An Englishman's Garage

Days 4, 5 and 6.  Last week the body came off and since then I've made a lot of progress in a short space of time. The sight of the chassis sans body means that I've now officially gone too far to be able to sell the thing without losing my shirt, so no going back now. Next up, removing the gearbox. First I removed the exhaust to be able to drop the gearbox down. Then drained the oil and jacked up the box slightly to support it while I unbolted all the brackets, handbrake cable etc, then the prop shaft... I'll be honest it was a struggle. Getting spanners and adjustable spanners and sockets into places was a challenge but finally with some patience (making its debut here) the thing came free.  But then came a surprise. And not a good surprise. It seems the rear axle is not the one fitted at the factory in 1970 but one from something called a Ford Falcon circa 1967. Apparently it's a 7.25" Ford unit with an approximate ratio of 3.4:1 (discerned by...

Day 3.  Body off day! I say day 3, more like day 9. But day 3 makes me think I'll have her back on the road in no time and day 9 doesn't. So day 3 it is.  After removing the remaining parts like the pedal box adjustment rod, Smiths heater, windscreen wiper motor, remaining wiring, then  all the body mounting screws (double checking I hadn't forgotten any)  it was time to jack the car up from beneath the boot floor. Great care was taken but finally after a lot of creaks and groans the body decided to lift.  I tried winching the body from above but didn't have enough ceiling clearance in the end.  Pretty clear the lower chassis rails will need replacing. How many more I wonder... Then with blocks of wood propping up the back of the car it was wheeled out into daylight. My assistant and I (she loves it when I call her that) lifted from either side until the back was at 45 degrees and the floor pans were clear of the chassis, then pulled backw...