Restoration photos of my admiralty blue/silver p5b coupe
Jan 24, 2015 5:12:14 GMT
Phil Nottingham, p5bdownunder, and 1 more like this
Post by R there other M reg P5B coupes on Jan 24, 2015 5:12:14 GMT
Thought I would share some photos of my p5b coupe restoration. The car was sadly sold as the job was supposed to take 3 months and ended up taking 3 years after which I had move abroad and ended up costing far more than expected but don't they always.... Don't ask me for the name of the restorer as I would not recommend under any circumstances with the exception of the company who renovated and re-trimmed parts of the interior. Anyhow this brings to an end for now 29 years of me driving this p5b- I first drive her on my 17th birthday and beat the hell out of a Nissan Micra
Engine was re-built in 1982 with lower compression pistons and still runs like a train with zero pinking.
I did the initial strip down, second hand wing sourcing etc from David Green (thanks David), replacement bonnet, rust free boot lid etc. As I had by that time moved abroad I had to find a restoration company to weld up the shell, bare metal re-spray, tidy up the interior and re-assemble. That's when my grief started.....
For now I just have happy memories of a wonderful car which was used on many childhood european family holidays towing a large caravan- hence the electric fan mounted in front of the radiator and the forth bridge style tow bar.
The last time I drove her was in May 2010 when I completed 2,000 trouble free miles in a month when I was in the UK for work. I had replaced the ageing but not cracked or sun damaged Michelin XVS tyres at Longstone tyres in Doncaster and they did a proper job of balancing them which is not easy on a p5b if you like to drive fast like I did. I should point out that at this point that my father had modified the front suspension in the 90s my welding up the holes on the top links and redrilling to significantly improve steering feel and high speed handling stability.
As you can see the car is not coach lined and the front wing badges were not fitted on the photos and various things still not aligned/fitted properly eg bonnet, rechromed wheels, some door seals missing but the new owner is working on this. The restorer was out of his depth but he fortunately out sourced the front and screen re-fitting (I bought a new laminated windscreen as I never liked the idea of driving around with a toughened screen after one front screen shattered in the summer sun 250 miles from home ....)
www.flickr.com/photos/127571700@N05/
Engine was re-built in 1982 with lower compression pistons and still runs like a train with zero pinking.
I did the initial strip down, second hand wing sourcing etc from David Green (thanks David), replacement bonnet, rust free boot lid etc. As I had by that time moved abroad I had to find a restoration company to weld up the shell, bare metal re-spray, tidy up the interior and re-assemble. That's when my grief started.....
For now I just have happy memories of a wonderful car which was used on many childhood european family holidays towing a large caravan- hence the electric fan mounted in front of the radiator and the forth bridge style tow bar.
The last time I drove her was in May 2010 when I completed 2,000 trouble free miles in a month when I was in the UK for work. I had replaced the ageing but not cracked or sun damaged Michelin XVS tyres at Longstone tyres in Doncaster and they did a proper job of balancing them which is not easy on a p5b if you like to drive fast like I did. I should point out that at this point that my father had modified the front suspension in the 90s my welding up the holes on the top links and redrilling to significantly improve steering feel and high speed handling stability.
As you can see the car is not coach lined and the front wing badges were not fitted on the photos and various things still not aligned/fitted properly eg bonnet, rechromed wheels, some door seals missing but the new owner is working on this. The restorer was out of his depth but he fortunately out sourced the front and screen re-fitting (I bought a new laminated windscreen as I never liked the idea of driving around with a toughened screen after one front screen shattered in the summer sun 250 miles from home ....)
www.flickr.com/photos/127571700@N05/