Love watching this series. Back in 1987 I used to borrow my friends Austin Aggro (same colour as Johnny’s) and drive from Norwich to Luton for a long weekend to visit my girlfriend. The A505 section from Hitchin to Luton was a notorious problem stretch for the Aggro as it was a long steep hill. The approach was a downhill run so I would have to floor the car downhill to make it uphill without losing all speed lol. I would get about 3/4 the way up the hill and the car really struggled to complete the final 1/4…fun times. Worth it though, been married to my then girlfriend for 35 years this year.
What you wanted was the 1750 twin carb Equippe. You put it in 5th gear and then leave it there all day. Bags of torque at low revs. And I know that road well, it's a good bit of drivers road
I think a black manifold will go very nicely with the gold of the engine cover. Nice to see the build coming along so nicely, this will be a bit of a beast once completed!
I purchased a 2010 Honda FN2 4 years ago. It has a K20 engine and has now 50600 miles on the clock. I love it. I have watched and really enjoyed your Allegro sleeper project for a long time now. I was also interested in the Princess project. Sad to say but I had an 18/22, the model preceding the Princess or Ambassador but it was a really quiet extremely comfortable spacious car. Sadly I am aging, it would be really nice if you manage to complete your projects before I die !
I am really excited to see how Adam is methodically pushing through every element of the car. It has been refreshing to work with him, and also see his love for Agros grow!
Watching this episode reminded me of my late father-in-law who had an Alegro the same colour😂..The suspension had deflated over time and he took it to the garage to be checked and pumped back up..when he picked it up it was like an off roader and the guy said it’s ok it’ll settle down ..he drove around for a couple of days and said it was awful to drive,suspension was solid😂so he booked it back in with the garage to get sorted.next day on his way home from work he decided to pop to pub as they did back then,had a few pints and set off home..police followed him and pulled him over as he was swerving to miss pot holes due to the harsh suspension..and they did him for drink driving🤣🤣
Phil's GT3 lurking in the background, I watched his video earlier and saw the Allegro lurking in the background, honestly did not expect that crossover!
Hey Jonny, loving the Aggro build. On the shifter, might be worth looking at what Ariel use in the Atom 3/3.5? Has the same engine and gearbox you’re using but a tiny shifter mechanism that works incredibly well - might do the job you need? Keep up the good work - can’t wait to see it on its wheels. 👍🏻👍🏻
Wow that’s coming on a treat Jonny, you have the right guy doing it for you, very talented and not afraid to have a go. Watching this with a lot of interest
Arguably keeping the air box black will look very OEM when the whole engine bay is complete. (Not like a trick custom pony) The gold cam cover looks absolutely superb Jonny.
By golly do I love this project. I’ve just been telling my son about how much I loved my old Maestro but I absolutely love what’s going on with this crazy build 👌🏻
I'm a nearly retired pane beater, and I worked on these things when they were new. If you jacked them up on the rear jacking point you could get the rear window to pop out. They flexed that much..
One guy here back in the early '90s, had a ADO15 Vanden Plas 1300 running on uprating rubber suspension with Hi-Los, Spax on all 4 corners & a 140bhp 1400!! He later built an 1750 Allegro Vanden Plas on the same suspension setup with a bored out 1750, modified cylinder head & twin 40s. He then did the same to a 1400cc split twin weber equipped 1400 which my mate bought. They all handled well for the era. Cheers. Leigh.
Have a look at mk4 golf gear stick mechs. They’re quite low profile and they live under the car so might be a better option. The cables are a decent length and the ends are adjustable / removable so you might be able to adapt them. Good luck chaps.
Have a look at Integra DC5 shifters - commonly used in civic eg/ek k swaps. You could cut the tunnel and have it mounted underneath with your centre console over the top
This is loooking awesome guys, love your work. Regarding the shifter, for my build, (Starlet Turbo 4efte into Morris 1100), I switched to an older corolla shift mechanism because it was steel instead of plastic and thus easier to modify. You guys might want to look at one of the billet aftermarket shifters, like a K-tuned or something for similiar reasons.
Amazing work guys can't wait for the finish on this. I remember in the 80's on my neighbours car his wheel dropped down when he went down the road from my house grounding into the road as he went to turn right. A common fault so am told but don't quote me on that.
Keep it black. Together with the gold color they make a very good combination, in addition to highlighting the gold by contrast, it highlights the small black details of the brand and other elements. Giving much more attention to detail throughout the engine bay. It is my opinion as a graphic designer and passionate about cars.
I love the bits in this video when the conversation is replaced by music, obviously Adam discussing Johnny's bill? I cant afford an Adam but i need one in my garage, genius!
One option for your shifter quandry is to have the shifter mechanism actually come through the hole in the center console. You would then need either a hard plastic cover or a much bigger rubber boot to cover the whole mechanism. Then you might could get away with using the original shifter and just putting a slight angle on the arm. I was wondering if all of that structure in the back improves your weight distribution. Hopefully the side rails can take all of the weight!
Fantastic 😊 I wouldn’t have the inlet brown or gold .. you want the cam cover to stand out rather than blend in. I’d go black or silver - whichever would blend in the best with the rest of the engine bay.
Nice one Jonny! Better than the Agro I had. The rear suspension failed on mine and I can tell you it was so hard my fillings fell out! Adam is such a nice knowledgeable and talented bloke. Can't wait to see this finished. Bet you can't judging by that smile!
I once saw an action movie starring Paul Newman. It must have been the late 70’s. At one point he was driving around in a Morris Marina TC. Can you believe that. Old blue eyes Paul Newman in a Morris Marina TC. I’ve seen James Bond in a Ford Mondeo before but this really takes the biscuit. This statement doesn’t detract from British Leyland and their blue “plug-hole” badge. Leyland made some great & innovative cars in the past but they were ruined by poor industrial relations, under funding and management in-fighting. If you can name that Paul Newman movie, I’ll give you a dog biscuit!
I'm putting a turbo'd K20 in my Civic EK, and the gear shifter dilemma was the same. I didn't want to go drilling through firewalls and having a big shifter in my center console, so I found the Hybrid Racing solution where it fits in under the car. A lovely low profile sealed unit. I'd check that out if you still didn't find another solution :)
There are CAE / Collwerx / clone shifters which lend themselves more to being modded. I used a Chinese one for an EP3 Type R engined kitcar. It was about 120 all in & gave the majority of tge bits which I used to make a more suitable setup for the car. Way quicker & cheaper than stsrting from scratch.
It was built with a modified MGF one which was garbage, I swapped it to R53 mini when I got ig (R56 looks the same but transposes the left & right movement) but the one I used was actually a clone intended for an Accord Type R, it was an eBay job.