Garage Find 1985 Montego 1.6L
Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 12:29 pm
The Maestro and Montego club received the following message:
Last Sunday after an hour or so of prep the car was dragged out of the garage it has sat in for over 20 years.
As described by the late owners son, it was very dusty and greasy, once treated to a pressure wash and a good scrub, it was much improved in the looks dept.
So far nothing has been done to the interior, although it is still "under cover" and protected by seat covers, and carpet across the parcel shelf.
Original radio is present, and the dash is mint.
I had to use the cars original spare TDX wheel and tyre(as new) to load onto the trailer, as I mistakenly picked up a 200/400 steel rim and tyre when sorting "inflated tyres" to use for the recovery.
When I started work on reviving the car, I found that it had a semi seized/very stiff engine, which has since been treated to Castrol R down the bores, and has free'd them off nicely.
The car will now "try to catch" with the use of easy start, so I know it will run.
Next job was to strip and clean the carb and associated parts and a large amount of fresh fuel. (has a 1/3rd of a tank of 20 year old fuel still in it.)
I also poured in a full bottle of redex to "refresh" the old fuel a little!
The body work is much better than most of us would expect, and will likely only need one arch and sill end sorting to pass MOT. minor rust issues elsewhere, but as this is a non sunroof car, none of the usual A pillar issues are present, and the quarter light glass area is much better in condition the much younger versions of this model.
There was no Log book or service history with the car, apparently lost in the house clear up following Mr Purcell Seniors passing, But his son Lawrence, believes it is a former demonstrator and his Father was the only private owner.
I followed up on the request and made contact with the late owners son via email.There is a sad old red Montego in my father's garage in Stafford which has been off the road for twenty years (he died in in 1995 and had not used it for some time before that). He was a mechanic so the car was always well maintained but heaven knows what it's like now. It's certainly very dusty and the tyres are flat but the garage is a modern building and quite sound and dry. It is filled with so many tools and other things that it's not possible to walk around the car to view it as a whole but I think it would be fairly easy to get it out.
It's high time for us to get rid of the car and clear the garage. Have you any members in the Stafford area who might be prepared to come and have a look at it to see if it's worth rescuing for restoration or as a source of spare parts? It would be free to take away provided that we were not asked to pay any of the costs of removal.
Last Sunday after an hour or so of prep the car was dragged out of the garage it has sat in for over 20 years.
As described by the late owners son, it was very dusty and greasy, once treated to a pressure wash and a good scrub, it was much improved in the looks dept.
So far nothing has been done to the interior, although it is still "under cover" and protected by seat covers, and carpet across the parcel shelf.
Original radio is present, and the dash is mint.
I had to use the cars original spare TDX wheel and tyre(as new) to load onto the trailer, as I mistakenly picked up a 200/400 steel rim and tyre when sorting "inflated tyres" to use for the recovery.
When I started work on reviving the car, I found that it had a semi seized/very stiff engine, which has since been treated to Castrol R down the bores, and has free'd them off nicely.
The car will now "try to catch" with the use of easy start, so I know it will run.
Next job was to strip and clean the carb and associated parts and a large amount of fresh fuel. (has a 1/3rd of a tank of 20 year old fuel still in it.)
I also poured in a full bottle of redex to "refresh" the old fuel a little!
The body work is much better than most of us would expect, and will likely only need one arch and sill end sorting to pass MOT. minor rust issues elsewhere, but as this is a non sunroof car, none of the usual A pillar issues are present, and the quarter light glass area is much better in condition the much younger versions of this model.
There was no Log book or service history with the car, apparently lost in the house clear up following Mr Purcell Seniors passing, But his son Lawrence, believes it is a former demonstrator and his Father was the only private owner.
