I purchased this one for $800 in 1985 from a friend in Modesto CA. Unfortunately, on the ride home the engine seized and the car went into storage.

A year later, the engine was torn down and completely rebuilt. Following the rebuild, I drove it around for about a year to sort out the cause of various problems (and for fun) before deciding to give it a "quickie" paint job.

That "quickie" paint job wound up being a complete bare-metal strip and restoration of the entire car (Click here to see pictures of the First Round Restoration). Every surface was stripped. 90+% of the fasteners were replaced. The restoration continued with a completely rebuilt suspension (including performance springs and tube shock conversion), overhauled transmission and a new interior (except for seats). Total cost for the restoration is estimated at $8,000. The result was a fun, but underpowered, difficult to shift (no syncromesh in 1st gear) car that required constant tweaking to keep it running decently. But it looked great and handled great. Four-wheel drifts through corners were a thoroughly controllable pleasure.

Thirteen months later, the transmission (which had a 12-month warranty) locked up tight. Given the fact that a transmission replacement requires removal of the entire front clip to remove the engine and tranny as a unit, I just didn't have the heart to tear it all apart again just to put in another wimpy 4-speed crashbox that nobody seems to be able to rebuild reliably.

The car was parked - and then towed through two moves. After 10 years, I discovered a company in Tennessee (Rivergate) that had developed a conversion kit for a Datsun 5-speed transmission. This spawned "Restoration Round Two".

The second round was no less expensive (another $8,000+) Fortunately this time it required only four months to complete. Since the Datsun transmission ruined the true originality of the car and with the relaxing of the smog-check requirements, A decision was made to improve the quality and perfomace of the powertrain to make the car more reliable and exciting.

So, I added an aluminum head (cast with larger intake and exhaust ports), stainless steel valves (oversized intake), a street-performance cam, sidedraft DCOE40 Weber carb and a header. I also tossed the canister oil filter and installed a spin-on filter adapter.

To finish it off, I installed a performance front anti-sway bar and aluminum wheels with low-profile tires. I also had a custom top cover made and had the seats professionally recovered.

The result is a reliable, strong-running and solid handling British sports car that turns heads (complete with ear-to-ear grins) and is a blast to drive. You wouldn't believe how fast 60 mph can feel!