Thread: what to look for on a classic

Cheers for the info guys, much appreciated.

Homestar, we may just have a date on that in the not so distant future.

Originally Posted by workingonit

On a thread somewhere 'enthusiasm' was defined as giving the vehicle too much 'air', assuming the down force would eventually distort the chassis at the front.

While the above may be the 'norm', on one of my RRC I found wrinkles inside the rails from a front on collision eg possibly running through scrub and hitting a tree on one side of a the bull bar.

The chassis seemed to have sprung back to normal specifications, but left the wrinkles as evidence of distortion at one point. A good bash with mallet sorted the wrinkles, then on with plates. I checked straightness by putting the chassis on three points, got the cross rails horizontal with a spirit level, checked the diagonals, and with a theodolite and metre rule did drop heights on matching opposing points - nothing more than a couple of mm variance anywhere - whew!

When all the coach work was off the chassis it became apparent there had been a significant collision - someone had attempted a very poor weld repair on the driver side dumb iron ie overlaid extra plate, lots of porous weld, and birds nestings of the wire (probably attempted with coach work on).

And to your earlier point, man, the amount of rust in the coachwork...

Top stuff! Mine has had a respray and the body doesn't quite sit evenly, but I still can't decide if the latter is because it's had an accident or because that's how it came from the factory!

The springs seem to be handed, so out and back in wrong order could tilt it; or just sagged over time.

I've 4 RRC and none of the bonnet latches work properly. Read that this may be caused by minor bumps to the body work or distortions off road. but who knows.

barnfindseries3ffr & Homestar, I’d be up for a look if you don’t mind. (I gotta get back into my 2 door). Only if it works out though (tis a busy time of year)...!

Originally Posted by workingonit

The springs seem to be handed, so out and back in wrong order could tilt it; or just sagged over time.

I've 4 RRC and none of the bonnet latches work properly. Read that this may be caused by minor bumps to the body work or distortions off road. but who knows.

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. I meant the way the body overhangs the wheels. You can see that the body is further sideways compared to the wheels on one side than the other. But it could just be build quality.

Originally Posted by Davo

....But it could just be build quality.

Nothing to see here (except rust).... Move along

Homestar and Grey Ghost,
Hit me up on pm, we need a trip out to the property asap,
I swear that you will absolutely pitch a tent over what i have for you to look over.

PM sent