Hazey may have to go

purplecoupe · Post by **purplecoupe** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:14 am

Hello all,

I have recently found myself in a bit of a pickle with regards to my coupe 'Hazey' and now I'm left wondering what the best option is. When I bought the car, I was told I could keep it at a friends where there were garage facilities to make her rejuvenation a bit more possible. However the car has since been evicted after various arguments between my friend and his family and is now sat on my parents driveway, where there simlply isnt the facilities and equipment to do a great deal on her.

The car isn't a million miles away from beign able to pass an MOT, its just at the moment a million miles out of my capability. The rear end of the sills need replacing, and the inner arches, which for someone with the right facilities would probably not be too bad. However from what we have seen the spring hangers do look ok. Being a Mk 1 tax exempt 1.3 coupe (in black tulip!) I know she deserves a bare shell restoration to really make her amazing!

i'm just left wondering at the minute if there's any way that I don't have to sell her, but on the other hand if I can't finish the work she needs, I would rather someone else got the enjoyment out of her. I realise now that I bit off more than I could chew when I bought the car, I'm still a student and perhaps a project wasn't the best idea for me to take on at the minute, but I fell in love with the car and bought it as soon as I had the money.

Can anyone shed any thoughts?

ClaytonSpeed · Post by **ClaytonSpeed** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:34 am

That is a real shame Rachel! I know how much you wanted to get the car up and running! Is there no way you could rent a garage local to you at least until the time is right to move it else where? How about local farms? They sometimes get space in barns?

If you did decide to sell her (and I know that may be the last resort) then I am actually looking for a tax exempt Marina for my girlfriend. I'm sure we could give her a good home!

Ben

purplecoupe · Post by **purplecoupe** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:42 am

Hey Ben,

I know I really want the car to run, I am going to look into the cost of storage for a couple of years maybe, but its just whether I'll be in a position in a couple of years to finish her. I know because I haven't got a lot of the equipment that I need it will cost a lot because I'll be paying others to do the bodywork. But I know if I do sell her then I'll never get one the same and I'll only end up regretting it.

ClaytonSpeed · Post by **ClaytonSpeed** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:50 am

It would be a grate opportunity to learn the skills and get the car looking and driving the way you want it. I'm not that good at external welding of panels and would take it to Frank every time but I do like the ideal of having confidence to just cut out the grot and replace it with nice shiny metal!

The trouble with storing a car is that when you come to work on it again there will be other areas that need your attention. Half the battle is getting a car through an MOT. Once you have that green ticket then you can be assured that the rest is just cosmetic.

What dose she need for MOT? Can you afford to do the minimal and then do the rest as a rolling resto?

purplecoupe · Post by **purplecoupe** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:56 am

I'd love to do that, the problem is though that the car really needs new sills fitting as the back/front end of each side is rotten, and the arches are also a bit rotten but I've been told they aren't structural so may not be an MOT failure? It just feels like so near and yet so far because I have most of the parts I need now to fit (i.e new brake discs, overhauled calipers, new exhaust etc etc) and the main thing stopping an MOT are those sills, we just haven't got the facilities to get the car up and replace them. The car hasn't been on the road for about 13 years as far as I know so she needs a big freshen up, a lot of things are a bit stiff, but she has been dry stored. Thing is I took all the carpets out because they were holding in moisture and were badly worn anyways, and the floor is in excellent condition, there's just one small hole under the drivers seat which would easily be patched.

ClaytonSpeed · Post by **ClaytonSpeed** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:09 am

If it is just the sills then I'm sure on a dry day, a grinder, a welder and lots of zinc primer they could be replaced! A driveway could be more than adequate! Or go and see some old skool body shop (the ones you find under railway arches) and ask for a quote to do both sills. Take some digital pics. If you cut off the old ones and just ask them to weld the new ones on I think the cost would be fairly cheap!

As for the arches they are not a structural part BUT if they are rotten they maybe failed on sharp edges so you would need to weld them too. Have you got some pics of them and the sills?

purplecoupe · Post by **purplecoupe** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:18 am

Yeah I have quite a few pictures of all the rotten area's, I'l get a few put up this afternoon (going to have to scoot to uni in a min!). I'v been trying to see if I can find somewhere that does car trailer hire in the north east, we have the Midget stored up that way currently in an old bunker so I'm going to try and find out if there's maybe the option of Hazey going up there for a bit until I get the bits to sort her. Problem with that is she's going to be miles away from any potential body shop if I want to put her in somewhere to replace the sills, so would it be better just to hire a trailer to take her to a repair shop if they would do the work. I think I need to get some quotes first and decide whats the cheapest option for the minute. Either way I can't bear to part with her!

ClaytonSpeed · Post by **ClaytonSpeed** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:29 am

Get some quotes first, but also ask if they can collect the car as part of the deal? If you don't ask you don't get! Then get a trailer to the bunker (that sounds like a cool storage place!!!!)

If I were closer I would offer to help with the trailer and prep for the welding! I don't know anybody in the bodywork trade up there.. Unless you can get it to Lincolnshire.... or there is a nice friendly northen member on here...?

purplecoupe · Post by **purplecoupe** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:55 am

Heya,

I've been doing some snooping around on the internet and I found this place http://www.northeastrestorationclub.co.uk/workshop.html which is literally about 5 miles from where the car is at the minute- I think this is definately worth looking into more, surely thats half the battle, somewhere with the facilities and equipment to work on the car? Could make it possible anyways if I could get hold of a pair of sills.

ClaytonSpeed · Post by **ClaytonSpeed** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:39 pm

Ideal!!!

Sills: Use the 4 door ones!

purplecoupe · Post by **purplecoupe** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:54 pm

Thats great, cheers Ben! Out of curiosity, why the four door ones?

I emailed the address for that restoration club to see what the deal is with hiring a bay, lets hope its as simple as it sounds!

furzey · Post by **furzey** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:20 pm

just my 2 cents worth but i think that if you can afford to either a) store it or b) get the sills done cheap then you should definately keep it rachel. I'm in pretty much the same position as you to be honest, i got my first marina when i'd nearly finished my 1st year at uni back in 2004, by 2005 the car had deteriorated (my own fault) and i put it in storage thinking that when i finished uni in 2006 i would restore it. Well its 2008 now and due to a load of stuff im still at uni and the car is still languishing ! point being tho that i couldn't bear to part with it as like with your car its solid underneath. If you can afford it keep it, finding another one will be much harder, especially now that prices are going up. Best of luck with it all, will

purplecoupe · Post by **purplecoupe** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:37 pm

Thanks for that Will, I know exactly what you mean! The thought of parting with it is not a nice one, its just a difficult position to be in, I suppose when financial times are hard you start to look at other options, however I think if I did sell I would always regret it, and as you say I'd never find another the same. Maybe it wasn't the best project for me to take on, given my position, but there was a reason why I bought her and I think I'm starting to remember now why that was.

Cheers for the words of encouragement!

ClaytonSpeed · Post by **ClaytonSpeed** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:37 pm

The 4 door ones have the complete top lip from memory.. Frank will be able to tell you more he was the one that told me

William has a very good point. If you can afford to store a car and finish it when you have the time/money then do it! The trick is to keep the dream alive and not loose hope! I know that Will is in a similar position but he tends to get slightly diverted... Then goes and buys more cars!!!

I guess he has got that from me tho! In recent years I have seen the sense in only having cars that I really want and not just for the sake of it.

So, get those sill's, get some workshop space and get the old girl rust free then store until you can finish it off!

Ben

~Sam~ · Post by **~Sam~** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:33 pm

Hey Rach!

Sorry to hear you are having some car issues, as I am totally screwed financially I have had a fleeting though of selling JBL or even the (non working) 1.3 but I just can't bring myself to do it! I know JBL is road legal (passed her MOT last month after a few small things) but still needs a lot of work and I feel bad I can't do it but she is like part of the family.

I would say if you can store her somewhere and just try do a little as and when you can. As you say you won't find another tax exempt purple coupe in a hurry and you will regret it if you let her go!

And yeah Uncle Frank is sure to be able to offer good advice when he gets on here!

Sam