Excuse the little wording, but all the free time I can spare is ON the car rather then writing ABOUT it :-)
The restoration has been going on for quite a while now, but we are proceeding well and I am happy about the results. It is not going to be a concours car, this was never the intention. I'll leave India in a foreseeable future, I fear, but I still want to make the right choices for the car to outlive me (well, in India...).
The quality of primer and colour which have been chosen, the dry sanding to prevent any contact of the metal with water, the replacement of many details that will prolong its life but can't really be seen...cost money but I think was the right decision to take.
The car is worth it, not financially of course (the money spent on it has passed its financial value looong ago) but both emotionally and culturally. Ambassadors are such an integral part of India and the earlier versions are getting rarer it seems. I have seen some loving restorations on this site and think those cars will be saved for generations to come. Now there is, hopefully, one more to stay :-)
The car's original colour was beige. I have chosen to go for a tone of beige that did not exist in the original colour palette but which I found suited it well, Sahara Beige. We have just finished painting the body and I am very happy with the choice; after all working for an Italian company that deals with aesthetics helps, hehe.
There are a few non original details which I have kept, as Karl, Harit, Bulldogji and other kind people have advised me they will help to keep the car running in a easier way (alternator, internal fuel filler, life saving interior fan). Everything else I could find was brought back to 1964/65 standard. And there was A LOT to do: grille, all the windows back to transparent, rubbers, gaskets, quarter window frames, logos, dashboard, removing all air conditioning related and later radio modifications, getting front lights of the correct size ecc.
The engine will be painted racing green again and its ancillaries black, as it appears from the original Mark II brochure. Currently we are dealing with the suspension and the chassis, everything has been dismantled, checked, repaired and painted black. The fuel tank and radiator are being cleaned from the inside, number plates are being re-fabricated in a more period correct fashion and in the right size and the wiring is being worked on.
Chromed parts (104!) have been buffed in in very few cases re-chromed.
I'll keep the interiors as they are. The headlining was good and the seats too. They have been restored by a previous owner keeping the correct pattern, so I won't touch them. Only the insulation and carpets will have to be changed.
I still need YOUR
help though:
- the chromed front light rings I have are in a bad shape, I need at least one (the ones with the very thick rim)
- I have the rear lenses, lense supports but desperately look for the original chromed housing with the BIG holes
- anyone has the front and rear windshield rubbers with the grove for the metal trim?
- I still look for the correct buttons for the dashboard
- I'd also need the correct thin black gear-lever knob and, most easily I hope
- the front Ambassador logo (straight)
As you notice, the list is the usual one, more than one person on this forum has been looking for these exact details, as they were clearly frequently changed to make the car look up to date.
Well, I am happy for any suggestion, criticism and help you can give me. I am after all a foreigner and my Hindi is as lousy as the Ambassador's handling, so any Chor Bazaar visit becomes hilariuos
I hope to be able to post more pictures soon, we'll start re-assembling the car on Monday, if all goes according to plan.
Ciao!