‘Barn find ‘76 Shadow, what can go wrong?.

[charge]

So a little update.
Hydeworks in High Easter did a stunning job on the interior.
I need to get some pics on here.
Seats and carpets out, cleaned and treated, all the mould from door cards, dash and even steering wheel gone. He even polished all the wood and stainless entry trims.
It now looks almost as new, with a little patina on the leather still.
After collection with a truck and back to the yard ramp, we changed out 8 lines (still have the two to do going into the box under the drivers seat) and opened and cleaned the reservoir.
Fluid looked OK in the sight glass, but the was a world of crap in there!
Thanks Alabbasi for the tutorial on youtube for that, gave me the confidence to pull it apart.
A quick bleed up and the breaks are fine.
The heater actuator had a crack in the casing, and testing found it faulty.

A replacement arrived today £75- ebay, but yet to fit it.
Its first ‘engagement ’ was last Thursday, collecting outlaws for lunch at a nice restaurant for their 60th wedding anniversary, and it was amazing how the older generation are blown away by these cars.
I suppose they were always way out of reach for the average working man back in the day (i had pushed the heather valve closed so we did not cook!)
On the run home I cautiously switch on speed control, but it did not hold the speed, so another thing to fix.
Is there a common fault like bellows leaks or broken speed cable from the gearbox to look out for?
Also still to flush coolant, not sure what to do as there are so many versions of events and opening taps, half hour with a hose in here, half hour there. Maybe it is one for a specialist?

It is looking so good the paintwork is now showing it up.
I want to get it fully there mechanically this year, and think about paint next year, and start saving!

[charge]

And now it has sprung a leak!
Do feel like what i thought was a bullet dodged is turning to get me!
Big pool of fluid under the car today.
Looks like the rad has to come out.
God knows how much I would be into if I was paying an indie to sort the constant faults that are rearing thier head!
I can see how these end up falling into disrepair is you dont have the facilities to fix your self, or a wad of cash to throw at them every 100 miles!
Should have expected it after such a layup, but this car has done less miles than my 5 year old peugeot van that just gets a service once a year and topped up with diesel occasionally and only needed tyres.
I guess the worst thing you can do is leave them standing for long periods?

[pancholi]

thanks for keeping this thread updated.
i have been looking at getting a Shadow.
it great to read to see how others are getting on with their cars.
pics would be great..

[charge]

Six months since the last ( and reading back, depressing) post and things actually were not that bad.
The leak turned out to be blocked drain holes in the front valence, and water was trickling out after if must have filled after a heavy shower while outside, so it trickled out for 3-4 days in the barn leading me to believe it had done the rad.
So since then it has been great to be honest!
Got the A/C going which took a little time but not much money.
After a visit to the excellent Silver Lady rolls specialists in Ongar for a check over and idle set up, it was found the compressor had a leak on the rear plate seal.
They were talking a new unit, but I found a company in the states that did the seal kit for the Harrison A6 unit, and once fitted with new oil (after a purge of the original form the whole system) some R134A was eased in and we had cold air for a week!
Turned out the schrader valve was letting by, so a new one from Flying Spares and re gas it was job done.
Other thing that did not work was the spped control unit.
I looked in depth to its operation and was quite worrried about takling it.
Last thing I wanted was to cock it up and the cruise control comes on and doesn’t deactivate.
Anyway, 4-5 attempts to use it, and it suddenly started working fine.
A little surging, say engagining at 35mph, it drops to 31 then picks up to 36, then 33 and settling at 35.
Consol light did not work, tuned out the feed for that and the clock was dead. Could not find the break in the cable so new line from the fuse box fixed that, and the switch line for the floor mounded high beam also lost its switch line, but all now fixed.
Apart from the clock that will not adjust, i think it is all there.
Put her into a nice modern storage unit a few months back now as it was regularly in and out of the work barn and with the winter now here wanted her tucked away for 6 months, and she rolled up next to a very nice corniche so will be in good company for the winter.
A few pics of interior and after a wash. Inside has come up great, but the better it gets the more it shows up the paint!

[charge]

[ettore]

She looks great and they do have the most wonderful interiors. I’ve always fancied a Shadow or Corniche and your thread has prompted a Sunday morning internet sweep.

Best to pay all the money or find the bargain?

[charge]

Find the bargain!
I see lots of low mileage or low owner cars for sale at £30k plus and think, ‘yes,good paint, straight bumpers, but the dash wood is tatty’ or ‘engine bay looks tired’ , mine is better than that, for just over a tenth of the price!
Yes, I found a bargain, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.
Keep trawling facebook market place, Gumtree, anything a little off the ebay or autotrader sites and you may turn up a good one.
Lots made and lots tucked up in garages!

[CrunkleFloop]

I've just seen this thread, what a find!

Stunning looking car and it's lovely to see it brought back on the road.

/off now to start peering in peoples barns.