Hi everyone. :-) I'm Dan, I'm 17, and I'm from Ireland.

Been a forum user here for a while, finally decided to put up a project thread for my 'loon today.

Here she is, when I bought her:

Bought her back in April,cost me €120 and was in need of some serious TLC. She's about halfway through restoration atm, and I have a few before/after pics of the interior, engine bay etc.

I'll put them up over the next few days, stay tuned!

Edited 18 December, 201114 yr by Dan94

Plenty to be getting on with by the looks of it but then again it was only €120 so I don't think you can expect a showroom quality car! Keep us posted.

Good luck with it mate.

I just love the shape of a loon.

Kep us posted on progress.

Yes! Another Irishman, good lad.

That is a lovely shape of a car, as Matt said, keep us posted!

Whereabouts down south are you?

Thanks lads, more pics on the way.

@mikethebike: I'm from East Clare. Quiet spot.

As promised...

I started with the interior. It wasn't pretty, but I was happy with how it turned out in the end. :-)

This is it before I started....

A few weeks, two new seats and a bottle of Son Of A Gun later....

Might wanna check what's hiding under the carpet

Might wanna check what's hiding under the carpet

I did. It's all good!

Might wanna check what's hiding under the carpet

haha! i was about to say the same matt..

and i must say mate, you've done a crackin job of that interior!

just goes to show how far a few quid, some back to black and TLC can do for a car!

Keep us posted mate.

haha! i was about to say the same matt..

and i must say mate, you've done a crackin job of that interior!

just goes to show how far a few quid, some back to black and TLC can do for a car!

Keep us posted mate.

Thank you! Will do.

just goes to show how far a few quid, some back to black and TLC can do for a car!

I swear by the stuff although I prefer CarPlan Trim Wax, it makes a huge difference to the appearance of a car.

Did the engine bay next. It was in sorry state! Needed a coil, distributor & starter motor, as well as new oil & filters etc. So far I have everything except the starter motor....

Then I just cleaned or resprayed the stuff that was dirty or rusty. So everything, basically.

Before....

And after!

Took this when I was working under the bonnet. Shows it's already a pussy magnet! :lol:

Random, I know. They're all strays, believe it or not!

Nice work in the engine bay, what did you paint the cam over with? I really need to get on with mine already. Also you might want to think about replacing that radiator for aesthetic reasons if that bothers you at all.

Next task for you: Get the plastic trim off and hope there isn't any holes.

Good work fella

Just a little pointer... Your distributor is 180 degrees out. The vacuum advance can should be facing the rear of the car

Nice work in the engine bay, what did you paint the cam over with? I really need to get on with mine already. Also you might want to think about replacing that radiator for aesthetic reasons if that bothers you at all.

Next task for you: Get the plastic trim off and hope there isn't any holes.

Thanks man, I did the cover with a black enamel rattle-can (on grey primer). I'll replace that radiator at some point, but it's only the bit you can see that's broken, the rest is perfect!

Haven't done much on the bodywork yet, it's going to be a big job but there doesn't seem to be any serious rust. :-)

Good work on the interior! and yes, that rad has seen better days!

Good work fella

Just a little pointer... Your distributor is 180 degrees out. The vacuum advance can should be facing the rear of the car

Good work on the interior! and yes, that rad has seen better days!

Thanks lads. :-) Yeah, the vacuum advance is facing upwards in the Haynes manual picture, so I got a bit confused when it didn't line up!

It's just loosely bolted in for the picture.

Few other small bits.

One of the reasons the car was so cheap was the fact that there was no proper key.

There was, however, half a key rusted into the lock on the bootlid...

So I took the barrel out, drilled a small hole in the end and tapped the key back out through the slot using a hammer & metal rod.

Then I took it into the locksmith and he managed cut me a copy! :-D

You can see where I drilled a bit too far in the original key.....

After that I got my hands on a nice clean set of 14" steels.

So this is what the 'loon looks like now!

this is brilliant! its good that its getting some love! id kill for a loon!

this is brilliant! its good that its getting some love! id kill for a loon!

Glad you like it man! :-)

One more thing; got bored one day so I decided to fix up my badges a bit.

They needed it!

Fixed up and given a squirt of black paint:

Masked off with plasticine:

Painted:

Final result

That's pretty much everything I've done so far. Most of that work was done during the summer, hoping to get working on it again soon.

Comments welcome. :-)

I've been wondering if there was a decent way of restoring badges, think that might be it. Using Plasticine is a good idea.

this is brilliant! its good that its getting some love! id kill for a loon!

Masked off with plasticine

Genius! Never even thought about that!

Thanks guys

2 random photos:

One with my brothers Mk3 GT

(headlights photoshopped in the absence of a battery)

Plan for the new year is is to get the bodywork sorted. The paintjob on the exterior panels is shocking, you can actually see the dirt in it.

Covered in dents as well. The previous owner told me where the one on the front-left wing came from; apparently another previous owner "got mad and came out and kicked it".

Nice.

Anyway, should be a challenge but I'm looking forward to it! Comments/criticism/advice welcome. :-)

Love the work with the badges, so simple yet so good!

The nasty dent in the rear quarter panel looks like a hard fix, what you gonna do about that?

...and, have you got the car running yet?

Love the work with the badges, so simple yet so good!

The nasty dent in the rear quarter panel looks like a hard fix, what you gonna do about that?

...and, have you got the car running yet?

Thanks, I managed to knock that dent out a bit from inside the car by taking the door card off and tapping the inside of the panel with a piece of wood. You can see the result in the newer pictures. Far from perfect, but it's a start...

And no, it's not running yet, but all it needs is a starter motor & a few tweaks to get it going! I'll keep you posted

Edit: and Happy Christmas :biggrin:

Edited 25 December, 201114 yr by Dan94