Restoring a 1965 Ford Anglia - Part 1

Based in Napier, New Zealand, Lyndsay & Barrie Browne have recently finished restoring a 1965 Ivory Ford Anglia. This is the story of how, over 20 months, a tired shell of a car has become one of New Zealand’s cleanest examples of a 105E Anglia.

It started as just an idea inspired by an Anglia they spotted at the 2013 HB Vintage Car Clubs Homestead run. Lyndsay encouraged Barrie to chase things up and see if they could get one for themselves. As it turns out, a quick web search revealed a stripped-down Anglia based in Papamoa. So, after a short consideration of logistics and costs, they were on their way back to Napier in their trusty Bongo van with their very own Anglia following behind on a trailer.

Prior to picking up the car, Barrie had already been up to Papamoa to collect spare pieces and a couple of engines which were included with the car. This made towing the car back a little less stressful for the Bongo, although as the car didn’t have any windows or doors, it didn’t exactly weigh a lot!

The car looked to be in good shape, clean and white – like a blank canvass. It came with a couple of engines and numerous body parts and interior pieces, but not all of this was usable. As Barrie wanted the Anglia to be as original as possible, neither of the 1500cc cross flow motors were appropriate for the age of the vehicle, this meant sourcing a little 997cc 105E engine was in order.

Now that the car was back in Napier, the work could commence. Barrie said he “did not envisage the extent of work or the magnitude of challenges this little car would put before us” after visiting several panel beaters to get an estimated cost of completing the panel work and having the car resprayed. He was told the white paint on the car was in fact entirely incorrect and would have to be stripped off…

Although it presented itself as a challenge, Barrie was determined to keep the project moving forward. So, with the help of the Jones Transport family he began stripping the paint of the car, after hitting it with a hot water pressure washer the paint peeled off. Fairly straightforward he thought, but it also revealed what the paint was hiding – many hours of sanding the car by hand to get a surface finish a sprayer would be pleased with.

Some panels needed more work though. Fortunately, Peter Couper, a retired ex Wairoa panel beater came to the rescue. Barrie brought the car over to Peter’s place at the Pask Winery Sheds so Peter could work his magic.

NZ is also home to its own Anglia Owners Club. The community within it is very helpful to Lyndsay and Barrie and extra panels, an engine, a gearbox and other spares were sourced from Craig Chamberlain – an Anglia expert who not only supplied some of the spare parts needed for the project, but also picked up some of the bits no longer needed for the project.

With more parts being sourced and the car starting to take shape, the project was off to a magnificent start. Tune in next week for part 2!