The story begun almost 5 years ago now. I had been the proud owner of a 1975 Morris Marina coupe which I'd put blood sweat and tears into. I swore I'd never get rid of that car but as time plodded on the dreaded tin worm once again reared its head. This time spreading from the rather crucial b pillars into the roof. Coupled with the repairs I had previously done begining to show signs of failing, a lack of welding skills and the promise of something new and shiny I put her up for sale and briefly had a rather stunning but ultimately un-exciting Mk5 Cortina.
The Tina and I never clicked, so as soon as I'd got it , it was up for sale again and I once more found myself staring at Ebay on a Sunday afternoon...
It was at this point I stumbled across a rather tidy looking early Mk2 Allegro in an unusally nice colour..for a change, as most were a rather fetching shade of sickly brown..or worse..brown
Listed as in very good condition and with a buy it now of £1000 I spammed the keyboard and promptly arranged to go fetch it with a willing subject
The drive to Chatteris was stark. Miles and miles of wind turbines and fields of carrots we eventually arrived and I was to get my first glance of what was to become my new car
Garaged and mot'd locally for most of it's life, this 2 owner family owned car had been kept by the same family since 1977 when it was only 2 years old. Covering virtually no miles between annual tests and had simply not been used in a very long time. We gave it a once over...
It was clear that it had had a respray, sadly a lot of that had got into the engine bay..but I'll come to that later. The car appeared remarkably solid, though it had a few little issues such a hole in the floor in one corner, and a shot silencer which was blowing. After some haggling courtesy of my rather out spoken friend we came away with the car for a little over £500 and thus embarked on the 200 mile return journey..surprisingly without any issues
The next day I took her into work much to the amusment of my then boss, a rather old school garage owner who chuckled at my misfortune. We got her up on the ramps and discovered that the rear brake cylinders had started to leak and might not have got me further so treated her to a new set and replaced the rear shoes at the same time.
The following weekend I set upon starting some tidying up and repairs. Sourced a new old stock BL radiator, bizzarly from Sweden. Replaced the alternator, battery, bought some wheel trims which were missing, bought a replacement sidelight unit and a new speedo unit which had gone "ping" on the return journey and had died lol
Over the following months I painstakingly removed components from the engine bay, sanding and removing paint overspray from everything that been caught by the paint job including the wiper spindles. Slowly the car began to look more respectable.
MOT time and some rather crucial tie bar mounts needed some attention!
Next on to the wheels!
The interior was in remarkble condition but the steering column shroud was in pieces when i bought the car. I initially repositioned the choke cable which had been mounted through it to the parcel shelf area, and had glued the shroud back together. Then, i managed to source a brand new one from a club owner so coloured matched and fitted it.
Much better!
A rather unexciting 2 knob MW radio wasnt doing a lot, so replaced it with a suitably period FM/Stereo cassette and fitted some vintage new old stock PYE speakers to match.
Cutting the door cards was painfull but required..
Over the next year I embarked upon some simply epic journeys in him, the furthest being to Edinburgh, a 1000 mile round trip. It was at this point that I utterly fell for the car and there was no going back.
Theres something immensly satifying about driving a 40+ year old car and relying on it to take you hundreds of miles across the country without hassle. It was a fantastic week and the car was remarkable.
A camping trip to Monmouthshire the following year followed a convoy of classic Fords and the Allegro went as the official "back up car"
Some more localised repairs and improvements. Replacing the timing chain and tidying the engine bay
Reconditioned steering rack, repaired clutch master and overhauled calipers..
He also took me and my partner to Cornwall in 2018 for my birthday and we had a fantastic week sight seeing. I also got engaged
More recently hes had to have some repairs done to the body. A rather alarming lump appeared on the top of one of the wings..which turned out to be filler. This got progessively worse until it almost escaped. Luckily I was able to locate a replacement wing..which are like gold dust, and a local firm cut out and replaced it while also repairing the inner panel at the same time
Over the last few months, the rear arches have had the same treatment..and I've just rebuilt the front suspension using parts Id removed from another Allegro I stripped for parts. These included Hydrogas suspension units, front arms and hubs which Ive overhauled, painted and fitted new bearings too. She is really starting to look awesome
Next up. July this year we will be attending Festival of the Unexceptional... stay tuned
The Tina and I never clicked, so as soon as I'd got it , it was up for sale again and I once more found myself staring at Ebay on a Sunday afternoon...
It was at this point I stumbled across a rather tidy looking early Mk2 Allegro in an unusally nice colour..for a change, as most were a rather fetching shade of sickly brown..or worse..brown
Listed as in very good condition and with a buy it now of £1000 I spammed the keyboard and promptly arranged to go fetch it with a willing subject
The drive to Chatteris was stark. Miles and miles of wind turbines and fields of carrots we eventually arrived and I was to get my first glance of what was to become my new car
Garaged and mot'd locally for most of it's life, this 2 owner family owned car had been kept by the same family since 1977 when it was only 2 years old. Covering virtually no miles between annual tests and had simply not been used in a very long time. We gave it a once over...
It was clear that it had had a respray, sadly a lot of that had got into the engine bay..but I'll come to that later. The car appeared remarkably solid, though it had a few little issues such a hole in the floor in one corner, and a shot silencer which was blowing. After some haggling courtesy of my rather out spoken friend we came away with the car for a little over £500 and thus embarked on the 200 mile return journey..surprisingly without any issues
The next day I took her into work much to the amusment of my then boss, a rather old school garage owner who chuckled at my misfortune. We got her up on the ramps and discovered that the rear brake cylinders had started to leak and might not have got me further so treated her to a new set and replaced the rear shoes at the same time.
The following weekend I set upon starting some tidying up and repairs. Sourced a new old stock BL radiator, bizzarly from Sweden. Replaced the alternator, battery, bought some wheel trims which were missing, bought a replacement sidelight unit and a new speedo unit which had gone "ping" on the return journey and had died lol
Over the following months I painstakingly removed components from the engine bay, sanding and removing paint overspray from everything that been caught by the paint job including the wiper spindles. Slowly the car began to look more respectable.
MOT time and some rather crucial tie bar mounts needed some attention!
Next on to the wheels!
The interior was in remarkble condition but the steering column shroud was in pieces when i bought the car. I initially repositioned the choke cable which had been mounted through it to the parcel shelf area, and had glued the shroud back together. Then, i managed to source a brand new one from a club owner so coloured matched and fitted it.
Much better!
A rather unexciting 2 knob MW radio wasnt doing a lot, so replaced it with a suitably period FM/Stereo cassette and fitted some vintage new old stock PYE speakers to match.
Cutting the door cards was painfull but required..
Over the next year I embarked upon some simply epic journeys in him, the furthest being to Edinburgh, a 1000 mile round trip. It was at this point that I utterly fell for the car and there was no going back.
Theres something immensly satifying about driving a 40+ year old car and relying on it to take you hundreds of miles across the country without hassle. It was a fantastic week and the car was remarkable.
A camping trip to Monmouthshire the following year followed a convoy of classic Fords and the Allegro went as the official "back up car"
Some more localised repairs and improvements. Replacing the timing chain and tidying the engine bay
Reconditioned steering rack, repaired clutch master and overhauled calipers..
He also took me and my partner to Cornwall in 2018 for my birthday and we had a fantastic week sight seeing. I also got engaged
More recently hes had to have some repairs done to the body. A rather alarming lump appeared on the top of one of the wings..which turned out to be filler. This got progessively worse until it almost escaped. Luckily I was able to locate a replacement wing..which are like gold dust, and a local firm cut out and replaced it while also repairing the inner panel at the same time
Over the last few months, the rear arches have had the same treatment..and I've just rebuilt the front suspension using parts Id removed from another Allegro I stripped for parts. These included Hydrogas suspension units, front arms and hubs which Ive overhauled, painted and fitted new bearings too. She is really starting to look awesome
Next up. July this year we will be attending Festival of the Unexceptional... stay tuned
