The body was in very good shape indeed, with only minor surface rust spots needing attention (other than the faded paintwork). We asked the owner if we could start her up. It didn't take much coaxing for the engine to start (it had been standing for a few months there), and everything seemed very good mechanically - the engine had only covered 53900 miles, and looked like it had been recently serviced. To cut a long story short, we picked up the Rapier a couple of weeks later and parked it on our drive where it would stay until March '97.
I don't have a lot of money, as I am only a student at Sussex university, but from the day I got the car, I was preparing it for the road for when I had saved enough money for the insurance. I replaced the worn rear brake shoes, serviced the engine properly and sorted out all the rust that had developed on the body (which didn't take long!). The underneath of the car was completely waxoyled and undersealed for protection (this had proved invaluable to the survival of the Mini I was driving around daily - I had no problems from rotting out floors from when I undersealed that). The car was now ready for its MOT. This did not come until April '97, where it passed only after replacing a small piece of fuel hose joining the carburettors.
Since the car was only just 25 years old (the previous October), the tax was free, so the only further cost was the insurance. The cheapest quote I could find was with Footman James, an insurance company I would thoroughly recommend for their efficiency and helpfulness.
The next step was the paintwork. It wasn't that bad, but in some places it was very faded indeed, and no amount of polishing would take back the old paint to any form of shine. It was decided shortly after we purchased it that it deserved a full professional respray in the original Aztec Gold Metallic in the Spring when all the harsh weather had ended. This was completed after a week in a spray shop in Hastings. What a difference! The colour was a very deep gold, and looked wonderful on the car, and the awful un-original pin-stripes down the sides had been removed thankfully.
Luckily at that time I lived only about 6 miles away from the SROC Fastback spares secretary John Clamp who lived in Hastings then. He was very helpful with the matter, and suggested that I could have a go at fixing the pump with a new diaphragm, as the pumps that he had in stock unfortunately had the wrong hose fittings for my engine. I thanked him and returned home and promptly dismantled the fuel pump and fitted the new diaphragm. I refitted the pump, changed the oil and started her up. The oil pressure was now up to its normal 40psi at 2000-3000rpm. Great!
All seemed fine until a couple of weeks later, when the oil level had miraculously risen again. I was getting annoyed now. I thought I had fixed the problem, but it was evident that it had all happened again. 'It must be getting in through the pump' I thought to myself - there is nowhere else it can leak in except from the carburettors and down through the bores, but that was very unlikely. I phoned John Clamp once again and asked where it would be possible to buy a new pump unit, so I could eliminate that from the list of reasons why the petrol was leaking into the oil. he suggested CATS near to where he lived. I phoned them, and picked up the pump the following morning. That pump was fitted, and from that day on I have had no troubles with the problem arising again. I put the problem down to something being worn in the old pump so that it fractures the diaphragm somehow, thus causing a leak. In the future I think I'll just buy whole units in the future instead of reconditioning a 25 year old piece that has no guarantee of working efficiently - at only £15 for the new pump, it hardly broke the bank!
Since November 1996 I have set up this 'web site' solely devoted to the Fastback Rapier/Alpine - the Internet is a great medium for passing and receiving information on anything you like. Since then, I have had nearly 4000 people visit my site, and a lot of emails from people interested in Sunbeams from as far as British New Columbia in Canada, to New Zealand and Australia. The Fastback web pages give some history and information on the Rapier, as well as stories and articles on Sunbeams. Also there is a section where Rapier owners can send me pictures of there cars, and they can appear on one of the pages for millions of people to see around the world.
I hope to add to this over the coming months to make it a valuable source of information to Sunbeam owners all over the world, so all contributions are greatly welcomed.
My Rapier has provided a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction, and I am very pleased with my car now. I would not change my Rapier for anything!
Aaron McDonald