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SambaS in AlpineLE Oh-dearage!


SambaS

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That's very good. Are you polishing out colour sanding marks by hand? Major respect if you are, it was hard with a rotory polisher and g6 when i did mine.

Yes by hand, it's cellulose paint so stays quite soft initially, so not too much work required. Final buff and wax in a few weeks will really finish it off. 

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Glass back in, and external black trim back on, though will come off again to be painted at the final leg.

 

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Delved into rehab stock and came up with a set of new door handles, only the LE, LS and Talbot Rancho used the black version.

 

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That's about it for now, as SambaS is in working in warmer climes for the summer!

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  • 1 month later...

Whilst progress on the LE is on hold for a while, other Alpines ARE getting some attention. This car first appeared on p13 of this thread when it arrived at Talbot Rehab at Christmas.

 

Today I tackled the front end, removing both, very rotten, front wings. The even more rotten bonnet will stay on for now to assist alignment of the replacement wings. With the lamps and bumper removed as well, the true extent of the decay became apparent.

 

I contemplated some patch repairs, but decided that complete replacement with NOS panels will be altogether more satisfactory.

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Here at the Talbot Sanctuary, we never put a healthy car down.  Even if we really should.  We have the technology, we can rebuild them all.

There's bit of a story behind this car. The elderly owner who had it new in 77 approached the club offering it for free, but wanted to retain the registration number (which was off his previous car, an early sixties Hillman Minx, and had been on the Alpine since new) The problem of course is that it needs an MOT for the transfer, and as it's stood since 1992 in a damp garage, there's no small amount of work to do, apart from the rust. So in a slightly rash moment, and only having seen photos of it, I agreed to take it on...

 

So plan now is to do enough for the MOT to enable the transfer, tidy it up sufficiently to be presentable, and then probably make a user car of it in due course, as it will be tax exempt in around 18 months.

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These early cars didn't have front plastic wheel arch liners, so the rot tends to be quite comprehensive. Compare with the LE which did have them, and consequently is all solid around the front end.

 

Better stop chopping back before the drive line falls out...

 

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Main chassis rail rotten at end on nearside, and inner wings both sides, easy repair though with everything being so accessible now.

 

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Repairs done on nearside and new cross member offered up

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Massive restepc to you for the work you're doing on these old buses. What's the crack with the blue one - do you do the work on behalf of SambaS, or is it s joint venture sort of thing? Can't remember where/when I asked, but do you know the fate of the burgundy early R plate Alpine which was 'saved' a couple of years back?

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Massive restepc to you for the work you're doing on these old buses. What's the crack with the blue one - do you do the work on behalf of SambaS, or is it s joint venture sort of thing? Can't remember where/when I asked, but do you know the fate of the burgundy early R plate Alpine which was 'saved' a couple of years back?

We work on the LE every so often when SambaS drops in for a couple of days, he's working abroad at the moment, so it's on hold for now.

 

The R plate red car is in good hands, though no progress has been made towards it's restoration yet. It's fairly rotten, but well doable. 

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That green one looks quite appealing, I might have a dabble on it

You misspelled 'appalling'. To be fair, for a Stondon car it really doesn't look too bad apart from having some random missing bits like the mirrors and gearknob. It's certainly in better shape than that rotten old Sunbeam that's just sold for 2 grand.

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