I figured I could make that sum back in parts if it went tits up. It did sound promising, although it had been standing in a garage for 25 odd years. It came with a spare 10A as well as the 13B fitted which sounded pretty sweet.I jumped in the car and made the long journey north to check it out. Initially it looked okay but I couldn't really get to the front of it for rubble. I made the arseumption that the front end was in similar nic to the back end and stumped up the cash. I agreed to return just before xmas and get her towed down south. I grabbed a mate Lachie and agreed to meet another one Jamie when we got there. We had arranged a towie to arrive at midday so set off early doors from SE London.
The guy I was buying the car off was really nice. He arranged for his sons to come and help get the 3 out of the garage. First job was to remove the rear brakes and refit the wheels. Once they were back on we pumped up the tyres and expected a rope and a Mazda 3 to be up to the task! We did manage to tow the car out a little, but not much! The towie called and said he would sort it when he arrived, but he had to literally drag the car all the way down the drive and onto his trailer! The brakes never freed up!
About this time it became pretty clear this car was poked! It seems there had been a leak in the roof at the front of the garage and 25 years of dripping and Yorkshire winters had done major damage. The drivers door almost completely came away from the pillar when I opened it, some magazines stored on the bonnet had eaten their way through, the sills and front wings weren't worth mentioning and the A pillars were toast. It seems I had probably seen the best part of the car on my first visit.
Here you can see the nose cone, bonnet, and front valance eaten my soggy magazines! By the time we managed to get her onto the trailer she was looking lower than before?! Once I eventually got round to checking the rear suspension I found the front leaf spring mounts had made their way into the cabin! The 10A was pulled down and provided some use-able single side seal rotors and very clean rotor housings. The rest of it was swiftly dumped! The engine in the car was a 13B from an RX-4 (R5 model).
After sitting on my drive for 8 months I thought I'd better get things sorted before my neighbours went spare! Most of the decent bits had been sold off but I still wanted to extract the engine, box, and front cross-member. Lachie and I got stuck in with saws and grinders. We have an engine hoist but to be honest it was easier to go in with it from the side than the front! You can see in the second and third picture how badly rusted the A pillar was. No wonder the door was hanging off!
Once everything of any value was removed Christine was off to the scrappy and my driveway got a long awaited clean! The 13B engine was pulled down and yielded some good parts. Most of it went to a friend but I have kept the 5 speed gearbox in case it fits the 10A engines. I still have some bits in my loft actually if anyone needs a good condition boot lid or a complete dash!
RIP Christine.
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