Forwarded message:
Location: Bay area ( Mountain View ) California.
Car: '67 Sunbeam Alpine Series V. 1725cc 4cyl engine, dual stromberg CD
carbs, sky blue ( or whatever ) color, convertible, 4 speed manual
transmission.
Price: $1100 or best offer.
This car is a classic, but needs some work. $1100 is the price listed for
this car in #5 ( restorable ) condition in "Old Cars Price Guide". What
follows is a detailed description of it's condition, history, etc that I know
or that seems relevant.
BUT FIRST - does anyone know of a sunbeam club or any such group in the
Northern CA area that might have interest in this auto? If so please email
me and let me know. Also if there is anyone you know that might be
interested please pass this along.
The car is not mine, it is my landlord's. He has, however, asked me
to take care of the sale in exchange for a small rent reduction. I have
the final say on price, etc. so I am the one to deal with. It is kept in
my backyard, so I do have an interest in seeing it go, not to mention that
if it stays there its condition will only deteriorate and that bugs me.
It is a neat car and I would like to see it go to a good home.
State of the body - a couple of spots of surface rust and an incomplete
repair of the front passenger fender after a fender bender. It has a new
(junkyard) fender on it and a lot of the smoothing to fit work was done, and
it was primered and left to rust. This is the worst rust on the car that I
know of, but it appears only to be only on the surface with very solid metal
underneath. The front bumper is a little bent, but looks very useable with
a little work.
State of the interior - shabby, but functional. Needs new seat covers and
a good cleaning.
State of the convertible top - in a state of complete dissasembly, but all
of the parts are there, including a new top that never got installed. The
only thing I can't find are the screws to attach the top frame and the top
to the car. I even put everything in place, and it all fits together. If
I could find the screws it would be assembled.
Mechanical state - Engine runs, car is driveable. There is what sounds like
a valve click when you run it. Compression on three cylinders is 140, and
the other one has 135. I would guess the noise and the compression are
both connected to some sort of valve trouble on that cylinder, but I am not
sure. Brakes work, but feel uneven as if the drums were a little warped.
Emergency brakes work, all four forward gears and reverse work, and all of the
gauges appear to be functioning correctly. The radiator was _nasty_, so I
flushed it out with water and put in a proper mix. No leaks, but I would flush
it again. The hydraulic clutch was dry, but after checking it out and
bleeding it ( after a small repair and general cleaning ) and breaking it
free, it is working. The slave cylinder should be rebuilt in my opinion, but
it appears to be quite useable since it is currently working. The tires are
old, but are holding air. One was _very_ low before I pumped it up. I
believe the car has not been run on the road for 10 years. There seems to
be a tooth missing on the flywheel, but the engine turns easily by hand if
the starter won't engage. This has only happened to me once. The starter
and electrical system seem to be working fine. The car has 97K miles
on it. A lot of stuff has been taken off but never gotten back around to
again, and as far as I can see everything is there ( talking about sideview
mirror, headlights and headlight trim, drivers door handle, etc. Little
stuff. )
History as I know it...
The car has black and yellow CA tags, and was last registered in '84. At
approx 65K the engine was overhauled by the owner, consisting primarily of
new pistons ( not oversize, though ) and rings, honing the cylinders, and
of course all of the associated gaskets. At some point after this overhaul,
"one of the kids ran it low on oil, and then drove it around a little
too long looking for a gas station." This is when the engine noise started.
In a stab at a fixing it, the owner replaced the crankshaft bearings.
In my opinion, this is a click, and not even close to a knock, but I can
say for sure it's not the main bearings.
I also have a factory shop manual as well as a chiltons shop manual which look
to be as old as the car.
There are also a few extra parts that appear to have been picked up from the
junkyard car that the fender came from, but most of the parts in boxes appear
to be the original trim stuff that came with the car and is currently not
attached. The only things I can't find are the drivers door window crank
handle and the nuts and bolts from everything that has been removed. They
should be in the garage somewhere, but I have not found them yet.
The car is located in Mountain View, CA. Call or email me to set up a time
to look at it if you are interested. This is a fun little car that should
be fun to drive around even while the cosmetic stuff is being fixed up. I
know I have had fun running it around the block to check it out! There are
also not many of them, and I got admiring comments/looks just running it
around the block. They look a lot like an MG. '67 was the last year they
brought them into the states.
John Vahlberg (415) 691-9093
vahlberg@leland.stanford.edu
'82 Honda CM450 Custom
'33 Dodge DP6
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