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Project Bugeye

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lbcfan

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I hope it's ok to post this- if not I apologize.

There is a project car in Burlington,Canada- looks complete, plus a hard top, for around $1,700 at present. I don't know the gentleman personally, but he provided a lot of photos. Problem is the beading is gone at the rear, so I'm less interested.

The following is his description of the car, and his Email link. I asked and he's interested in hearing from prospective buyers.

Michael
On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 9:05 AM, Dr N Holvey & Dr J Chow <nholvey@cogeco.ca> wrote:
Hi Michael,
Here’s the story about the car:
It's a 1959 and I bought it in 1983. I started taking it apart later that year and it has been off the road and in storage since. I had a professional Jaguar XK restorer do the body. He welded the body to a large metal rolling frame (so that the body would remain perfectly aligned while pieces were removed) and proceeded to replace any rusty areas (minimum) with brand new panels. It had rust in the usual areas A pillar, rocker panels). That was done around 1985 and it has been stored in my garage ever since. It is still perfect. No rust or any body putty. Just solid metal. It needs finishing work to smooth out the welds and then paint, followed by the installation of all of the parts. I have all the stuff I removed from the car. It will need the seats to be re-upholstered.

I have a new soft top roof that was never installed, a tonneau cover (very soft and supple still) and a hard top. The interior panels were also recovered and installed but then immediately removed and put into storage.

I’ll send out lots of photos in 4 separate emails. Let me know if you have received them.

I have had a solid offer of $1700 from a guy in California but he has just come to the end of his contract and doesn’t know yet if it is going to be renewed, so he has told me to keep trying to sell the car and when he gets renewed he’ll buy it if it hasn’t been already sold. So make me a reasonable offer.

And I’m in Kilbride, Ontario. That’s at the northern edge of Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

I really would like to find someone who appreciates the old car and has the desire to restore it to its original glory. That was my intent and so I wasn't cutting any corners.

The mileage is 22,192 miles and I believe that is original. The car was only driven between 1959 and 1983 (23 years). It has sat in storage for the last 29 years.
 
I spent lots of time talking to Nick re. this car. I was ready to pull the trigger but it appears I will be job hunting the end of November and I told him I needed to pass.

This is a really good base to start from. This car had a really rough life in Toronto CA in it's early year. It had major rust issues and the car was taken completely apart, put on a frame jig and had floors, partial tunnel, and rear bulkhead replaced. Body was in rough shape and rust was ground out, body work finished in lead, and then the car has sat for the past 25 years. Nothing put back together and from reviewing the pictures all of the major bits appear to be there. But everything is in boxes or spread out on the floor of his garage. Bonnet looks straight and and lower valence was replaced with body parts from another BE. All of the hard metal work has been done on this car and done right. He does have the title and getting this across the border appears to be a 3% tax on the purchase price for an import duty. Car is too old to worry about emissions and safety stuff.

Re. deseaming, I did post a question and many responded. Rear seams have been filled in and brazed. Front seams on bonnet, either live with it or use an angle grinder with a cutting blade, carefully cut in a new seam and glue in the center seam T cap. Myself I was planning on getting a close look and likely leaving it alone. Look at the post as there are a number of answers. Fixing the seams to get it to proper concours shape would be a challenge. If you just want a BE to put back together and enjoy well that's the beauty of these cars.

Nick is a Porsche guy and kept this car hoping one of his boys might want it. They don't and want Dad's 911 or Cayman. He's dealing with Chemo right now and wants to get this out of his garage. He purchased it in '83 and has had it apart since '85 taking up garage space. Front wheels are on the car, rear axle and suspension is out, engine and tranny out, bonnet is not on the car. Makes transport an issue. I figured a furniture/utility dolly could be bolted it ato allow this to be easily moved.This BE will take some major parts orders from MOSS to get it really, really right cosmetically. My estimate was Purchase Price, cost to get it back to Dayton, and then $7-8k to get it back together, painted, cosmetically looking right. I budgeted $10k to acquire and finish.

For someone looking to acquire a BE, you could find a far worse car to start with. Unfortunately now was not the right time to do it. If it is still there and I've resolved the job situation I'll take up the quest to acquire a BE once again.
 
Thanks Dave,
Lots of interest in my experience and skill sets so far. Hoping I can find something local in Cincinnati or Dayton. Don't want to go back to the 200 miles daily commute to Columbus if I can help it. Did htat for 2 1/2 years and that gets old at age 62.
 
Oh no, commuting that far, and on ultra-boring I-71? I sure hope you get something close to home. I am soon to be 62 myself, sitting in a car that long every day would be awful for my back and would ruin my enjoyment of cars, even our wonderful LBC's.
 
Jim-

Thanks for filling in the background on the car.

Nick seems like a really good guy. Gets you wondering how many stories you could build around these cars.

Michael
 
If anyone wants more details please feel free to drop me a note. Fortunately I still have another BE I've been chasing for the last 18 months. Last titled in '78 when something broke. Been in storage ever since, last 15 years inside. Typical rust, needs rockers and lower rear of bonnet repaired but all of the bits are there and still together.Price is really right if the title issue can ever be resolved. I will own a real BE one of there days instead of a Sprite with a BE Bonnet.
 
Thanks Michael and Jim for listing the info on my car. And for telling me about this awesome site. It's nice to see that these cars are being kept alive by such a great bunch of people.
I would just like to correct a few things that were stated about the car.
Firstly, the car didn't have a rough life in Toronto, Canada. It was actually quite well taken care of and was imported into Canada from the US by the previous owner. It was in very good shape when I bought it in 1983. There were minor signs of rust and so I decided to go all out and restore the car to the highest standards possible. So the rust removal wasn't as extensive as suggested. But it was there and needed to be addressed.
And the rust was not simply ground out. I did seek out one of the most reputable Jaquar specialists in the area to do the restoration work. Before any work was done, he welded the entire body onto a steel rotisserie frame. This was used to ensure that the body remained straight and true during the entire restoration process. Then he proceeded to cut out each rusted area one by one and replaced them with brand new panels that were welded in. Not just grinding the hole back to solid metal.
The parts were just placed on the garage floor to take photos for prospective buyers. Prior to that as well as following the photos the parts were safely stored in boxes, to ensure that everything was kept for the restoration.
I hope this clarifies the state of the car.
I am very interested in selling the car to the right person who has the same desire as me to see that this car is restored back to health and can be enjoyed by future generations. Let me know if anyone is interested in more details.
Thanks,
Nick
 
And Nick nice to meet you online and in the midst of this, sorry to hear of the Chemo. good luck finding a new owner!
 
Someone has asked if the engine turns, or is it frozen. So I went out to the garage and put a wrench on the main shaft and it turned over. So even though it has not run in almost 30 years, it is still free to turn.
Hope this helps.
Nick
 
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