SITE MEMBERS' CARS

Small crank 1300 with Mk3 spit cam, unleaded spit MKIV head, 2x1.5" SU, K & N, 421 manifold, Aldon distributor with Ignitor electronic ignition.
13 row oil cooler, oil stat, alternator (Lucas), pre-engaged starter.
Single rail gearbox with overdrive (ex Dolomite)
Vitesse 2L Brakes all round.
Decambered rear spring and adjustable spax.
Vitesse Petrol tank.
Vitesse dash with Dolomite instruments.
6 x 13 K & N alloys and 165/70 tyres.

History
In our family since '72. Previously owned by my uncle, father andgrandfather (I aquired it when he died).
Was very rusty when I got it (major, fall-apart rusty) but only 72K miles complete with drum brakes all round (appalling) and Turkish crossplies (worse) and 9 months MoT (how?). How I lived through the first month.......
Much welding, disc brake conversion and 5.5" wheels with decent radials made an enormous difference to safety!
Early 34 bhp 1200 very asthmatic, new timing chain added 10mph to top speed (now 65!!), SAH head rather more, twin carbs better still (now about 80 with following wind).
Overdrive box added, propshaft was a real pain but really worth the effort.
1200 engine dies, add 1500 Dolomite engine (don't forget to put a dink in the 1200 sump for no 1 big end or the crank does it for you...). Tune the 1500 (light head porting, 270 cam), add 3.89 diff. Goes quite well now (about 1/2 on the full gauge!), still looks rough though, so the element of surprise remains intact! 1500 likes to have new shells every 15k and is always ready for a pint or two (oil).
Diff more or less escapes from the chassis (rust plus abuse). Full rebuild with new (to me) chassis and rear tub. Body now smart and shiny.
At the same time the engine becomes small crank 1300 (1500 now very smoky after 2 years abuse) with stage 4 head, Kent TH3 cam, balanced bottom end, 2 x 1.5" SUs. Aldon distributor and electronic ignition. Quite powerful if revved hard, but I missed the 1500 grunt for a while; much, much sweeter than the 1500 though and very eager to rev.
Have a go at speed hillclimbing, crash. Paint again....
Thrash around on the road for several years. Great fun on the open road but a real pain in traffic as rather cammy. Plan a rolling road tune but the crank breaks first. Now rebuilt as described at the top but few miles since. Very little recent use. Not much of Grandads car left in it really.

This car has been used for everything, student transport (driving round Cornwall with the roof unbolted), 12 car rallies, scatter rallies, autotesting (it's a bit scary for this - swing axles...), production car trialling, tool box duty when friends were racing, towing my fathers Cortina (the police assumed we were drunk), and very briefly speed hillclimbing... One year I did 30.00 miles in it! Sitting in it now I wonder how though; must be getting old! I

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