1500ti restoration. Ex racer

[adsblacksud]

I couldn’t agree more with Lauren.

It’s great to see a really honest looking old Sud and not the inaccessible garage queen look that makes you scared to use it (what have I done to my car??)

Reminds me of photos of the night rallying cars in motoring news, motorsport magazine etc and takes me back to ragging my Sud down the lanes (usually to and from the pub with a combination of sonorous Italian engineering noises competing with the sound of punk rock...)

Cheers

Adam

[junior]

Well chaps that is very kind of you to say and i am glad you like it. I feel more now that I have achieved what I set out too.

By the same I now i have greater respect for the perfect cars. Avoiding all the knocks, scratches and discoloration to rebuild a perfect car is quite something.

My chum came to help me do something on it the other day and opened the door on to a large lump of stone and put a dent in it. Fortunately I could easily say it did not matter.

( It does and wait till he gets a new car! ) but it made a good friend feel much easier over a simple mistake. Concours car and it would be different.

Off on a ragging down the lanes kind of day on Sunday as I am joining a car run and the directions to the start are so and so's house at the top of the village !

So just going there and then looking for a house with a big car park or a street lined wth classic cars.

[KevJTD]

Agree with all comments, it looks fab with those arches and wide wheels.

The best outcome too, building a car you aren't afraid to use and accept the occasional knock, rather than it being the worlds end!

Brilliant

[Ted27sud]

Hi Junior,
Being the anorak that I am I have copies of the AROC club magazine from the 1970's and early 1980's and there's quite a few mentions of what is now your car when it was owned and raced by Peter Kitchen and Peter Veryard. I have also stumbled across a photo of it racing at Silverstone in 1978. I will try to remember to scan it and post it on here. In the photo I have it shows the front end pretty much how it is now.
Originally, it seems, it was built as a 1.3 race car but one report says that it was having a Gordon Allen 1800cc engine built for it - did any of those bits survive into your ownership?
I'm away racing at Cadwell this weekend but will try to get some scans done either before or after.
Cheers,
Ted

[Ted27sud]

A quick snippet from Jeremy Walton, November 1977 Motor Sport....:
''Although we were lying a strong second at the close of the opening hour on handicap of course, the Porsche Superstars had already pulled two laps out on scratch over The Exotics - the Baldwin Mini was now in and we were relying on an anticipated short stint from Peter Kitchen's Alfasud. As with Baldwin, Kitchen provided a real flyer, more than a match for many of the cars on racing tyres and making up great chunks of time on our Lotus rivals. The latter team had real speed mainly vested with former Mini • racer and speed shop proprietor Roger Friend in a Lotus Elite used regularly for British championship club racing. Unfortunately for this branch of Lotus, the Elite had a secret flaw that shows up over 30 laps around Donington: the brake fluid boils.

We were not a, more fortunate, for the Alfasud came in even before our expectations of faded brakes, when by head gasket blew. That left us to field Autocavan proprietor Geoff Thomas, driving in his first race for to years. In fact his bright yellow Golf was to prove our saviour, even though the exhaust manifold broke and a front wheel was falling olily he brought it in to change over to J.W. and the little blue Fiat.''
Cheers,
Ted

[junior]

Hi Ted.

That's great news and any history i would very much like as I have only a few bits, one picture and a few paddock passes. Nothing from the front so very interested.

Keith checked over the original race engine to help decide which route to take and it is only 1400 cc and heavily modified so that we would have had to go for a dry sump,

not had a dipstick and many other mods would have made for a car that was tricky to run. Keith said there were a lot of spares, but few came my way.

The long run round Brecon and the hills around hay on Wye was great fun, but it did feel odd to be out on a moor following a Austin 7 in a race car.

Other times as when blasting past an MX5 on the tail of a swiftly driven 1600 sport escort it felt very on form.

It did spit out the speedo cable again. Damn.

[junior]

Been having some great runs in the Sud and its going well. The grip is amazing through the corners, but it is surprising where it takes off.

Roads I have driven for years and it will lift as going a bit faster and its so light. Thought I was just being foolish and driving like a mad thing, but not so.

Looked over the engine in case of anything loose and spotted a bit of weeping around a bolt and undid it.

It was full of water. Is this a big problem ? Any ideas. I suspect its coming up from the bottom of the hole.

Or basically . Have I screwed up big time or small.....

[alfadave]

Probably the gasket has failed under the water housing.
New ones come as part of a full head gasket set.....not normally available singly, unless someone has a spare one.....just checked, I don't have one.

The alternative is to buy some gasket paper, take the housing off, smear it with oil from the dipstick,trap the paper between the housing and the block.
You will then have a stencil which you can cut out carefully with a craft knife.
Good luck!

[alfadave]

PS
Also a photo on P35 of the red Haynes manual

[junior]

Hi Alfadave.

Thanks for your response but I stuck that housing down with very good sealant so its actually rather likely it will not be that.

I may well pop that bolt out and one of the others and measure the depth of the two holes. If the water filled one is much deeper then i can worry.

Whilst typing this I have had a thought that if I fire the car up with the bolt out and water flows out steadily that will also be clear cut.

Perhaps tomorrow. Got to pay for an electric steering rack that's only lasted 60 k so annoyed.

[Gary Orchard]

That bolt goes into the coolant jacket
Just put it back in with RTV sealer around the threads and it will be fine

[junior]

Oh wow. That easy. Thanks a lot. Will do that.

[junior]

Well Keith at who did my engine warned me to go careful in the wet and he was correct as I got caught coming back from an MOT in a lot of standing water

and it got a bit hairy. Grip vanishing then suddenly back in what felt like excess. I shall be more wary in the future.

MOT was easy and a guy came alongside as I went to leave, got out of an immaculate Audi RS6 and just raved about how cool the Sud was.

The trade bloke who does Landrovers turned up and joined in and in the end it was out of the car, bonnet off and full explanation of the restoration.

So probably the last day out this year and it felt very good as people are getting pleasure from see it back on the road.

Spat out the speedo on the way home again. Doh !

[alfadave]

Clean your groove out with a right angled tool!

[junior]

Clean your groove out with a right angled tool!

Hi.

Thanks for the suggestion but Kev suggested that and done it twice now and got nothing out of it.

Not the end of the world as easy to put back, but would like to see it stop. Also the length of jewelry wire stops the circlip getting lost.

[alfadave]

Maybe a new circlip with 2 holes would be stronger......but I've never tried it

[KevJTD]

Is there enough free play in the cable, maybe it's being pulled out when the drivetrain rocks?
I try to pull enough cable through from behind the steering rack so that's it's pressing the cable into the gearbox with a little curvature to the cable rather than straight down.

[junior]

Ah yes I see what you mean. Getting extra cable that side. Will do it as over the pit at the moment.

I keep a shallow bowl of water in the corner of the pit in case any wildlife has fallen in and checked it yesterday to find this very patient customer with the one leaf for cover.

Felt good to save him.

[Sud 145]

Great idea - well saved Sir.

[Kegsti66]

Great idea - well saved Sir.

Ditto. Nice one !!

[KevJTD]

"bloody hell, was just enjoying my holidays when I got evicted"

[junior]

Excellent chaps.

I was thinking as I approached that it was more `You took yer bladdy time !'

Glad you like the idea, I also keep a cheap tin tea pot down there to just top it up with as most creatures can cope with out food for a while but not water.

As i have to come out of the pit to get the tools I have forgotten so often its an item that saves my knees.

Never had a mouse ,shrew , vole etc so they must climb walls easily. Anyone got a fibreglass pit ?

[junior]

"bloody hell, was just enjoying my holidays when I got evicted"

Had to evict another one. Whats going on ?

Have put the number plate in a better spot and extended the front skirt back at the top to the ali panel so as to lose the gap between. Quite pleased, it looks much better.

[junior]

Pulled through plenty of speedo cable as well, but it came through easily so not sure it will have done much . Fingers crossed.

[junior]

Just getting ready for a new season of fun and the car fired up quite happily so very pleased.

Then the painter finally painted my front panel. Time travels slower in rural Herefordshire.

Not quite the same colour, but looking much better.

Still I remember cars in the 70's having a range of coloured panels, esp red ones.

[Spacenut]

Time travels slower in rural Herefordshire.

Not as slowly as it travels in rural Hampshire

Car is looking great - where are you off to first? Auto Italia? SAD?

[alfadave]

Take the petrol cap to Colourtone in uptown Stockport.
They'll colour match it for you!

[Sprint88qv]

Looks a top Sud to me.

Only one question, why have you got what looks like the worlds shortest step ladder infront of the car?

[Mufasa]

Looks a top Sud to me.

Only one question, why have you got what looks like the worlds shortest step ladder infront of the car?

Or is it protruding out of a pit?

[Sprint88qv]

.....the mystery continues......