Description
The car was purchased in the summer of 2020 from a private collector who had started its restoration. Little is know about the car prior to this apart from the fact the car was purchased from the estate of a gentleman from Darwen upon his death.
When I bought the car it had been stripped, the chassis had been restored or renewed and the suspension, brakes etc had been fitted to it. The body had undergone restoration and had been resprayed. The engine had been rebuilt and the gearbox and diff refurbished.
The vehicle came with many boxes of parts which we believed would lead to a straight forward rebuild. However upon inspection I was not happy with the condition of it all and set upon a total restoration.
Every aspect of the car has attended to, a vast amount of fittings have been replaced for new and all original parts have been refurbished. A significant investment has been made restoring the car and all invoices have been kept in a restoration file. Work undertaken includes but not limited to;
Restored Galvanised Chassis
Restored and re-zinced brake components and wheel hubs
New brake servo, pads, pins and brake lines
New pedal box and brake/ clutch cylinders
All new wiring looms, fuse boxes, relays, battery and isolation switch
Upgrade to electronic ignition
Refurbished radiator with high performance fan and new hoses
Electric pop up head light upgrade
New alternator, coil and solenoid
New fuel pump
New wiper motor, washer pump and jets
New wishbones
New Tony Thompson suspension
Drive shaft conversion
New interior including retried seats and door cards and new headlining
New underlay, carpets and mats
New seat belts to front and rear seats
New window rubbers and seals
New window wipers
New dash with refurbished gauges upgraded with LED lights
New dash switches, flasher and hazard units
New DAB retro radio and speakers
All new cables to clutch and carbs
All chrome restored at Derby Plating Services
New door handles/ latches inside and out
New light clusters, headlights and LED interior lights
New chrome rear bumper, plate lights and bolts
LED lights to doors and engine bay
Refurbished gearbox
Refurbished Diff
Refurbished Carbs
Engine rebuild by Neil Brown Engineering including a larger valve cylinder head, new water and oil pump, forged pistons.
Engine prepared and Dyno tested giving 143bhp.
New stainless steel exhaust
New period wheels (including spare)
New period Michelin Tyres (including spare)
New Fuel tank, hoses and pipework
Multiple other new components have been replaced for new, in fact every small component and electrical component on the car is new!
Once the restoration was completed and the car was road ready, it was booked in with Lotus specialists PJS Sports Cars to check over, road test and prepare for use.
The car still has a small amount of work left to bring it to an outstanding condition. The under dash area needs to be trimmed with a carpet which I have but needs to be cuts and fitted. It's something I may have completed by the time it sells. More importantly though, there are a few repairs required to the bodywork/ paint to rectify damage that has occurred during the restoration process over the past 4 years. The pictures show a crack that has formed above the passenger rear wheel arch caused when the body was repeatedly remove and refitted (pic attached) and the drivers door needs attention in a few areas. This is something I have considered doing and am awaiting a quote for, but should I do this then the car would be selling for a significantly higher price. 5 Previous owners
