Well, the most interestingly modified British car I've ever owned showed
up today courtesy of Leo's excellent transport service. I would
strongly recommend that any of you needing to move cars/parts contact
him <ldsp@flash.net>... I've never dealt with a more concerned and
careful transport... with an added bonus: the movement of some large
parts at the same time. Try that with your average transport service!
Thanks Leo!!!!
Now to the car... it belonged to a friend of mine who's recently
deceased. He bought the car pretty much in the state it's in now, so I
don't have a lot of history on it. If anyone knows anything about it
from my description, I'd appreciate any info. It's been a Florida car
for at least the last decade or so.
It's a 1960? (AN5L29412) Bugeye. Black on black. Moderate rust.
Factory hardtop (can someone tell me how the latches work?),
aftermarket(?) fiberglass dash with factory AH and period SW gauges.
Soft top frame, but no header bar. Showing 34,000 miles.
Besides the factory bonnet (a straight but moderately rusty piece) it
came with a fiberglass front end still in the original gelcoat. Looks
sort of like a 240Z/ Jag XKE piece with an oval snout... about a foot
longer than the stock piece. Any idea what this is? Anything special?
Now the fun part... the car has a Buick 3.5 V8 in it... set back such
that the front of the engine is about 8" behind the front axle
centerline! LOTS of custom work has been done to accommodate this
fitment ... the engine sits very low in a custom cradle and the firewall
has been boxed in, leaving about 12" of legroom width on either side of
the tunnel. It's all done very well...if you didn't know what the
firewall was supposed to look like, you'd never suspect it's been
modified.... until you get in, of course!
The engine drives through a Powerglide (or Buick equivalent?) with the
shifter coming up on the left side of the trans tunnel just in front of
the driver seat.
I haven't crawled underneath to look at the driveshaft or rear end...
but at a glance it looks like a stock rear. All of the mods appear to
have been done in the 60's from the choice of wiring, etc.
The engine's disassembled and missing the intake, carbs, radiator, valve
covers, cam, pushrods, etc. It's a "HI" code... that a '63
hi-compression Buick?
Questions for the group:
Should I find the missing bits and rebuild this engine... or would it be
more economical to find a complete, running engine?
Thoughts on a gearbox: Assuming I can find enough room for an extra
pedal...doubtful... what would fit the best? (I assume if there's room
for a PG, then a T5 should also fit? I assume this also means I'd have
to find the right bellhousing, etc.) Considering the potential
power-weight ratio, maybe the PG's a good idea anyway!
Any thoughts, suggestions, comments, offers to sell me the right parts
cheap, etc.... are appreciated!
Bill Elliott
Lake Mills, WI
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