Part 5 - continuation of shopping and a few failures along the way
Firstly, I am going to add that as time goes on, this thread will have more pictures and not just me droning on via the keyboard. Hopefully the early stages were more of the story building up rather than the car building up!
Some of the new parts I have been able to source with help and guidance have been a godsend. For example, I found a brand new original and genuine front bumper in Germany for £91 and although I had to pay £52 for a courier, that in my mind is still good value. My 5th wheel from the parts that came with it had seen some action and no doubt could be knocked in to shape but again a pointer to a German eBay sale secured a very good used one for £22. Again, a few extra quid (and some help from Europe) got the item back to me in the UK.
Successes included getting a correct donor engine (complete with a box that I sold on the same day) to assist with the rebuild of mine - just handy having a second one there that is complete. It was only 20 minutes from where I live as well so one Saturday morning I went to collect, drove my new purchase along with my original engine up to Mansfield, dropped off the whole lot and got some cash back for the gearbox. Another success was a trip to Wales for another engine, box and loom purchase and this time I sold on the 1.4 engine and kept the C394 F13 box. Sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate and there is a market out there for surplus bits.
The success of getting the C394 box to combine with an F10 case with the aim of rebuilding in to one box was a little short lived though. When me and Rich started stripping the two boxes down, it became obvious that this could soon become an expensive approach for a home builder. Ideally we wanted to put new bearings in it as well as getting the case stripped back for blasting. It was obvious that the detents would need replacing if they even came out - if removing the 5th gear was anything to go by, it could be a problem. Suddenly, you are looking at £150-200 to rebuild the box properly and nicely and plan B came back to being plan A. Through some careful searching, we managed to source a brand new F10 W429 box from Opel Classics, the best bit being it worked out at £291 delivered. Now it may not be the most ideal ratio (when compared to a C394) but what I hopefully get is a very nicely finished box ready to install. It allows me time and options - I may carry on and rebuild the two in to one F10 C394 or if someone wants the lot (its partially stripped) then message me with an offer! Nice box picture though:
A few things I probably didn't think about when budgeting were buying a jig (I can't weld and don't have the tools/skills to build my on) which came in at £495 delivered and also having to buy more racking for the garage to store all the new parts safely. Worth thinking about if you are doing something like this at home as the last thing you want is nice, new, shiny and valuable parts getting damaged.
More good luck was the fact that the original glass out of the Sport (etched with C67) can be reused after a good clean, with the exception of the windscreen. I have managed to get a new front screen and all my glass is now safely stored in my gaarge loft pending cleaning and refitting. Etching can be good or bad - I managed to get another set of glass and full light set, only to find it had been etched. Most of the original lights on the Sport had some damage of some form - even if it was just wear/age related so I have had to source new front and rear lights, including indicators. All this might seem excessive (and expensive) but some bits will just let down the end result.
I am sure there are still a few bits I will need to buy as the rebuild commences - some nice to have, some need to have. The original door cards have a few scuffs from rubbing the roll cage but hey I can live with that patina! I have managed to get a main dash body (thanks to Lee V) and a lot of the bits from mine will transfer over. The elusive coin tray has been found (via this site) and is on its way to me - hard to believe that an item I didn't have in mine (as someone had fitted a stereo) became one of the holy grail items!
Bits I am still on the lookout for are a full carpet set (prefer without holes for a centre console), tailgate inner trim as mine disintegrated and perhaps one or two other bits of trim. Having seen a set of seats sell for £600+ on eBay recently, I am hoping that with a very good clean and tidy up, my original set will be reusable.
I will add a bit more to this thread over the next few weeks - ideally pictures and things that I have bought to give an indication of where from and cost. I am hoping that January to August 2016 updates will follow the rebuild so fingers crossed.
Thanks for reading so far!