all original series 5

[John Boggis]

there are so many photos of the original cars in published books that it's really quite easy to see how the engine compartment was set up and the same goes for the interior and trunk

Bob, could you post the detailed pictures you have of the different series engine bays etc, this would be a great help in knowing how factory cars were put together. I have some Alpine books but the photos are of poor quality and the detail not clear.

I feel it is very important to produce some sort of library of what was factory original or else the next generation of Alpine owners will have nothing to reference against.

 

[fireboltgirl]

not aware of what I don't know

In response to 65Beam, regarding my Series 3 restoration, without looking at photos of very correct cars, I don't know what information I am lacking. For instance, prior to attending the Invasion and talking to Scott, I had no idea that areas around the valance and doors were painted black. I stumbled on to my car in September 2009 and bought it knowing nothing about Sunbeams, didn't even know they had fins! I have restored Corvettes, Trans Ams, MG's, Triumphs & a Bugeye and have always been able to purchased books (the Original series by Classic Motor Books for the British cars) that ducument every detail of a cars construction. I expected to be able to do the same for a Sunbeam. I bought every books I could find and I think I have them all. None go into the detail I am used to seeing for the more popular marques. Thus, I am relying on help from the great people on this forum to answer my endless questions. However, without detailed photos of a correct car, I am afraid I will miss things like the black painted areas.

Kim
Series III

Tiger II (found at an estate sale 2 weeks after I bought the Alpine) and my next project

 

[Ragg Mopp]

I was at the BASH and talked with the current(2nd) owner of the SV. It was owned by a very picky older gentleman who protected it and was careful about the weather it was driven in and it was kept in a garage for it's entire life. Apparently he took things apart and cleaned and re-painted them if they were chipped or faded and tried to use original colors if available. It was parked next to a tiger with the same paint code but this was obviously the original color and the tiger was just red. As noted, many good original things but several add on's and changes/improvements that did not come from the factory, especially in the wiring. He is willing to to let people look and measure and would probably be agreeable to having mats copied, etc. I have his contact information and the car is located in Chesapeake City.

 

[alpine_64]

there are so many photos of the original cars in published books that it's really quite easy to see how the engine compartment was set up and the same goes for the interior and trunk. keep in mind that just because the car is low mileage ,that doesn't mean that parts weren't changed over the years.

Bob i agree with you on the second point.. low milage 1 owner is no gaurentee of originality.

Also I have to ask whihc books you are reffering to, i have a decent collection, and for things like the trunk (boot) and interior there are some resonable.. or at least useful pictures.. bu as for engine bay details.. i;m not so sure. The ones I have in the road test books are all quite small.. grainy and are only good for overall locations of things.. you would be hard pressed to get much detail out of them.. then there is the issue of B/W.. no guide as to colours.. a good point is many of us know the brake booster hose is a yellow stiped item, but hardly any cars have them, now in the photos they are not going to give tyou a good indication of colour, just that there is a light couloured strip.. and that exclude the fact you are not going to see what texture is on the hose..

Another one i have which is what clamps were used on many hoses on a S3.. in theory the larger ones are wire and i believe should have "terrys" on them and the same with the smaller clamps but they should be flat metal.. though IIRC johns car didnt have the lettering.. now his car is a SIV so might be different.. but without a good refernce.. how do we know??

Which books have you got? the ones i have of later production show restored cars.. and the most casual glance at those pics show lots of obvious digression.

 

[buckalpine3]

SV factory original

I have posted some photos of my original 1967 SV for those interested at http://photobucket.com/buckalpine3. I hope they can be of assistance.
Dave

 

[puff4]

Dave, yes, yours looks to be largely very original, much like mine. You have a very nice car indeed!!

I do have a couple of questions & comments...

There's a bracket at the back of your cylinder head, attached to the rearmost head bolt, near the intake manifold...
it looks like the optional competition steady-bracket, but it's not connected to anything? Is this part of the
engine sling bracketry?

Your oil cooler line has had the service bulletin applied (http://www.team.net/www/rootes/rsb/66_05.html) and it's one of the few I've seen
that has still retained the proper bracket. Nice.

Interesting placement of your license plate lights. Mine are located on a plate under the bumper.
Are yours original or do you suppose they were moved?

Other notes:

-- Cover for your fuse box is missing.
-- Your starter solenoid has been replaced with a later, non-standard unit. Original style 'button top' units are now available,
so you might consider replacing that. (see here: LINK)
-- The 'negative earth' sticker is in a different place than I've seen it on other cars, but then it wasn't always present anyway,
so I suspect they were pretty much slapped on at random.​

 

[SIVAllan]

Bracket to back of cylinder head is for hooking up to remove the engine along with bracket to front of cylinder head?

 

[65beam]

series 5

the license plate lights are correct. this is a late series 5 and they were in the bumper. it should also have two brackets bolted to the trunk to hold the plate. notice also that it has the large booster. i had one that was maybe 50 cars from the end of production and it had the non peaked painted headlight rims also.

 

[Rodewaryer]

Unless the owner of the low mileage time capsule car is picky about public access to pics of his car, why the secrecy about pics? I find this forum particularly 'picture' shy at times. This thread has one entry with pics in it's entire 7 pages..... I cannot get ftp.harborduvall.com to open at all and it's pretty hard to have a frame of reference when they can't be accessed. I don't mind hosting them and posting pics if I could just get to them.

Was there some sort of trick to getting access to that site or....? I just get errors stating the site cannot be found or no longer exists.

 

[alpine_64]

Dave, yes, yours looks to be largely very original, much like mine. You have a very nice car indeed!!

I do have a couple of questions & comments...

There's a bracket at the back of your cylinder head, attached to the rearmost head bolt, near the intake manifold...
it looks like the optional competition steady-bracket, but it's not connected to anything? Is this part of the
engine sling bracketry?
[/indent]

John,

That bracket is a factory part, its not the comps mod, it was as you assumed for the engine sling. I borrowed one of these when removing my motor. IIRC they are the same across all series, unlike the front eyelet which is different for the SI/II

 

[Flynn49]

Very nice, exactly like mine wich was built in December 1967, B 395016016 LRO, except mine does not have the balast resistor for the coil, nor is there any wiring for one on my original harness. My oil cooler hoses do not have the factory mod and run under the brake booster. My license plate lights are on the plate screwed to the body behind the bumper.

 

[Tom H]

Flynn, The wiring harness for the ballast resistor is identical to your harness. The only differences are 1) the harness wire plugs into the ballast resitor instead of the coil, 2) there is an extra 4 inch long wire from ballast R to the coil, and 3) there is a separate wire, not in the harness but with a sleeve over it entire length, that goes from the starter solenoid to the coil to bypass the ballast while starting. In the photos you can see that extra wire crossing over the heater hose and clipped to the leading edge of the cowling. It looks like a thin black tube.

Tom

 

[mattinoz]

Engine lift brackets

My S5 is missing both front and rear lift brackets so I'm thinking I might fabricate a pair. The rear bracket is not too difficult as it's just a right angle with corners trimmed however the front is bracket is not so straight forward. So I'm hoping someone may have a front bracket that is not fitted atm and might be kind enough to either photograph or draw/trace an image, with dimensions if possible, so as to allow a dup to be made.

Thanks in advance

 

[alpine_64]

My S5 is missing both front and rear lift brackets so I'm thinking I might fabricate a pair. The rear bracket is not too difficult as it's just a right angle with corners trimmed however the front is bracket is not so straight forward. So I'm hoping someone may have a front bracket that is not fitted atm and might be kind enough to either photograph or draw/trace an image, with dimensions if possible, so as to allow a dup to be made.

Thanks in advance

Matt,

The fornt bracket has some reliefe in it (profile in section) they are not that strong and without using a blance bar they bend a bit.. infact id be scared they will break if done a few times and bent back.

Also the SI/II are different from the later setup on the front. I'd hazard a guess its easier to buy one S/H from here. if you are going to make one.. use thicker metal.

 

[mattinoz]

Matt,

The fornt bracket has some reliefe in it (profile in section) they are not that strong and without using a blance bar they bend a bit.. infact id be scared they will break if done a few times and bent back.

Also the SI/II are different from the later setup on the front. I'd hazard a guess its easier to buy one S/H from here. if you are going to make one.. use thicker metal.

Thanks Michael, Yeah I hear what you're saying but I'm so much concerned about the brackets strength ( i'm not planning on pulling the motor anytime soon) it's more to get that 'original' look we all strive for.

thanks to this forum I've been contacted by a member who thinks he might have a spare and even better, he's local.

 

[SV Dick]

The time capsule SV was at the Invasion a few years ago. I've forgotten the owner's name, but he is on the site from time to time. IIRC, it was a blue SV from Maryland (or somewhere in that vicinity) with around 25,000 miles and the only thing that have ever been done to it was a fender repair. It had only one previous owner and had only recently been sold. It wasn't as beautiful as John's car, but it seemed to be exactly as it left the factory, with the addition of some light use wear and tear. I don't know if anyone ever took pictures of it, though.

I think you are thinking of my SV. I didn't have a fender repair, and I have added a modern radio.

 

[mattinoz]

I've noticed that the ftp.harborduvall.com site is no longer accessable. Does anybody know if these pics have been moved elsewhere?

 

[fireboltgirl]

I took the original pics, there are over 50 of them. If anyone can suggest a way to post them, I'll be happy to do so.

Kim
series III

 

[mattinoz]

Kim, there is a gallery on this site but I'm not sure how well it would cope with 50 pics or how easy it would be to upload that many. Maybe one of the admin's can help?

 

[65beam]

series 5

can you post the photos on photobucket or webshots,etc?