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You may have seen our fabulous Sebring Sprite Coupe (above) at the entrance to the Goodwood 72nd members meeting, or followed the progress of it's build on the Ashley website, or racing competitively with the HRDC Allstars this season, well this autumn we aim to commence the build of a Sebring Sprite fastback, using a genuine Archers Garage body, built onto a genuine 1962 totally rustfree quarter eliptic shell, so the right car for the job! It will be built to our normal impeccable high standards and it could be yours, why not contact us to get on board with this project. Then you can dictate the colour and the required spec of this car, these cars when built properly are a great investment and will never lose you money, they are also great fun! |
20 plus years sat in a garage with a damp floor had taken it's toll, look closely at the driver's side floor, yes that 3" gap between floor and sill is showing the ground! the boot floor is similarly non existent, this car will be our biggest rebuild to date and needs at a minimum, a complete floor pan, boot floor and chassis legs, inner wheel arches front and rear, rear heel board and spring mounts plus plenty more, on the bright side the Ashley front was not affected by the damp! |
As if the rust was not bad enough, the engine is also seized and will require rebuilding, along with all ancillaries, such as carbs, dynamo, starter, wiring etc. and to add insult to injury the car had been a home to generations of squirrels over the years as the sacks of leaves and acorns that were removed from it paid testament to. |
With the Ashley front removed that famous accessability to engine compartment was proven, first job was to slice off the rotten front inner wings |
Car in process of being stripped back to a bare shell, here front suspension components are being removed. The rotten floor pan was removed to provide access to the gearbox mounting bolts without laying under car |
(pictured left) Car stripped to bare shell, virtually the complete underside will be replaced with new steel, including a complete heritage rear section (pictured right) Door gaps braced and floors removed, this shot starts to show the extent of the panelwork required to get this car back together |
After removing most of the front end rusty panels, the reconstruction commenced on the drivers side, with new chassis outrigger, inner wing and chassis section, toe board and angled support, inner and outer sills plus a full one piece floor section, the same needs to be done on the passsenger side before moving on to the rear of the car |
The nearside now under reconstruction with new front inner wings being fitted |
The underbonnet area and front chassis has now been sandblasted which will save hours of sanding and rubbing down to get back to bare metal |
Rear heelboard panel welded in place, note the inner bracing, then with the underfloor outer skin welded in place, in effect sandwiching the bracing and creating a strong bulkhead |
Complete boot floor and arches removed and un-spotwelded ready for the new major floor pan, arches and chassis legs |
This is the rear boot floor/wheel arch/chassis section before installation |
Boot floor in place and tack welded at main mounting areas |
New rear panel in early stages of being fitted |
Battery tray/ heater box support, is an important strengthening area and needed replacing with this new box section panel |
Progress continues! |
Bodyshell now fully panelled and welded prior to seam sealing, lead loading, filling and preparing for primer |
After a winter break we are back on the blue mk2 Midget, we first made sure the bonnet still fitted, and first application of lead and filler, we had 2 very good doors so getting them to fit properly is the priority here |
Stonechip being applied to underside prior to primer and paint |
Bodyshell with 3 layers of 2 pack primer applied |
Bodyshell with 4 coats of ICI Riviera blue |
As you can see in these last two pictures (above and below) the bodyshell has been painted inside, outside and every little nook and cranny |
Out of the paint booth and after polishing the screen and doors were fitted up |
New rear springs and fuel tank, rebuilt brakes and back axle all in place |
Rebuilt 1098 engine and gearbox installed, along with radiator and pedal box |
The original 1960's Ashley front after much repairing and preparation and painting |
Up on its wheels roughly a year after the car first came in |
Refitting all the original quarter bumpers on the rear |
The finished standard spec engine compartment |
Full interior remade entirely by us, including making patterns for the original Mk2 seats, dashboard re crackle finished too |
The finished car (pictured above and below) with it's original wheel trims and a new navy hood fitted, this car really was a labour of love and I would never ever take on a project as rusty and as far gone as this one, but it does show what can be done with even the worst condition Sprite or Midget, completion date for this car was June 2014 |
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