play in it
-Dash is falling apart
-Sidemirrors flop about all over the place
-Engine oil looks new and is still a good colour, but smells of fuel when you take a sniff down the oil filler.
-Diff whines a bit on overrun
-Sits at 90c on the temp gauge (not sure if this is normal, but seems a bit too close to the red zone for my liking), but it made it 50 miles home OK like this.
-Oil pressure never gets much over 50

So a few things to keep me busy, but I'm relieved the chassis seems good, and the engine is sweet (I think).

I'm going to change all the fluids, and have a look at the plugs. It's the fuel smells which concern me the most....any tips guys?

[PreCat Griffith]

Cheers all. The fuel smell actually turned out to be exhaust gasses leaking from the join between the system and y-pipe, and a massive hole after the exhaust.

Fitting TT mirrors sounds intriguing.

No photos just yet.