New Elf Owner in New Jersey in the USA

Hi All,
Just purchased a Columbian Green/Olive green MKIII Elf. Fun car!! Probably the most underrated car there is on the "FUN SCALE"!! I have found some odd things about it though.  It came (at least part of its life from NZ.) It looks to have an Ivory coloured vinyl interior??? It also has odd black vinyl/plastic/rubber moulding along the rocker panels and wheel arches??? I think that should be bright/chrome trim shouldn't it?  Where do you get that trim? How much of a pain in the *&ss is it to install??
Thanks!!!

SAMK3 is restoring and importing a South African Mk3 to New York City. Might be a good contact for you. He is on this forum.
KevCT

You beat me to it, Kev. Hi, I'm trying to quickly come up to speed on Minis before mine arrives. Ask me about Mustangs and I'm your man, but luckily I've found some helpful resources here. I'd love to see your new Elf if you post some photos.
Mark

Well, I bought the Riley Elf about a year ago, and since I am retired, I worked on the restoration FULL TIME!! BUT....it is now DONE!! I will see if I can post a photo of "Olive" the Elf, even though I am not much a computer savy person. I made the vow to restore it to its original build specs, but at the time, I had no idea how hard it was going to be to get a copy of the build specs on this car. It was originally sent to NZ as a "CKD" (complete knock down) car. It was assembled at the New Plymouth, NZ facility in the fall of 67. It was originally sold to a lady in October of that year by Moller Motors in Auckland. She was the only owner until 2001 when it was sold as part of her estate when she was admitted into a nursing home. Then a chap  purchased it, refurbished it a bit, and joined the Riley Club of New Zealand. (Interestingly enough, I think he accompanied Sir Edmund Hillary to the summit of Mt. Everest). He is now 85 years old. He and his wife were members until she passed away. He then sold it to a classic mini importer in Charleston, SC. It then was sold to two other owners in New Jersey and it was pretty much neglected until last summer when I purchased it. At that point, I didn't know that it was a NZ car. So, I sent to the British Motor Heritage people to hopefully acquire a Heritage Certificate, but since it was a CKD car, all they knew was that it was sent to NZ to be assembled. SO...herein lies the problem. WHERE TO GET A BUILD SPEC SHEET. In the glove box of the car was a New Zealand Riley Club Newsletter WITH A PHOTO OF MY ELF IN IT!! So, I contacted the president of the Riley Club and they were, and continue to be great help!! They got me in touch with the last owner of the car in NZ. I then contacted the motor vehicle agency in NZ and they reluctantly gave me the information I was seeking(AFTER I TOLD THEM THAT THE CAR WAS NO LONGER IN NZ AND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PLANET!!!
Interestingly, cars built in NZ are painted with their own paint schemes, finished off with sometimes different interiors, and had their own little unique touches. For example, I understand that early UK cars had the slam panel(which can be seen through the grill) painted black so it was not seen. But as time went on, the UK cars didn't bother painting that panel black. NZ cars continued that practice.
The car was originally painted "Olive green". This colour was never offered in the Uk. They painted the cars a Cumberland Green which is totally different. "Olive" had dove gray leather seats with porcelain green stitching and piping. Darker gray carpets. Moller Motors fitted the car with whitewall tyres and Desmo wing mirrors. So, the car is now done to those specs.
Since new trim bits and interior bits are very difficult to find, I had to spend MANY, MANY HOURS ON EBAY UK to find bits in decent condition to restore. For example, It took me buying 3 complete sets of wheel trims to find 4(one set) presentable ones!! I had to purchase 4 grill badges to find a near perfect one.
It was at times a frustrating project, but at the same time a rewarding one.
I will TRY to post a photo on this....but if it doesn't come through, email me through my profile and I will send them to you.
Cheers!!

Welcome, I am an Elf owner in Southern California. My Elf was a CKD that was built in NZ and sold there new.

Will we see you again at the Brits on the Beach car show at Ocean Grove this September?

Sounds like a plan! You bringing your Elf/Mini?

Ah ha! So you know Graham at Heritage Garage! He sent me a picture of your car for inspiration.

Yes, I know Graham. I admire the business he has and respect his knowledge of mini stuff!!

White buffalo,
Could you possibly post pics of your Riley 1.5? I would love to see it.
Cheers!

Yes, I do respect Graham as well. I always buy my car parts from him. The car is a work in progress. I plan on a Sandy Beige body with maroon or Damask red roof and oxblood red leather interior.
Here are a few.

WOW! I have become enamored with Rileys! IF you should ever become discouraged or lose interest in restoring the 1.5, let me know first...okay?? Does it run and drive the way it sits?

It runs, but doesn't drive yet. Need new brakes and a little fiddling.  I do know that the guy I bought it from has a few more 1.5s and has a Riley 2.6 for sale as well. He lives in Northern California.

Do you have his contact information?

Captain61 wrote:Do you have his contact information?

I will private message you.

Nice Wolseley, David!

Yes, very nice 1500!

Very nice Wolseley!! WOW.

David2010,

Are those the factory 14x3 wheels? Have you seen a 1.5/1500 with the 4.5x14? I hope to fit the wider wheels to get a better selection of tires.

Good morning White Buffalo from the Emerald Isle !

This Wolseley is an Irish assembled car & carries its original registration number BHI which signifies County Tipperary (South) 1955.
All Wolseleys ( & M.G.s) were imported into Ireland in CKD form & were then assembled by Booth Poole Motors in Dublin.
The car retains its original interior, the newish paint job has retained the black body colour, though I think the wheels were once silver.
As for those wheels - am fairly certain that they are as originally fitted when new - complete with those "skinny" tyres.
When I went to see the Wolseley earlier this year, it was yet to be restarted following 5-year storage in County Meath.
Once running, fully serviced, and on the key, its owner is offering it for sale at a mere €5,000 (that aint hay) equates to about $6,650 !
Because of our close proximity to the U.K.the bulk of classic cars in Ireland are of British origin. The biggest exception to this rule is VW.
Ireland was the first country in the world - outside of Germany - to assemble the VW Bug back in 1952.
David.

Very interesting car AND STORY David!! Congrats on the Wolseley find!!

I'll be at the show but my car isn't ready yet. The car was resprayed but the body shop did an awful job with the seams, so it is getting redone. Car is still in South African, maybe until next spring.

Okay. Sorry to hear that you are having problems with it.
See you at the show!

No problems that won't be fixed, just some uneven seam work. I did bring four over riders with me last year and the shop has misplaced them... ugh. But they should turn up at some point. See you at the show!