Looking back at the seventies, its easy to remember some of the really naff products, fashions, pop and rock music that was around at the time. Its not until years later, you can really appreciate the good from the down right crap. I can remember going to school parties dressed in a pair of spoon shaped brogues with a shirt covered in printed light bulbs, Thinking "I'm looking good tonight". And can you remember what was top of the hit parade [as it was called then] in June 1970 when the Bond Bug was released, I can't either so I looked it up...Back Home by the England World Cup Squad, doesn't that record stand out as a memorable classic...
But with every decade you have some real design icons, so joining the Raleigh Chopper, the Lava lamp, the Austin Allegro? and the Space Hopper we had the Bond Bug.
What got me started
The magazine to the right dropped though my letter box in Oct 1970, I used to spend hours playing with a Meccano set and as a 12 year old spotty youth, saw the Bug and wanted one. What made a big impression at the time was not just the car, but the location on the front cover. Not some swanky area up the Kings road but the High street of my home town Hemel Hempstead. The area has little changed since those days.
Then came the 80s and a renewed
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My younger brother Graham was and still is into anything that is quick and you could break your neck on / in. Racing everything from BSA Bantams to Harley Davidson's. He used to tow his racing bikes around in the mid 80s with his Bug complete with an 850 engine and up rated diff. He took me out in it one day,100 mph through a single tracked bridge. If you've never had the pleasure of being a passenger in a Bug at that sort of speed, I can tell you it was terrifying. If that wasn't bad enough shortly after I had to take his girlfriend out in it for a driving lesson, fortunately the lesson didn't last to long as steam started to appear from the engine bay the Bug had suffered the age old problem of overheating.
After a couple of years of being thrashed and generally abused it needed some work doing to it so another Bug was purchased for spares. This was when FGU 997J made its appearance a sorry looking thing that sat in the front garden for a couple of years. It had been sprayed metallic blue by Dave Bickers who used to run the Bond Bug club]. It was covered on the inside with fake fur and the chassis had more holes then the Titanic. Eventually my Dad bought it for £100 with the aim of restoring it. He thought it highly amusing when I said I wouldn't mind having a go at doing it. But just to prove him wrong I set about the task and as they say the rest is history.
My Bug
Restoration
Having now restored 2 bugs, I thought I'd share with the world some of the problem areas and how to overcome them. I have tried to ensure the information is accurate but I will not be held responsible for any inaccuracy.
The restoration of FGU 997J began in the summer of 87. The first task was the removal of the body. This is a fairly easy job on the bug. All you do is remove the pop rivets that hold it to the chassis [you may find some have fallen out] remove the steering, petrol pipe, brake/clutch pipes, accelerator cable, hand brake cable and any thing else holding it to the chassis, its then just a case of getting a couple of mates together to lift the whole lot off. You can make the job a lot easier if you first remove the canopy, you can do this, either by driving out the pins in the hinges or removing the hinges. The canopy support strut, electrics and windscreen washer pipe, will also need disconnecting. You can then lift off the complete canopy.
Once you have lifted off the body, What can you hope to find? In most cases the chassis is the lump of rusting steel that the 97 previous owners have covered in either under seal or black Hamerite. The body is normally covered in grime dating back to sometime PRE M25 and the wiring loom has more joins then a parquet flooring. This is the time when you think what the hell did I start this for. But don't give up it will be worth all the hard work. Nothing beats driving a car that you have personally put back on the road.
The next step, Jet wash everything no one likes working on dirty motors, if possible get the chassis, trailing arms and all the metal bits sand blasted, making sure you tape up the bearings [to stop the sand getting in]. Once this has been done and before the rust sets in wack on a coat of red oxide paint. The sand blasting removes all the old paint, gives a good surface to weld onto and will also show where the problem areas are.
Reliant are restricted to weight limits when producing there cars therefore corners have to be cut, so the steel on the chassis was never that thick consequently you may find plenty of rust and holes. It is possible to purchase chunneling from metal fabricators, you can weld this on top of the old chassis. Attention should be taken to the areas where the trailing arms bolt on as this is common place for tin worm. Trailing arms should also be looked at, you will probably find the bushes have gone, also check the plate that the steering bolts onto for cracks, etc.
As they say in all good Haynes Manuals, reassembly is the reverse of the dismantling procedure. It is a good policy to bolt the trailing arms on so the nuts are on the outside this means you can remove the bolts at a later date without fear that the body will foul them. The Bug has limited access once the body is back on so its common practice among the Bug Club members to slot the brackets that hold the radiator in place, this makes removal/replacement a lot easier
A good layer of smooth rite paint with some copper brake pipes and the chassis should look something half presentable.
THE POWER PLANT
Fortunately my bug came with
a decent engine- it was just as well as I didn't have a clue on how to fix
them at the time. But time has moved on and in 1998 I rebuilt an 850 engine to
replace the old 700, so hears my tips on what to look for. As mentioned
earlier the Bug is prone to over heating if your striping your engine its wise
to flush the waterways with a high power jet wash. If your going the whole hog
and striping and rebuilding check the waterway holes in the block and
cylinder. In a lot of cases the 2 do not line up consequently you restrict the
amount of water passing through. There was never a workshop manual done for
the Bug so you will have to use one from the Robin or Regal. If your a member
of the Bug Club I can supply copies of the Hand and Parts book these are
really useful if your contemplating a Bug rebuild. If you decide to replace
the old 700 engine and go for the bigger 850 with an alternator your Bug body
will need to be altered around the area right of the passenger footwell.
Because an alternator is wider then the old type dynamo it hits the
body work, rewiring it is not a major problem but for safety reasons use new
wire and if your not sure contact the club. The 850 engine also uses the
larger Webber carb, this will hit the engine cover so this will need adapting
slightly. I run an 850 engine using the old Zenith carb and have experienced
no problems..jpg)
It is possible at this stage of the restoration (although I haven't tried it], to jury rig the brakes and a seat then drive the thing about like a huge Go Cart. Its very satisfying putting everything back on the chassis and once the chassis/power train is finished your 1/2 way there. Next comes the body work and what a bloody chore that is rubbing down, filling, rubbing down, filling. Its at this stage when its easy to say, I've had enough.