Allegro Club International

[fsten]

As explained in another thread, I've ended up with two Allegros.
The 2-door is a late series 1. It was first registered in January 1976 and was taken off the road in 1996. It is remarkably solid, although the bootlid is bad.



Bird droppings have burned the paint but the interior is quite alright. How do you like the seat covers?



which are hiding vinyl seats in good nick



The engine will have to come out. It turns around but is very tight, despite having oil and iesel poured down the bores and it was even drowned in oil (9 litres!) for some time but to no avail.



The estate was first registered in 1980 but I would guess it was built in 1978 or 1979. I will try and check with Heritage. Is this color Sandglow? Here it is dragged away from the place where it had spent the last 17 years, immobile.



Hydragas has collapsed or deflated on left side. I will try and pump it up. Also, note the headlight washers!



Some rust here and there. front panel is not that bad. The worst area is the RH rear corner, here seen from inside the boot.



The bootlid is made of filler.



The engine bay (another seized engine...) looks like this. Note the extra reservoir and wiper motor for the headlight wash/wipe system.



The engine number is odd. it does not start with 12H like it should. I reckon it's had its engine changed at sime point?



And there you are. The plan now is to get the estate into storage for an unspecified time. The blue 2-door should be made mobile and MOT'd, and after that a cosmetic restoration will tak place. In the emantime, I'll use my Cowley product:


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1975 1300 Super 2 door Cosmic blue
1978-ish 1300 Super Estate

[Dave Smart]

oooh the estate has head lamp wash wipe,i want ,iwant, i want that on my Equipe, looks like ill have to bin the quads and go back square,wheres the haynes manual!!!!!!!and im noticing more 1500/1750 radiator in a 1300,and in the 2 door MG style headrest like the 1750ss,steering wheel still on the wrong side,and as for the orange seat covers mmmmm a question of taste, bit loud ,but i cant say anything ive got an Equipe with orange seats.
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The Super Vroom Bitch Is Back...............

[Paul-V]

A nice collection of cars you have there

The odd engine number means that the engine is a genuine replacement (new or reconditioned, I'm not sure which without checking the parts catalogue)

Years ago I owned a 1750 SS and later a 1750 HL, both of which had received genuine replacement engines. They were the only two 1750s I have ever owned that did not burn any oil!
(The SS still exists: it is owned by another club member, and I kept the engine from the HL when it was broken up for spares )

Those orange seat covers remind me of a matt black Mini Cooper S that I bought during the 1980s. Not only were the seats trimmed in an orange furry material, but so were the dashboard, door cards and roof lining!

[J Dawson]

All very nice cars. Well saved, I hope they do not present many problems getting roadworthy again.
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Austin - you can DEPEND on it!

1976 Allegro 1100 4-dr saloon

Squeak, rattle & roll

[fsten]

Today I had a go at repressurising the suspension on the estate. It was completely flat on the left side of the car.



I used a home made pump made out of an old bottle jack and some brake pipe and hose. It works alright. I did have some problems disconnecting the pump from the valve. Twice I lost all pressure in the LH system due to being too slow unscrewing the attachment to the valve.



In the end, I didn't pump it all the way up to specification (37 cm from wheel arch to front hub) but settled for a slightly sportier 32 cm. This mainly fur to being soaked in the fluid which spewed out under pressure as I struggled to disconnect the pump. Still, much better now!
I used a a mixture of 95% denaturated spirits (ethanol) and 5% methylene glycol.
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1975 1300 Super 2 door Cosmic blue
1978-ish 1300 Super Estate