Hi,
I hope I have managed to attach a photo of the car in 1986/87. (School secretary lying on the bonnet). It wasnt chopped then.
I will dig out photos and upload them- they are all 'real' photos (pre digital camera) so I need to scan them etc.
I never put the V8 in- I sold it with the 1600 cross flow- although it was quite quick even with that in it.
Cheers Ian
Ian,
If I wasn't a 100% red-blooded testosterone-fuelled heterosexual male, I could kiss you right now!
That photo is so, so cool!!!!! Thank you
I just dug out the old paperwork and found your name on it, too
This is how I bought it- the guy I got it off sold all the running gear and interior to the ford side valve club but kept the shell, glass and chassis rails to build a rod, but he never got any further.
I collected this lot from a farm near newbury in the summer of 1980 I think. I paid £60 (!). I was about 20 years old with big dreams of hot rods!
I bought it home on the back of a milk lorry (as i was working as a milk man at the time during my summer holiday from college).
The car has the name Lizzie painted on the boot lid so that is what I ended up calling her when she was mine.
By the way- I had to do an intro to get on the forum- I put some more info on there if you havent already seen it.
Cheers Ian
Beautiful!Originally Posted by ianwatkins
I did reply to your intro post, too. The extra information you've supplied has been such a motivator for me. I'm buzzing right now (probably to the annoyance of my friends on Facebook, with whom I've been sharing my good news!)
I've got a dilemma now....I always wanted to know if the car had a name, but have been calling it 'Imprefection' in the meantime. I've got to make a decision some time soon, as I quite like the name Lizzie now
another photo- next to my parents house in Buckingham
hi , my brother bought the car when it was purple and ,raced it at longmarston air field for a couple of years he had the car painted pink and it was christened tickled pink. i have loads of footage somewhere on video of the car at the track ,it ran low 14s with a mild rover and 456 rear end manual box . was a good car and we went everywhere in it ,..front end was a arms and granada uprights jag rear i believe too scottish brothers raced it in a class with a big motor but would need to ask him for more details . nice to see the car getting revamped .
Last edited by MANUAL PUNISHMENT; 04-02-12 at 11:51 PM.
It still has some of that pink underneath the other layers. Seems the car has been every shade under the sun at some point!hi , my brother bought the car when it was purple and ,raced it at longmarston air field for a couple of years he had the car painted pink and it was christened tickled pink. i have loads of footage somewhere on video of the car at the track ,it ran low 14s with a mild rover and 456 rear end manual box . was a good car and we went everywhere in it ,..
I'd give my right arm to get hold of some of that footage!
It's great to hear some memories of this car now. When I first posted this thread last year, it looked like RKX 407 had slipped under the radar somehow.
it was painted in rushden its a pleasure to see the car still being worked on bud i teach 16-19 year olds in mechanics to, there currently revamping a chopped austin cambridge with a cosworth motor and some paintwork etc .. i will do my best to dig out the footage and try and copy it for you no probs. it was gunna get the gasser treatment as we had a big mopar motor and olds rear lined up to go in it but he had to sell instead . ive always liked the car it looks mean and just went on and on
Looking through the old paperwork from the DVLA, it still has the same Rover lump in that you had! It's been worked a little bit, but probably not that different to how you remember it.it was painted in rushden its a pleasure to see the car still being worked on bud i teach 16-19 year olds in mechanics to, there currently revamping a chopped austin cambridge with a cosworth motor and some paintwork etc .. i will do my best to dig out the footage and try and copy it for you no probs. it was gunna get the gasser treatment as we had a big mopar motor and olds rear lined up to go in it but he had to sell instead . ive always liked the car it looks mean and just went on and on
My intention last year was to drive it constantly - I don't want a show car - but the 'bearing and crank seal' turned into this. I've had to delay my plans by a year, but I'll still use it every single chance I get.
My mate, Mark, was made redundant by the place at the start of this thread, unfortunately. It's a shame, as he was good with the lads there and they still pop round to where he works now to get help and advice from him. He keeps muttering something about never wanting to work on a hot rod again, but I reckon he secretly loves most of it
P.S. Any photos and footage would be gratefully received. It was always my intention to get as much information as possible and show it anywhere the car is on display. I've always been totally honest when asked about it. Even when random women have approached me in car parks and said how cool it looks, I've said that I didn't build it. Must learn to tweak that line a bit
sorryto hear about your friend and his job mate , im amazed at how good some of these hood covered youngsters are when you spend some time with them , do what you can with car m8 doesnt matter if you didnt build it at all ! what matters is your working on keeping it on the street and improving it etc . are you going to paint it again ?? or run with the satin
Plan is to blow it over with some fresh black for now, just because I want to not worry about the paint. I want to park it anywhere and not freak if I come back and it's got a scratch
I was talking to a paint sprayer yesterday who asked the same question and I told her that I reckon if I drive it about for a year or so, I might get a feel for what colour I want it eventually. I like the purple in one of those adverts, but then I also like the yellow photo before it was chopped. And that cream photo Ian posted up tonight looks the mutt's! I have no idea whatsoever what colour would look best right now
Blimey Elton,what part of the country do you live
Love this thread, well done to those adding the history ,especially Ian Watkins,really good to see.
Ha! Ha! I'm just outside Ipswich. Admittedly, it's mostly middle-aged men who seem to approach me, but the women do exist. First time, I thought I was about to get an ear-bashing for the car being so loud (it had no mufflers on when I bought it at all), but when she opened her mouth, the words, "Just had to say, your car is bloody cool!" came out. Made my day, that did!Blimey Elton,what part of the country do you live
Love this thread, well done to those adding the history ,especially Ian Watkins,really good to see.
I'm over the moon that the thread has been resurrected. To get such information, and photos, is beyond my dreams. I'd kind of hoped that somebody might say they'd seen it somewhere, and was really pleased last year to get some photos of it from the past, but to have the original builder and a subsequent owner get in touch is just fantastic. With the car having been off the road so long, I was feeling detached from it, but the love is definitely back now
Thought I'd update this thread...
Well, my first venture into hot rods had the predicable outcome - one friend and a few grand down, I have now moved the car (after 18-months) to another garage. Lord only knows how much aggro it will take to get her finished now that things are half done and pieces will be missing, but at least she's nearer now and I am able to go and 'muck in', for what it's worth, whenever I want.
I'll try to take some photos next week. The work done by my now 'ex-mate' was good and I will never say otherwise.
Hopefully, with renewed enthusiasm from myself, as well as Si & B at Hangar 53 - http://www.facebook.com/Hangar53 - this car will be back on the road soon. Fingers crossed!
Last edited by Elton; 25-08-12 at 08:22 PM.
This is how she looked when I picked her up on Friday...
Still some way to go, then
And here she is, arriving at the new workshop...
Looks menacing at the front,i like it
Cheers, Cap'n. I'm toying with the idea of having the grill black, too.
Black grill sounds good to me think about taking off the badge and getting rid of the middle bar
I have a spare grill if you want to try it?
What sort of money would you want for the grill, Gary? I reckon I'll try it with the one on there first, as it's well battered about anyway, but may need a back-up one if it all goes a bit Pete Tong
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