Autopendium :: stuff about old cars

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Websites

• Independent Panther Car Website Personal website of German Panther owner, detailing restoration of J72 and DV. Includes links and useful resources
• VClassics Online magazine for classic Volvos. Published occasionally, with emphasis on restoration and technical issues
• Tony's 1972 Z600 Coupe Site dedicated to the restoration of a 1972 Honda Z600 coupe.
• 1963 Jaguar E-Type restoration Complete record of ground-up restoration of 1963 Jaguar E-Type. Incredible detail and huge number of photos

Books

• How to Restore Your Datsun Z-Car

Photos

Photo of the Amazon's roof just before going in for the resto. Fortunately the rust is fairly recent, and not too deep





Profile of the Amazon just before going in for the resto. The nearside door is as dodgy as it looks





Photo of the Amazon passenger front just before going in for the resto. I was going for the well-used look here





Photo of the back of the Amazon just before going in for the resto. The bumpers are pretty much shot, and the boot is worse than it looks too





The front of the Amazon just before going in for the resto. The front panel needed replacing, and there's actually a wad of filler underneath the nose of the bonnet





The Amazon down to bare metal (and rust) at Romance of Rust.





The Amazon's down to bare metal at Romance of Rust. No sign of the rust mark in 'before' photo





The Amazon's old bonnet taken down to bare metal. You can see the lumpiness the filler was hiding





This is how it will look like at the end, exactly.

Vehicles

• ctagg's 1965 Volvo Amazon 130 (two-door) Bought this in 1988, from the second owner. He'd had it since the Seventies, and had kept it garaged -- hence it was very solid, though superficially a little tatty in places. Sadly, he had worsening arthritis and the car was getting a little heavy for him to handle. It...
• Lankytim's 1963 Morris Oxford VI 1963 Morris Oxford. Dont know much about it other than it was originally owned by the MOD. I bought it from a banger driver with a bit of MOT which ran out in December 06 In the first month of ownership I blew the engine up on the M6 which...
• Josh's FIAT 1500 Cabriolet 1966 FIAT 1500 Cabriolet
• niles's 1967 Volkswagen Type 3 Variant (Squareback) Fully restored, registered as a 68 but the chassis looks like a 67 or earlier.
• Zebedee's 1970 Volkswagen Beetle This is my Elm green 1970 VW beetle 1300. I bought it in september 1996 from the 9th or 10th owner. Its had at least one bad restoration before in the hands of a VW 'specialist' so i'm having to undo all the previous repairs which weren't to a very...
• Bernie's 1969 Plymouth Fury 1969 plymouth fury 111 convertible.
• Bernie's 1961 Ford Consul Mk 2 ford consul mk2
• dtg123's 1963 Morris Oxford VI RECENTLY PURCHASED FROM MEMBER LANKYTIM, THIS BLACK EX-MOD MORRIS OXFORD IS NOW UNDERGOING SYMPATHETIC RESTORATION, WHICH WILL TAKE QUITE SOME TIME. I WOULD LIKE TO GET THE OLD CAR BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL STATE , WHICH MEANS FINDING A DECENT SET OF RED LEATHER SEATS---ANY OFFERS? THE BODYWORK AND RUNNING...
• Gerry Swan's 1948 Ford (USA) 1941-1948 1948 Ford tudor sedan, powered by small block Corvette v8, turbo 400 transmission, Ford 9 inch rear end and torsion bar suspension and SHO leather interior.
• Saab1981's 1988 Saab 90 I have bought this 1988 Saab 900 as a rolling resto project. The body work is in it's original condition, with a number of rusty areas. The engine is on 177k miles but runs like clockwork! This car is a daily driver, but the fuel consumption is absolutely horrendous, so...
• twinbeech's 1963 Volvo Amazon 122S 1963 Volvo 'Amazon' 122S Stock Original
• perseus665's 1965 Mercedes-Benz W111 300SE w112 300se cabriolet. no model on the list. always the forgotten masterpiece of mercedes

Running report entries

• We're on... Just got back from a trip to Lance at Romance of Rust. We spoke earlier in the week, and he told me he'd lost his notes made when I went to see him last year. So we agreed that'd I'd pop round there today, we'd go through what needed doing,...
• Where we're heading with the Amazon When I took the Amazon over to Lance yesterday I said I wanted it to be sharp, but not pretty. By that I meant, the build should be dead-on, with the shut-lines and panels better than new, and some slight customising making it even sharper. However, I didn't want to...
• Moving on Just got a call from Lance -- things moving on nicely. He's aiming to get started on stripping the Amazon as soon as I drop it off on Friday, so that it can be ready for painting next week. Better get on choosing the colour in that case. Fortunately just...
• Down to bare metal Dropped off the Amazon at Lance's on Friday, with no problem, except that a couple of days before I was taking some 'before' shots of the whole of the car and just could not get the bonnet closed -- first time it's ever happened. Anyway ten minutes later it was...
• Hidden rust and dodgy welding Swung by to see the Amazon again this morning, and it's progressing pretty well. Not surprisingly a few bits of hidden rust have been found, including the post in front of the nearside door (you can see it in the picture), which was pretty much gone, as you can see....
• More dodgy welding Popped round for a quick look-see on Monday, and the nearside inner wing had been partially welded in place. It's not much, but it feels significant that we're stating to add bits rather than just removing them Not that there's not more to remove. The driver's side door post is...
• Progress report Heading over to check on the Amazon again today, and definitely progress. There's still patches of rust being discovered at the back, but the front half is coming together. First the good news: the inner wings are on, the doors have been rehung, and the bonnet (hood) has been tentatively...
• Some decisions made Headed up to Romance of Rust yesterday to check on progress on the Amazon, and by the time I'd got there realized I'd made a few decisions about colour and so on. One of the things holding me back, was that I'd spent so many years driving it around as...
• Another view: looking at an Amazon that's already been done Popped over to Romance of Rust yesterday as Lance had in an Amazon he'd already worked on, although not to the degree that mine's being done to. This one would probably best be termed a made-good resto. All the parts which were ropey had been replaced, and those panels that...
• Strange industrial estates I have known... One of the curious pleasures of owning and restoring an old car is the places and companies you end up visiting. Workshops underneath railway arches, scrapyards down picturesque country lanes, and countless numbers of strange low-rent industrial estates. Friday was one of those days. I had to get some new...
• Slow but steady progress Dropped by to see the Amazon this afternoon, and the front is starting to get there. The radiator side panels were now welded in, and the whole of the front now feels really strong (see pic). A good nearside front wing ha been liberated from a donor Amazon Lance recently...
• More of the same... Spent the afternoon down at Romance of Rust last Thursday, where there was more of the same... rust that is, in the other structural box section and outrigger. Mark had done a good job on the other side, which had been completely replaced or rebuilt (box-section, outrigger, and floorplan), and...
• Starting on the back Last week and this was spent tackling the back of the Amazon, and to be honest, I always suspected there might be some horrors lurking there. Lance had done a lovely job with the rear flanges, just smoothing out the lines slightly, and my job for the day was removing...
• Back end not looking good Got a call yesterday from Lance warning that Mark had been having a go a the boot now that I'd taken out the petrol tank and it wasn't looking good, so I headed down there today to take a look. He was right. Mark said he started cutting away the...
• Details, details, details Got a call from Lance on Tuesday asking how I wanted the rear light fared in. We talked through the various options -- using a different light assembly, using the existing light assembly and placing it flush with the body, or using the existing light assembly and having it sit...
• Update: more details, most rust The first bright day in ages gave us a chance to properly check out the midnight blue. And very nice it looked too, rich and bright at the same time, yet almost black in a low light. First the sexy stuff: Lance has remade the rear upper trim-line. It was...
• Boot nearly done, more decisions needing to be made Turned up yesterday to Romance of Rust to find Mark has nearly finished the boot, and with it the rear half. Some nice fabrication there, and some real strength too. We all had a 10-minute discussion on where to position the petrol tank filler neck, before opting for simplicity (pretty...
• Countdown to painting Went to Romance of Rust yesterday for my usual weekly visit, and found that Paint Day is approaching fast. Lance reckons there's a chance the Amazon might even be ready to go off for to the paint shop at the end of next week. Personally, I think that's a tad...
• Engine problems And it was all going so well(ish). First the good news. Quite a bit of progress in the past few days. After a final going over by Mark, the rear is all done, except for fitting the petrol tank and the clearancing. The lower of the two flutes on the...
• Old skills and old machines One of the joys of my visits to Romance of Rust to log the restoration of the Amazon has been watching Lance work metal, and at times getting roped in to help. Last week was one of those times, as the boot lid liner was made. Anyone who has had...
• Front suspension update Over the past few days, Mark at Romance of Rust has been dismantling the front suspension, so that it can be blasted, powder-coated (I think -- still deciding), and rebuilt. Given the slightly make-do-and-mend nature of the rest of the car, it didn't really come as a surprise to find...
• Getting the clearances right I've been down at Romance of Rust quite a bit over the past week or so, as we enter the final stretch. Mark's pretty much done on the body, I've been running around between the various suppliers and machine shops, and Lance is on the clearancing, making sure the gaps...
• Painted at last! Got a call this morning from Lance as I was on my way there to say the paintshop were going to start painting the body shell this afternoon. Sure, enough when I got there, the Amazon was pretty much ready for painting to begin, all primered up and ready. I'd...
• The rebuild begins After a week's holiday, dropped by Romance of Rust to see that the rebuild of the Amazon is coming along nicely. It started, apparently last Wednesday, when the now painted body was wheeled over from Paintforce. Since then, the underneath has been stone-chipped, the front and rear glass as been...
• The rebuild continues Popped into Romance of Rust today to catch up on how the rebuild was going on and it's really starting to come together. The new loom (brought from Brookhouse) was in and worked well, the speedo had been refitted and the front suspension was all sorted.The highlight, however, was the...
• Rebuild: real progress Think the photos say it all. The bonnet, boot and wings are back from the paintshop and look great. However good they look in the photos, they look twice as good in real life, and the guys at Paintforce in Ealing have done a terrific job. There are some nice...
• More painted goodness When we fired up the engine after the rebuild (see previous post), the IPD rocker cover was unpainted and only held in place by my fingers. Well, now it's been painted and very nice it looks too. After looking at countless different options, I decided to go with the body...
• The first (short) drive Big day yesterday (well, it felt like it). Drove the Amazon for the first time since dropping it off at Romance of Rust (a year ago) for its bare-metal restoration.Though it's not finished yet, it is fully roadworthy, and I needed to get the seat belts refitted, and so (gently...
• Resto roundup: Moto-Lita steering-wheel First in a couple of quick catch-up posts about the Amazon's restoration. Like much of the car, I'd hummed and hah'd over the steering wheel for quite a while, and had originally tended towards a leather one, possibly using the dark blue leather used elsewhere. In the end, however, I...
• Resto update: final stretch After a frustrating few weeks, things are hopefully back on track. The interior trimmer I was using turned out to be problematic, to say the least, and I've no got Mike from Auto Interiors to finish the job. Basically there's just the boot, some work on the carpet, the headliner...
• Interior finished at last OK -- at long last the Amazon's interior is DONE. Mike and co at Auto Interiors out near Heathrow did a great job rescuing the job that the last muppet did, and though there are one or two things I'm just going to have to live with, overall, I'm pretty...

Suppliers

• Delta Autos Body shop. Proprietor Martin Wood, as experienced with Alfas and Suds in particular as the Bianco boys. From accident to restoration Martin can wield a paint gun and the torch to repair most things PROPERLY just like Lance at Romance of Rust, just focused on Italian stuff.