Convoluted story, but the other day Leigh rang me; he is on the forum as BettyBellett.
Turns out this dude had rung his son to say he had a Florian.
Leigh wasn't told what condition it was in, only that it was there!
I rang the owner and he was happy for me to come and get it; no payment required! Well, that's always a win. He sent some photos of it; it was pretty rough, but I enlisted Antus and we went and picked it up.
Wow, is it rough.
It apparently he drove it up from Tasmania in 1999 and parked it under a tree. It was not a kind tree.
Here it is the night we got it...
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Isuzu Florian - 01.JPG [ 58.75 KiB | Viewed 18505 times ]
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Isuzu Florian - 03.JPG [ 45.46 KiB | Viewed 18505 times ]
The daylight didn't help it much...
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Isuzu Florian - 03 - rear quarter shot.JPG [ 100.34 KiB | Viewed 18505 times ]
I noticed the mirror had fallen off since we arrived back at Ross's. He came out that morning and it had committed mirrorcide. Notice how the sill is made up mostly of air.
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Isuzu Florian - 04 - rust hole and mirror that randomly fell off.JPG [ 87.89 KiB | Viewed 18505 times ]
Here's the chassis number. Am yet to check it against my good Florian. Come to think of it, I didn't check my chassis number against Mr Flibbles either! Add that to the 'to do' list!
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Isuzu Florian - 05 - chassis number.JPG [ 76.85 KiB | Viewed 18505 times ]
Here's the engine. Bart has claimed it for his Bellett. It seems to have good enough compression but did not want to start - unusual for an Isuzu motor! It will need a water pump though, given the owner said it would... and also because he pulled about 50 water bottles out of it before giving us the car.
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Isuzu Florian - 06 - engine.JPG [ 108.64 KiB | Viewed 18505 times ]
For some time, the front passenger door was the only one we could open. The front driver's side door seemed stuck on it's clasp, while the back one was just full of gunge or something. We eventually got it moved. A bit.
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Isuzu Florian - 07 - rear quarter shot.JPG [ 95.29 KiB | Viewed 18505 times ]
The steering wheel is good. And some other bits. But not most of it. And it smells.
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Isuzu Florian - 10 - interior.JPG [ 82.75 KiB | Viewed 18505 times ]
Headlights. My precious.
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Isuzu Florian - 11 - front quarter shot.JPG [ 94.98 KiB | Viewed 18505 times ]
Another rear quarter shot.
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Isuzu Florian - 14 - rear quarter.JPG [ 97.29 KiB | Viewed 18505 times ]
Florian badge is OK. Bootlid had a rust hole in it!
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Isuzu Florian - 16 - Florian badge.JPG [ 72.51 KiB | Viewed 18505 times ]
Ever wondered what a banana skin looks like after 13 years on a dashboard?
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Isuzu Florian finds - 05 - banana skin.JPG [ 61.18 KiB | Viewed 18505 times ]
Remember how I said the driver's door was stuck? I wasn't sure if the lock was seized in the locked position, so I unscrewed the lock knob and used some pliers on the threaded bit to see if it would come up. I tried pretty hard and it didn't move, but I did slip off the thread and punch myself in the face. Here is the blood.
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Isuzu Florian finds - 08 - blood after Dave smashed himself in the face.JPG [ 122.8 KiB | Viewed 18505 times ]
I am not kidding.
So yeah, it's a sweet parts find and the price was right. The poor thing has had a hard life and has more rust than metal, but it's essence will live on!
You make funny posts.
And........firm. And I turned too early for a street corner because there wasn't the half turn of wheel play! And the windscreen fogged up and I had to rub it with the back of my hand. And I didn't have to lean so much on the bends.
AND on 2 days notice.