Popular Post Hannah Posted January 6, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted January 6, 2015 (edited) Alex has wanted one of these wagons for ages. We had a MK2 version in England and it was a lovely car - really comfortable and very useful. They are thoroughly modern cars and very underrated/undervalued. Anyway, earlier this year a MK1 wagon was posted up for sale here: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/43810-someone-save-this-triumph-2000-mk1-wagon/?hl=%2Btriumph+%2Bwagon and Alex decided to buy it. Then somehow it became my car and "a good first project on which to practice my welding skills" (thanks, Alex!). We were ridiculously busy sorting out our new property so the car sat in a field near Woodend for a few more months then last Friday we braved the holiday traffic and did a day-trip to collect the car using avengertiger's Izuzu as a tow vehicle (thank you Dave). We arrived and got stuck in pumping up the tyres. One of them had a puncture so we had to retrieve the spare. Look at all the goodies we emptied out of the boot: Including a brand new wing and bonnet! After a bit of shuffling using we had the car on the trailer and were back on the road Now the car is in our new workshop we have been assessing the good and bad points: The good bits - amazingly the headlining is mint The car is also pretty much complete with the added bonus of two spare bonnets, a full set of doors (from a saloon but could be modified to suit), a wing, a spare overdrive gearbox and most of the trim. The bad bits - lots of rust and disintegrated rubber. Plus the engine is most likely stuffed. It's definitely all repairable but will take lots of time. I'm determined to do everything myself with a bit of guidance from Alex (it's his turn to be the assistant). My aim is to have it road legal by Nats 2016. I'll be on the look-out for a replacement engine (2.5) plus power-steering set-up but there's no hurry as the rust repairs are going to keep me very busy. It's going to be such a cool car - I'm very excited. Edited June 1, 2017 by Hannah 57 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Hannah Posted March 27, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 27, 2015 One of the most fun parts of a new car project, in my opinion, is is the initial clean out/strip down/inspection and the organising of all the bits into labelled boxes. So just before Nats I moved Rosie (as named by the previous owner) from her corner in the workshop and made a start on the engine bay going from this: to this: Sadly I ran out of time and Rosie was relegated to the corner again as we packed up and set off to the Coromandel (fun times ). On our return lots of jobs needed doing around the property (build woodshed, stack wood, organise workshop, etc.) so it wasn't until earlier this week that I had a chance to continue. I started by cleaning all the mossy green stuff from the windows. Alex wanted me to leave it on for patina but I actually like being able to see through the glass. Here is Rosie looking all shiny in the evening sun: Then I unbolted the seats, removed all the yucky, disintegrating carpet and vacuumed out all the pesky dust mites: The floor is surprisingly solid with only the driver's side needing attention: I discovered this under the rear seat so it seems this panel at least is from Oxford which is where I am from. How cool: I then moved on to the rear of the car. I already knew it was really rusty so was not shocked by what I found behind the trim: The floor is the worst bit: I have carefully stashed away all the trim pieces for future refurbishment. Everything looks salvageable. The other good news is that the rear doors look repairable (I already have replacements for the rotten front doors). So lots to do but at least I know what I am dealing with. It will be good when we have our new hoist installed and I can properly assess the underside. Next on the list is remove the cylinder head and see what state the engine is in (I'm expecting the worst). Now that Alex has his Viva hatchwagon in the workshop I am under pressure to make good progress on my project. I can't let him get his car on the road before mine! 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted June 1, 2017 Author Share Posted June 1, 2017 After much thought over the past few months I have decided to pass Rosie the Triumph on to a new owner. There was a lot of deliberation before we both decided it was the right thing to do. Since we've had the car there have been moments of excitement and much discussion over strong coffee about how we'd go about fixing it up, engine transplant ideas (would have to be a straight six!), wheel choices, paint colours, events and places we'd like to take it to. Then moments of clarity where we've come to realise that it's a lot of work on top of so many other jobs that we are even more excited about doing, or ones that just have to be done. There are other car projects we already have that need our input and ones we would like in the future (maybe another Hillman Imp like my old one ) so neither of us really had the drive to just get stuck into an epic restoration. Then we thought I could learn to restore it, own it for a while and sell it to make a profit. However, realistically, these cars, although cool and rare, would never sell for the amount of work this one needs. Anyway, Steve (Gozza) had popped around to our place some time ago, spotted the car, was quite smitten and a possible deal was hatched. He'd buy it and we'd do the rust repairs to get it back to a solid base for him to continue on with the restoration. However, after looking over the car on the hoist with Steve and then working out the number of hours involved it was simply going to add up to too much and be beyond his realistic budget (is there ever such a thing with cars?...) A week or so later we put it up for sale on Trademe. Steve couldn't resist, talked himself into taking on the project and collected Rosie today. We're both happy that Rosie has gone to a good home. Even though we never ended up doing the project ourselves we're glad that we saved a sweet old car from languishing in a field forever. So today I hand the baton over to Steve to continue on with the mission to get Rosie back on the road 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gozza Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 Thank you Hanna and Alex! I've got so much to learn before I can even start, and then there is the other Mk1 project currently under way... One thing is for sure, this wagon is going to be fucking sick when it gets back on the road..... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Gozza Posted June 1, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted June 1, 2017 Be a good girl and wait here for awhile... 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gozza Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 I haven't forgotten about you baby. Just been busy with life and the saloon... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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