Restore or sell ?

[silverfrost]

Will,

 

 Do it, but take the advice from above regarding the chassis etc,  Like the others have said your age is spot on for projects, I started restoring triumph cars at 15, which taught me a lot, think my first one took me about 3 years but that was a nut an bolt rebuild and I had to spread the cost as working weekends at 15 did not pay good money !

 

 As others have said spend a day having a real good look at it,  If you have access to a jet wash, do the underside also.

 make detailed list of everything , say do the interior,paint,and underneath in a mythodical order, and maybe post it up.

 that way you get an idea if its worth it, and folks on here can maybe have an input to help you come to a decision.

 

 Hopefully the chassis is ok, but as others have said don't under estimate the amount of work involved when that shell comes

 off and you have bits everywhere ! But will keep fingers crossed the chassis on yours is ok

 

 Regards Danny

[Ranald]

Hi Will,

 

Welcome. From past experiences, I would say GO FOR IT! I have owned my 503 for over 25 years, and found her the other side of London full of water.

The car had been sitting on a slope and rain water had poured in through the heater plenum chamber. I could however, see the potential in this car and bought her - I still have the original Auto Trader ad. The first thing I did when I got home was to remove all the soggy carpets and sound deadening, and use them as templates.

I then set about rebuilding all four corners of the suspension with new bushes, ball joints, steering swivels, bolts etc myself. The rest as they say is history. Though I keep on finding hard to find bits on ebay. Sourced a brand new, hard to find rear wiper arm, complete with little roller at a Maserati garage in Turin!

These cars are a life long hobby. I am currently finishing off the A post finisher air extraction vents with a small black grille in each aperture, to keep the spiders out! Grilles were fitted on the Esprits, why not the Elites and Eclats. Found the mesh on a modelling site on ebay. As I say, an owner can spend a lifetime improving on the factory. A lad who trimmed business jets for a living, replaced all the brushed nylon upholstery and headlining for me. Twenty five years later, I am still being told it is better than the factory!

 

I you decide to follow in all our footsteps, I wish you luck in your endeavours, and welcome again to Elite ownership.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Iain

 

 

P.s. you can see both my cars on my profile to see what can be achieved. Also get yourself a work shop manual and parts list, as they are invaluable.

[The Nut]

Will,

 

Have fun with it, it will drive you nuts over the couple of years you'll likely take, but each issue / fault / niggle you fix puts a smile on your face and is a step nearer to being on the road.

 

You could of course just sell me your two front seats and have a nice day out with the misses with the money.

 

Keep the forum posted on progress.

 

John

[Fueltheburn]

Welcome to the forum.

 

I don't want to say it but it will depend on 4 things for you:  time, space, skill and money.  If any of those are lacking you might have difficulty with a resto.

Mine has been 3000 hours and still isn't finished   it depends on how far you want to go??

 

As others have said, clean off the cobwebs first and perform a proper assessment of the vehicle.  If it is beyond economical or time viability, give it a damn good clean, polish and move it on as there will be better projects to start from as a good platform.

 

If however you have the kahoonas to take on this project... :clap:

[johnpwalsh]

Kieran, your 3000 hours cant be compared with a normal restoration. Remember I have seen Ethel and know whats been done and how far it differs from a standard Excel. stunning though she is, she is far from standard.

[Fueltheburn]

Haha, my point is we can get carried away with these works of art.

A project is NEVER finished.

I was thinking about this earlier. An alternative point of view - If it isnt in your way now and you dont have the time, funds etc now, ignore it and let it fester at the back of your mind until you are in a position to do something about it.

It wont go down in price.

[spuddy95]

thanks for all of the advice, i am currently trying to convince my dad to put it on his drive untill the garage is clear, and then i can have a good look at her ! if i deside to sell it, i woudnt be looking at a big figure so would much rarther keep it and store it in alot dryer place untill i deside to take it on, if anything changes i be sure to post it up     

[oilmagnet477]

"i woudnt be looking at a big figure"

I now can't get Queen's 'Fat bottomed Girls' out of my mind

 

Anyway - sounds like a good call