My new RX3 and restoration

steve garbutt · August 26, 2009, 10:56:28 PM

After years of searching iv finally managed to secure a 1973 RX3 with about 41k on the clock.
The purchase was an unusual one with me spotting and taking a chance on an unseen RX3 that was on Ebay but also in Inverness, so to far for me to go take a peek at.
Anyway the seller didn\'t know anything about cars so he was very helpfull but vague.

The car was purchased by the sellers father new in 1973 then after a lot of miles in the 1st 4 years the engine blew in 1978 so the car was laid up in a huge dry barn, then 3 years ago the barn was sold, so it was moved to a carport for 2 year then the house was sold so moved to a backyard with a tarpaulin over it for the last year.

So the car has only been run for the 1st 4 years of its life :2eek then laid up and stored.

Anyway the car turned up today and im well pleased.
The engine is a no go and has been pulled out and just balanced inside the engine bay.
The structure is about as good as i could expect but duz need some work.

So here goes

steve garbutt · August 26, 2009, 10:57:34 PM

Here is the car as i got it.

steve garbutt · August 26, 2009, 11:00:41 PM

This is what greated us under the bonnet so we promptly removed it to give us a little space to work.

BlitzBoy · August 26, 2009, 11:02:40 PM

Drag Car !!!!! do it!!!

steve garbutt · August 26, 2009, 11:06:10 PM

After removing various engine bay items the engine bay itself was in surprisingly good condition as was the rest of the car excluding the sills and door bottoms that need replacing.
luckily its only the outer sills and door bottoms so just cosmetic really and nothing i haven\'t tackled before.

A few pictures of before and after cleaning the bay up a little.

steve garbutt · August 26, 2009, 11:08:18 PM

Quote from: BlitzBoy;637888Drag Car !!!!! do it!!!

I am tempted :Giggle

steve garbutt · August 26, 2009, 11:08:51 PM

Underneath the car is fantastic btw

steve garbutt · August 26, 2009, 11:13:30 PM

Another of the bay.
as you can see the engine bay is in fantastic condition with only 2 small holes needing welding due to blocked drain holes.

steve garbutt · August 26, 2009, 11:16:03 PM

So we parked her up (this is where she is going to live for a while) and started to have a look what i had purchased, and before i knew it i got carried away

steve garbutt · August 26, 2009, 11:19:38 PM

1st to come off was the worst side wing and to our surprise all we found was flakey paint and alight coating of rust just on the surface , with it just one small patch needing welding.
Here you can see after we have brushed most of the loose stuff off.

steve garbutt · August 26, 2009, 11:22:42 PM

A few more of the wing after further cleaning.
I was pleased to see nice sharp/clean edges on most joints and panels.

Brett · August 26, 2009, 11:23:08 PM

Loving that! Will it be ready for wings and wheels? :Giggle

steve garbutt · August 26, 2009, 11:24:44 PM

So time to cut our the bad metal.
On this pic you can see the strut torwe needed patching and you can also see the whole inside the bay that needs welding up.

steve garbutt · August 26, 2009, 11:25:45 PM

Quote from: Brett;637905Loving that! Will it be ready for wings and wheels? :Giggle

I doubt that but ill try :2Confused
I do plan to have it ready and on the road within 4 months though

steve garbutt · August 26, 2009, 11:28:35 PM

Then its down to pulling all the front end undercarriage off.
as you can see all looks like it will go again with a little sandblasting and powder coating.