His & Hers’ -Diary of a Renovation

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Imagine my delight (and surprise) when my much loved husband announced that he was buying me my own ‘Classic’ for my birthday.  To be fair, we had discussed just such a possibility following the expansion of our family from 2 to 5, and our beloved TVR Chimera had spent most of the summer languishing in the garage, and indeed is currently SORN.  What we needed was a four seater that I was happy to drive (me plus 2 of the 3 girls), and didn’t cost a fortune.  

Mike’s announcement did take me back a bit, but he assured me that he had found the perfect vehicle.  I suppose I should have had an inkling of just what I was getting as, at the time, Mike had been confined to the house with a compression fracture of his right heel, and hadn’t left the house without me for weeks.  

Yep, you’ve guessed, I was waiting for the outcome of an Ebay auction to find out if I was the lucky owner of a 1969 Mk2 Triumph Vitesse.  As the closing date and time approached Mike was glued to the computer and was delighted when his final bid secured the car.   Being a trusting soul I accepted his assurance that it wouldn’t be as bad as it looked in the photos, and once the money had changed hands I waited eagerly for delivery, which was supplied courtesy of my cousin (thanks Simon), who happens to have a trailer (with winch) and lives in the vicinity of the seller.  At 10:30 pm on the following Saturday the car (on trailer) arrives.  It’s off loaded and parked on the drive during the hours of darkness, which is probably just as well as if it had arrived in daylight it may have gone straight back. 

Still, the following morning, in the cold light of day I gave my ‘new car’ a thorough inspection and agreed, it was as bad as I had thought the previous night.  My concerns were pooh-poohed.   “It turns over, we’ll soon have it on the road” I was told, only to find Mike and Andy, aided and abetted by Andy’s eldest Adrian, calmly taking bits of it off with reckless abandon the following day.  There were 2 distinct piles of ‘bits’.  One consisted of anything that they could take off that could be cleaned up, powder coated and eventually put back, the other,

all the bits deemed ‘past their best’ or bin fodder in anyone-else's book.  But hey.......the bulk head is really sound!

So far, and we are now 3 weeks in (mid October) the car is getting lighter (more and more bits are coming off!) as are our pockets (new tool kit, ‘how to’ books etc).  Mike maintains that the engine will be back in by Christmas, and it will be MOT’ed and on the road by spring.    

Apparently it WILL be at Kimbolton next year, but we’ve heard that one before haven’t we Dad!   Watch this space for further updates.

Lesley

Ps.  Did I mention that I hate the colour ............ powder blue. Yuck, it’ll have to change!!!!

I blame Andy, Les’s brother - if he hadn’t suggested an hour or so of fishing near the Gite whilst on holiday in France, we wouldn’t have embarked on this project.

I’ve never bothered looking at e-Bay before - and probably never would have,  except as you have read, the doctor told me that I had to take 6 weeks off work to allow the healing of the compression fracture in the soft ‘bone’ of my heel, suffered whilst fishing.  So being bored, I had a look. 

But there it was - calling to me.  93,000 miles from new, 2 owners, 18 years in dry storage and no half hearted restoration bodges over the years (well only a few!).  Not only that, it is a late MkII, 2 litre-straight 6 (lovely noise) convertible four seater - what better present could Les want? 

So the bid was placed, and then upped a bit and then a bit more, then I realised (being a novice but with plenty of time) I would be better off letting the other person bidding to think that I had given up and then go for a late bid to seal the issue.  Well, like the best laid plans, this one actually worked - if you were bidding for the same car, sorry (ha - I won, you lost - good job I’m not competitive!). 

This left the small matter of paying for the beast and then sorting transport.  Using the best of e-Bay technology and ‘paypal’, I sent a cheque in the post.  The cheque cleared and Les ‘persuaded’ Simon that he wanted to collect the car - I think Simon was so impressed when saw it and rather than let it detract from the other cars at his garage he thought it best to bring the car up to us immediately - loads of thanks! 

Now the moment of panic - what had we/I bought?  Luckily it was dark, so that pleasure was saved to the next morning.  Initial viewing showed;

? boot floor a bit on the well ventilated side

? nearside front footwell slightly perforate

? interior has a ‘distinctive aroma (seems to have been used by a squirrel for storing and eating acorns)

? a bulkhead that, although surface rusted, is sound

? a complete set of original rostyle wheeltrims, and an original hood

? interior trim that is reusable

? and a bonnet that hasn’t been taken off (apparently as difficult to re-align as doing a Rubik’s cube with both hands tied behind your back.) 

On the Sunday Andy and Adrian arrived and a strategy decided upon - its not complex - engine running by Christmas, MOT in the Spring and driven to Kimbolton in July (not finished I hasten to add)  After 3 weeks, the bulkhead has been stripped of master cylinders, heater, wiper motor etc and progress being made in stripping of paint has commenced.  Also, prior to putting the car in the garage, two cans of Gunk and a pressure wash later, 38 years of oil and grime have disappeared.  The radiator has been re-cored and a collection of new parts assembled ready to go back on the engine. Oh, and a new set of genuine Minilite alloy wheels.

So onwards and upwards - hopefully in the next edition we will be reporting a successful engine test and progress on the brakes and suspension.Must go out in the garage now and get on with improving Les’s birthday present!

Mike