I took some time to inspect Kevin's car this morning. These are my impressions from this car:
116K miles is likely correct from the look of this car, it has had one exterior repaint that was done with proper prep including removal of all the light and trim (no over spray). Unfortunately they did remove the door jamb vin stamp during this process. The color appears to have more metallic fleck and is a bit 'brighter than the original as seen under the hoods and trunks.
This car does not have any evidence of accident, body damage or repair.
This is an example of a clean Central California survivor that has likely been garaged for the majority of its existence and has not been subjected to the central California sun/heat. The rubber seals and the bumper tops are supple and soft and aside from forward door to windscreen seals, they are all in good shape.
This car is free from rust in the usual places including the battery tray, the 'hell holes', the cowl and the door jambs. This car does not have undercoating and is extremely dry and free from corrosion. The lower firewall is clean and unrusted or damaged from the typical pulled clutch cable.
There are a few minor cosmetic imperfections including paint touch-up over what appears to be a rock chip on the passenger front fender, a rock chip on the passenger door, a small dent near the top of the rear fender. On the drivers door there are a few minor mars/scratches that may be able to be buffed out. The paint at the cowl has a couple of minor chips. The front bumper has a few dents, likely from rocks and not from accidents.
The rear decklid passenger hinge has had an attempt at repair that includes welding. This looks to be functional (although not pretty) but the result is that the passenger side decklid sits 2-3 mm higher than it should.
The rear trunk has had drain holes drilled in the rear trunk floor but does not have any evidence of rust, these are ~2mm holes and there are approximately 10-12 of these.
The headlight surrounds appear to be original for the year but have been painted black, the black pain has flaked off in a few places to reveal the correct white material.
The interior is very clean with minor wear on the drivers bolster in two places without rips or separation. The dash is perfect as are the door panels. The only evident modification to the interior is the radio, but Kevin does have the original.
The mechanicals appear to be mostly original with the exception of an aftermarket muffler and the side-shift conversion. It does have KYB rear shocks and no swaybars.
The car drives very nicely including proper shifting with good synchros on all gears. The car started up easily and idled pretty smoothly. The power was less than I remembered in my old 72 1.7 but this may be my faulty memory. The power band did pickup from 3.5K-4K RPMs.
Thanks again Kevin for letting me check out your car today.
Pictures can be found here:
Inspection pictures