Wendy Dawes

She’s for sale at £2000 if anyone wants to buy her and either replace or recondition her engine 

I’m not throwing any more money at her I’ve spent a fortune and the money pit is too deep 😊 I’ll post a for sale on the forum later 

8 minutes ago, Amy Wade said:

Get a price from your local reconditioner for the machining required & we can talk in a couple of weeks at Stoneleigh. 

P.S. I'll be bringing baked goods 😊

Thank you Amy, it won’t stop me from enjoying the planned events,  old cars, tired engines etc  xx 

see you at Stoneleigh with biscuits 😊

Thanks Bruce x  I  have a 1500 spitfire engine but I think I’ll get her own engine reconditioned in the next few weeks,  I bought an overdrive gearbox and twin hs2 carbs which I have had rebuilt at cost so I’ll get her engine done and put the whole lot on in one go

Took Mabel out for a pre Stoneleigh run ran beautifully  for a 7 mile drive then blew a big end half a mile from home,  limped her back to her garage and shut her away for the forseeable,  I did say in the area news in club torque that she would throw up an issue before Stoneleigh, she was meant to be on the stand.  I hate that car !! 

We will be visiting Calke Abbey in Derbyshire on Drive it day, should be a lovely day out look forward to seeing you all at the next meeting where the final bookings, details and payment for admission will be collected 

6 hours ago, Howard said:

I have a cheap set from Aldi, which is nice and thin so great for getting to those difficult nuts.

Not heavy duty, but worth every penny.

Me too I use lots of Aldi tools, they do the job 

Brilliant, Kevin and Lucy are well loved members of West Mids area, they’ll be raiding again this year  😊

15 hours ago, garyf said:

I've made what I thought was a realistic offer for the car but had a very negative reply, so the search goes on.

How much is it these days for a decent, road worthy Vitesse convertible?

Hi Gary, maybe you could put a post on this forum under cars wanted section and include your budget price,  there’s always a car for sale at some point within the club membership, 

good luck on your search 

Yes Amy the biscuits will be there alongside Mabel 😊

You can just buy a 71/4” clutch plate with 20 spline , Im planning to fit J type box in my herald in spring and I’ve just had to obtain a 61/2” 20 spline plate. They’re about £20 on eBay and new old stock is relatively plentiful  on these 
 

He’s a club member search on the forum

under members he is just Tony Lindsey on the website 

hooe he can help 

As above, send your written article via email to Dale Barker 

Canley classics can supply new  and delver 

Does anyone else think that the membership subscription might increase if CT Didn’t have a FB page, I know the local area groups mostly have a page of their own  I do wonder if anyone who joins the FB page actually thinks they’re joining the club 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m not asking for it to be closed, but it’s just a thought  which crosses my mind 

I am thinking of buying another future modern classic, I rang Cherished insurance, -  the car in question is a 1993 Vauxhall Astra, they quoted a massive £390 for insuring it,  I wasnt too surprised  at this as they did quote £165 for my 12/50 Herald which classic line  insured for just £98., unfortunately classic line  don’t recognise 1993 cars as classics. 
I rang Adrian Flux who quoted £299 almost £100 cheaper and this included homestart and recovery/relay and legal cover.

why this massive difference in prices is beyond me  🤷🏻‍♀️
don’t think I’ll be getting quotes from cherished anytime soon 

Hi Sam 

hooe the move goes well see you and Andie soon at an event 

👍

Darren also had a friends request from Nuala, as she was always a friend on FB  while she was here, it’s absolutely disgusting.  I came off FB in 2019 and would NEVER  go back on, Its full of sicko’s and I think that the club website is grossly underused.  FB seems to entrap People I personally hate it but that’s just my own opinion 

Hi Carl,  

we have a 1500 engine for sale,  it’s reportedly done just 29000 miles but I can’t verify this, I’m in Staffordshire I’ll send you a private message 

2 hours ago, DVD3500 said:

I have been keeping quiet about my project because frankly there wasn’t much to report on.

 

The car left in October 2021 and since then has been at a workshop in Stuttgart.

 

The car was acid dipped, galvanized, primered and some body damage came to light. By this point the guy who runs the shop (is essentially a one-man shop) had other projects that he thought he would get done quickly (a ’63 Beetle that came in for rocker panel/sill work and ended up being a body off restoration). Plus he is known in the area for allowing other people to do their work on their cars there.

 

Once I was there a guy was swapping out the gearbox on a BMW 3 series for a better one…

 

The original plan was to send everything off to Poland and then build it back up.

 

One of the local Spitfire drivers who is a master mechanic and helps build protypes for a star car manufacturer in Stuttgart pointed out how much Spitfire bodies flex (even with strengthening) and since the car obviously had had a few dings maybe we should make sure everything fits since banging and welding into a freshly painted body would be somewhat annoying… putting it mildly.

 

We will have the chassis and the underbody painted in the final color (Cobalt Blue) but leave the other panels until it all fits up nicely. I know many cringe at the effort of getting panel gaps to fit but this guy hung the doors back on after the dip and they are already nearly perfect.

 

As idle hands are the devil’s work he is having all the suspension components powder coated and I will put them together on the bench so that when the body is ready for the first test fit we can just bolt them on to get the whole thing rolling.

 

Then the rest of the car will get the final coat(s) of paint and I asked to have them put in the windshield/windscreen as I don’t have the skill for that.

 

Then she will come home and I can do the rest!

 

Only minor hiccup I see is the guy I had lined up to do my diff (convert it to 3.63, put an aluminum casing on it and overhaul it in general) says he can’t get the shims to do it. I tried to convince him but so far no joy. There is a company that will do it for about 1000€ but I was hoping to not have to go that route…  Open to offers! 😄

 

While I wait for the powder coated parts I am reading up on best practices for fitting the bushes. I got my Dad’s tap and die set and will chase the threads with that. Feels good to have them in my hand again after almost 25 years. I have some upgraded parts from the US and am tempted to put lightweight hubs on the front but the Finance Dept. might not approve that! 😄

 

So with any luck, sometime in the Spring she will come home and I can report back as I stumble through such tasks as:

 

Rebuilding and upgrading (relays!) the wiring loom from scratch

 

Upgrading the heater motor and wiring

 

Trying to find a way to mount a third brake light without it looking crap

 

Making a custom dashboard (see comment about new powertrain)

 

Rebuilding the top/hood frame (luckily I have two, one original and one refurbished in parts)

 

Reupholstering the seats/installing the interior (to a point… we are resto-modding the powertrain so may leave some of that to the very end)

 

Re-installing the windows (I have hands smaller than some former president’s so I don’t mind. 😊)

 

Etc etc etc…

 

Watch this space!

 

To all who celebrate something this time of year: Happy Holidays and wishing you all a great new Gregorian new Year!

 

 

 

 

 

👍

I have a big old wooden bench and a bloody powerful torch lol and a couple of plug sockets, that’s all I need 😂😂

Hi Mike, try the insurance ombudsman, they were brilliant a few years ago when an insurance company tried to increase my premium mid term  on my land rover , I won the case  no problem 

Around that figure I think is about right.  D tyoe 3 rail gearboxes were the original installation but are getting harder to find. The J type are more common now and are stronger and have synchro through all 4 gears 

a complete j type unit might be an easier option,  they do become available quite often 

I got a fully tested complete unit quite reasonably priced 

they’re usually available at auto jumble the next being Stoneleigh in February,  worth going there 👍

2 hours ago, garyf said:

It is an excellent example, I viewed the car a fortnight ago, but it was in the dark, no over-drive fitted though.

I had hoped to view it again in the light, the owner did mention he had been made an offer by a dealer for the car but I wasn't prepared to match it and told him I would need to view again in the light with a mate the following weekend.

He must have been desperate to sell hence it is now for sale at the dealer.

How much these days for the parts to convert to Over-drive, I'm guessing around £1,500 to £2,000, that's if you can find all the parts?

Gary     

Parts are reasonably easy if you choose a j type overdrive gearbox, just have to change the clutch plate to a 20 spline instead of the 10 spline which will be fitted at present.  I’m just in the process  of doing an overdrive upgrade  on my Herald. Good luck in your search 

31 minutes ago, Steve P said:

Now Sold apparently.

S

🙁