Practical Classics Traveller Restoration 1992

Post by **leafie** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:51 pm

Found some old copies of Practical Classics from 1992 at an auto jumble yesterday, at the time they were restoring a 1968 Traveller (RNW 832G). What made it interesting to me was the row which broke out at the time about the welding of the shell by a Minor specialist; quote the car had a “hunch-back”. The car ended up being virtually cut in half and fill sections being welded into one side of the floor to square it up.

Does anybody know if the car is still around and what the condition is like today.

Leafie

Post by **bmcecosse** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:34 pm

Well - it's Road Tax ran out on 1 /11/94 - so it looks like it's not around any more unless hiding in a Barn or a Museum!

Post by **alex_holden** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:56 pm

'Restored' in 1992, hasn't been on the road since 1994...

Post by **rayofleamington** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 5:09 pm

Having read the entire series of articles (they got reprinted in a book) I expect the current owner may have wanted to hide the car's identity out of shame.
A botched repair isn't something to be too proud of (not that I'm suggesting that it got a fake ID, but that kind of thing is not unheard of

)
From the amount of work done, I'd be very surprised if the car only got used for 2 years!

Post by **chickenjohn** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:28 pm

I spoke to Rob Thomasson for advice on how to support my traveller when repairing it with the wood off and the rust at the rear cut away- and he told me the story of this traveller. The "Minor specialist" apparently welded a new wheel arch and sill pieces, rear chassis etc with all the wood removed and without the floor pan of the traveller being adequately supported. The car became so distorted, the new side of wood wouldnt fit and they tried cutting notches in the transmission tunnel and welding it up to bring it back into shape. Apparently the car didnt drive right after this and was scrapped

Post by **jonathon** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:37 pm

I believe the true story to be 'too many cooks spoil the broth', as the build was divided between several specialists,whom it seems lacked coordination and collaboration between each other.
Typical of a project by journalists who haven't got a clue as to how the resto word operate, so continue with pre conceived ideas.

Post by **Kevin** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:35 am

Apparently the car didnt drive right after this and was scrapped

That wasn't mentioned in the write up's.

Post by **chickenjohn** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:54 am

Kevin wrote:
Apparently the car didnt drive right after this and was scrapped
That wasn't mentioned in the write up's.

They probably didn't mention everything! I'm only going on what Rob Thomasson told me about this story.

The main point is- when restoring a traveller, especially removing the wood and cutting lots of metal away. Support the rear of the car at several points so that the floor pan doesnt become distorted when the new bits are welded in.

Second point is, even the specialists can cock a doodle diddley it up sometimes.