The "granny '55" Hardtop Daily Project

[78_7kRolla]

We'll as i already have a very clean KE30 weekender i thought it might be time to replace the daily 'commonwhore' with a real car. The old man and I found this 1980 KE55S CS hardtop via word of mouth and snapped it up. Wasn't running and had been sitting for two years. A couple minutes later after pulling apart the fuel pump, fitting a new fuel filter and hose, topping up some trans fluid and fitting a new battery she was purring like a beast!

 

BASIC DETAILS

 

4K 3spd slushbox (trimatic :D )

Light blue

Cloth seats which appear to be in ok condition under those hideous seat covers

and that's about it for now.

 

Plans are to get her on the road and then get her looking close to factory finish but a little bit better :jamie:

 

Step 1 is a huge cleanup this weekend!

 

Enjoy the pics of the good and the bad points.

 

 

More to come tomorrow.

**

EDIT**

Here are the rest of the 'before' shots before i get stuck into her today!

 

Edited January 20, 2010 by 78_7kRolla

[colonel]

Keen to see the progress on this one.

If ya need any bit's give me a yell as I'm about to start wrecking one.

[Evan G]

is this the one that sold for $3000 with seized brakes?

[JiP]

Looks great there mate. Awesome condition compared to other hardtops I've owned and come across. Look forward to seeing progress as to how it turns out. If its anything like your KE30 I'll be a fan for sure :D

[jader]

Nice looking hardtop there. Interesting colour, don't think ive seen one like that before. I see your interior is still beige thoguh :D love my blue interior, havnt seen one the same so far. Are the seats blue or are they blue seat covers? More shots of the interior?

 

ill be keeping an eye on this one

[78_7kRolla]

Keen to see the progress on this one.

If ya need any bit's give me a yell as I'm about to start wrecking one.

 

Thanks Chris. Let me know if you have a good dashpad and/or a genuine left rear mudflap.

 

is this the one that sold for $3000 with seized brakes?

Nope. This one has never been advertised and was significantly cheaper :D

 

Looks great there mate. Awesome condition compared to other hardtops I've owned and come across. Look forward to seeing progress as to how it turns out. If its anything like your KE30 I'll be a fan for sure :jamie:

 

Thanks Jon. She's got some rust as you can now see thanks to some more pics. It should be fixed properly eventuallly but it ill be copping some bog for now so i can get her on the road.

 

 

Have come up with a general plan of attack on this beast which i am now calling "NANNA '55". Plans are obviously rego first then some additions such as Cream/beige sheepskin covers, knitted woolen blanket on parcel shelf, venetians, front sun visor, dash mat, whitewalls and i have some wheels lined up that are a touch different that some of you may find interesting :dance:

 

Updates will follow after a solid weekend of hard work.

 

Matt.

Edited December 4, 2009 by 78_7kRolla

[Ben-89]

WOW, now thats original!!

 

If you are going to the trouble of keeping it original, please keep those old green and white number plates on the car. And pull out some autosol and polish that alluminium AMI number plate frame, its the little touches like that which will finish off such a lovely car and add to its integrity.

 

So are you going to give it a thorough cut and polish then wax, this will be so nice. And its got a 160 thousand too, what a bonus!

[JJT036]

Nice score Matt. Well Done. The Auto must be an awesome bonus.

 

Are there any other plans aswell as keeping it Nanna Spec?? I'll be watching this one.

 

Cheers,

Josh :D

Edited December 5, 2009 by ewt

[78_7kRolla]

WOW, now thats original!!

 

If you are going to the trouble of keeping it original, please keep those old green and white number plates on the car. And pull out some autosol and polish that alluminium AMI number plate frame, its the little touches like that which will finish off such a lovely car and add to its integrity.

 

So are you going to give it a thorough cut and polish then wax, this will be so nice. And its got a 160 thousand too, what a bonus!

 

Haha she's not too bad considering she spent the last 2 years sitting in a scrap yard! But the pictures make her look a hell of a lot better than she is in real life. I'm intending on cleaning up the original number plate frames but the green and white plates will be going up on the garage wall. Replacing them will be some black and white items.

 

Nice score Matt. Well Done. The Auto must be an awesome bonus.

 

Are there any other plans aswell as keeping it Nanna Spec?? I'll be watching this one.

 

Cheers,

Josh :P

 

Thanks Josh, I have some other ideas in the pipeline but the driveline will much stay the same as it is now (if not a little cleaner). Plans are to enjoy it over the summer and then see where it leads to from there.

 

Matt.

Edited December 5, 2009 by 78_7kRolla

[JiP]

Nice looking hardtop there. Interesting colour, don't think ive seen one like that before.

I have. Tho the hardtop was a square headlight model and had matching velour seats and door trims.

 

Infact thats where I got my bonnet and bits for my hardtop.

 

This would be the first I've seen it in a round headlight model. The square headlight models colours were usually metallic...kinda.

 

What Month of 1980 is this one?

Edited December 5, 2009 by JiP

[GTS-T_Sedan]

yeh mine was silver :P

and the other one is black

the orangy color one never had headlights or a grill so i duno bout it was a 1980 model to

[78_7kRolla]

As for your enquiry Jon i found out that it was built in the fourth month of 1980.

 

Got some progress pics from yeasterday and today that i'll put up now. :P

Edited December 6, 2009 by 78_7kRolla

[JJT036]

Plans are to enjoy it over the summer and then see where it leads to from there.

 

Matt.

Sounds like a plan Matt. I hope you do enjoy this over Summer.

 

Josh :P

Edited December 6, 2009 by ewt

[78_7kRolla]

Here are some piccies from a weekend of hard work on her.

 

SATURDAY

 

- Seats were a little worse than originally expected

 

 

- Getting naked inside! (Ignore the funny yellow bits on the carpet I think it was the light)

 

 

- Just for kicks! (this set up is going into my other rolla :P)

 

 

- Engine bay all degreased

 

 

- The old man doing some bog work ( I had to let him do something hey?)

 

 

SUNDAY

 

- Seats are ready to go back in after a nice wet/dry vacuum session

 

 

- Wheel trims before a 'nice' rubbing with steel wool and Autosol.

 

 

- Rims came up a treat after stripping and fully preparing them for many coats of paint

 

 

Today i also restored the original center caps which needed to be panel beated first then re-painted. Wet/dry vacuum of the carpets and getting all the grime off the inside of the car. Also steel-wooled/Autosol'd the bumpers and chrome trims and a full cut and polish of the beast.

 

- How she sits after a weekend of work

 

 

Hope you guys enjoy seeing the progress.

 

Matt.

Edited December 6, 2009 by 78_7kRolla

[JiP]

Looking great man. Very tidy!