twautomotive
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Series I Rotary Engine Alpine for Sale
- Thread starter twautomotive
- Start date
alpine_64
Donation Time
Car is a series I with series 3/IV seats and series II-V centre console.
Dash is a late series II as it has the perspex heater escutcheon but not the warning lights of. S3.. They have been added in a custom spot by the owner.
alpine_64
Donation Time
Well in the last 4 years I've seen 3 x NOS ones on eBay UK... All went for telephone numbersInteresting. I did not know they went to the Perspex heater escutcheon in late series II. Thought that was unique to series III. I am not imagining that makes them any easier to obtain as my series III one is cracked.
Rick
They are a hard part to find especially nit cracked...
alpine_64
Donation Time
The heater bezel (escutcheon) on the late series II and series 3 was a concave plastic bezel like a stretched verison of the early perspex switch tags
Besides only being used for the S3 (and, I guess from Michael's comment, the late SII's), the bezels almost always crack from being tightened down too hard. You can see the cracked corner of this car's bezel at the very end of the video.
Scott Christie loaned Kip an NOS bezel years ago to use to make a reproduction and he was very unhappy with its condition when it was returned to him. I don't recall ever seeing one for sale there, so they must not have been happy with the effort either. I have an NOS one for my S3 when the time comes and am thinking of mounting it with trim tape and cutting down and glueing the screws in. I am sure it can be safely screwed in if you are very careful, but they are so rare and expensive (Michael: I have never heard the expression "went for telephone numbers" but can certainly understand the meaning) that I don't want to risk damaging it.
The car definitely could use some TLC, but it looks like a very nice build. Personally, I don't think it is worth their asking price as it sits, but could be if they took care of the obvious cosmetics.
I visited a guy with a rotary SV in rural Missouri years ago and it was a very nice conversion. I tried to get him on the forum multiple times, but he was not interested. I have no idea what happened to the car, but the 'Roto Rooter' approach to conversion does have its benefits. (Just ask Tiger Tom.)
Scott Christie loaned Kip an NOS bezel years ago to use to make a reproduction and he was very unhappy with its condition when it was returned to him. I don't recall ever seeing one for sale there, so they must not have been happy with the effort either. I have an NOS one for my S3 when the time comes and am thinking of mounting it with trim tape and cutting down and glueing the screws in. I am sure it can be safely screwed in if you are very careful, but they are so rare and expensive (Michael: I have never heard the expression "went for telephone numbers" but can certainly understand the meaning) that I don't want to risk damaging it.
The car definitely could use some TLC, but it looks like a very nice build. Personally, I don't think it is worth their asking price as it sits, but could be if they took care of the obvious cosmetics.
I visited a guy with a rotary SV in rural Missouri years ago and it was a very nice conversion. I tried to get him on the forum multiple times, but he was not interested. I have no idea what happened to the car, but the 'Roto Rooter' approach to conversion does have its benefits. (Just ask Tiger Tom.)
jdoclogan
Platinum Level Sponsor
I bought my Series III GT from the original owner who was meticulous about its upkeep. It was built in early September 1963. Photo of the "original" heater bezel below. So I'm thinking that sometime at the end of the Series III production Rootes switched to the Series IV and V bezel.
Jerry: I would guess that your car uses the metal bezel because it was a GT and had the wooden dash. The photo below shows the three (I forgot about one of them in my earlier post) plastic badges I have:
The top one shows the typical breakage. Besides the missing piece on the right, you can also see the crack in the left side. At the bottom is a good condition one that I think came with my S3. In the middle is my NOS one.
But, WTF? Lining them all up I can see that the labels on the middle one are not the same as the other two. Instead of "OFF CAR SCREEN" it says "OFF SCREEN CAR". I bought it years ago from the UK, so there is no going back to the seller. I'll probably have to polish the plastic on the original bottom one and use it. But, that raises an interesting question: what car is the middle/NOS from? Here is the label from the package:
alpine_64
Donation Time
Jerry,
Jim is correct that the GT used the later style one as it mounts cleaner to the dash.
The plastic one matches the swicth escutcheons whereas the GT labeled the switches with lettering on the dash.
alpine_64
Donation Time
Jim correct re the GT verisons vs ST.
I would hazard a guess the odd one might be a sii version.
As a side note be good to check the parts book.. Iirc there was another escutcheon that had the heating zones blanked for cars without the heater
I think you may be right about the blanking plate; I feel like I have seen one before. As for the parts book, I will look tomorrow. I was assuming it came from some other Rootes vehicle, but a late SII would be a possibility.
It looks like we have hijacked the discussion about the Rotary car for sale, but I imagine that is ok here since that isn’t being sold by a member. Still, I may move part of this to the Factory Correct section…if I can figure out how to do it.
It looks like we have hijacked the discussion about the Rotary car for sale, but I imagine that is ok here since that isn’t being sold by a member. Still, I may move part of this to the Factory Correct section…if I can figure out how to do it.
loose_electron
Donation Time
Just a comment on the Wankel - Parts from Mazda are NOT cheap. I got an RX7 up and running for a friend a few years back and the ignition electronics were like $500 from the dealer.
Toyanvil
Gold Level Sponsor
This car looks like it was put together use parts from different series, like the series 1 door grass guides on a series 2 car. The funny thing to me is, not that long ago there was a red rotary powered Alpine on Craigslist in the same area that needed paint and interior for I think $6500. To me it looks like the same car with a new paint job and seats. under the hood looks the same as the one on Craigslist, even the bad paint. And the video says it's a early series 1.