Adams Probe 16 Restoration Project...

[Wayne 962]

Hi all again. After a few trials and tribulations with respect to the import paperwork, the car had to go back to Canada and then back to Los Angeles again (grrr), but now it's in my garage! For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, you can check out this thread here: Wayne bought a new car! Who can guess what?

Basically, this thing:



1969 Adams M-505 Probe 16. The Probe 16 was the car that Stanley Kubrick chose to feature in the sci-fi movie, A Clockwork Orange. There were only three manufactured - the one used in the movie is in the UK (been restored to a nice, but someone unoriginal condition), and the other one is currently in pieces in Europe). this one is the most original.

From wikipedia:

The M-505 Adams Brothers Probe 16 is a car, designed by former Marcos cars designers Dennis and Peter Adams, (Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, England) in 1969 as 'an investigation into extremes of styling'. It is powered by a mid-mounted tuned Austin 1800 engine and is 34 inches (86 cm) in height.[1] It has 10" wheels on the front and 13" wheels on the back. Entry is via a sliding glass roof.

Only three were ever produced. The first - AB/2, license plate MJO 145H – was sold to American songwriter Jimmy Webb. The second - AB/3, license plate PWV 222H - to Cream bassist Jack Bruce, who then gave it to co-band member of Bruce & Laing, Corky Laing as a birthday gift. The third - AB/4, had the license plate JFB 220H - was owned originally by Robin Gibbons of England. All three cars are still in existence today with different owners. [2]

Anyways, the car that we have here hasn't been run / started in more than 27 years, so there are quite a few things that need to be done to it. It's pretty much complete - nothing is missing, but has been stored tucked away safe-and-sound for almost 30+ years, so you can imagine that there are quite a few things that need work. It hasn't been neglected or anything like that - think of it like a car that has been on display in a museum for 30+ years and now needs everything gone through it.

We just started on it and I will be posting updates here and also doing some videos. It's such an interesting and unique car that there is pretty much nothing like it. I'll grab the first video tonight and post it here - the car came with no documentation, no manuals, and two or three pages of tech info - nothing else. So, it's truly a unique experience to put it back together as nearly everything is unique.

First up is the brakes - the pedal goes to the floor when pressed of course. And as part of that, one needs to get the wheels off, which has already been an experience that I haven't seen before (first step). Seems the wheels are center-lock *and* have lug nuts, but the lug nuts appear to be "for decorative use only"! Never seen that before (I'm sure I'm going to be saying that a lot).

Anyways, let me know your thoughts in the comments, and I will keep the OT forum here updated with new info and videos when they come out. The car was in the Petersen museum in Los Angeles here when they shut down due to Covid - I told them that I would bring the car back when / if they opened, so there may be a break in the restoration while it returns to the museum.

Thanks,

Wayne

[gordner]

Excited to be along for the ride Wayne, thanks for sharing!

[petrolhead611]

If you are so minded it is very easy to get more power from that engine because it is basically the same as the MGB engine, and their were S versions of the Austin 1800 and it's badge engineered sister Wolseley 18/85.

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by petrolhead611

If you are so minded it is very easy to get more power from that engine because it is basically the same as the MGB engine, and their were S versions of the Austin 1800 and it's badge engineered sister Wolseley 18/85.

Don't know what's in it exactly, but it's supposedly all tuned to heck by Janspeed...

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Okay, so we started working on the Probe 16. Turns out the car hasn't been run since it was purchased by the last owner in 1983. That's at least 37 years ago. Quite a bit more of a project than I anticipated. There's lots of things that are just not working. There's no documentation, no manual, and no "Probe 16 Forum" where I can ask for help. Oh boy!

Some photos:

Here we are loading the car into the trailer on its way back to Canada. The car was imported to the Petersen museum on a temporary import bond, and it actually had to be sent all the way back to Canada, and then back to the US in order to properly import it. Yes, that is as ridiculous as it sounds!



Tucked away, on its way to Canada:



Photos of it a week and a half later when it arrived at Pelican:









Patrick trying it out to see if he fits!

[oldE]

Wayne, On one hand I don't see a great market for "101 Projects For Your Probe 16", but I believe Haynes did a maintenance manual for the Millennium Falcon, so you never know.

Best
Les

[javadog]

Looks like a fun project. Wish I could lend a hand, but I’m far from Southern California. It should be a fairly simple car, so I don’t see you having any real difficulty with it. In the end, mechanical things are all fairly similar and once you’ve done a few, you can do the rest. Not telling you anything you don’t already know...

That driving position looks fairly uncomfortable. Is it as bad as it looks?

[93097004xx]

Those 962s!! I can’t imagine what it’s like to walk in your garage and see those every time!

That is WINNING.

[GH85Carrera]

Yet another neat toy ya bought. Cool.

And ONLY government bureaucrats think it makes sense that a car had to be shipped all the way back to Canada to be re imported "properly." It is a old car, it has not special high tech that might be secret, and it has been in LA for years already. Bureaucrats are just trying to make their job important.

Congrats on a new toy.

[fintstone]

You are living the dream. Congrats and thanks for including us.

[sammyg2]

Looking forward to the new book: 101 projects for your Adams M-505 Probe 16

[javadog]

I'd rather see him do "101 Projects for your Porsche 956/962"...

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Very cool all the way around - looking forward to seeing this thing deconstructed / reconstructed and DRIVEN!!!

[john70t]

Bumper sticker on the 962 whilst toodling around town: "My other car is a Adams M-505 Probe"

[Wayne 962]

Another shot of the crazy driving position. The pedals move sideways!



Two orange cars next to each other!



Cool emblem, only one of it's kind (the other two cars didn't have it).



Loading it into the trailer, rear first to prevent front-end damage:



It fits a lot better than the 962s!



At my house, coming out of the trailer. Looking pretty sleek indeed...



Very small - takes up less room than the 914 did when it was in that spot recently.



This car was owned by a few rock stars, and it has battle scars to prove it. We'll eventually paint it, but I've got some touch-up paint in the meantime to make these huge scrapes disappear.



In the garage, ready to be torn apart!



More battle scars:

[Sarc]

Originally Posted by Wayne 962

This car was owned by a few rock stars, and it has battle scars to prove it. We'll eventually paint it, but I've got some touch-up paint in the meantime to make these huge scrapes disappear. ]

Ah, so this is the ex-Jack Bruce and Corky Laing car? Very neat project.

[javadog]

Given the work you need to do, I'd have thought you would have kept it at the other facility, so you could put it on a lift...

[daepp]

Subscribed!

[Wayne 962]

[QUOTE=Sarc;11087747]Ah, so this is the ex-Jack Bruce and Corky Laing car? Very neat project.

Yes, this is the one! - Here's Corky in the car:

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by javadog

Given the work you need to do, I'd have thought you would have kept it at the other facility, so you could put it on a lift...

One of the other cars was damaged when it was put on a lift, so, it's all floor jacks (two) on this one!

-Wayne