Poor old Nipper had been sitting forlornly for many months and I took it on with the intention of restoring the car to pristine condition. Unfortunately it is clear that, without a huge amount of work, time and money, Nipper is never going to be pristine again
Because I wanted my fifth 480 to be a genuine keeper, I had perfection (or as near as possible) as my aim, and so bought a 480 GT that came up that is pretty much that. I have a thread about it on the VOC forum, and will give some info here in due course.
I can (and will) break Nipper for parts, but before I do that I thought I would offer the car to anyone else who may be up for a project, in particular if they can do their own welding and perhaps just want to make Nipper useable, rather than a perfect example.
I do not intend to give the car away just for someone else to break for parts! However I am working on the basis that people on here are genuine enthusiasts who would like to see 480s kept going. So, if someone on here would like the car with the real intention of restoring it to at least a useable state, you are welcome to it. Obviously it has no MOT and is SORN, so will need collection by trailer.
As usual, rust and rot is the main problem: to achieve what I wanted I was told it needed new sills, inner and outer rear arches, door edges sorting out, holes in boot floor repairing and some "thin patches" in the foot-wells sorting out. Paintwork is not good with bad flaking in places. 3 of the 4 corner clips that hold the bumper edges in place are broken. Rear lights are not bad to look at but are cracked at the edges. Rear engine mount is broken. It wants fit new discs and pads all round. The info centre is extremely erratic, and despite a replacement washer pump certain washer functions are still not right (CEM?). However, everything else seems to work...The engine has done over 150,000 miles but, other than being a little rattly when cold, runs well.
Since acquiring Nipper I have given her a really good clean inside and out - interior and leather upholstery is in reasonably good condition. I have dried the car out completely. I have done a coolant change, replaced all the blown dashboard bulbs, and repaired the wiring to the rear window. I have fitted a clock and info centre switch as both were missing, and also bought an air filter box (Steve kindly included one in the car but it wasn't the right one...). Those bits can stay with the car. I will happily sell on the rear engine mount for exactly what I paid for it.
I have taken the roller boot cover and the extra gauges to use in my GT - I considered that repaid the costs of me getting her trailered from Sideways Mansions to me.
I need this 480 gone now - 3 cars are a pain in the limited space I have. I will also be posting this on the VOC forum, and only leaving the car intact for another couple of weeks. I can provide any photos etc as required.
So if you are interested, contact me!
Regards
David
