Restoration Wednesday – It’s Back

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The smallest touches can make the difference. Like having my car parked outside waiting for me as I drove up with truck and trailer. The stance was right. All my work restoring the entire front end suspension paid off. And the fact that it had nothing to do with it. It’s the wheels. A larger than stock BBS mesh wheel with 225/60 r15s gave it a slightly aggressive profile. Another subtle cosmetic treatment was de-trimming the car. So at least I get credit for doing as little work as possible to change the look. But who had the vision? Am I right?

What did Autocore do for it? Dropped the tranny to replace all the bearings: throw out, pilot and input shaft. They were all worn but the input shaft made horrible noises. I contemplated driving it home. But the last repair receipt showed 103,716 miles on September 8, 1987. It had 108,613 when I bought it. I have to imagine they drove it after the documented rebuild for 5,000, the bearing went bad, so they parked it 33 years ago. Despite all mine and Stephen Cramer’s work, I don’t trust a car who’s had a fixed view since 1988 rolling down Michigan’s chop and churn tarmacs. Good thing too. I did drive it around at home, odometer now says 108,622. But when I was looking at the engine I noticed a slight drip from the carb onto the intake manifold. A fire waiting to happen. I’ll rebuild the carburetors and try again soon. It’s good to have it home.

 

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