I've just bought an Alpine - Series V, had a hardtop and has been restored in an interesting fashion - I bought it on the strength of the underbody and relative straightness, but on closer inspection I'm finding a few quirks which I suppose are to be expected - the passenger door is a bit bodged, and there's slight cracking below the windscreen which suggests the scuttle has been filled. Might only be a skim, but depressing given the underside condition!

Most irritatingly, though, it was running fine, then I went to fill it up - I put super unleaded in because I thought the higher octane would be closer to four star fuel. It started misfiring, choking under load - temporarily cleared then it returned. I cocked up the timing fiddling with it which doesn't help.

The restoration appears unfinished in that I'm missing screws and things all over, though it has plastic headlamp bowls the trim isn't attached on one side for example. The dashboard seems partly attached, and the revcounter isn't working, neither is the clock (which doesn't surprise me) - there's a white wire in the engine bay which looks like it wants to go to the coil for the revcounter.

Are there any west midlands SV members who could help me identify which screws and fittings I need to complete the car? I'm also trying to find someone who can get it running properly.

I'm aware of the spares specialist in Redditch, but haven't been able to get through to see what's currently available.

Also, most annoyingly my lower windscreen trim keeps falling out! What should that be held in with? Would a new windscreen rubber sort it out?

Edit: Oh, I just sent off my subs too. Having wanted one of these since Peter Duke tolerated me as a young lad taking a cheeky interest in his Jubilee Minx and showed me the Alpine he was restoring (I think a series III), I went and bought this one because it was cheaper than most of the others I saw (until a red one showed up on eBay in Cambridge, at least ) and was local, with wire wheels. Now I see why he liked them - when I had my test drive, the car handled well, stopped well and felt very sophisticated for the era. I don't suppose anyone knows/remembers Peter do they? He's probably partly responsible for the crazy number of cars I've owned!