Untitled Document

	A Robin Hood Tale

		History of why I bought it. I've tinkered with cars since I was about 16. My grandad gave me a Ford Cortina 1600, which to be quite honest was beyond repair. You should have seen the failure sheet after the first MOT I took it to. Anyway I swapped the engine, box and prop from a Cortina 2000, sorted out brakes and did some welding with the help of a good friend of mine, Andy, and we managed to get a ticket on it. About 8 months later I wrote it off if Birmingham when a Renault 21 came round a corner when I was doing a 3 point turn and caved the complete side of it in. I then bought a Triumph Spitfire of a lad I worked with. Had great fun it it for 6 months, then the clutch went. Thought I'd try and repair it myself and whilst working on it it fell off the jack and smashed my arm up. Anyway during about 5 months of plaster I thought I'd start a rebuild. Turns out that car consisted mainly of the evening times and filler. So I scrapped it. After a couple of other cars I bought a very cheap Dolomite Sprint as I always wanted one. Thought it wasn't very special when I bought it, as I had always heard they were a bit quick. Anyway after a couple of weeks thing started overheating. Investigations found 2 broken piston rings, amongst a multitude of other problems. So I rebuilt the engine a what a difference. Then I went bonkers for a while a bought a Montego 2.0HL. Safe is all I can say about that, but i hankered after another Sprint. So I bought a low mileage good condition car, or so I thought. Even the AA inspection gave it a clean bill of health. Anyway 3 months in overheating problems crept in and the clutch started playing up. Another engine strip down revealed a very tired engine and a couple of crank thrust washers in the sump. Rebuild again and having fun once more. I ended up owning the car for 11 years. Spent about 5 in the garage rusting away, but a rebuild happened eventually (and another engine re-condition) and I drove it up until about 4 years ago, when with family, house etc I just didn't seem to have the time. Anyway I then did a part time degree for 3 years which took a hell of a lot of "spare time" up. I enjoyed it and acquired a first, but I had missed tinkering, so I promised myself I would buy something that I could tinker with and have fun in. My original plan was to look for a Robin Hood built on a Dolomite Sprint. I knew this was one of only two kits based on the Sprint and as I knew the Triumph lump inside out. So the search started. I also like the stainless bodies and Seven styling, but didn't want to spend a fortune and also didn't want to start from scratch building one. After a couple of enquiries a chance advert on the "Find It" Website put me in touch with the seller of my car. OK it wasn't Sprint based, but then I was certainly something I could tinker with and goes surprising well now it's on the road.

History of why I bought it.

I've tinkered with cars since I was about 16. My grandad gave me a Ford Cortina 1600, which to be quite honest was beyond repair. You should have seen the failure sheet after the first MOT I took it to. Anyway I swapped the engine, box and prop from a Cortina 2000, sorted out brakes and did some welding with the help of a good friend of mine, Andy, and we managed to get a ticket on it.

About 8 months later I wrote it off if Birmingham when a Renault 21 came round a corner when I was doing a 3 point turn and caved the complete side of it in.

I then bought a Triumph Spitfire of a lad I worked with. Had great fun it it for 6 months, then the clutch went. Thought I'd try and repair it myself and whilst working on it it fell off the jack and smashed my arm up. Anyway during about 5 months of plaster I thought I'd start a rebuild. Turns out that car consisted mainly of the evening times and filler. So I scrapped it.

After a couple of other cars I bought a very cheap Dolomite Sprint as I always wanted one. Thought it wasn't very special when I bought it, as I had always heard they were a bit quick. Anyway after a couple of weeks thing started overheating. Investigations found 2 broken piston rings, amongst a multitude of other problems. So I rebuilt the engine a what a difference.

Then I went bonkers for a while a bought a Montego 2.0HL. Safe is all I can say about that, but i hankered after another Sprint. So I bought a low mileage good condition car, or so I thought. Even the AA inspection gave it a clean bill of health. Anyway 3 months in overheating problems crept in and the clutch started playing up. Another engine strip down revealed a very tired engine and a couple of crank thrust washers in the sump. Rebuild again and having fun once more.

I ended up owning the car for 11 years. Spent about 5 in the garage rusting away, but a rebuild happened eventually (and another engine re-condition) and I drove it up until about 4 years ago, when with family, house etc I just didn't seem to have the time.

Anyway I then did a part time degree for 3 years which took a hell of a lot of "spare time" up. I enjoyed it and acquired a first, but I had missed tinkering, so I promised myself I would buy something that I could tinker with and have fun in.

My original plan was to look for a Robin Hood built on a Dolomite Sprint. I knew this was one of only two kits based on the Sprint and as I knew the Triumph lump inside out. So the search started.

I also like the stainless bodies and Seven styling, but didn't want to spend a fortune and also didn't want to start from scratch building one.

After a couple of enquiries a chance advert on the "Find It" Website put me in touch with the seller of my car. OK it wasn't Sprint based, but then I was certainly something I could tinker with and goes surprising well now it's on the road.

A Robin Hood Tale