Well, I purchased another teener yesterday, red '74 2.0l with center console, front and rear sway bars. A new member, Chris Spence, had the car for sale locally. I looked at the car last weekend and decided I 'needed' another project car to work on. We completed the deal yesterday. I talked with Paul (URY914) and he agreed to help me transport the car from Chris' house to my new shop, thanks again Paul....

The car is drivable, but it's making a 'strange and expensive' knocking noise, so I felt it would be prudent to tow the car, then have an engine 'expert' diagnose the problem.....


Here are the pics....

This is the pre-purchase side shot Chris sent me....

Pre-purchase interior

front trunk...

longs...

close up of jack post

preparing to load car onto Paul's trailer...

This is a shot of Paul and his daughter, Emily, tying the car down on the trailer...

Paul, thanks again for all of your assistance....

cool What do you have planned for it?

I'm going to strip the tar from the interior, fix the rust that is found, rebuild the brakes, repaint the car the original color, fix the engine and put it back together. It still have the original FI and I want to keep it. I'm going to try to accomplish the restoration within a year. It will be the twin of my current car, but with FI....

I guess this will be the beginning of the restoration thread.... stayed tuned...

-- Rob

Cool! They are just addicting aren't they? I think I enjoy working on them almost as much as driving them. If you want me to listen to that weird knocking noise for you just let me know. I also know from experience what the loose cam gear problem sounds like.

John

QUOTE (stock93 @ Feb 5 2006, 11:01 AM)

Cool! They are just addicting aren't they? I think I enjoy working on them almost as much as driving them. If you want me to listen to that weird knocking noise for you just let me know. I also know from experience what the loose cam gear problem sounds like. John

Yea John, they are addicting.... I agree with you, I enjoy working on them as much as I enjoy driving them....

Whenever you're available on a Sunday, you expertise in diagonizing the knocking will be greately appreciated....

-- Rob

I might be able to come look at it after this next tampa breakfast if I make it over there. I start a new part time job on wednesday so I dont know what my schedual will be yet.

John

Well, I"ve begun the restoration process. I've removed the hood, front bumper and front wheels.

Here's a shot of the passenger front fender. It appears to be previously repaired, but poorly. I'll cut this section out and replace with a better one.

sfdfsvv

I've removed the headlights and the associated buckets.

Headling buckets, cleaned and painted.

QUOTE (watsonrx13 @ Feb 20 2006, 03:26 PM)

Well, I"ve begun the restoration process. I've removed the hood, front bumper and front wheels.

I like what looks like the original spare wheel and tire. Is that the original spare Continental 165R15 tire?

Hey Steve, I checked the tire, it's a 165r15, but not a Continental....

Anyway, I removed the passenger fender. There was up to 1/2" bondo where they tried to hide the damage. I removed all of the bondo and cut the damaged area off. Here's a shot of the fender removed....

Here's another shot...

And the damaged piece...

Uh Rob, That's not how you put flares on......

You are truly a master at that body work stuff.

Thanks Joe, I figured if you can dis-figure your car, I can do the same to mine.....

QUOTE (watsonrx13 @ Mar 5 2006, 05:00 PM)

Thanks Joe, I figured if you can dis-figure your car, I can do the same to mine.....

Damn that's gonna leave a mark. Wanna race?

I removed the fuel tank today. Here's the fuel that was drained from the tank.... not the best

Here's what it looks like underneath the tank...

Here's another shot...

Look what I found underneath the tank...

Here's a close up. Is this the original screwdriver? BTW, it came apart in 3 sections...

Well, I began installing the new fender. I worked several hours trimming and fitting before I was ready to position the part. Here's a shot of it in place before welding....

Here's the inside attachment...

Began the welding....

I still have more welding, then a LOT of grinding, but I feel pretty good that it's position correctly...

QUOTE (watsonrx13 @ Mar 21 2006, 06:48 PM)

Here's a close up. Is this the original screwdriver? BTW, it came apart in 3 sections...

I found a screwdriver and wrench under my tank too, weird

QUOTE (jd74914 @ Mar 27 2006, 08:42 PM)

QUOTE (watsonrx13 @ Mar 21 2006, 06:48 PM) Here's a close up. Is this the original screwdriver? BTW, it came apart in 3 sections... I found a screwdriver and wrench under my tank too, weird

Yea, I guess it was a lot easier to just 'forget' the screwdriver, then try to remove the tank....

BTW, after cleaning the screwdriver, it turns out to be a Snap-On. I wonder if they would replace it?

-- Rob

Damn Rob You sure do weld Purdy.

My turn to whack ya. HOWZ that other car running? no, not the Miata. the other red 914.

Rob,
Better check your tank. It looks like part of it was left behind on that shelf that it sits on. Mine was the same was. Rusted out right were that felt pad is. I got a pretty good tank you can have if you need it.

P

Paul if you had any metal on your car you could trade Rob some spiffy welding for some fancy carb tuning.

Ground down the welds, added several thin layers of bondo and a single layer of spot putty. This should hold it until I get to prime, then paint it. I'll prime it with etch primer soon. BTW, the bondo took most of the day. Bondo, sand, repeat as needed....

Nice job, Rob.

Well, after a very HOT summer, dropping the front suspension and weeks of prep work, I finally added a single primer coat....

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Lookin' Good Rob.

Thanks John. It was great seeing you again, meeting Felix and Ed....

Man, I'm so tired from the trip, but it was definately worth it....

-- Rob

Added paint to the front section....

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xxx

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I've reinstalled the front suspension...

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and the front brakes, less the calipers... I'll be sending the calipers to Eric for a rebuild.

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-- Rob

Worked on the car again this weekend. It was a very productive one, too. I began working on the interior. I began by removing the tar on the floor and the glue from the rear firewall. After removing the seam sealer in the corner of the floor, I found a section behind the passenger seat had rusted out.

Here's the before shot...

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Here's the batch that I created...

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After cutting, fitting, welding, bondoing, spraying primer, here's the final piece... after about 6 hours...

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Installed the fuel tank...

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Installed and adjusted the headlights...

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...

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-- Rob

Installed the front trunk....

BTW, I still have to do the final adjustment, but I'll work on that when I do the outside body work...

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And, installed the horns...

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-- Rob

Rob your the MAN....You make it look so easy.....