Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. Take a look at my written history (present and future) of the car.
This is the earliest picture I can find of this car. This is from July, 1967. The car was bought March 1967. I will eventually find other pictures, but so far, this is it.
The car about a year ago. It is not much different right now. At the time of the pictures, the rotted sections were being cut out and new metal was being welded in place. It was a very time (and $$$$) consuming job. The primer color is actually a light yellow, but the scanner has trouble with the full range of a photograph....
Another view a few months later. Essentially the same work being done.
See the rust through along the top edge of the inner fender? This was replaced by a strip of metal which reproduced the original remarkably!
You can see the vicegrips holding the individually fitted metal pieces prior to welding
Same pieces after welding
Rust through along the "B" pillar. Before the restoration, this area was the only one that was clearly ailing. The rocker panels up front were a close second.
This shows the rotted rocker panel very well. The driver's side was just as bad.
Here are the fenders. All six of them! It turns out that the new "replacement" rear fenders fit so poorly that they were only suitable to be donors of metal sections to replace the rot. The pressings were terrible and the size was way off!
The hood denuded.
The original rear fender with the new sections welded in place. They fit like a glove! The replacements would have taken significant effort ($) to make fit.
The dealer installed optional steering wheel and the tachometer and speedometer. Click on the tach, speedo or lower arm of the steering wheel to see enlargements. Click elsewhere to see the whole view enlarged. The steering wheel was made by Les Leston. The lower arm of the wheel has the "Double L" insignia. I have seen only one other wheel of this type. Yes, that is correct, the speedometer reads 28,448 original miles!
The other gauges and the original walnut veneer. The veneer is showing its age, but has a serviceable finish.
The fine cracks in the finish are more visible here.
The engine prior to painting, etc. Click on the transmission to see the original brass throw-out bearing and bushing. The bushing has a dimple in the edge to prevent spinning. The modern technique is to use a pin. I think the old way is a wonderful inexpensive solution. The new steel sleeves might be too hard to dimple. Click on the engine to see the flywheel when the transmission was off. Actually the clutch face of the flywheel was in good shape and I did not bother having it ground. You will also see the fuel pump on the left side of the engine. It has a "reproduction" fuel pump top part, but the lower part is the original with the manual finger lever. The "repro" is so close to original that the size and bolt pattern is exactly the same.
Here is a close-up of the push rod tubes on the head. There has been
some discussion about "originality" To the best of my knowledge this
head has only had work done to fix a burned valve. However, I am told
that the "original" heads were supplied with the tubes painted the same black
as the rest of the engine. These tubes show NO evidence of having ever
been painted. The dark material is just grease. Can anyone confirm
that at least SOME heads had unpainted pushrod tubes?
We had the car moved from the shop where it has lived for way, way too long
and moved it to Triumph Rescue in Barto, PA. Matt, the proprietor,
has a real work ethic and does not charge astronomical hourly rates.
Here the car is loaded onto the trailer. A huge ton of stuff waas loaded onto the Suburban
Here is another pick-up load of parts in addition to the stuff in the Suburban.
It is hard to believe that all this stuff fits into the car with space
to spare! We found that the interior had held up quite well. The
leather seats were in reasonable condition except for needing to be re-dyed.
The door panels were fine, and the carpet was in great shape. The
jute underpadding for the carpet has seen better days, and who knows about
the seat foams.