Originally Posted by lane

Thanks TJ and Jono.
Questions for anybody who has time, please:

2. Any advice on dealing with surface rust/pitting to prevent later reoccurrance?

On steel it must be sand-blasted, or soaked in molasses solution to completely remove all of the rust and then treated with a rust converter. Despite what the rust converters say on their labels, in my experience they do not penetrate rust much at all, so it is better to get all of the rust out of the pits first.

3. Under-body paint options? (tar, etc)

No need for this on aluminium panels; on the chassis I think several layers of good quality paint, followed by a rust preventer seems the best idea, as any rust that starts can be found in its early stages. From the tests I am doing at the moment, Penetrol is outperforming anything else I have tried at preventing the re-occurrence of rust and keeping existing rust under control.

4. Recommended ignition set-up for a Series III (1977) 4 cylinder?

Lots of options here; I have used Crane Cams electronic ignition on my V8 and been very happy with it.

6. Also, given that the wiring is almost all off the vehicle, would you replace it by making a new harness or just put it all back, checking and repairing as required? I really don't know how badly wiring deteriorates over 30 years.

Give the harness a bend and a shake, whilst listening for any cracking in the insulation and feeling for the same thing on single wires. If they feel supple and look in good condition they probably are.

Cheers,
Lane.