This season I was detirmined to get the car finally back on its wheels. I always feel like I’m working slowly – and I am – but the results are worth it and I can’t see anything changing. This will take me a long time to complete but I am enjoying every hour in the garage. A large piece of the puzzle was the new shocks from Koni made availavble by MSA. The timing was perfect and I took advatage of the pre-order as soon as I could. The fit and finish is fantastic but obviously it’ll be a while …
It’s On Wheels
I’ve waited a long time to say that, “It’s on wheels”. Five years and two months to be exact. I’ve come a long way and there’s some way to go yet but oh, what a satisfying milestone to see the car on wheels and steering around. It has injected a lot of enthusiasm in the project; even the wife is starting to appreciate the car with it’s quintessential ’70’s shade of mustard showing off the beautiful sleek design. Here’s a small reminder of the car as I bought it. And a few after I stripped it. And just a short …
Suspension Detail
Immensely satisfying to be finally assembling components instead of cleaning decades of grease off them. This is what I was picturing all those years ago when I set out to restore a car. The reality is not far from the fantasy in this case. A smile grows to a grin each time the roller door winds up. Hopefully I can keep up the momentum now that I’m on a roll. Get it?
Summer 2019
Spring Break is Over! This has been the longest break I’ve taken from the car. A whole 6 months! While I know breaks like this severely delay the completion of the project, they are necessary, healthy, and sometimes unavoidable. How can you resist that little adorable face!? Her birth coincided with the start of my break and you can see why. Discussion over. As the year ticked over I made my way up the coast to meet with a dear friend for the first time. We had been in contact for a few years talking cars and finally got to …
Stepping Up From Rattlecans
Painting is effing hard! To do it right anyway. I’ve rattle canned my fair share and I can shake a can with the best of ’em. This time I thought I would invest in a spray gun and all the gear that goes along with it to get a hard wearing and lasting finish on the suspension gear. Upfront costs equate to paying someone else to do it but it’s an investment in my skills and it’ll pay for itself the second time I use it. The diff, axles, and fuel tank are all in need of a similar durable …
Steelies, Hubcaps & Aquajets
I first contacted the owner in Dec 2016 and over 2 years later I have collected these wheels and hubcaps. The hubcaps have never been fitted but unfortunately some moisture got to them and they have surface rust. It’s mostly on the inside but the important thing is all four are straight. They’re not the early type but I’m happy to use them until I can find a correct set. As part of the deal there were seven hubcaps with three heavily rusted and only good as wall decorations. The Topy steelies are all in good condition and will scrub …