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Re: Barn ( yard ) find Ruby.

We picked up the Ruby remains today,we had to change the wheels, free up the brakes and steering just to get it onto the trailer, then we left for home leaving a trail of rust behind us, what was left of the body was removed with the help of an angle grinder, the rear chassis extensions snapped off when we tried to lift the chassis but the main rails and x members are in good condition. The engine being seized, we removed the cylinder head to cheek the bores and found them to be in good condition with hardly any carbon build up on the pistons or head, with just a very slight sign of surface rust in No2.The engine would not turn over on the handle or with a push whilst in gear, we sprayed some WD40 into the bores, removed the dynamo in case that was the problem, then removed the flywheel cover and put a small screwdriver into the holes in the flywheel and with a little wiggle back and forth with very little force the engine freed up immediately and turned over nicely by rotating the flywheel but when we tried it on the handle the handle still would not move, we later discovered the handle was not actually engaging with the starter dog but sticking inside its housing, when given a little extra push inwards it would engage and turn the engine, next we took out the engine and box for a strip down and clean up on the bench, not a bad afternoons work. Lots of work and sorting out to be done on this one but another chassis saved.
As for the body there was not one single panel to be saved, the roof had been removed many years ago, the rear end was only held on by a couple of inches of prop tunnel,no rear floor at all, the bulkhead and battery box, grill, bonnet,doors,running boards, front wings seats, floor, dashboard, fuel tank spare wheel cover and luggage rack all rusted out. The rear inner wheel arches seem to look alright and may salvageable as are the front wing supports all the windows and window mechanisms and the fuel filler pipe and cap, but that's about it.

Location: Pembrokeshire

Re: Barn ( yard ) find Ruby.

I bought a ruby from Guernsey sight unseen.It had languished in a wooden shed for at least 20 years until the shed fell around it,although the body didn't look that bad even the glove box was rotted out.
The engine however wasn't seized and with rigging up a coil and spraying easy start into the carb after about 20 minutes work the engine ran briefly,Amazing.