Two Tone Paint

[Styria]

Well, it must be catching on. We have another member that has decided to two tone his car, or shall we say his daughter's pr4ide and joy ? To be honest, Damo our member, two toned his 240D (Chassis 115) well before I got Gleaming Beauty done and there was no consultation between us.

At the moment, between Parks and myself, we are finishing off some body items (primarily the interior), including new carpet, dynamating the floor, etc. - in other words, all the one hundred and one items that require attention after a full respray.

With Damo's permission, I am posting some pics of what I am talking about.

Dynamat everywhere - it is such an excellent insulation medium...



Even under the new carpet made up by Parks............



The exterior in Creme over Black...very different, but also very acceptable and, let's face it, its uniqueness needs to be appreciated - not everyone has got it !..and I like what Damo has done.





Regards Styria

 

[Parks]

Will look even better after a nice wash

 

[BenzBoy]

That's a very special colour combination - I like it!!
Regards,
Benz-Boy

 

[Tony66_au]

Very nice!

i think once she has all her jewellery back on it will look a treat!

BTW is that a P6 I spy in blue in one of the pics?

 

[Styria]

Tony, It certainly is one of two P6s (one is an auto, the other a manual 'S' model) I have on hand. I am hoping to finish off some work on both cars during the Christmas/New Year period - one to sell (1976) and the other (1974 - 3500S) to keep as a replacement for one that was written off some five to six years ago. Regards Styria

 

[Tony66_au]

Obviously a man of fine tastes!
Always wanted to own one but I bought a Rangie instead.

 

[motec 6.9]

Hi styria i will take some photos of Davids P6 next time i see him from TR&Green i think i have mentioned to you he races it in Targa West and other events it is fitted with a rollcage and is supercharged with inlet from range rover fitted plus has spare wheel mounted on boot looks very nice

 

[Styria]

Hi Motec 6.9, I am not aware of David's identity, nor the car he races. However, I'd be keen to get further details and photos would be nice.

Hi Tony, well I am not so sure of my good taste, but I can tell you that the P6 Rover models are much maligned and I honestly do not know for whatever reason. A well maintained specimen, , with the appropriate mechanical knowledge, is an excellent everyday performer, and utterly reliable. My boys, three of the 'little bhuggers', cut their teeth on them not only as 'paddock bashers', but also put them to good use as daily drivers....and let me tell you, they used them well as they will tell you today - information they weren't prepared to tell you at the time. For examples:

1. Six 'bods' in the car, covering 400 kms. in less than four hours.

2. Winding them out to 140 kms. for hour after hour.

3. Becoming airborne and hitting a telegraph pole at speed in a very rare 2200SC and walking away from it with a sore knee.

There was also the story of a young 'Westie' that stopped the speedo needle at 240 kms/hour - his words were 'I just didn't know that they would wind out this good ' ! - In the end, he also hit a telegraph pole.

Numerous other episodes that illustrated just how good those cars were. Yes, they had a lot going for them. Regards Styria

 

[Tony66_au]

The 3.5 Rover V8 is an incredibly tough engine and they love to rev too.

Sadly my 84 rangie is now very tired and compression on 3 of the 8 cylinders is well below 90 so they fire sporadically but she still starts and runs although now has no grunt and spends her life in Low range on farm duty till i find another good 3.5 or rebuild the one I have.

I bought a P6 years ago, drove it for a week before a mate talked me into selling it to him and I regretted it right away lol

I guess there's hope yet but with so many projects on the go im reluctant to take on more dreams till ive thinned the herd a bit.

BTW I swapped a GT Hunter for the P6 and then sold the P6 for $1200 in the mid 80's, I probably should have kept the Hunter considering what they are worth these days.

Ahhhh hindsight.

Cheers,
Tony

 

[John S]

You surprise me, I wouldn't have thought that a Hillman Hunter was worth anything much nowadays - despite doing well in a couple of UK to Australia rally's.

 

[Tony66_au]

You surprise me, I wouldn't have thought that a Hillman Hunter was worth anything much nowadays - despite doing well in a couple of UK to Australia rally's.

Well if Fleabay is any indication they are worth heaps!

I sold my last Hillman Hunter 12 years ago for $100 as a runner with big end issues and when i got back into Valiants a few years later I was given a white GT with rust and a porous head but intact, I passed it onto a forum member in NSW who washed it and then sold it for $4500 on ebay.

I heard that that same car with a bodge job and coat of paint recently sold for 12k in country NSW and is on its way to WA for a full resto and although I dont have full details on the new owner its a serious concern.

Then again we also saw rattly smelly old Valiants selling for huge prices and thats just the bog stock variants, XL chargers, VH/J Sedans and the earlier examples although the Aussie designed stuff (Butt ugly in my opinion) pulled the greatest dollar.

Then there were the E38/E49 R/T Charger prices with a reasonable example fetching 250k and although the prices have dropped considerably since the boom 3 years ago they are nowhere near the $500 mark I paid for my thrasher toys in the late 80's when you couldnt give valiant's away lol.

So in short?

Hunters are worth dollars and GT's even more so, even the Chrysler specced 770's fetch 4 to 6k which is madness when you look at the coin it takes to buy a 116 or even 107 Benz which is far nicer to drive and miles safer.

Tony

 

[Styria]

You really have got to try and work out what drives prices even on some of the most unattractive and 'miserable' cars - or I should say, what really ought to be totally unwanted and unattractive cars. Take the Triumph range - really, quite badly manufactured cars, yet TR5s (they lasted but little more than a year) and TR6s with horrible Lucas Fuel Injection, are fetching upwards of $40K. to $50K. - far more than 107s of just about any description, yet they are far better Motor Cars in just about every respect. I just don't understand it. Regards Styria

 

[BenzBoy]

You really have got to try and work out what drives prices even on some of the most unattractive and 'miserable' cars - or I should say, what really ought to be totally unwanted and unattractive cars. Take the Triumph range - really, quite badly manufactured cars, yet TR5s (they lasted but little more than a year) and TR6s with horrible Lucas Fuel Injection, are fetching upwards of $40K. to $50K. - far more than 107s of just about any description, yet they are far better Motor Cars in just about every respect. I just don't understand it. Regards Styria

Maybe so; maybe not, Mr S. Maserati used the same petrol injection system as the TR5PI as it was considered vastly superior to the inaccurate metering system Bosh was experimenting with at the time.
Don't forget the TR5 and 6 were cars of the 1960s and the 107 belongs to the 1970s - different eras in engineering and car making.
Having said that, there is still no excuse for a Hilman Hunter in any guise. A Super Snipe is a different kettle of fish.
I had a very bad experience when looking at the EH Premier for auction at Shannons last weekend. So small, so cramped, so bleachhhhh - and beside it the lovely Finny that would make fine motoring by comparison. I regret, I would not want an EH under any circumstances. Maybe a Pug 404 but not an EH.
Regards,
Benz-Boy
BTW, I have a friend in Victoria with about 20 404s - a lifetime of motoring!!!

 

[Styria]

Hi BenzBoy, it became a well known tale that the Lucas Injection system was troublesome, just about right from the beginning. I know I have read somewhere that 'the powers that be' managed to effect a "fix", but I do not know what that entailed.

Cast your mind back to Aston Martin - they fitted the Lucas system, say in 1972 (?), but it was short lived to be replaced by Weber Carburettors. It may have been at the time when "Victor Gershon" (?) took over as owner of Aston Martin. Today's TR Triumph specialists control restoration and maintenance proceedings, with sky high prices for just about every facet of restoration. Regards Styria

 

[BenzBoy]

Hi BenzBoy, it became a well known tale that the Lucas Injection system was troublesome, just about right from the beginning. I know I have read somewhere that 'the powers that be' managed to effect a "fix", but I do not know what that entailed.

Cast your mind back to Aston Martin - they fitted the Lucas system, say in 1972 (?), but it was short lived to be replaced by Weber Carburettors. It may have been at the time when "Victor Gershon" (?) took over as owner of Aston Martin. Today's TR Triumph specialists control restoration and maintenance proceedings, with sky high prices for just about every facet of restoration. Regards Styria

Fair enough - try getting Bosch to provide service for the injection system and computer modules it provided to R-R in the 1990s - they just run for miles rather than provide parts!! Fortunately, these cars are worth sufficient for the cottage industry to be making replacements and the RREC in the UK is reverse engineering the most difficult parts. Lucas, on the other hand, stands beside everything it has ever made!!
Mind you, there is nothing wrong with a Weber carby - certainly better than the Solex monsters that warp with time and heat.
Regards,
Benz-Boy

 

[Tony66_au]

Styria I know exactly what drives the prices.

Recently it was a sense of entitlement, Fiscal irresponsibility and the ease of finance availability and Mortgage redraw facilities.

Ive watched quite a few blokes piss away their equity buying their dream cars for obscenely inflated prices only to realise that they cant afford to resto them or don't have the skill or deep enough pockets to pay others to do the job.

Add a certain amount of stupidity to the mix and its just about explained and its all pretty much driven by the Me first and the gimme gimme generation lol

Or maybe im just a cynic?

Cheers,
Tony

 

[Styria]

Hi BenzBoy, thanks for your reply and 'insight' into service difficulties experienced on the Rolls Royces of the '90s. Is it really that bad ? I need to admit to knowing very little - well no, nothing - of the injection system of that period. What were, or are, the troubles ?

Yes, Solex carbies - perfectly correct in what you are saying, and they cost the earth to fix - if that's possible. It's my understanding that, apart from warpage, the internal orifices also suffer from alloy corrosion. Less than satisfactory. Regards Styria

 

[Styria]

Styria I know exactly what drives the prices.

Recently it was a sense of entitlement, Fiscal irresponsibility and the ease of finance availability and Mortgage redraw facilities.

Ive watched quite a few blokes piss away their equity buying their dream cars for obscenely inflated prices only to realise that they cant afford to resto them or don't have the skill or deep enough pockets to pay others to do the job.

Add a certain amount of stupidity to the mix and its just about explained and its all pretty much driven by the Me first and the gimme gimme generation lol

Or maybe im just a cynic?

Cheers,
Tony

Well, I don't think for one moment that you're a cynic - you are just stating facts. Invariably, with just about any restoration, you finish up at loggerheads with owners who have turned into a one way street that they need to traverse in order to finish the job. It is an unfortunate fact that $80.00 here, $160.00 there and something else somewhere else very quickly turns into four figures or close enough. Regards Styria

 

[BenzBoy]

Hi BenzBoy, thanks for your reply and 'insight' into service difficulties experienced on the Rolls Royces of the '90s. Is it really that bad ? I need to admit to knowing very little - well no, nothing - of the injection system of that period. What were, or are, the troubles ?

Yes, Solex carbies - perfectly correct in what you are saying, and they cost the earth to fix - if that's possible. It's my understanding that, apart from warpage, the internal orifices also suffer from alloy corrosion. Less than satisfactory. Regards Styria

Oh simply that Bosch does not want to service the computer control modules it made. The modules were unique to the particular version of the KE Motronic but have now been reverse engineered in the UK to provide for future supplies.
Regards,
Benz-Boy

 

[Styria]

Will look even better after a nice wash

I must admit that the car has exceeded all my expectations. It is very striking and, in my view, an excellent colour combination.

Regards Styria