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Author Topic: Garage find  (Read 4103 times)

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James Foster

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Garage find
« on: 17, August, 2009 - 17:24:19 »
A friend of mine last year had just sold his house and was having a big garage sale. He emailed a large list of things of not much interest ranging from pots and pans to dinner sets, cutlery, beds etc - yawn. Then further down the list a 'Sinclair C5' was offered at £100. It was non-running and very dusty, but was complete and came with a boot full(literally filling up the boot) of original extras in there boxes so I had to have it and offered him £55.
I have only really now got round to doing anything with it so will clean it up and get the electrics sorted first


The guy who owned it runs a marketing company and used it once to promote something - hence the 'Racing for Sussex' detailing. He got a professional signwriter to do it so I may just touch it up and keep it rather than erase it.


Here's the spares and extras that came with it. Seems a shame to discard the boxes


Front view with 'No.1'. Bit cliched, but I will probably keep this as well!


Apart from scratches and grazes, this is probably the worst part of this C5. I think the chain came off once and some herbert decided to cut through the plastic transmission tunnel to put it back on.   


Another view of the inside. At this point the control box was being looked at by C5 Martin

Karl

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Re: Garage find
« Reply #1 on: 17, August, 2009 - 17:47:23 »
I'd be properly pleased to buy that lot at such a cheap price mate  8)

It is a crying shame about the butchered transmission tunnel , but the indicator kit and other accessories soften the blow  ;D

Can't wait to see you out and about in it  - I agree that restoring the signwritten paintwork is an excellent idea.

Offline Retro Andy

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Re: Garage find
« Reply #2 on: 17, August, 2009 - 20:37:14 »
Wow, what a deal, the mirrors are worth that alone and the indicators even more, as Karl said its a shame about the big whole in the body work, but you could always replace it if you really wanted. Keep us up to date with the progress.

Retro Andy

Offline radiomarty

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Re: Garage find
« Reply #3 on: 17, August, 2009 - 21:04:38 »
Got to be a bargin at £55 with all those extras !!!!! - hope to see you up and running soon.

Regards Radiomarty

James Foster

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Re: Garage find
« Reply #4 on: 18, August, 2009 - 10:30:23 »
It is a shame about the transmission tunnel, but then again, I'm not looking to make it a minter and I might be able to bodge a repair with fibreglass. I have always wanted a classic car of some description. After looking at old Reliant Scimitars and even a Bristol 406, I decided these were much too ambitious for a novice like myself without a big garage, so a C5 seemed like a perfect intro. At least I am not having sleepless nights over repair bills.....

Offline Retro Andy

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Re: Garage find
« Reply #5 on: 18, August, 2009 - 10:48:50 »
Thats how I got into the C5, I had allways wanted one when they were lunched, but at thirteen never got the chance, I started looked for a classic vehicle on e-bay a few years ago a found a sinclair C5, now its great to get out, get together and have some fun.

Retro Andy. 

Karl

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Re: Garage find
« Reply #6 on: 18, August, 2009 - 18:41:21 »
It is a shame about the transmission tunnel, but then again, I'm not looking to make it a minter and I might be able to bodge a repair with fibreglass...

Only a suggestion, but why not make an "inspection panel" out of some of that really thin aluminium checker plate ? It would disguise the damage nicely by looking deliberate and also keep within the "racing" theme ;)

 

James Foster

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Re: Garage find
« Reply #7 on: 18, August, 2009 - 20:32:45 »
Actually got the thing running this evening - reconnected the pod and control box after their service. Pod lights came on, motor jerked into life. Seemed to go fine - the gearbox was smooth, the motor purred as if new and, even on our stoney driveway, I could even imagine reaching the advertised 15mph on a smooth road. Then, after a brief stop, I restarted it and...nothing, except a click when I pressed the accelerator coming from the control box reostat thingy. Oh well, I think someone else had the same problem on this board so will look into this. At least it was working more than before.

Nitrowing

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Re: Garage find
« Reply #8 on: 19, August, 2009 - 19:16:10 »
Carbon fibre or kevlar sheet overlay over the tunnel? You can use it just like fibre glass but it looks much, much more trick!