My Car........

Project Tii

I had been discussing with an old friend about an abandoned Tii for months, and with his help we discovered that it was for sale. On the bad side it’s been sitting around for a few years and I brought “blind” if you like knowing the parts would recover my money should it turn out to be the rot-box I don’t want. On the plus side it’s a round rear light Tii (never owned a RRL), the engine runs, it’s ported and polished head, lowered adjustable suspension, 5-Speed gearbox, and Alpina style alloys. By the time you read this I should have it home and start the winter evaluation trying to prepare it fit for an MOT. I can’t wait and looking forward to spending the winter months in the garage trying to make it roadworthy. As you can see the critical areas all look good, so I am optimistic at present, and excited. Watch this space how it all turns out.

Now arrived and Post-Mortem done

Some real cleaning needed

Engine bay cleaned and in good order

Replacement N/S door required

Nice chassis rail.

You can just see the different shades.

Looks alright whilst wet - doesn't it.

Mmm, even a snail want's to help.

Nice period Blaupunkt, extra gauges and some de-funkt switches.

Yes the fan is spinning it runs, took some sorting out.

Before and After - Spark plugs.

Roof Lining etc needs a through clean.

New hoses fitted.

Now in garage so easier and warmer to work on this winter.

Ignition barrel ceased, this means removing the whole column and then sliding the new mechanism up the column and refitting the column.

To remove wings front bumper needs to be removed - this had to be cut off as bolts ceased and rounded off.

N/S front wing flapping in the wind. Bolts were also tricky to remove.

Rear suspension towers cleaned and repainted as superb condition.

Both Wing buttresses in good order, cleaned, de-rust protection and then a coat of Hammerite.

Bottom of N/S A-Post solid condition.

Oddly the O/S A-Post was worse than the nearside, strange as the nearside external panels were rotten.

Protected and ready for the new wing to be fitted.

Discovered: Turbo brakes with vended discs and bigger 4-pot calipers. Braided hoses too. Brakes were cleaned, pads replaced and pressure bled and they work!

New wings were treated in Kurust then Hammerited on the inside.

As usual, a small hole poked around ends up a big hole.

New Wings needs fitting correctly.

Panel gaps need some alterations to make even.

Front wings in place but still need work to fit nicely.

Mould on roof lining was easily cleaned using Mr Muscle Oven cleaner (Beware) but makes light work of scrubbing.

Came up like new after few minutes.

Petrol Tank removed so boot floor can be repaired.

Both sides bottom of rear panels need repair panels.

Lower part of rear valnce has been repaired before, so I shall replace whole panel.

Nearside spare wheel well seen better days.

I then set about replacing all the hoses (I had a set lying around), the fan belt, and spark plugs. The ignition mechanism is awful to replace, yes there are some bodges, but I had a complete new mechanism to replace the ceased one with. Trouble is you need to pull the column out the car and then slide the new mechanism up the column and screw everything back in place (at time of writing this I am still struggling to un-do the column from the steering box).
Of course with a car like this, all external bolts are either ceased of rounded-off nicely. The front bumper had to have the brackets cut so I could remove the front wings. Fortunately new ones are available (I did check before cutting), and then I could set about removing the rotten front wings. The nearside one was flapping in the wind, which actually made the bolts on the A-post easier to get to, once I had sprayed them with penetrating fluid and used a blow-torch they all came off. With the front wings removed I could examine the extent of the rot in the inner arches and surrounding areas. I wire-brushed everywhere and then de-rusted using Kurust which not only returns rust back to metal it also acts as a primer for painting, ideal for this sort of areas. Next stage was to give a liberal coating of Hammerite under the arches, also all the suspension was cleaned and repainted as necessary. I also discovered the Turbo brake upgrade has been fitted to this Tii, it has the larger vended discs and callipers with braided hoses already fitted (result!).

Oddly the under-side of the nearside inner wing was better than the offside. When I started investigating the small hole in the driver-side front foot well, I ended up with a hole big enough to get your hand through. Replacement new wings were sourced and once again I treated the inside to a coating of Kurust and then Hammerite. A nearside sill replacement part was supplied by Jaymic and I shall be leaving the welding to a professional. Areas that need attention are; Both outer sills, D/S front foot wheel (A-post), boot floor by spare wheel, boot floor near outer edge and petrol tank.
Once all the welding is done I can re-fit the new wings and look towards getting the car MOT’d, new tyres are compulsory as the others are completely perished as it’s sat around for around five years on them.
In the meantime I have already replaced the brake pads, bled them using a pressure bleeder and pleased to report they are all working well (surprised? I was). The roof lining was cleaned using Mr. Muscle oven cleaner (Beware), and all rusty areas wire brushed and treated. The rear panel has been repaired before so I might even replace the complete back panel.

Cam gear looks brand new.

Whilst reading the history with my new project it has had over £8600 spent on it in 2001 alone with heaps of other bills from Jaymic, including a used engine with less than 1000 miles on it and full ancillaries, Full Tii Engine with 300 degree camshaft, gas-flowed head with matched ports, balanced combustion chamber volumes. High compression pistons (lightened and balanced), 1 mm oversize inlet valves, balanced con-rods and crankshaft, balanced clutch and flywheel. Estimated @ 145-150 Bhp.

Also the alloys wheels were purchased from Jaymic in 2001, ATS Alpina style 6J x13" for £450 + vat.

I also discovered it's got a full stainless steel exhaust system. It was covered in Mud, so now busy cleaning it.

The previous owner spend fortunes on it right up to 2004 including new front wings and lots of other bodywork, and then sadly due to illness, it was left standing outside rotting until I brought it in 2009.