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arrocuda
United Kingdom
501 Posts |
 Posted - 25 Jan 2011 : 08:42:49
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quote:
Originally posted by 65beam
the white fastback in the first photo is a U.S. car. it spent over 32 years in a garage in washington,d.c. i bought it on e bay for 300 u.s. dollars. we found no rust when we stripped it back to bare metal prior to restoration.
I read on the American Sunbeam owners forum that these 'Alpine GT' Rapiers are really rare now in the US. Nice find!! Also... I prefer them without the sill covers too..... bit of a rust trap as well.
Nice car 65beam!
Building the 'Mark II' fastback Rapier ('Arrocuda'). |
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65beam
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 03:33:22
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| i know of several here in the states,but many parts are not available so very few are on the road. this is my fifth fastback. when i finished this car in 2008 i put rapier scripts on it in place of alpine scripts but the wife had me remove them for SUNI 5.i had an nos h 120 grill along with many other nos parts and i used everthing i could on this car. even the bumpers and over riders were nos along with all the rubber parts except for the rear window. i had one of the locking bonnet cable and handle for imps so i installed that. it's much stronger and easier to pull.i have more photos on my photobucket site. http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt142/65beam/ there are also photos of some of my other alpines. |
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arrocuda
United Kingdom
501 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 09:02:30
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Love the tombstone seats 65.
It's strange that over here they were standard on the later Alpine models and even the H120 had the short back seats. I was looking out for a pair of original high back seats when I first got the car but gave up when I decided to customise it... as fitting a pair of modern tombstones will hardly make much difference to the car's 'originality' now. 
Building the 'Mark II' fastback Rapier ('Arrocuda'). |
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mikesunbeamH120
United Kingdom
35 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 20:06:51
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WOW.. that looks gorgeous nice and shiny well done you.
I saw a red Alpine on ebay last year in America it was on there twice, i think the guy was struggling to sell it but it did look nice ..
Regards Mike. |
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65beam
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2011 : 04:07:45
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| the cars sold here in the states were required to have head rests at this time. it's amazing how similar they are to the seats in my plymouth duster 340. the thing i did different was to use cloth for the seating section of the seats with vinyl backs and sides. i also used vinyl at the top of the doors with cloth pleated to match the seats in the center and vinyl at the bottom. we did away with the original lighter and installed a covered outlet to charge the cell phone and installed the controls for my hidden radio in the area where the ash tray originally was. we also made a cover for the storage area in the console with two drink holder openings. my next project after i finish the restoration of my series 4 is to install air conditioning on this car. |
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arrocuda
United Kingdom
501 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2011 : 08:48:29
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quote:
Originally posted by 65beam
the cars sold here in the states were required to have head rests at this time. it's amazing how similar they are to the seats in my plymouth duster 340. the thing i did different was to use cloth for the seating section of the seats with vinyl backs and sides. i also used vinyl at the top of the doors with cloth pleated to match the seats in the center and vinyl at the bottom. we did away with the original lighter and installed a covered outlet to charge the cell phone and installed the controls for my hidden radio in the area where the ash tray originally was. we also made a cover for the storage area in the console with two drink holder openings. my next project after i finish the restoration of my series 4 is to install air conditioning on this car.
I believe AC was an option on the US spec' but could be hard to find a spare original installation now. Have you never been tempted to put a Plymouth engine under the hood? Also..... these interior mod's sound interesting.... any pics?
This car deserves a thread all to itself! 
Building the 'Mark II' fastback Rapier ('Arrocuda').
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Edited by - arrocuda on 27 Jan 2011 08:53:29 |
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65beam
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jan 2011 : 04:35:43
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| there are photos of the interior on my photobucket site. http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt142/65beam/ i do know of a car in the dayton ohio area that has the dealer installed a.c. unit. the ac compressor is VERY LARGE! vintage air makes a unit that would take up very little space. the fellow that pioneered the V6 conversion for alpines is convinced that it would be easy to install the 2.8 ford V6. he spent a lot of time thinking and measuring when we had it at the alpine meet in N.C last year.but since we don't drive the cars very much we really have no reason to change the engine. there is one here in the states that tiger tom originally built in the late 70's with a mazda rotary engine. it was wrecked in 1989 and has not been on the road since. the photo showing the front of the car was taken at the te/ae united in maine this last october. |
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JPSH120
United Kingdom
1180 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jan 2011 : 19:12:45
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Interesting that the C pillars are covered as the UK Rapiers and not body coloured like the Alpine.
And is that the original engine?? Again twin carb like the UK Rapier.
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mikesunbeamH120
United Kingdom
35 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jan 2011 : 19:33:50
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on the c pillar dose it say.. GT that,s what it looks like to me .
Hi jason how is H120 coming on now did you sort out the head ... dont know if your interested but i know of a Holbay engine for sale well i did a few years ago but i can check if you like if it is still available
its not to far from me, when i enquired about it they wanted £500 but i thought that was to much . |
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JPSH120
United Kingdom
1180 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jan 2011 : 20:59:50
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Hi Mike - Yes I think you are right, looks like GT badges are in the place of the normal Sunbeam Lions/Dogs whatever they are!
Not been making the progress I would have liked for various reasons so not yet sorted the head. Thanks for the offer but hopefully I will be OK, if not I'll let you know.
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65beam
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jan 2011 : 22:13:42
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| here in the states the rapier was sold as an ALPINE GT and the alpine was just that. the GT had the twin carb 1725 with the emmision carbs which meant that there was no mixture adjustment on them. the GT had the vinyl covered c pillars with GT emblems, full instruments, bumber over riders,rocker moulding,wider moulding on the trunk lid,full wheel covers,etc. the alpine did not have full instuments, down graded interior,etc. i own both versions and i prefer the GT.two of my GT's are automatic trans as is my alpine. the othere are standard trans. this car has the original engine and transmission. it does not have overdrive. according to the dealer literature i have, overdrive was not an option here in the states in 1969. this car now has the 3.70 rearend gears in it.something you may not know about the U.S models was that the intake manifold and the exhaust manifold bolted together with the intake manifold actualling bolting to the top of the exhaust with a copper shielded exhaust gasket between them for heat to the carbs for emission reasons. i did polish a series 2 alpine aluminum valve cover for it and added a tudor washer fluid bag with an electric pump in the bag and moved it to the opposite side away from the battery.i installed a honda brake light switch in the original washer pump handle in the dash to operate the electric pump. we also made a new dash for the car. there are many other subtle updated changes that i made that are not obvious. i spent a lot of time correcting things that i didn't like on my other cars over the past 30 years. |
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65beam
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jan 2011 : 22:21:06
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| i forgot to say that the alpine has the lion badges on the pillar, the GT doesn't have that badge anywhere on the car. |
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Rapierdave
United Kingdom
161 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jan 2011 : 09:07:05
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What a lovely US spec Alpine GT.
Is the chrome around the arches standard ?
My UK spec Alpine (1971) also has the highback (tombstone) seats & i think they suit the car.
Did all UK spec Alpines have the tombstone seats ?
Were they available as an option on Rapiers & H120's ?
Coupes are cool
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Edited by - Rapierdave on 29 Jan 2011 09:12:52 |
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arrocuda
United Kingdom
501 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jan 2011 : 09:26:02
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None of the Rapiers had the tombstone seats, even the H120, and they weren't an option either. Alpines got them as standard but not in the early models. The irony of this car is that when it was first introduced in '67 it was way ahead of its time. By the end of the decade and the Capri and the Manta had arrived on the scene it still held its own, but the lack of interest in updating the exterior styling and little if any improvements in the interior resulted in the Ford & GM products beating the hell out of it in the showroom along with the Japanese imports that also turned up in the coupe market in the early 70's.
TBH I love the product but Chrysler's marketing team were so out of touch with reality it was inevitable the model would be discontinued. My only surprise is that it lasted as long as it did.
Building the 'Mark II' fastback Rapier ('Arrocuda'). |
Edited by - arrocuda on 29 Jan 2011 09:30:21 |
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mikesunbeamH120
United Kingdom
35 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jan 2011 : 13:20:44
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I think that they are lions jason.
well good luck with the head anyway  |
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Topic |
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My old fast back
