Heaven awaits
Danny trims down his fleet ready for Jensen and Riley
Now that my two major restoration projects are nearing completion, I had to think about what cars will go where and how I should use them. I’ve got too many cars and I needed to slim down the hoard to be able to give them proper love.
I needed to sell a few motors, and amazingly, I have. The first to go was the Insight, which is now living with Edmund Drake Lee in Bedford. I’ve had a great 3000 miles in it and averaged just under 70mpg, but the need to reduce my classic footprint and get some funds in the bank meant it had to go. I really didn’t want to sell it, but with only two seats, it was taking up the space that the
TR7 was laying claim to. I will come back to an Insight one day though (they are addictive). The same can be said of the Saab 900 Convertible I had been blatting around in on sunny days. I fitted new suspension all round, serviced it and tidied a few odds and ends. I also got in touch with National Windscreens who searched out a new screen and came and fitted it for me. They turned up and fought like gladiators to get the old one out – tough cars Saabs. The new item allowed me to obtain an MOT and also facilitated the car’s return to Nic Cooper, who sold it to me in the first place. I’d had a couple of epic trips in it, too. Don’t discount a GM 900 or 9-3…they are good nouveau classics.
Finally the Wolseley Six is now in the hands of PC reader Brian, who approached me at the Beaulieu Spring Autojumble and asked if I would part with it. Then he told me that, if he bought the Wolseley, it would be his very first classic car. I couldn’t say no. I had returned the Landcrab to the road, given it a new lease of life and had scratched my nostalgic itch. Sold.
New arrivals
Which leaves the way clear for the two epic restos, the Riley RMA and Jensen Interceptor, to become part of my operational fleet. The Riley has been my main workshop focus for the last four weeks. I wired the lights, refitted panels, rebuilt a door, rehung the exhaust, rebuilt the brakes (again) and, with Theo Gillam, sorted the engine.
‘Sorted the engine’: three simple words, but oh, so much time and pain. We had surmised that the cars inability to run was down to old points and a broken fuel pump. A deeper look was required to make sure, however, and a discussion with some club experts led Theo and I to a conclusion that the camshafts needed resetting.
It took half a day to get the front of the car off and remove the front cover plate of the engine. With the timing chain, tensioner and cam sprockets exposed Theo got his measuring and calibration instruments out. We measured the valve opening intervals and the position of the pistons in the cylinders. Nothing lined up. It appears that we had used an early pair of camshafts, married to a late pair of sprockets in the build. This meant that the timing marks were in the wrong place.
A slow process of measuring each valve opening saw the cams timed correctly and then, the long slow process of rebuilding the entire front end began. This process was interrupted early on by a trial start up. Almost before Theo pressed the starter, the 1.5-litre twin cam burst into life. If only we had worked this out at the NEC… former owner Ron Jones would have been able to drive it offstage. Another week saw the RMA running and me driving it up and down the drive – the first time it had moved under its own power since the early Seventies. Such a great feeling bringing a car back to life that was destined to be a donor. It has duties to perform immediately as a friend’s son requires prom transport. ‘CFB’ will be only too pleased to oblige and
‘Sorted the engine: three simple words but, oh, so much time and pain!’
I am looking forward to making blinged up limos look cheap and pointless.
I am also glad to report that, after 35 years off the road, and eight years in my care as a huge project, the Jensen is a real car again, complete with an identity and a registration number. With the help of the excellent Jensen Owners’ Club and Paul Lewis at PALE classics I was able to provide enough evidence to support my V55/5 form. The V55/5 is for registering a rebuild, but many of the questions are not applicable to anyone who has restored a car – but if you have no official DVLA record, the V55/5 is the only way to go.
And that is what I thought I had to do. My car’s original number, HOF 1, was transferred away by Sir Hugh Fraser when he sold it. The next owner replaced it with a number that I have been unable to locate. Well, the DVLA managed to find it! Which means the car has the number it received when it was sold on – SVN 692K – a Yorkshire plate (if you know who owned it, get in touch). This not only gives me a discount on the £55 fee I was going to pay, it also gives another part of the Jensen’s history back – I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.
Before strapping the celebratory plates on, I sorted out the overfuelling issues that I had encountered on my short test runs by replacing the Holley 650cfm Carb with an Edelbrock 1406 600cfm. Bolt off, bolt on and it now runs a lot better. I might not win any races, but I will be able to idle in traffic. Anyone fancy a ‘never used in action’ Street Avenger? It was too meaty for what I needed, but will make a great track day carb for any big block V8. danny.hopkins@practicalclassics.co.uk