Well after a lengthy period of "will it won't it" the Firefly has a rebuilt radiator installed. I tried several radiator "menders" leaving the rad for 6 weeks at a time without any work being started,before our Alvis Vice Chairman Mick Fletcher pointed me in the right direction..... should have asked him first! The repair shop was an old one who now specialise in rebuild heavy plant radiators. They cut down a truck radiator beat out the dents in mine and attended to the corrosion. The result is superb with I am told 15% to 20% more cooling ability, useful as the Firefly doesn't have a water pump. As I began the installation I was thumbing through the excellent " Car Builders Solutions" catalogue ( <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.carbuildersolutions.com">http://www.carbuildersolutions.com</a><!-- m --> ) for suitable mounting rubbers, or something I could modify when I thought why not phone Red Triangle? Amazingly they had the rubbers and washers in stock..... for an 86 year old car! Here are some pics of the bits and the re-installed radiator.... just need a miracle tinsmith to sort out the radiator cowl and chrome it now! The headlamps on the car were very corroded and from a much later period so I was about to order some new Rotax ones (gulp) when a knowledgeable local chap mentioned that he had several in his store. I visited him to find a veritable time warp Alladins cave and sure enough he had two very good condition Lucas headlights to suite my spot lights and side lights to make a car set.... they will do initially without re-chroming to make the car roadworthy again. More good news I have received the V5C or Log Book for my car JY1093 and it says I am only the second owner!! Now this car has been absent from Alvis records for some time and the original, old style log book ran out in 1971, someone must have registered it onto the digital system at some point. Very intriguing some one must know where it has been. It was first registered in 1932 to a Mr White in Orpington Kent, I would be grateful for any snippets of information. Finally it is body making time and my drawings over the winter are leaning towards a period two/four seater convertible. However as this car chassis is so original and early I would consider returning it to 4 door saloon style if I could find a body to restore. I think building a four door from scratch is probably a step to far for me, especially time wise as I am eager to get it drivable again.... any ideas? Posted by FLYJCW 17/03/2018 11:36:47
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