Dear fellow listers,
It is with great sadness that I announce that my '67 Alpine Series V is for
sale. I have come to a crossroads in my life, both personally and
professionally, and I find that I can no longer afford the time or money it
will take to finish this car. I fully realize that I will not even come
close to getting my money back out of the car but I have come to accept
that and will take it as a lesson learned.
The specs on the car are as follows:
Year/model: 1967 Sunbeam Alpine Series V
Serial #: B395006675
SAL #: 605880
Color code: 86
Equipment: Factory hardtop, wire wheels, numbers-matching engine
I bought the car in September of 1997 in Wichita, KS. I have traced the
car back to an owner in Duncan, OK (southwestern Oklahoma) clear back into
the late 60's, but cannot determine if he was the original owner. I drove
the car for approximately one year and then began disassembling it for a
total ground up in November, 1998.
Body and chassis:
To date, the bodywork has been completed. The car, although not totally
eaten up, did have some rust in the usual places. I have a professional
metal man here in my hometown who took the job of eradicating all the rust.
All rust repair was done with metal; my metal man doesn't believe in great
gobs of plastic, he builds street rods for a living and knows what he is
doing. The pieces replaced are as follows:
* Driver's side lower rear quarter in front of left rear wheel
* Driver's side lower rear quarter behind left rear wheel
* Passenger's side lower rear quarter behind right rear wheel
* All four floor sections (left and right front floor pans & left and right
rear floor pans)
All pieces were welded in; no pop rivets or any other Mickey Mouse stuff
like that. We also had the trunk area, as well as the inside of the hood
and deck lid, soda blasted. The previous owner had glued up some kind of
insulation to the underside of these pieces and it was determined that the
best way to get the glue off was to blast it. The trunk area looks very
nice now and has received a coat of vari-prime metal etching primer. My
full intention was to build this car to last and that is how my metal man
approached the job. There was no other rust on the body or chassis;
everything else appears to be very solid.
Engine/Transmission:
The transmission shifted very smoothly and gave me no trouble while I was
driving the car and, therefore, I had no plans to go through it. The
engine, however, needed some attention. Myself, along with a professional
British car mechanic friend of mine in Oklahoma City, tore the engine down
and sent it to the machine shop. We left nothing to chance in the rebuild.
All parts were obtained from either Sunbeam Specialties or Classic Sunbeam
Auto Parts (kudos go to both Rick and Curt for their first class parts and
service). The comprehensive parts and service list is as follows:
* Machine work
* block tanked and cleaned inside and out
* block bored .030 over and align bored to insure no crank whip
* crank turned to .010 under on both mains and rods
* new cam bearings installed
* rods and pistons statically balanced
* New parts:
* Pistons .030
* Rod bearings .010
* Main bearings .010
* Cam bearings
* Camshaft (stock grind) and end plug
* Cam timing gear
* Crank timing gear
* Timing chain
* Tensioner blade
* Rubber tensioner
* Thrust washers std.
* Oil pump
* Gasket kits, both head and conversion sets
* Front and rear rocker shafts
* Valve lifters (full set)
* Freeze plugs
The block was given a light coat of primer and then painted black, along
with all the pieces that bolt to it, ie. timing cover, oil pan, etc. The
bottom end of the engine is now fully assembled and ready to go. The head
is still at the machine shop getting the valves done but they report that
the spring tension is still good. As soon as the valves are ground, we
will install the head so the motor can be buttoned up.
Electrical system:
The wiring harness had been into by the previous owner so much that I
pulled it completely out of the car and got a brand new one from British
Wiring, Inc. The harness looks perfect! If any of you have ever dealt
with these people, you know about the quality of their products. I also
have a new fuse box for the car. The charging system was operating just
fine when the car was disassembled so that is all that I have obtained for
the electrical system.
Cooling/heating systems:
While driving the car, it was running a little warmer than I wanted it to.
Although it never overheated on me, I went ahead and replaced the radiator
with a new unit. That took care of the situation. I also replaced the old
rusty heater core with a new aluminum unit from Dale Akezewski (sp) of
Tiger fame. All hoses, as well as the temperature sending unit, were
replaced at this time.
Other items:
I had the hardtop blasted with aluminum oxide pellets and then put in
vari-prime. Any rusty areas we found were repaired with metal at that
time. I have new top-to-body lower sealing rubber for the hardtop and I
also have the stainless steel pieces that go around the rear window, all
except for the two small clips that are available from Sunbeam Specialties.
The car still has the majority of it's green paint on it and it appears
that it will take a good blocking down, sealing and priming before it can
be painted. How far one take's this process is up to the buyer. All the
bodywork is done, however.
I'm sure I'm forgeting some things that I've done to the car but I tried to
be as thorough as possible in the description. Please feel free to e-mail
me with questions. I can, of course, supply pictures to any interested
party. All parts and service receipts, notes, drawings I have made of
electrical bits will go with the car. By the way, one important thing to
note is that ALL PARTS THAT WERE REMOVED FROM THE CAR WERE BAGGED AND
MARKED WHEN POSSIBLE. Obviously, one can't bag grille pieces or things
like that, but all small parts were bagged and marked for ease of
reassembly.
Guys, I am negotiable on price. I have a ton invested in it already but I
know I will not be able to recoup all that. The car will be sold as is.
However, it will not be parted out, so please don't even ask. The car is
too nice and solid a car to be doing that to. It deserves a good home.
I also have a trailer that I am interested in selling that was set up to
pull a Sunbeam. It is a 17', tandem axle unit with electric brakes and has
an equalizer hitch set-up. It has a wooden floor and comes with all tie
downs and other trailer-necessary gadgets. The most unique aspect to this
trailer is that is is a convertible! Yes, it has a removable cover with
metal tubed top bows that were built just right to fit over a Sunbeam. It
is only two years old and shows very little wear, although it does sit
outside. I keep the roof stored in the house so it is in perfect
condition. The trailer has been used twice since I bought it, both times
to haul my Tiger Mk1A to out-of-town car shows. I have sold my truck and
now have nothing to pull it with so I don't need it anymore. The price on
the trailer is $1500.00. Just the top alone cost me $1200.00!
I'm not getting out of Sunbeams all together; I still have my Tiger and
intend to keep it. But I just can't afford the time and money it is going
to take to finish the Alpine. I sincerely hope someone on the list can end
up with this car. It will make a nice one!
Please contact me with any questions,
Andy Walker
(405) 348-7654 or via e-mail
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