Engine -  Externally it needed a good clean, the cylinder head and sump were removed and revealed that both pistons and cylinders were all well scored, the crankshaft main journals were OK, but the big ends required machining to the next lower size. All of the crankshaft and big-end bearings were completely worn out and the end cap of one of the con-rods was damaged. Unfortunately the camshaft was also damaged in that the fuel pump lever had slowly worn away to one side of the cam excenter, to the extent that the previous owner had replaced the mechanical fuel pump with an electrical unit, after having sawn off the pump operating lever.

The wear on both sides of the piston - 1	The wear on both sides of the piston - 2
The wear on the fuel pump excenter - 1	The wear on the fuel pump excenter - 2

 

It is my intention to permanently remove all of the emission equipment fitted to the vehicle, in this case the air pump and air injection piping, exhaust catalyst, fuel line fume filtration and other associated equipment. The engine would ultimately be reassembled in accordance with the UK/European specification involving high compression pistons, twin SU HS4 carburettors and a stainless steel gas-flowed exhaust manifold.

Clutch - The clutch and pressure plate had apparently been recently replaced and were in a serviceable condition.

Gearbox - The car was fitted with the standard single-rail gearbox without an  overdrive. Removal of the top cover and examination of the internal parts with a good light source identified extreme wear on the reverse gear idler, to the extent that the tooth length had been halved!  I was intending to purchase an overdrive unit to improve motorway driving and fuel consumption, so the gearbox itself was now added to the list.

Final drive - The final drive, which was of the USA specification with a 3.89:1 ratio required a complete overhaul and was exchanged for a reconditioned unit with the higher 3.63:1 drive ratio.

 

Chassis - The chassis needed fairly extensive repair, having accident damage to the front of the frame to the rear of the RH turret. The turret itself, and the suspension arms were distorted and beyond repair. The chassis damage was not that excessive and was to be straightened and repaired!

Bonnet -  Superficially there was no noticeable rust to the panels, but some of the support frames required straightening.

At a later stage it would become apparent that although the bonnet seemed relatively true, it needed more extensive repair than the initial inspection identified.

The bonnet had undergone accident damage repair at the front end, judging by the amount of filler which had to be removed from the bonnet  front section, and now required extensive panel beating and the odd replacement panel.

The photograph below illustrates the area concerned, and the perforations found on removal of the filler.

 

 

Soft-top - the soft-top frame was complete, with very minor deformation, the cover  material was no longer serviceable and would eventually be replaced with a double-duck "canvas-type" material.

 

Body - The body was generally in good condition, with the exception of a rust hole at the lower right of the windscreen frame, and holes in the boot lid. The boot lid was scrapped due to the extent of the rust damage and replaced with a glass-fibre assembly.

 

Chassis - This turned out to be the worst surprise, the chassis had suffered accident damage to the front RH side, where all of the suspension parts had been damaged to a degree requiring complete renewal, and the chassis itself was bent to the rear of the RH turret mounting.