New Humber Driver

[SegaSceptre]

Hi all, Ive just started restoring a mk1 Sceptre which Is to become my first car. Its in a bit of a state at the moment due to being off the road 7 years and some minor Fire damage from an arson attack. Its belonged to my Uncle since 1987 and Ive loved that car since as far as I can rember so naturally Im dead chuffed that I now get to use it when its fixed. Id be grateful for any advice or assitance as although Im a semi trained Mechanic I dont yet know how to weld and Im not to good at electrics. A few questions Id like to ask are:
How much would it be likely to cost for a full respray, including the cost of the bronze metallic paint?
The old flasher unit at the time of the car becoming sorn had a habit of sticking, when replaced with a new one the indication light on the dash failed to work, yet when tested the unit was fine and the old Flasher unit still had the Indication light working when re-installed. Any idea of the reason for this strange occurance?

Thanks in advance

[Dorsetflyer]

Welcome to the 'Forum' and becoming a proud owner of a MK1 Sceptre.
A full respray with the job done correctly you should budget for around £2K upwards to get a decent finish.
Regard to the 'flasher unit' did you replace the unit like for like? In other words the same make and model.
Did you replace with the same number of pins? or did you re-connect the wires to the correct pins?
Lastly can you tell us what the pin identifications are on your new unit?
It's possible the wire colour is 'green/blue trace' which goes from the unit to the warning lamp.

[SegaSceptre]

Hi,
Im not sure of the Flasher Unit as I was just going by what my Uncle told me as it was his car but Ill find out this weekend when Im at the Garage.
I dont have £2k to spend on paint so it will just have to be the worst areas that I have Re-painted. You wouldnt by any chance know the code for Bronze mettalic would you?

[Dorsetflyer]

If Rootes followed the same pattern as their other cars there would have been a colour code on a metal plate either on the slam panel by the radiator or somewhere in that area.
However your best bet is to get the paint matched to the car, in this case the dark arear of the boot or the bulkhead area of the engine compartment. The boot is favourite as its likely to less affected by sunlight.
As regards the cost, it is worth going round your area to any bodywork shops to get an estimate for the work. If you can do the preparation work this will bring the price down considerably as its the labour that pushes it up. It's also worth doing it in stages perhaps over a couple of years or more so it spreads your outlay.
The idea should be to get the very worst areas done first, then get it running, and finally get an MOT for it so you can carry on restoring it while you enjoy driving it.

[SegaSceptre]

Thanks, Ill have a look at the weekend and Ill enquire around the bodyshops. Its a shame my College changed premises or other wise I could have got it sprayed there at a lower price. I plan to do the prep work as soon as Ive sorted out any major problems as my Budgets got to sort the cars road worthyness before appearence. Hopefully I can do trades for parts I need with some of the parts in the Garage (Theres loads, some that dont even have anything to do with the sceptre or Simlar cars) to help keep costs down. At the Moment my Fund stands at around £1800 although I hope to increase it as soon as I find some form of employment.

[SegaSceptre]

Im working on the brakes this weekend whilst my Uncle sorts out the Slave Cylinder for the clutch which had its piston pop out. Any thing I should be aware of on the brakes?

[Dorsetflyer]

Make sure that the rear wheel cylinders are able to slide easily in their slots. If they don't slide you are likely to fail the MOT for not having equal and sufficient braking on the rear wheels.
The handbrake is also reliant on this as well.
When fully set up the handbrake on these cars is very effective.