203 For sale Nimbin

luthier

Well-known member
1000+ Posts
Fellow Frogger
Joined
Oct 31, 2004
Messages
1,268
Location
Northern NSW
I have put this here instead of the For Sale section because I'm happy to discuss the car and what has gone into it and anything anyone wants to know.
I will leave it to the moderators whether they are happy about this or whether they move it over there.
This is my car that I restored back in 2010.
It has a 403 block which was fitted with a new sleeve and piston set. The bearings were replaced and it had extensive work done on the head.
It has probably done 30K since then and still goes great.
The trouble is I used acrylic paint with the bare metal respray. That paint has failed.
I've advertised this for sale a number of times for various prices but I've come down to an all time low of $5000.
It's very sad for me but I have too many other projects to give it the love it needs.
But for anyone who wants a 203 it's a pretty good place to start from because it can be driven while it is being restored again and everything works.
It has a custom oil filter housing made by a guy in the Victorian club so it takes 505 spin on oil filters.
It also has a 12 volt alternator that never misses a beat.
It is fitted with a Smiths heater which was from an original 203 installation. I modified the water hose outlet so it actually heats up. It blows hot air to the windscreen to stop fogging and down below the dash. I modified the tail lights so they work as indicators as well as stop and tail lights. For interest it has the original semaphore indicators that work well with covers that I made for them from perspex.
I have spares to keep it running and I also have separately a set of extractors, a twin carb manifold and a supercharger. These are not included in the sale price . The supercharger is priced at $2000 and the twin carb manifold which came from France and has never been fitted is $400. The extractors which have never been used are $500. They were copied from a set by Ivan Washington.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/488576042851557
IMG_3482a.jpg
 
Quel dommage, Dan.
fb photos show a 203 head in place - didn't you originally build it - now in boot ?
cgig.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Yes it started with the 403 head but the head repairer left the cracks between the sparkplugs and the valve seats which then leaked a lot of compression and blew up the sides of the plugs. It was horrible, and expensive as I didn't get a refund. Thus I ended up fitting a 203 head after it was extensively rebuilt by Unlimited Headjobs in Ashfield. They built up the alloy around the crack prone areas and I haven't had a problem since. And I prefer it being a 203 head anyway. Where did you find my resto photo Steven? The whole job was documented here but I thought it was lost.
 
I saved as many as possible if you want ‘em here or emailed …
elsewhere you said cruise at 100, is that as is, then, not some other configuration ?
 
Yeah it goes well. I'm not talking of another configuration. As I said that 403 head was a fail and came off almost immediately after the car was recommissioned in 2010. It had been a Sydney car for many years and was fully registered up till 2007. Due to that there has been a bit of work over the years welding various plates into the floors and around the gearbox tunnel. When you use these babies they do occasionally need a bit of rust work done. This needs some in the passenger front floor at the moment. I used to know the name of the owner but too many beers in between sorry. I got it from a bloke in Melbourne who had only had it for about 18months. I drove it back to Stewarts Brook. It was silver then. But the engine was in a bad way with broken rings and burned out valves, you know how they go. When you pull them down it makes you wonder how they even ran like that.
So it has 15inch wheels[with newly chromed hubcaps] which puts the speedo way out. I have a GPS speedo and when the one in the car reads an indicated 80mph it's doing 60mph. It loves the open road. On long steep hills you are back to second however. I think that's pretty standard for a standard engine. That's why I have the gear to give it a bit more grunt but I just haven't got the time now.
 
......Or should that be "TO WHOM?" James? 🤔
(Sorry, mate. Just having fun!) 🧔🏻 Drop me a normal e-mail as I have come up with an easy and quite effective and cheap way to
fabricate that pesky trim strip across the bottom of the 203 dash.(To the same dimensions too.) Cheers from the tropical south. 🌦⛈⚡
 
He whom has purchased the aforementioned steed will no doubt divulge when he feels like it.
Colin I already miss Toots knowing she's bound for other digs but I am really happy because she is going to an impeccable home and I just haven't been able to take care of her in the manner that she deserves.
 
Top