Another distraction…
Yes, really, this literally IS distraction number 7771 as that is the serial number on this car. The first 6000 P1800 cars were assembled by the Jensen factory in UK.
Starting with chassis number 6001, these car were assembled in Sweden.
However, these early Swedish built cars are often mistaken for being a Jensen produced as it pretty much have all the “Jensen” trim like bullhorn bumpers, “hockey stick” door molding and Jensen interior.
Fun fact: there were more 1800 cars with bullhorn bumpers assembled in Sweden than UK!
The Swedish built cars did loose the beautiful c-pillar emblem pretty early, it was dropped as of serial number 6178.
I am guessing this was the pivotal moment when the budget department had gained more power than the design department!
I do not need another project but I felt the car needed to be “rescued” and I would hate to see some hot rodder to cut it up and throw in a small block Chevy in this thing.
The car has been sitting since 1997. This means that it has been stored longer than it was in use!
The good news, it was stored indoors all this time so the body held up very well. Also, the black color is rather unusual. There were twenty four cars painted black in 1963. Fourteen of them are known to exist and seven of them are in running order so a black (color code 19) is worth taking care of.
I will start by checking the engine. I am not sure why it was parked but I will check compression first and then I will try to start it. First order of business was to replace the engine oil and filter before I even turn it over.
The carburetors are gummed stuck from THIRTY SEVEN! years worth of old fuel that turned to varnish. I am sure a swim in the “electric juice” as in ultrasonic cleaner will loosen them up.
The tank had some of that old fuel in it as well and it had turned in to some gnarly rancid smelly stuff so the first thing a I did was to remove the tank and discard it.
Assuming the engine checks out OK, I will put a new tank in it for starters.
The chrome shows signs of sitting and the front bumper have a dent in it. I will try to clean up as much of the original chrome as well as replacing the front bumper. I think I have a nice set of chrome tail pipes.
The Swedish cows that gave their life for those seats should be honored as they lasted 60 years! The interior is pretty tired and I am not sure what to with it yet, we’ll see…
For now, I am just going to check the engine and try to start it. Then I will leave it alone for now as I need to press on with the white 1963 P1800S!