THE ROVER SD1 FORUM

chris_derby · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 10:40 am Post subject: Restoration of my auto Vitesse

Hi all, just thought I would post a few pics of the ongoing restoration of my automatic Vitesse. Has been a long uphill struggle, restoring a classic car on a shoestring budget, but I look forward to driving her to the shows next year!!

Chris G

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Hope you like the pics, been restoring her for nearly a year, soo looking forward to driving it now!!

roverone · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:56 pm Post subject:

Nice post, thats looking good, keep it up Very Happy

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chris_derby · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 1:26 pm Post subject:

The Good news is, she's almost finished! Should be maybe a couple of months & she will be back on the road. Just a few bits & pieces to buy, make sure the engine is in tune & filled with fresh oil!

roverone · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 4:28 pm Post subject:

Do you get your secondhand bits in Warrington?

Great news on the car, looking really good Very Happy

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chris_derby · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 4:41 pm Post subject:

I get my secondhand bits wherever I can! Normally go to Eric Tansley in West Hallam(near Derby) as he is closest, but have gotten a few bits off a chap in Warrington too. Where do you get yours?

Chris P · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 7:07 pm Post subject:

Nice looking Vitesse, and great to hear of one being restored rather
than scrapped!

Is it Monza or Targa red? Very difficult to tell from photographs!

chris_derby · Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:49 am Post subject:

It was Monza when it was new, has been resprayed at some point though, & a little bit of a bodge job too by the looks of it! She is being put back to Monza bit by bit, have managed to get four almost mint condition doors in Monza, thanks to Eric Tansley. This car used to belong to Stuart Paling a few years ago, & he sold it to a fellow in Ilkeston, who sold it to Eric, who sold it to me!
There were a fair few bodges on the car by one of the previous owners though, a few really bad welding jobs - passenger side rear floorpan, boot floor, part of the passenger side outer sill & inside the drivers side rear wheelarch to name the main bodges. Have had to spend most of the restoration sorting them out or she would've been finished months ago!
I hate to see an SD1 go for scrap, am still regretting letting my old 2600 VDP go, although Eric did take her for spares in part ex for the Vitesse, & I have reclaimed a fair few bits off the VDP for the Vitesse too!
I hope to have the Vitesse on the road before Christmas & intend to take her to all the shows next year!

roverone · Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:07 am Post subject:

chris_derby wrote:

I get my secondhand bits wherever I can! Normally go to Eric Tansley in West Hallam(near Derby) as he is closest, but have gotten a few bits off a chap in Warrington too. Where do you get yours?

I've had bits from Warrington, ebay, rimmers and the forum Very Happy

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chris_derby · Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:25 am Post subject:

Not had any bits off the forum yet, but have found it useful in getting advice off people! I'm a novice when it comes to V8's & EFI's at the moment, know a bit more about the straight 6 though. Am more used to working on Mini's though!! Wink

JayDeeVDP · Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 11:35 am Post subject: Auto Vitesse

Automatic Vitesse?

That's got to be very rare, presumably mechanically same as a Vanden Plas Efi?

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chris_derby · Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 11:38 am Post subject:

Yeah think they are the same mechanically, but the Vitesse came first. Last I heard there were only about 46 auto Vitesses registerd with DVLA & only about 7 or 8 of those on the road. I'm only guessing here, could somebody in the know put me right?

chris_derby · Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:37 pm Post subject:

Thought I would give you all an update on my auto Vitesse! She is not far from MOT time now, spent this rainy afternoon working on her, doing some of the jobs I have been putting off! All that's left now is to replace some suspension bushes, bleed the brakes, bolt everything on properly & make sure it all works as it should!

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