Finally out of storage and given a clean

[aegean]

I have finally given my 2 + 2 a clean after having sat in storage since Oct '06. Should have a new windscreen installed in a couple of weeks and can start to get a few things done. Photo is a little deceptive - it does have some rust bubbles, but nothing too much (visually) considering it has never been repaired, as far as I can tell.

 

New replacement seat covers have already been purchased, and carpets, but that will wait to be installed until all the rust is treated and repaired.

[gav240z]

Good to see, hope you enjoy driving it around again . Are you going to register it and get it on the road?

[aegean]

I will probably put it on club permit rather than full registration so that I can al least move it around from time to time for ongoing repairs.

[260Coupe]

Nice to see another cream interior !!

 

Grab some K & H Vinyl spray for that tranny tunnel vinyl, they do a Biege which is almost a perfect match............it will look like new

[aegean]

I did buy some vinyl spray from the US - it is supposed to match the Datsun cream vinyl. The brand is SEM.

 

Question - should there be a plastic cap on the drivers seat that hides the mounting bolts for the back rest ?

[Zedman240®]

The interior looks good! Wish mine looked even half as good as yours! UV rays and Datsun interiors don't mix. Might have to get some of that vinyl spray for my wagon..

[620Z]

Nice clean looking car. Let's hope we see it out at one of our drives or meets soon.

[aegean]

I must admit to having been a bit slack getting around to working on it, but I have been working on two restorations since i bought it and just haven't had the time. My current project should be complete by Easter, so I hope to get started on it after that. Fortunately, the dash is good, and if I remember correctly, it has done either 86 or 96,000 Kms. PO bought it only to rescue it from someone that was going to drop a V8 in it, and he thought it was too original to do that to. This is my current project - it's a 1963 Tatra 603, and has an air cooled V8 in the rear. The photo of the motor isn't mine, but it does show it better than in the car. I don't think I will pass too many going to the supermarket !

[aegean]

And this is the one I restored before the Tatra - just to show that I haven't been slacking. If you're wondering why both cars have UK plates, it's because the Tatra was bought from the UK and hasn't yet been registered, and the Mercedes was originally sold in Scotland and the rego number is the same as it had when first registered there and I was lucky enough to get the same number in Queensland, so I had the plates made up in the UK. Not strictly legal but no one has stopped me yet, and it is only on the front. The rear one is conventional Qld plates.

 

[Zedback]

Beautiful cars, what a great collection.

That Tatra is worth having just for it's bizarreness - rear engined, air cooled v8.  The mind boggles

[C.A.R.]

The Tatra it fantastic! Brillantly engineered cars...

[aegean]

All alloy engine as well - only weighs 185kg and 4 bolts remove it from the gearbox and 2 more that support the front and it's out  - aka VW.

 

Just to show I have no shortage of projects, here is the one after the Z. Only need to replace the sills on this one - the rest is OK - so far ! This one has an original 58,000 miles on it. Too many projects and no money - not a good mix !

[Zedback]

Too many projects and no money - not a good mix !

 

Amen to that! 

 

I'm trying very hard to resist the jag s-type project that's about to finish on ebay.  Always had a thing for jags, but I've finally started on the bodywork of the better of the 2 240z's I've got,  :-\  argghh... 

[Thomo260]

There was one of those Tatra's at the Melb motor show in the Shannons auctions lineup. Same colour aswell. I thought they must have built the car and forgot to put an engine in it, so they dropped it in the boot! Must have a lot of luggage space under the hood.

[aegean]

Reasonable amount, but the reason for the rear engine is because the engineer that designed it was a specialist at air cooled engines, and Tatra had been building air cooled engines since the 1930's. Tatra also wanted a car that could hold 6 people comfortably and with a completely flat floor, it does what they wanted. The car at Shannons was built in the last year of production, and belonged to Izzy Herzog. He was a Czech immigrant and wanted some reminder of the homeland. The reason he told me he was selling was that he had too many cars. The Cd is around 0.32, which is pretty good for a modern car - let alone one that was designed in the 1950's. Earlier models, such as the T77, T87, T97 and Tatraplan had a Cd of around .20, so they were very aerodynamic. There are 5 in Australia including mine (as far as I know) and prices are moving up quite a lot in Europe. Averages prices are now in the range of 15 - 20,000, which is pretty much where the one at Shannons sold for ($15,000 plus buyers premium).