Light Restoration
The aim was to get it up and running as cheaply and quickly as possible with a view to restoring it fully in a couple of years or so.
Running
Gear
Firstly, a completely new braking system was fitted - everything apart from the
drums and backing plates was replaced for safety reasons.
New ball-joints were also added at the front and 4 new tie rod ends to stiffen
up the steering
Headlights caused some headscratching. The outer rims weren't fitted at the time
but the inners were rusty and the lense on one side had no pattern to it.
Sourcing kg ones proved to be very expensive so in the end we went for the
temporary measure of mini sealed beams, which do the job fine. One of the headlight surrounds looks as though there's
plenty of filler in there, so the area will have to be re-done at a later date
anyway. It poped out of 2nd when slowing down so a spare low mileage 1300
box was fitted
Bodywork
Body-wise the car needed very little to get it mot'd. There was a 2cm square bit
on the floorpan (other than that it was rock solid), an area just below the rear
bumper hangar and the bottom of the front wheel well. the latter was the worst
bit but was made with sheet. This will eventually be replaced by the correct
panel. I also replaced the n/s door - front wing panel as there was some
accident damage. Taking this off revealed a fairly rotten bottom of the door
curve by the A post and the associated box section. I made the inner sections
out of steel and fabricated a new splash guard for the inner wing. The outer
panel was bought cheaply unused 2/h off the kgoc forum.
Eventually it'll need attention to the headlamp areas, rear corner & o/s door to front wing panel. There's also a couple of small dents to sort out when I can be bothered
Paint
The silver paint was applied ok but in quite a few areas where filler had been
used & some other paint there had been some reaction resulting in lots or
raised bubbles. I spent half a day sanding here and there & Kirstie put on a
couple of coats of silver & laquer. Finding a matching paint was difficult
but the closest we found was polar silver like the current passat. The paint's
far from perfect but it'll do for the time being as it'll be re-done eventually.
Engine
When I dropped the oil there was at least half an inch of sludge on the bottom
of the strainer plate!
New flexi fuel lines were added, plus new points, rotor arm, dist. cap, plugs &
ht leads. I also replaced the worn out dynamo with a spare. It rattles a bit but
runs ok so it did for a while. Whilst the gearbox was out Lee rebuilt a
1500 single port for it.
Panels
/ bits & bobs
Since the car has been on the road I've managed to pick up a few panels cheaply
- a rust free engine lid and bonnet and a couple of doors that are better
than those on the car. These were sprayed with a mates borrowed compressor
(cheers Chris) and put on the car.
Some bits replaced have included the front seals and pivot bits for the rear quarterlights and some front bumper chrome sections. I also managed to pick up some uk spec rear lenses cheaply off ebay :o)
Wheels
BRM replicas with goodyears all-round (from cheapest tyres in Coventry). Originally a set was borrowed off a mate (cheers Rich) for the mot and
short-term running about. I managed to pick up a 2/h set cheaply at show. Whilst fitting the wheels I added some bolt conversions from
Machine 7. The reason for doing this is that the stock bolts only have a very
small thread which doesn't go in a long way. Basically these new ones are open
ended bolts that you screw into the bolt hole in the hub until they lock. On
goes the wheel and you put on the nuts - like the back of a bay window van - much safer
& easier to hold the wheel in place whilst changing too.
It passed the mot 1st time and then got registered. The no. plate came back HON**** which was quite appropriate since it was a wedding present (sad eh!).
New Gearbox
I was given a good low mileage gearbox (thanks Neil!) so this went into the ghia
together with new gearbox mounts, so no more popping out of 2nd whilst slowing
down. couple of better bumper bits picked up cheap @ shows were added but that
was about it.
Engine
The original engine had always been pretty worn and then started leaving an oil
trail behind it. So over Jan 2007 it was replaced by my spare which was rebuilt
by a mate Lee, who does engine rebuilds (see recommended). New rings, cam
followers and big ends were added. The dynamo was replaced (rumbly
bearings) , a new clutch added (later g box) and the carb was rebuilt, so
mechanically it should be good for another few years now. The body will be
needing attention at some point in the not too distant future as there's a few
bubbles here and there, but nothing structural.