Hello from an (almost)1971 144 GL owner in France

[Royapp]

Hi everybody,I'm a new member living in France, I have been given a 1971 144 GL B20A 150K kms (90K miles) the 'problem' being that it is in Paris 150mls away and it has been parked in its underground spot for 5 years (5 years ago it was brought out all fluids and lines/brakes were renewed ) I'm hoping that you could advise me on the minimum I should do before I start and drive this old girl,as I don't think that the garage owners will appreciate it if I work on the car where it is - towing is not an option!Thanks and any advice is appreciated.

[Royapp]

Some photos of the 144

[heckflosse]

Originally Posted by Royapp

Some photos of the 144

Are you planning on driving it the 150 miles home?
Don't know the French rules on MOT for something this old, they are a bit fond of the jolly old ""reglement".

My advice would be check oil etc, fresh battery and pump up the tyres to get it to an open place, like a supermarket carpark?... then trailer it home to tinker at your leisure. Fixing sticky calipers by the roadside is not nice , especially with an audience.

Looks a fine car by the way, and rare in France.

[Royapp]

Sound advice Thanks Heckflossse but no trailer available at the moment,for the MOT CT in france (to be done every 5 years on classics in France) I could take it in for a 'fail' and then I've got two months to sort it out! The brakes could be looked at in the car park,I'm more worried about oil and old fuel , in fact I'm going to ask for more time to recover the car (pay the garaging) and deal with it properly after the summer.

[capt jack]

Yep, as a minimum, drain and refill the oil with a new filter too of course, maybe drain and refill the coolant too.

I think that the most likely problem you'll run into is gunk from the fuel tank blocking up the fuel line. If there is 5 year old petrol in the tank then it will stink, and it will be contaminated with rust from the tank walls. Petrol ages, and the engine won't like running on old petrol for very long.

The ideal thing to do would be to drain the tank, fit a new fuel filter, and then fill with fresh petrol.

If there isn't much petrol in the tank then adding fresh petrol would probably be enough.

Tyres that have been stood for 5 years may have developed flat spot, so you might find that there'll be some vibration through the car, but this is only going to be a problem at speed. Also you need to check very carefully for any splits or cracks in the casings. Checking pressures is a must.

The steering on a 140 is of the steering box type, so you need to look at this and make sure that the steering box oil is topped up.

As a precaution, I think I'd be tempted to fit a new fan belt, plugs and points, and have a spare condensor and a thermostat with me - plus a supply of coolant, just in case things leak.

Joining the French equivalent of the RAC would be sensible, although in the UK, the RAC won't uplift or tow a car with no MOT, but they will attend and try to fix on the spot. Not sure if the same applies in France.

When I first got my 1800ES that too had been stood for 5 years, and so all of the above is based on practical first hand experience!

Good luck

Cheers

Jack

[Royapp]

Thanks Jack,
so there's no way around it,without risking the car,I'll try and find a trailer,because I couldn't do all that in the Place d'Italie in south central Paris!!
The rusty petrol tank possibility worries me a bit!
Then the car is only 10 years younger than me,and if my knees are anything to go by I'd better treat her very gently!!

[capt jack]

When I 'rescued' my 1800ES she'd be stood for 5 years (maybe longer). The petrol in the tank was absolutely foul, the brakes were seized and the battery flat.

The previous owner had kept it in a heated garage so there were no issues with regard to water damage, but before I attempted to start her I trailered here home (Surrey to North Yorkshire) using the services of a specialist classic car transport company.

The tyres had been kept pumped up and were in good order.

I drained and cleaned the fuel tank as best I could, fitted a new (electric) pump and fuel filter, changed the oil, cleaned and re-gapped the plugs, reset the points and fitted a new condensor.

Before starting the engine I turned it over by hand with the plugs out (big spanner on the crankshaft pulley nut) just to be sure it wasn't seized and that the valve gear all moved OK (you need to take the rocker cover of to see all this).

When I did start her up she fired up almost at once, and promptly blew a great hole in the exhaust back box. After a few minutes of very noisy running the fuel pressure regulator blew, sending petrol cascading down over the exhaust manifold.

My 1800ES was fuel-injected, but chances are this 140 is the carb'd engine.

Strong advice would be to do all the stuff as per the various posts, but start her up outside, stood by the car and not sat in the drivers seat. It'll give you a better chance of running away if things go badly wrong!!

I had a fire extinguisher to hand, although I didn't need it!

I'm really envious - I'd love to acquire a 140 in this sort of state - they are great cars. Getting her home by trailer really is the best bet. There are so many silly things that could go wrong with a car that's been idle for 5 years.

As well as engine-related things, the clutch could be stuck, the rear axle seized, brakes rusted up and jammed on (especially the handbrake). Electrical wiring can deteriorate with age, and it's even possible that there'll be mouse damage etc!

Are you handy with the spanners and intending to recommission her yourself? These cars a a joy to work on, so well made, but very simple, and extremely well-engineered.

Please keep us posted as to progress!

Cheers

Jack

[Royapp]

Jack ! I'm really stunned by the quality of the advice I've recieved after just half a days membership!
I've just seen the friend who has offered the car to me and she understands that it'll take a little longer than we thought to redeem the 144,I've a friend who moves cars around so I'll ask him for an address to hire the trailer.Oh and it's a B20A single carb model.
I'm going to see the car next week so if it's possible I'll post a progress report,and then the rest will have to wait until all our holidays are done with!
Thanks again
Roy

[er120799]

Hi, the white 144 on the pics is not a GL or Grand Luxe.
Its a DL (De Luxe).
A Grand Luxe in 1971 had B20E, leather interior, ++.
Nice car though.

[lotsofmagnets]

just going to chime in the irresponsible answer and say that last year i bought a 71 144 and changed the tyres and drove it straight to the inspection place where it failed (no lights at all except one brake light, brakes metal on metal on every wheel, driver´s seat broken from mountings, hole in the fuel tank, rust holes in the chassis rails, no windscreen wipers, massive water leak from the water pump and probably a lot more but then i drove it 700km home from seyðisfjörður to reykjavík through several gravel roads overnight (in the summer it doesn´t get too dark here) in the rain and you know what? the only problem (besides having to add water every 100km) was a flat tyre!