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Post by nz3litre on Nov 6, 2012 8:59:56 GMT
Found this 3-Litre down in the palm trees.  More photos will be added later. Cheers John |
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Post by indianajones on Nov 6, 2012 9:31:25 GMT
Is this 'the' 3L or the parts car?
Looks like you've got your work cut out for you mate!
-Andrew
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Post by threelitre on Nov 6, 2012 11:52:18 GMT
Nice old beast! Going by the front wings it looks like the bodywork should not be a major issue...
Regards,
Alexander
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Post by nz3litre on Nov 6, 2012 20:25:07 GMT
Andrew That's a bit harsh mate, clearly this is the good car, man wait till you see the spares car then you will really feel my pain  . The good car FN6353 was registered new in NZ December 1971 and was stored inside till I moved to this property in 2006. It has deteriorated however hopefully the underside is still OK. The bodywork was actually rust free and suffering accident damage front and rear only. Unfortunately the guy I bought it off, his son had started to remove the dash board to fit into his Mk1 Escort however I recovered it and it is 99% complete. The engine had a $4000.00 rebuild in 1987 and ran well so I am hopeful it may still be OK. Grille is damaged and radiator has a hole in it. Beyond fixing with egg white. This car is chassis number 7555 and engine number 7813. www.carjam.co.nz/report/?ref=EAB56952It was stored inside till about six years ago when I moved house. It will be in the garage by end of summer. While outside it has had water through it into the foot wells so some damage but will make the best of it. Has damage to drivers side front suspension and rear drivers side tail light and body. I have a spare grille. Sad stuff but can only get better! Alexander I will do my best to make sure the body does not get any worse and once in the garage will try and rustproof as much as possible. We do have high humidity here in summer and anything aluminium has corrosion on it. More photos to make you cringe will follow this evening. It will be fun looking back hopefully at improvement as the years pass... ABSAD 6865M. The second car is very rotten and has had 1800 doors fitted on it. I do have a good 3 litre drivers door spare. Mostly this car will now only be good for running gear suspension etc I think. Although this car never found favour during production I am shocked at the extremely low numbers overall that seem to have survived. Neil Kidby has relaunched a 3 litre club and will put out a quarterly newsletter for those interested owners. Kind regards John |
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Post by nz3litre on Nov 7, 2012 3:13:13 GMT
Hi I have made some enquiries here about about how many Austin 3 Litres were imported and sold in NZ new. The numbers are coming up at around 150 of which about 30 were still active registrations circa 2007. Active registrations include both those cars in storage (like my "good" one) for which registration is currently exempt (meaning the car is off the road but can be re registered once a new warrant of fitness is obtained) and those in current daily use.. More than I thought might have come here. So bound to be a few more come up for sale... So percentage wise the number of survivors far eclipse those in the UK. Regards John. |
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Post by Keef on Nov 8, 2012 2:25:54 GMT
So percentage wise the number of survivors far eclipse those in the UK. Interesting. Thanks for that John. |
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Post by indianajones on Nov 8, 2012 2:27:36 GMT
I look forward to seeing this landlobster come back to life  -Andrew |
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Post by nz3litre on Nov 8, 2012 3:14:20 GMT
Thanks Andrew.
It will be doing a very slow crawl..
The numbers sold new in NZ may well be higher than above as when records were computerised in 1986 records of cars whose registrations had already lapsed for various reasons were not carried forward into the database. It seems my old rusty Fred Flintstone lobster may be one of those ie had already lapsed as I can't see it's chassis number in the records.
Cheers John
Regards John.
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Post by indianajones on Nov 8, 2012 8:29:59 GMT
Interesting fact, I wasn't aware of that, As for a slow crawl, you can't rush these things now and seeing it come together over time is half the fun. -Andrew |
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Post by nz3litre on Nov 15, 2012 9:26:41 GMT
This photo show the damage on drivers side front primarily to the front suspension the aluminium casting broken and you can see the outward bend in the front wing.  Driver side rear damage to bumper and tail light bootlid undamaged.  Damage to front grille but I do have another one, and hole in radiator.  |
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Post by indianajones on Nov 15, 2012 9:36:04 GMT
Cheers for the photos John. Looks like you need to get the mower out lol.
That grille looks like it's had it. Does the parts car have a good one?
What's the plan of attack on the cracked casting? sounds complicated.
-Andrew
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Post by nz3litre on Nov 15, 2012 10:39:14 GMT
I have a good grille from the spares car and suspension casting the same so hopefully will be ok in that regard. Any one need a new dashboard for their Escort I mean what!!!   Lucky though I have the dashboard etc and it is sitting on the back seat. Note my clever device to assist in helping the electricity flow in the right direction.  |
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Post by nz3litre on Nov 15, 2012 10:47:47 GMT
Well that is enough sadness for now  Well that engine bay is just disgusting isn't it  Will let you know if I can get the old girl running again. PS Andrew if you pop around do bring the lawn mower!  Regards John. |
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Post by Keef on Nov 15, 2012 14:15:42 GMT
Well that engine bay is just disgusting isn't it It's sad to see them in that condition, but they can be brought back to life. |
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Post by indianajones on Nov 15, 2012 19:22:10 GMT
PS Andrew if you pop around do bring the lawn mower! You bring the beer? lol -Andrew |
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Will let you know if I can get the old girl running again.