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1st drive!

O

ozzie alpine

Bronze Level Sponsor
Yesterday I had my 1st ever drive of an Alpine, and its first run for 18 years! We survived a 2 mile trip around the local roads (I live semi-rural…).

It felt great, a bit tappety at the moment, but runs well. Rebuilt motor, gearbox, o/d, steering, suspension, hubs, brakes, electrics etc, so its good to know that it all works! (charging system excepted, but I was too excited to worry about it yesterday!)

Still a bit to do before I seek road registration, eg fit the seatbelts, troubleshoot the charging system, fix spongy brakes, otherwise mostly cosmetic eg door trim, carpets, console, and rusty bumpers.

Thanks to everyone that has helped me along the way (so far!).
I’ll post a picture as soon as I’ve given it a wash!

cheers
Dave
 
TulsaAlpine

TulsaAlpine

Donation Time
Wahoo!

:D Fun ain't IT!
Now you will have to work on the royal wave for once you take her to town many will be pointing and waving at you. For us ladies its the princess wave :p Good luck with the cosmetics and making her all shiny and new, the hard dirty work is almost over!

Donna
:D
 
64beam

64beam

Donation Time
Hi Dave,

It sounds like your on track to be in Echuca for the Sunbeam nationals in 2008. Good luck with the rest of the Alpine project, it's all down hill from here (well at least we hope so anyway :) ).

Regards, Robin.
 
H

howard

Donation Time
Yep- people DO notice you in a Sunbeam. I'm a rather large fella, so I wasn't too surprised when a 4-year old at the grocery store pointed at me and burst out laughing! I suppose to some people I look like some kinda big-headed clown in a clown car. I'd like to say it was a chick magnet- there has been some female-types who look at the car moreso than, say, a '95 Dodge Pickup- but most conversations come from teenage guys and old (70+) men who "use to have one of them." So far I've met 3 different guys who knew or claimed to have owned Maxwell Smart's car!:confused:
 
O

ozzie alpine

Bronze Level Sponsor
photos

Here's some photos.
Still some trim work to do inside, but the seats and dash are done.
Dash is solid "beautyleaf", a local tropical timber.
Seats are old Recaro's, c. 70's I think. Bumpers are worse than they look!
Minilites need a bit of elbow grease as they are quite corroded (no paint) but should come up OK.
Its not quite as dark as it looks in the photos. Flat British Racing Green. Paint job was done professionally, 13 years ago ! (hasn't seen the road since!)

Nearly there :)
 
64beam

64beam

Donation Time
Hi Dave,

Your Alpine looks pretty good to me :cool: . I like the Recaro's you have installed and your dash looks awesome. How does the engine bay look? Keep up the good work.

Regards, Robin.
 
O

ozzie alpine

Bronze Level Sponsor
On the road!

Just got home from the "motor vehicle registry"

The Alpine passed roadworthy with flying colours and is now fully registered and on the road! First time for 18 years!

The only comment from the inspector was "monitor those oil leaks..." !! (I declined to say "yes of course, that way I'll know when to top up the oil...")

I'll post some photos soon. In the meantime, thanks again to all those who have helped along the way, so far.

Right, I'd better check the weather....

cheers
Dave
 
mxp01

mxp01

Platinum Level Sponsor
Dave:

Your car looks great. I've always preferred the fins and grills on the earlier cars (I've got a SIV).

Watch the oil leaks? Where I live if you have $49.50 and a set of keys they'll issue you license plates.

Thanks to your help (the adjustment on the voltage regulator) we finally got our car road last Sunday. I finally drove it on Monday and it was great! However, we've got a leak of the first order by the fuel pump (I've got new gaskets coming and will fix it Friday). If oil leaks were to keep me grounded I don't think my car would ever run.

Good Luck motoring,

Mike Pennell
 
O

ozzie alpine

Bronze Level Sponsor
Thanks Mike.

Yes, the inspectors here can be a bit over enthusiastic. The roadworthy check is quite strict, and has to be done every year. It includes checks on steering wear, and they used a fancy brake tester in-ground roller thingy with electronics to test all brake performance and balance. They expect 47 year old cars to meet modern standards.

A friend of mine's restored Bond Bug failed last year (this is a true story) - the chrome surrounds on the dash gauges were too shiny (could distract the driver) and, wait for it, the ash tray on the tunnel was too sharp (driver could cut finger). :eek: No joke! My Ginetta once failed because it didn't have a windscreen demister (this is the tropics.......), so I fitted a fan blower from a landrover which filled the passenger footwell, some vacuum cleaner hoses, and then I promptly removed it all when I got home.:rolleyes:
And they don't even wear a unifom!
Thats why I'm so excited to get it road registered at last!
 
64beam

64beam

Donation Time
Unfortunately for us, due to the age of our cars they attract added scrutiny. I think Dave you just got the wrong inspector on the day. Congratulations though and happy trails.

Regards, Robin.
 
Nickodell

Nickodell

Donation Time
Looks like the Nanny State is taking over there, like in England. My wife's nephew and his wife from Perth, WA, visited us a couple of years ago. He tells me that it's now virtually impossible to do alterations to your house via the D.I.Y. route. Apparently all plumbing, wiring and carpentry has to be done by licensed contractors. What happened to rugged Aussie individuality.
 
Green67Alpine

Green67Alpine

Former SAOCA Membership Director
Platinum Level Sponsor
That's a great looking Alpine ! It also looks like it need to be driven quite a bit ! ENJOY !
Tom j
 
H

Hillman

Gold Level Sponsor
Some places are still reasonable. Just received an Alpine I bought from Arizona, I'm in western Canada. 30+ year old cars can be licensed as antiques without inspection although there are a lot of restrictions. Paid the sales tax, license fee and was free to drive.
FWIW, cars that did not have factory seat belts don't need them now. They only have to meet regulations in place at time of manufacture.
 
chris

chris

Donation Time
With all the crap we have to put up with here in California, I'm happy to say that having an annual vehicle inspection is not one of them. YET
 
F

finally

Donation Time
Speaking of seatbelts... where has everyone found to be the best place to attach them? Do you bolt them through the floorboard?
 
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