Not much done today...

Went out for an hour or so today and finished removing the remainder of the interior panels and headlining trim along with the interior mirror and visors. Also removed the brightwork around the passenger side windows. I may not be able to get much else done for the next week or two with Mardi Gras coming up, we'll be out of town next weekend.

And now it will stop.... I hope

Spent part of the day today going through the brakes. The master cylinder was empty when I got it home, so it had no brakes other than the parking brake. I filled the master cylinder after cleaning out the reservoir. I took the lines loose from the calipers and wheel cylinders and let them gravity bleed till the fluid was clear. While that was happening, I removed the calipers and used a c-clamp the push the pistons in and out several times to get them freed up. Taking the wheel cylinders off the rear and freeing them up was a bit more work than I wanted, but I felt better after it was done. Eventually everything will get rebuilt with new seals, etc.., but for now I just wanted to be able to stop the car without using the parking brake. After all that was done, I had a good, firm pedal with no leaks! After seeing that nothing was leaking, I had to wonder why the m/c was empty in the first place. I'll just have to keep an eye on everything for awhile. Then I went after the clutch hydraulics. The slave cylinder bleeder screw was stopped up with something, but after pumping the pedal several times it blew whatever it was out and then the fluid was able to flow. Without anyone else around, I wasn't able to bleed it good enough to get a good pedal.
Next up is the cooling system, need to get a top hose without a huge hole in it so I can run the engine long enough to adjust the timing and carbs. I'm trying to get the thing in good enough shape to at least go around the block and see what I've got before putting the engine and O/D trans up for sale. Once I can get it to that point, I can really start to take it apart.

Got the engine running

Today I was able to get fire to the plugs after replacing the points/condenser in the dizzy. filled the radiator, changed the oil and filter, hooked up a fuel supply to the carbs (after removing them and cleaning the float bowls) and when I turned the key..... It fired up after 2-3 seconds!! Settled in to a good idle, had good oil pressure and overall sounded pretty good. Just needs a little tuning and adjusting. Now I know I've got a running engine to sell. Now to check the O/D trans to see that it works.

At home, starting the process of disassembly....

Once home, I started cleaning it up a little more and started taking it apart, getting it ready for the body work that was needed before paint work could begin. Took the seats and carpet out to get a look at the floorboards and sills. Everything was in better shape than I imagined with the exception of the pass side floorboard which I knew had to be replaced.

drivers side floorboard

pass side floorboard with rust holes

rust in floor

drivers floor

Getting it cleaned up and home...

January 22nd I went with trailer in tow to pick up the car and bring it home. We dragged it out of the shed and onto the trailer. With everything secured, I headed home.

I took it by to give it a good cleaning on the outside. It cleaned up pretty good!

 All stock under the hood.....

First look

January 15th, 2011 was the day I first saw the car, It was dusty, in an old shed where it had apparently sat since 1995. Overall it was in really good shape, the only rust was on the passenger side floorboard. The pass side front wing and hood had been damaged when a limb fell across it and the PO had obtained a replacement hood and had the wing straightened. The inner wing was still bent as was the latch slam panel. But everything was there and all original. I made a deal with the owner and plans were made to come pick it up the next weekend.   

After crawling around, over and under the car, a couple good things came to light.... the car was equipped with a/c AND overdrive transmission!

    Finding out that there were only 1251 BGT's imported to the US as 74.5 year models with rubber bumpers was a unexpected surprise.
   The plans are to install a 3.9L all aluminum Rover fuel injected V-8 that I was going to put in my 74 roadster. I will change the color of the car and swap out the wires for alloy wheels, but the body will stay pretty much stock.