Hey all,
Took possession of a car I had been trying to buy for 20 years from a friend. Ultimately he gave it to me. Shortly thereafter I joined the world and made a few contacts that have been very help full. This thread is being generated as a thank you to all the members that helped me along the way. Thanks guys. This is what my 73 2.0 looked like when I loaded itClick to view attachment

I built a sandrail in the late 80's and I put a 215 Buick in a mid engine chassis and really loved driving it, so I started to hunt for one when I made contact with JRust. Thanks for providing a buildable core.Click to view attachment Click to view attachment
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Having saved the headers I built for the sand car when I sold the motor to a guy that said he was building a replica Dan Gurney Indy car from I think he said 1965, some minor cutting and welding to reconfigure and presto a set of 180 degree bundle of snakes for my new project. Decided 3" would sound and run well so here is what I did.Click to view attachment
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Stay tuned everyone, I'll try and make time tomorrow to post more progress

Very cool!

Jim

Nice. This is going to be a fun build. Keep the pictures coming.

well things began to move along well but that's not to suggest there wouldn't be a glitch every now and again. Because the distributor is on the front of the motor there was an issue with clearance with the firewall so I had to as much as I didn't want to cut an access panel hole so I could time dizzy and service cooling system without having to break the egg to get to the yoke. these pics show the access cut and how I finished by making a cover that would look sweet inside the car
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Next phase would be setting up a system to keep this thing from scrambling an egg so I sourced out an aluminum radiator and began fabbing up some cooling recovery and expansion pots as well as all the braided lines for the electric water pump. Water pump on motor was abandoned and blocked off as can be seen in a previous pic also in an effort to fit behind firewall.
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Ignition is all located in the front compartment and I went with a complete MSD as they are easy to install and pretty idiot proof which works out well for me as im not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to electrical. I'm better at cutting and welding or assembling engines than trying to find out why my horn won't work.

Cool car dude!

Sent the retrofit set of headers and the 3" flowmaster exhaust out to be ceramic coated and finished up some wiring and plumbing in the front and rear compartments and decided building a truss to keep things from flexing too much in rear compartment would be to my benefit as I had removed most of the sheet metal so I could see engine and exhaust set up. figured it might help if any service was required.
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sorry about second pic of firewall covered in dynamat (its actually a much cheaper product available at home depot in the roofing section. comes in a 6" wide roll about 40 feet long. trust me its exactly like dynamat just 5 times easier on the checkbook)

Sweet engine! Watching this one...

You got to see it in the garage! Mr. senior member

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Just down the street from you by OC / John Wayne Airport. Looking forward to seeing this beauty up close

Love the exhaust system! Very nice.

Where you going to put your Targa Top?

Just kidding, Very nice quality build. Please keep posting updates, I'm hooked.

Love it! I have one of them thar Buicks in my ride as well, running the MSD Atomic FI. Check it out in my signature link. Keep going, it looks great so far!

Please let me know if you plan on selling it.

Honestly, have you thought about putting the roof in the trunk?

Eric Thanks, checked out your little ol little ol and loved it. hope you went with the multicolored herringbone interior. loved the wrap and really curious about the atomic EFI. my biggest issue is the gearbox ratio and runnin out of gearbox too quickly. car is almost 100% now just need to post more pics.

Mine was regeared by dr. Evil and a previous owner. 1st locked out. It works great but I don't know what the ratios are. The gears are pretty long, 2nd is good for a little over 60. Good for autocross. What redline are you running with that motor?

That looks so nice I think you should drive it around town w/o rear lids!
That would be "outlaw!"

Not sure where i'm red, just would like to lower RPM on frwy some so it doesn't sound like a VW bus screaming at 75 MPH. power band is sweet and wont stop pulling hard but long cruises on frwy concern me.

Im having trouble posting more pics and should probably walk away before a hammer sounds like a good option. I'll see what can be done to correct the issue and try again later.

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Did a little work on interior to get it looking presentable, grey pepper carpet throughout, and some leatherette and tweed with some red stitch covered all the pieces as well as the home built console and armrest console gave me the look i'd hoped for. Nachos in Long Beach does good work and was happy to help. Now its off to paint

Very nice...I like your style. One word of caution...mounting your fuel pump up front makes it susceptible to vapor lock. I did the same with my first build years ago and ultimately had to relocate it to under the gas tank. My current build has it mounted under the cowl in front of the passenger foot well. Good luck!

My problematic Set-up
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clean install, i'm amazed at the talent shown in some of the home builds in the threads here. Thanks for the heads up on fuel

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after a bit of work the car looks spectacular and the painter was happy that there wasn't any rust repair or body work(dents) that needed to be repaired. Paint and body was all provided by a friend in Huntington Beach Lance "Bones" Rowlett. Car is currently being driven and is a blast to drive. there are some finishing touches required a little overspray here and there, gauge cluster lighting needs to be looked at as the headlight switch needed to be replaced and I may have connected something wrong or blown a fuse. Next major acquisition would be a gearbox with taller gears as this thing gets up and boogies but runs out of gear on the frwy.
Thanks for all the kind comments, hope to see you all at the gatherings and on the frwys.

Fantastic build. Paint is really amazing. Dr Evil can take care of your trans needs if you don't have anyone in mind already.

Enjoy it!

We got the opportunity to see this beauty at Bruce Stones swap meet on Sunday. The craftmanship is outstanding. Looks like Vinnie set a 914 body on a Pantera chassis....

Nice, nice and more nice.....makes me not want to take pics of my car and work
(when I start working on it)

What is that paint color called?

Great stitch work! What did that cost you if you dont mind me asking?

Awesome looking car.

That's a kickass power unit.

What kind of brakes do you have for it? Couldn't tell from the pics.

It's house of color candy red over Orion silver base

All the stitch and interior was done in stages as the project progressed and components were built but what I will say is I couldn't have had the work done anywhere else for less.

Brakes are 5 lug conversions from 911

I might suggest you add a thermal protector on the bottom of your rear trunk lid. Those mufflers could hear up your new paint unfavorably.

Great looking project!