Hey everyone, I've spent a lot of time reading threads here to learn while working on my car, so I figured it was about time I returned the favor.

The vehicle came to us late last summer, after putting out a WTB here on the forum. Another member reached out with an offer, and we made a deal.

Here's what she looked like in the sellers pictures:








Here's she is in my garage when she showed up:

 

The first thing I did was start a complete disassembly. The goal is to take her all the way down for a frame off restoration, then build her all the way back up.

I started with the interior, just pulling everything out:

 

Next we went under the hood and started pulling everything out from under there. First I pulled all of the wiper bay, then the engine wiring harness, then started pulling most major components (brake booster, master cylinder, radiator, overflow, etc).



Continued forward with the radiator, headlight assemblies, front bumper brackets, etc. Basically clearing it all out in preparation of pulling the motor.


Then pulled the engine and transmission.


Put what was left of the engine on a stand, and went to town.


Until it was completely disassembled down to the block.




A lot of the major components were numbers matching, so the block, heads, intake went to a machine shop to be cleaned up, tested, and bored .30 over.

 

Once the parts came back from the shop, the real fun began.



Got the block back on the stand, and started taping, priming, and painting




The same with the intake manifold, heads, and (new) water pump.










The original crank was polished up, and some new pistons, arms, etc...



Then put her back together...






Current status:

 

After that, it was time for a garage upgrade:



Followed by a TON of media blasting. I started with the alternator brackets, as they were pretty simple:




I'm not exaggerating at all when I say it took longer to assemble the blasting cabinet (45 mins) than it took to blast the bracket (4-5 mins).

After that I went on to a couple of the simpler components from the engine bay. These were more complicated parts, so they took a bit longer. None of them was overly long, and I think it was 100% worth the effort. Not only will it save a ton of money, but I'd like to retain as many of the original parts as possible.









Next up were the seat components. I wish I had better before pictures, but the seats were in rough shape - as was the rest of the interior. During disassembly I stripped both down completely, so the next step was blasting all of the components in preparation of refinishing them.

 

That's pretty much where I am today, blasting parts. The next few are some related to the brake/clutch assembly:








Once I finish blasting these and a couple of other parts, I have some super exciting plans for the weekend:

• Spray everything with Eastwood Fast Etch
• Repeat all with Eastwood pre painting prep
• Coat with Eastwood self etching primer

 

You are doing a great job documenting with pictures!
(I am only restomodding my basket case, but it's still a ton of work and blasting)

 

Thanks! I have a ton more, and some limited videos, but I'm trying to figure out which post would be most appreciated on the forum.

 

What task you took upon yourself, can't wait to see when the restorations and car painted and back together once again and back on the road.

 

Excellent work so far! It seems like you hit the ground running with this, and you’ve already made a good amount of progress.

What’s your plan for the car as far as making it a “restomod?”

 

Thanks!

I was originally on the fence when trying to decide how "original" I was going to try to be. I want to reuse as much as practical, and still have some creature comforts. When I realized that part of the motor wasn't original and the transmission, and the amount of metal work I'm going to need... It started making it easier to veer from a pure restoration.

I haven't made all the decision yet, but I'm working through them. The engine has the original block, heads, crankshaft and intake. The valves, pistons, cam, carb, water pump, harmonic balancer, etc are replacements. The car wasn't originally a factory air car, but I plan to add vintage air. I disassembled the original seats down to blasting the frames, but will have repro foam. I'm still on the fence on buying repro covers or having something custom done. I'll likely upgrade the audio and speakers. The soft cover may change, depending on the final colors of the body and interior. I'm not 100% on whether I plan to do a luggage rack delete or not.

Lots of decisions to be made, and I'm working through them as I go.

 

Keep up the nice work. WE all can use inspiration from people like you!

 

Nice work! Takes a lot of effort and dedication to put one back together, especially at the level of detail you are putting into it. Keep it up!

 

There is a TKX for sale in the C2 forum. I think the shifter is in the correct place. You will have to call the guy then Silversport to confirm
Also please blow out you vacuum tank really well and tape the ports. If you forget to clean it when it's assembled all the forgotten junk in the tank will get sucked into your new motor.

Great job so far. I hope your are bagging and cataloging all the screws and bolts so you can put her back together. Depending on your location Vintage air is a nice upgrade. There is also a rack and pinion conversion on our for sale section. I was considering it but the stock system is rubbing my aftermarket 427 pan , so I don't think it will fit my car

 

I'll definitely blow it out, but the ports were taped when it was in the booth. I'm still freaked that something will have snuck in though, so I'll be doing one more blowout before it goes back in.

I'm in Maryland, so it's definitely warm and humid here. I already have it in the plan, especially given the state the old blower was in.

The OCD is strong here, this is 1 of 4 containers I have so far.

 

That is awesome...I used ziplock bags but thats is just perfect!!!

 

I think I bought the same bags!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

Like $20 for 100 bags in an assortment of sizes from Amazon? I like that they're nice and thick, with a good area to write on so my sharpie doesn't smudge!

 

Not a lot of progress in the last few weeks, really just continuing to clean up parts with the blaster and getting them ready for a good etching primer. Today I played hookie from work and spent some time doing a final clean on everything that had been blasted so far and hit it all with Eastwood Fastetch. I like the way it worked, and I should be able to let the parts sit for a bit until I'm ready to prime.

 

Next is likely the biggest challenge I'll face with the car: the windshield frame is a typical C3 rust-swiss-cheese trainwreck. I called a few restoration / bodywork places within a reasonable distance of me and no one really wants the job. The top, both upper corners, the sides, and most of the lower corners are useless. As I look at the current state I'm thinking it's a front clip and firewall removal to do the job properly, plus like $1500ish in parts. That's assuming the pillars are salvageable. The only shop that would consider it quoted $10k, and they're booked months out.

I'm about at the point where I've decided to do it myself. I signed up for a MIG welding class for next week and if it goes reasonably well I'm going to do it. Some quick napkin math looks like I could take the class, buy all the parts, buy a good welder with all the safety gear and everything to get started and STILL have it cost less than 1/2 the price I was quoted.

The ultimate goal is to get the birdcage in good enough shape that I can get the body off the frame before winter really hits. That way I can spend the winter removing everything off the frame bit by bit, blasting all the components, and be in a position to have the frame blasted and treated by spring. Taking on the windshield myself not only saves enough to put in a lift for free, but sets me up to be able to do any frame welding necessary over the winter as well. I have solid DIY skills, I do all the carpentry, electrical and cabinet making around here - so I think this is something I'm about to learn.

Current status of the windshield frame:








Who out there thinks I'm crazy for trying this myself?? I'm sure I can learn to weld, and I'm really looking forward to it. The only thin I'm really nervous about is getting the measurements all perfect. I think I'm about to make a jig and do a lot of measuring...