DaveCymrus' Countach thread :D

[Viatron]

:-) Hence my major workshop clearance effort, I can actually see more than 60% of the workshop floor now!!! I may list it on EBay but if I do I will let you know first, only looking for £75 for it, think it cost around £150 new and has only been used 2 or 3 times.
Mac

Oh and obviously comes with all sides doors etc and a fetching wheeled case!

[AcC8braman]

So you have decided to sell? Sad day, hope the sale goes well

[davecymru]

Unfortunately i came to the realization that i just don't have the space to enjoy working on it ��

e.g there are only a few minor jobs to do on it to make it 100% but i don't have the space to do them indoors nor the weekend time to do them outside.

ho humm ��

[davecymru]

I've been away the weekend, but now I'm back I thought I'd post an update as to what is going on.

Basically as i said in my last post I'm finding that now the nights have drawn-in i simply don't have enough room to work on the car indoors in the evenings and even small jobs are a pain in the backside with the limited space i have.

e.g. i fixed the brakes, went to open the engine cover and the plastic on the release catch shattered as it was brittle due to age:



And even thought I've got a replacement (shown below), it's been a right royal pain to do in the garage and i simply have no time at weekends to get it all outside to do so i've put it off and off

And as I bought the car to work on it exactly this way. i.e. tinker! and I've built up a large parts collection of minor things to potter with, every small job is a right pain with such restricted space and i have to finally admit defeat.

e.g. my stash of parts built up over the years that i wanted to upgrade / replace :



New sidelight/indicators, air box to modify, the small Countach/Fiat vents ready to fit in the back cabin wall, New side repeaters ready to be fitted when i relocate them, 2 new interior door releases i bought 'just in case', the 'proper' Raid 2 steering wheel i bought and has sat in a box for ages!, the new boot/engine release catch ready to repalce the ones that's just shattered, a new ashtray, Maserati switches ready for the centre console overhaul, some spare door locks/strikers to see if it could add central locking and a few other bits-n-bobs!

But sadly I've had to admit to myself that each one of those small tinkering tasks that i was so looking forward to is actually going to take me ages given the facilities i have and so I've done less and less on the car over the past few months and now is the time to move it on to someone who will do it justice!

What i am going to do is post a ton of pics of it as it is _now_ in order to wrap up my time with the car and and hopefully whoever has it off of me can carry on a restoration/upgrade thread?

[davecymru]

I am going to miss all of this lovely leather!





The centre console is not 100% authentic, but was certainly getting there and is at least 100% functional!



I will have to admit defeat with my ongoing fight with the existing window winders and whoever has it off of me can either get these working or rip them out and replace the mech's with the Fiat/wire ones!

[davecymru]

After all of my frustrations with the brakes, at least they are functionally working and just need the cover modifying to fit over the new master cylinder!



The mods to the air-intake routing was just about done and just needed a 90degree pipe from the heat exchanger through the removable panel i put in place.

[davecymru]

I never did get around to upgrading the boot to hydraulics, but at least it's there and works:

[davecymru]

My favourite achievement on the car was the cooling system and i do like the alloy header tank i fitted!





How comes every new car i get i end up buying a new battery, although i think i may have to go some to top this monster!

Plus changing from rod gear linkage to cable shift was certainly an interesting task and yet another thing for me to add to my list of "thing's i don't like doing under a car"!



The wiring and plumbing tidy up was really coming on well but i'm sure the new owner will have their own opinions on where it needs to go!

[AcC8braman]

Sad times dave

[davecymru]

Clarkson wasn't lying, you really can't see anything out of here!!

[davecymru]

Originally Posted by AcC8braman

Sad times dave

Indeed! But also somehow 'freeing' if that makes sense?

I spent 25+ years researching the Countach and buying and stockpiling parts waiting for the right one to come along and now I've had one and enjoyed owning, driving and tinkering with one. But i think it's time to move on before i start to see it as a _grind_ to work on and come to resent it.

I'm already finding myself spending less and less time just tinkering with it, so when the boot release lever backing shattered and i just couldn't work on it in the garage comfortably (i got cramp the one day i tried and just frustrated the other) I thought it was the right time to act!

[davecymru]

Strangely this is now my favourite view of the car, as after all the work i did on it and all the jobs that constantly required me to have the engine cover open, or air boxes off, it's just comforting to see it all back together and looking how it should be!

[Paul L]

Dave - I can fully understand your frustration when it come to matching free time with decent weather.

Especially now when it is both cold outside and dark so early.

I am just glad that you were able to drive it for a little while, even if only between fixing things.

I've followed your efforts on two great kit cars so far, and look forward to seeing what you do next.

Good luck, Paul.

[davecymru]

Thanks Paul.

It's certainly brought home to me how much dedication the likes of you and Tony and others who are building outside put into your cars!

[davecymru]

mumblemumblebloominclutchmumble.

While taking the car in/out of the garage for some additional photos that people requested i can tell that whatever is wrong with the clutch is getting worse as the noise is not right at all and i don't know if it was just me, but I'm sure there was an odd smell coming from it also.

As i _really_ don't have the space to change a clutch, inside, in-winter and as i'm an honest man (a bit too honest if anything!) i'm going to have to bite the bullet and simply drop the asking price to reflect that

[AcC8braman]

Hi Dave, happy new year to you.

Please say you have had a change of heart and keeping the car?

[davecymru]

And a happy new year to you Steve, and to everyone else as well!

The honest answer to what i'm going to do with the car is.... dunno.
I'm almost tempted that if it doesn't sell this time to keep it, garage it until the summer and then (funds allowing) finish all the little jobs and rather than mess around any more with the current engine/gearbox i'll talk nicely to some of my friends with more storage space than me and i'll look at fitting t a BMW V12 with the Audi 6 speed box

With 6hrs to run on the current auction it's got 145 watchers and has had 5882 page views! Which is more than anything I've ever listed before by a considerable margin.

But..... no bids.

As my father always used to say "something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it" and it never fails to amaze me that a modified MR2 with a Murcielago shell over it will sell quite happily for £35,000+ (not that i'm knocking them, as i nearly built one myself!) whereas a completed spaceframed Countach with a V6, V8 or V12 engine only seem to go in the £15,000-£25,000 range! It seems criminal to me, as all of the same original Lambo bits that go on a Murci (wheels, badges etc) are also on a Conutach, plus more!

Only goes to show, it's a funny old world!

[davecymru]

Didn't sell.

hummm.... Not going to relist it immediately but will take stock.

[garyh]

dave, i thought this was your dream car... wait for the summer, don't give up!

[craigt]

Dave, such a shame to let it go after such a short time! I take it building a bigger garage is not an option?