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New car

Posted: 17 Jul 2007 02:31 am
by foggyjames
So I suppose I should 'fess up, as a number of people have now seen it.

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I've finally got my paws on a mk1! It's a 1981 343GL manual with 53k on the clock. It's tidy, but not immaculate, but it's a 26 year old car! It has that awesome old car smell. It drives very nicely, and I love it to bits already. It came with tax and test, and I better not say how much...but I definitely owe Steve(P) a pint or 10 for finding it for me. The owners simply wanted a good home for it. I promised to look after it :) I drove it 300 miles from its former home to the Uxbridge Auto Show, then back home to Lincoln via Nottingham.

The eventual plan is a repaint in white with the R-Sport blue/yellow stripes (the paint is quite badly worn), and a conversion to being a 343 GLS R-Sport- i.e. swapping to a 360 drivetrain, dropping in the B200 lump and the carbs, and adding all the mk1 goodies I've been collecting. Having said that, all of that is some time away. I have other things to be finishing first. However, the car came along (and it's not a common occurance!), and I simply had to have this one after missing the bronze one.

It'll go into storage now, probably coming out for a few weeks just before the MOT runs out, assuming the salt is off the road in March. I'll put it in for an MOT, but not try too hard if it fails - I have too many cars on the road already. I expect to be working on this in earnest in a year or two.

cheers

James

Posted: 17 Jul 2007 08:47 am
by trabitom99
Well done, good find! Am ever so slightly jealous :wink:

Posted: 17 Jul 2007 09:14 am
by SteveP
It looks great, certainly not one to miss out on! :D

Posted: 17 Jul 2007 05:56 pm
by mattyboi
That looks really cool!

have you got a pic of what your modeling the car on, the white striped one?

Posted: 17 Jul 2007 06:43 pm
by Frits
I think like this :)

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Posted: 17 Jul 2007 06:45 pm
by foggyjames
Yes indeed - from this very site.

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Note the different bumpers (1981 models got 'mk2' bumpers), and the different front spoiler. I have both spoilers, but only the later bumpers, at present. I'm not sure which way to go with it, but they're only bolt-ons anyway. That one doesn't have the bulge bonnet either (so must have been a 1.4), but you get the idea. I'll probably go a touch more minimal with the decals - leave out the one on the bonnet, for instance.

cheers

James

Posted: 17 Jul 2007 07:09 pm
by foggyjames
Yup, that's the one :)

cheers

James

Posted: 17 Jul 2007 07:51 pm
by classicswede
Glad you got one at last. Mk1 are very rare in these parts now

Posted: 18 Jul 2007 01:28 pm
by Stuntman
Not enough vinyl young man

Posted: 18 Jul 2007 06:43 pm
by fume
Thats a nice car, good find

Posted: 19 Jul 2007 12:31 am
by foggyjames
Hands off, vinyl man, or I'll send Rupert around again ;) sm56

cheers

James

Posted: 19 Jul 2007 11:49 pm
by Ronnie
Looking forward to seeing what you do with that one, James!

Posted: 19 Jul 2007 11:54 pm
by foggyjames
Don't expect any progress any time soon - I have a 360 to work on first! sm56 I'm expecting to start work in earnest in a years time, at the earliest. This purchase was simply a right time, right place kinda deal. The fact that it currently has tax & test and is in good mechanical order is just a bonus. The first thing it needs is a complete strip-down, straightening (there are a few dings here and there), and a re-paint...the paint is pretty shot.

Basically, it will become a 360 underneath, and have the engine currently in my 360 fitted.

I washed it tonight, then took it for a good run to blow the water out of the underside. I took a pic nearing sunset...

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cheers

James

Posted: 20 Jul 2007 10:17 am
by girlracer
James does it go on fresh air as you never put pertol in?! lol

Sorry had to do it!

Posted: 20 Jul 2007 12:47 pm
by SteveP
Looks as good as any example you'll get :D Nice pic!