-Lee and Mo Davis of AB Dynamics,for two and a half solid 7 day weeks of 12-15 hour days. And for cajoling me into that gorgeous color. And doing the most fabulous work.
-Jenny, for keeping my spirits up and wielding a wrench when needed.
-Billof Apex Automotive for very nice work at very good prices.
-Thefolks at Victoria British, for supplying the right parts in a very quick and efficient manner.

You want to restore what?!?

The project began in late August of 1998. After driving the car for a summer, I made arrangements with a friend to have the car painted. The previous owner had “bad to the bone” stickers all over a very worn second paint job… And I finally progressed from wanting to see it run to wanting to have it look nice too. So, from August to November 1998, we disassembled the car and made ready for the restoration. The body was laid against the side of the shop, bolted to the wall in similar fashion to the storage techniques used by British Leyland at the factory.

Basically, between my frantic race schedule, engineering class work and a demanding girlfriend, I had no time over 1999 to work on the car. Finally, with an impending move in late 2000, it was decided to get the car back together through the month of November. Changes in events caused a new schedule, and instead of having a month to work on the car, it turned out to be more like 2 weeks to completely reassemble it from the bits laying in boxes in the shop.

The motor work was handled by Bill of Apex Automotive in Bensenville, Illinois. The block and head were taken to him in two separate shipments, and assembled back at the AB Dynamics shop in Crest Hill. Transmission work, while attempted by myself, was also salvaged by Bill. If you are going to getinto a project, make sure that you have the time to do it, as well as the money to pay someone else to fix your screw-ups.

Work started with getting the frame off the office ceiling where it had been stored for the last two years. As it was already in bare metal, preparation consisted of brushing off what little surface rust had accumulated, and cleaning it in preparation for paint. Once painted, it really looked good, no rust damage at all.

The color was originally going to be white, as with the rest of my cars. Lee Davis convinced me of my folly, showingme a gorgeous Lamborghini color- Titanium. When alone, it had a metallic silver shine to it. When parked next to any other color, or outside, the car took on shades of what was around it- red, blue, green…. It is quite a remarkable color to see inperson. And miles better than the white which I had previously decided on. The frame was painted at this point, and brought out into the shop to have the suspension fitted.

Suspension fitting went fairly well at this point, being held up only by a few missing parts- the steering rack mounting brackets and the rear shock upper bolts. Both were available from Victoria British, and made their way to the shop in good time. The importance of keeping all of the parts together cannot be emphasized enough- although this restoration took quite a while (a little over two years) most of the parts were easily found and fitted once the project get back on track.

Next, the body made it off the wall and onto a rotisserie of sorts. Two engine stands were adapted to allow forthe body to be rotated and worked on at different angles. Since there were two very nasty dents in the lower door sills, this made for good bodywork and less stress on the body doing the work.

The body had been stripped two years ago, but had suffered from being next to a door. Surface rust was prevalent, require a lot of time with 80 grit paper on a DA sander. Fiber wheels helped dig out the oddly shaped areas, but most of the time was spent trying to get the old paint off the body from where the stripper had missed. The entire front of the car was a mess, as were most of the corners. But longhours and good equipment got the job done.

Next, the bodywork on the body commenced. Numerous dings, dents, creases and waves were worked out of the car. Lee is really in his element here- The car was very used when it pulled into his shop, but is almost perfectly straight coming out. The rear quarters show off their pronounced wheel arches in a beautiful manner now, whereas before they blended into the car in a very uninspiring manner.

Notice how good the car looks- and this is just after painting, no buffing, no finishing has been done to it at all. The car left Lee’s shop looking very wet, very deep and very good with no final finishing work atall. It does pay to have the body workdone right before painting! Also,attention to detail in terms of good equipment, careful mixing of paint, and having a good amount of experience in this field paid off handsomely in the final product.

The underside of the car was scrubbed and painted black. A gloss was used to help repel dirt and make the car easier to clean.

The body was next fitted to the frame. We used four human-powers to take it off, but by the time came around to refit it, Lee had acquired a lift to help usout. Notice the Austin Healey 3000 racecar in the background- the spit might not be the most valuable car, but in this shop at least it had good neighbors!

The body mated to the frame almost perfectly. Very little work was needed to get everything to line up properly. Next, the car was assembled from the bottom up. The exhaust was fitted, a stainless unit to meet stock specifications. I personally don’t care for the loud sound and obnoxious tone of the Monza unit which came with the car; If you notice me driving by, it’s because the car looks good, not because your windows are rattling. Better to be seen and not heard. After painting, the original torque colors were reapplied to the driveshaft and differential. Used by the factory to confirm that the bolts have been torqued correctly and the housing shave been filled with oil, they are the added touch that let you know that a true professional has been at work in their restoration. Lee has that sort of attention to detail and perfection that makes the final product as good or better than the day itrolled out of the factory.

The next few days consisted of reassembly. First, while on the lift, the rear lights and bumper assembly were fitted to the car. The gas tank was a bit of a situation; If you have ever fitted one of these, you know what I mean. For those who haven’t, the trick is to fit the lower edge in first, then bend the rubber hose on top to fit into the upright position. If you can do it anyother way, please let me know- I’d be very interested to see how it’s done!!

The major suspension was in place, and with new rubber being fitted to the newly painted wheels (Bridgestone 175/70HR13 RE92’s- it’s hard to find speed rated rubber!) the car was finally a roller. 7 days after being taken off the wall. The most amazing thing was the speed at which the whole project progressed. If it wasn’t such a rush job, and we worked normal hours, a 45 day schedule would be quite easy. The new rubber door seals were fitted. There is a specific tool for cutting this material; When used properly, it’s almost effortless to make a good cut. Else, using a wire cutter or scissors, you will certainly make a hackjob of it.

Next, the motor was reassembled. A bad torque wrench resulted in me stripping out a set of grade 8 nuts. You can imagine what sorts of torque is involved in that! A new set of headstuds and nuts were ordered- thankfully the block and head both were undamaged. A lesson learned, though. Always use your own wrench, or verify the history of a precision piece of equipment before you do the damage.

A Weber carb was fitted; Although I planto eventually go with a fuel injected setup, for the mean time the car needed something to mix the fuel and air. Having had good luck with a Weber in the past, this seemed to be the way to go for the short term. Though a bit pricey at around $400 for a single DGAV, IMHO. One issue that came up was the fit and finish of the intake manifold supplied with the carb. Made by Peirce, it was a bit of a disappointment. The manifold needed to be ground down to fit at the same time as the stock exhaustmanifold, and the thickness of the flat areas used to secure the manifold against the head were not the same height as the stock exhaust manifold! Lots of time with a die grinder and a 24-grit wheel made it all work, but for that sort of money I would expect a better product.

Thetransmission was brought back and mated to the rear of the motor. That whole assembly was hoisted on a liftand maneuvered into the front of the car. The lift we were using had widelegs, and the wheelbase of the car was too small to accommodate the width ofthe lift. So when the engine/transmissionassembly was ready to be fitted to the car, instead of rolling the lift towardsthe car, we lifted the wheels of the car over the jack. No, I don’t think there are many other carsthat you would even think of doing this with… There’s a reason this car is so nice to work on!

Next,the car was wired with the old wiring harness. While I fully intend to rewire the car, at the present moment, I haven’tgot the time to do it right, so rather than hack something in, the old harnesswill suffice for a short while. Notlong, trust me- it’s an aberration to those of us who work with good qualityconnectors in our daily jobs.

The windshield was fitted into the frame. Lee has the experience to know what tricks and tools to use. My advice would be to find someone to fit itfor you. It was a royal pain to get in-two good hours of swearing by the time we were all done.

Jenny helped me fit the deck lid, along with the interiorof the car and convertible top. As itneeded to be out the next day to make it to the moving van and be transportedto California, everything at this point was a matter of making the car lookreaso nably road worthy. The front valance panels were fitted, along with the front bumper. The car made it out the next day lookingquite good….

Notice that the panel seam caps have been painted in thebody color, not the original black. While making the car seem more modern, it also shows off the body lines in the panels as opposed to highlighting the nasty seams. The car hasn’t even been buffed and it looks this good.

Currently, there are a few parts of the project still being worked out. The dash has been covered in carbon fiber by Lee, and will be finished sometime over the next fewweeks. That in itself is a big improvement over the look of the stock piece of laminated plywood. Wood veiner proved to be far too expensive for what I wanted, and since Lee and I met in racing this seemed to be the thing to do. The carbon itself is laid at a 45 degree angle, to best show offthe weave under a few layers of high grade epoxy and a finishing coat of clearpaint. Combined with the silver trimmedgages, the dash will look a little bit like the new Lamborghini’s.

The suspension is new, but stock. There is no front roll bar fitted. Both of these situations can be rectified, but the rush is to get the car on the road and driving. Sitting pretty does nothing for me, I’m afraid.

Contacts:

Lee Davis, AB Dynamics. Automotive restorations, painting, bodywork,custom carbon fiber, special projects. Judging by the number of high end, one of a kind cars in his shopat any given time (Lamborghini, Ferrari, Lotus) his work is top notch- and howmany people truly understand how to work with carbon fiber? His prices are very reasonable. (815) 7308062. http://www.exoticrestorations.com

Bill of Apex Automotive. One of the few people in the Midwest whoprimarily does import machining work. Any time you walk into a shop where there are more Healey and Jaguarblocks than small block Chevys, it’s worth a closer look. Hisprices are very reasonable and the work gets done quickly. (630)