Anytime, btw - there is a car show on Sunday about a half mile from my house. Called Hollin Hall (shopping plaza) and two weeks ago we had 80 cars there. Roughly a dozen vets of various periods.

 

It's looking great!

 

Thanks DG, it's been a lot of fun.

 

Well it's been a while since my last update. I was having some pretty severe underhood heat issues so I decided to have my headers and sidepipes JetHot coated. The logistics of doing that took roughly a month and a half to complete but the finished product turned out amazing! No more underhood heat and I can lay my hand on the side pipe right after turning the car off (at operating temp).

I had my headers coated with 2300, which is their highest rated coating. They coated 2300 down to roughly the frame rail line and then coated the rest in 1300 (has a much nicer appearance than the 2300, which is kind of an orange peel finish). To do that we had to ship them to Oklahoma City since the JH shop in NC doesn't apply 2300.

 

I installed a new throttle cable from Lokar this weekend. The old one and its bracket were not able to return the trottle arm all the way back to the idle stop so I just replaced everything at once and it works like a champ. Oh, and it looks sharp as well.

I also installed my passenger side headlamp motor but that's a whole other story.

Next on the list is glass work on the front clip and redo the interior completely. Those are the winter time projects after hunting season.

 

Checked off a few more smaller jobs that have been lingering. First I installed my rebuilt wiper motor. This is quite simple as most of you know but makes a world of difference for the look under hood vs. a hole in the firewall.

I also modified the hood strut assembly. Instead of the stock hing strut, which I hate, I opted for a gas strut. After fooling around with measurements for several different sizes I finally settled on a 60 lb ~15" extended length strut. I started by removing the pins from the original strut and using the remaining brackets for my connection points. This thing works great although I may switch the strut for a SS version later. Photos in next post.

Next up will be to remove the brake booster to repaint the thing. Really dreading this job...unbelievable pain in the a^% to remove that thing.

 

Hood strut:

 

More hood strut photos: I ended up flipping the hood bracket around and cutting the bolt to shorten it a bit. I think it turned out good.

 

Very cool...I did the same thing to the tail gate of my '72 suburban with the struts off an '88 volvo....the only downside is that with 2 of them, the pressure is enough that my wife can actually do pull-ups from the upper half of the tail gate...at least at that point Im not worried about her inadvertently dropping that 60lb chunk of metal and glass on the dogs head.

I assume the resistance in your set up isn't so great as to worry about cracking the fiberglass in the hood. Keep up the good work, love the updates!!

 

Thanks! I was actually concerned about the resistance but after installing it and moving through a few open/close cycles I think it's going to be fine. The hood is heavy enough so that it doesn't fly open when lifting and allows for a nice smooth transition when closing. Just a little pull and down it comes nice and easy.

 

Today I was able to tackle that brake booster. Funny thing about working on these cars, the first time you work on a piece of the project, it's always a learning experience. This is the second time I've taken the BB off the car and this time went a great deal smoother than the first.

Used some scuff pads with my angle grinder and that demon called rust came right off. The first photo is the before, the second is the after. The third photo is my back yard spray booth and the fourth is the finished, installed BB. I have to say it really makes a huge difference in the under hood appearance now that it's finished correctly.

I used Eastwood grey epoxy primer and then their Silver Cad top coat.

 

looks good

 

Well, it's been a few months since I posted an update. Been busy with the Holidays etc. I've been working on replacing the power steering plumbing, I wasn't thrilled with how it was put together but we'll leave it at that.

First, I sketched out a design for the system, which incorporates a PS radiator. Purchased all the lines, fittings and parts needed...LOL, right, so I thought. I can't tell you how many times I received stuff just to realize it wasn't the right part or the AN size wasn't what I needed. BTW - JEGS is a great site. Anyway, after going back and forth with returns and reorders I finally landed all the parts and tools (only a couple) needed to assemble the braided lines and AN fittings.

For the Borgeson box I used a combination of a Borgeson universal flared fitting for the return (couldn't get the damn brass ring out) and an O ring fitting for the high pressure feed. Tipco (in Lorton) built the high pressure braided line for me due to the crimping required (I wanted to be absolutely certain the line will hold up). I also had to get creative with the remote reservoir as well.

I finally, after about a month of messing around with this, got everything in the car and tested yesterday. Fingers crossed I gradually primed the system and to my amazement there were no leaks...yet.

 

I learned a few neat tricks along the way for assembling these braided lines. First, don't skimp on the tools, buy the vice clamps, they made this so much easier. Second, get the best hack saw blades money can buy for cutting the larger AN size hoses. I found that the hack saw blades work much better than the hose cutter. The cutter works great on hose sizes smaller than 8AN. Lastly, instead of tape I used shrink wrap on the lines before making my cuts, yields a nice clean finish.

 

More photos:

 

Been a while since the last update, been holed up for the winter and when it's been warm enough, I've been driving it. However, there has been one thing or I guess the next thing that's been bugging me. I put the old calipers back on the car and they weren't in great great shape appearance speaking. As a matter of fact they were an eye sore when viewed through the Boss wheels. So I decided to finally upgrade the brakes. I went with the Willwood brakes, nothing over the top technically but they look so much better. At some point this summer I'll begin the body work in preparation for a new coat color. Stay tuned...

 

Hello, and congrats on a lot of great work! Getting these old C3's back in shape is a labor of love for sure! I have done much of the same work on my 73. Need to do a couple of things before I can get her on the road, can't wait!

 

Thanks, I look forward to the next phase but driving it is a lot of fun for sure.

 

Finally had time to finish up the brake job, turned out pretty good I think.

 

Ok, now that I have everything on the underside of the car done for the most part I'm starting on the interior. First up is to rebuild the passenger side door...window stopped rolling...determined it to be the motor. In any event, I have replacement parts for all that to include a new door panel on the way. The original panel was torn up pretty good.

My pressing challenge is trying to figure out how to get the window and lower track out. I'm sure it's easy but when I study the set up it's not obvious to me what I should unbolt first. If anyone has done this chime in please.