BluE9
Member
Hi all,
Greg here, my story is a bit long but I hope an interesting one. First let me say that this is a wonderful Forum and without it we couldn’t have gotten as far as we have with our car!! When we decided to move from NYC to farm country we realized that we needed a station car for the purposes of commuting and getting the kids around town. Now I must say that I am a Corvette guy and in general a Chevy fan (no hissing please) but on the other hand anything with a motor and clutch tends to peak my interest.
With the introduction of fuel injection and lots of years between me and the carbureted vehicles that I grew up with I somehow forgot all the cool things about those types of engines. It wasn’t until we moved and I could smell all the farm equipment and lawn mowers burping out black smoke from loud two stroke engines with the smell of gasoline in the background that I realized I was missing a classic machine in the line up.
So the search began. Why not an old Chevy? Eh, we already enjoy our 06 Vette and besides why not something different. In my youth I remember taking a ride with a friend’s family into the Catskill Mountains for a camping trip back in 1976 and clearly recall how striking the car was. It was a red 2500CS with a black interior. As a kid I had never ridden in a car like this before and thought it was a lot cooler than the Duster our family was packed into.
Remembering this made me begin to look for a clean, low mileage 2002. I was willing to put some cash into it if I could find one that I liked. As it turns out I came across a Blue 1971 2800CS that was a southern car and only on its’ fourth owner: the second owner was the buyers son and the third and fourth a neighbor, making me the fifth. I know this based on the records supplied with the purchase.
So we bought the car for about $10K based on photos and a great deal of honest disclosure from the owner. It also came with many parts including an extra five speed ZF. We had it shipped to German Auto Specialists in Plymouth Meeting PA for a thorough shake-out. Upon its arrival the car started and ran without many complaints. Our direction to them was to make the car safe, reliable and drivable. German Auto Specialists are the kind of folks who treat you like family and treat these wonderful cars with the reverence they disserve. “Precession, Exactitude and Excellence” is not their advertised motto but it should be.
So it took almost seven month to source parts, do work, and make scope decisions but when the day came to drive it home I think I was smiling so much that my teeth got a sun burn. What a car!!! As I understand the production numbers from Wikipedia: in 1971 there were only 183 units with manual transmissions imported into the USA. Making this an interesting and exciting find!
THE CAR
When we got the car it had almost 60K miles on it with original paint that is in good condition from ten feet away. There are some minor chips and scratches but no outward body rust because this car was a garaged southern car. The interior finishes are worn and tired but still highly functional.
For now we have done the mechanical work and plan to slowly restore the interior and paint. The original carpet is in great shape so we will leave it alone. The trunk is tired as well and the tool storage bin is broken but still seems to have some of the original bulbs that came in that compartment. The clock does not work but that’s ok with us. In all we are extremely happy with what we have. That is to say a fairly good specimen of this junior classic. The car seems to get lots of looks and we are constantly answering questions about it. It’s a great ride.
Below is a “greatest hits” list of the things we addressed. We likely did more than we needed to but doing it all at once instead of waiting for components to fail made more sense to us. Thanks for reading and enjoy the photos at the end of the post!
New springs and shocks – lowered the front end a bit
New bushing in lower control arms
New differential mount and drive shaft flex joint
Bought used Getrag 4 Speed and rebuilt transmission and shifter parts
New clutch, pressure plate and clutch master cylinder
Complete overhaul to Air Conditioning system including:
New compressor, receiver dryer, conversion kit, expansion valve, custom hoses, compressor control, Universal auxiliary fan kit, evaporator fan switch, etc..A/C works great now!
New Optima Red Top Battery
New mufflers – we used tubular glass pack mufflers designed for a 2003 Jaguar as the original system is available but a bit costly and this provided a decent alternative. Also a nice “throaty” note.
Four new tires + spare – Goodyear Assurance
Replaced all hoses and belts
New: water pump, re-manufactured starter and re-built alternator
New: Distributor cap & rotor, ignition wire set, plugs, fuses, air / fuel and oil filter. Replaced all fluids. We retrofitted the distributor with a “Hot Sparks Electronic Ignition Kit" and new coil.
Front brakes just needed a bit of clean up and service, Rear drums needed new shoes and cylinders and the drums had to be cut. New brake lines all the way around plus new master cylinder and new E brake.
We opted to mount a new electronic fuel pump by the differential. This car came with an eclectic fuel pump that was mounted in the trunk and was quite noisy.
New cooling system expansion tank and thermostat with new seals and hoses for all cooling system components. The larger radiator fan was already installed.
Two new engine mounts
New - door & window seals
Refurbished and preformed maintenance on all window motors and replaced window switches. They all work just fine now!
New washer pump retrofitted from a Porsche 928
We found a bit of rust in the rear passenger floor panels so rather than doing a patch we cut them and welded in new panels. This was the only area that seemed to have any significant rust.
Cleaned and rebuilt the Weber Carburetors
New “O” ring at gas fill to stop fuel odor in trunk
We are currently getting about 17MPG around town and 20-21 MPG highway even with the air conditioning on and it seems to run well on 91 octane
Greg here, my story is a bit long but I hope an interesting one. First let me say that this is a wonderful Forum and without it we couldn’t have gotten as far as we have with our car!! When we decided to move from NYC to farm country we realized that we needed a station car for the purposes of commuting and getting the kids around town. Now I must say that I am a Corvette guy and in general a Chevy fan (no hissing please) but on the other hand anything with a motor and clutch tends to peak my interest.
With the introduction of fuel injection and lots of years between me and the carbureted vehicles that I grew up with I somehow forgot all the cool things about those types of engines. It wasn’t until we moved and I could smell all the farm equipment and lawn mowers burping out black smoke from loud two stroke engines with the smell of gasoline in the background that I realized I was missing a classic machine in the line up.
So the search began. Why not an old Chevy? Eh, we already enjoy our 06 Vette and besides why not something different. In my youth I remember taking a ride with a friend’s family into the Catskill Mountains for a camping trip back in 1976 and clearly recall how striking the car was. It was a red 2500CS with a black interior. As a kid I had never ridden in a car like this before and thought it was a lot cooler than the Duster our family was packed into.
Remembering this made me begin to look for a clean, low mileage 2002. I was willing to put some cash into it if I could find one that I liked. As it turns out I came across a Blue 1971 2800CS that was a southern car and only on its’ fourth owner: the second owner was the buyers son and the third and fourth a neighbor, making me the fifth. I know this based on the records supplied with the purchase.
So we bought the car for about $10K based on photos and a great deal of honest disclosure from the owner. It also came with many parts including an extra five speed ZF. We had it shipped to German Auto Specialists in Plymouth Meeting PA for a thorough shake-out. Upon its arrival the car started and ran without many complaints. Our direction to them was to make the car safe, reliable and drivable. German Auto Specialists are the kind of folks who treat you like family and treat these wonderful cars with the reverence they disserve. “Precession, Exactitude and Excellence” is not their advertised motto but it should be.
So it took almost seven month to source parts, do work, and make scope decisions but when the day came to drive it home I think I was smiling so much that my teeth got a sun burn. What a car!!! As I understand the production numbers from Wikipedia: in 1971 there were only 183 units with manual transmissions imported into the USA. Making this an interesting and exciting find!
THE CAR
When we got the car it had almost 60K miles on it with original paint that is in good condition from ten feet away. There are some minor chips and scratches but no outward body rust because this car was a garaged southern car. The interior finishes are worn and tired but still highly functional.
For now we have done the mechanical work and plan to slowly restore the interior and paint. The original carpet is in great shape so we will leave it alone. The trunk is tired as well and the tool storage bin is broken but still seems to have some of the original bulbs that came in that compartment. The clock does not work but that’s ok with us. In all we are extremely happy with what we have. That is to say a fairly good specimen of this junior classic. The car seems to get lots of looks and we are constantly answering questions about it. It’s a great ride.
Below is a “greatest hits” list of the things we addressed. We likely did more than we needed to but doing it all at once instead of waiting for components to fail made more sense to us. Thanks for reading and enjoy the photos at the end of the post!
New springs and shocks – lowered the front end a bit
New bushing in lower control arms
New differential mount and drive shaft flex joint
Bought used Getrag 4 Speed and rebuilt transmission and shifter parts
New clutch, pressure plate and clutch master cylinder
Complete overhaul to Air Conditioning system including:
New compressor, receiver dryer, conversion kit, expansion valve, custom hoses, compressor control, Universal auxiliary fan kit, evaporator fan switch, etc..A/C works great now!
New Optima Red Top Battery
New mufflers – we used tubular glass pack mufflers designed for a 2003 Jaguar as the original system is available but a bit costly and this provided a decent alternative. Also a nice “throaty” note.
Four new tires + spare – Goodyear Assurance
Replaced all hoses and belts
New: water pump, re-manufactured starter and re-built alternator
New: Distributor cap & rotor, ignition wire set, plugs, fuses, air / fuel and oil filter. Replaced all fluids. We retrofitted the distributor with a “Hot Sparks Electronic Ignition Kit" and new coil.
Front brakes just needed a bit of clean up and service, Rear drums needed new shoes and cylinders and the drums had to be cut. New brake lines all the way around plus new master cylinder and new E brake.
We opted to mount a new electronic fuel pump by the differential. This car came with an eclectic fuel pump that was mounted in the trunk and was quite noisy.
New cooling system expansion tank and thermostat with new seals and hoses for all cooling system components. The larger radiator fan was already installed.
Two new engine mounts
New - door & window seals
Refurbished and preformed maintenance on all window motors and replaced window switches. They all work just fine now!
New washer pump retrofitted from a Porsche 928
We found a bit of rust in the rear passenger floor panels so rather than doing a patch we cut them and welded in new panels. This was the only area that seemed to have any significant rust.
Cleaned and rebuilt the Weber Carburetors
New “O” ring at gas fill to stop fuel odor in trunk
We are currently getting about 17MPG around town and 20-21 MPG highway even with the air conditioning on and it seems to run well on 91 octane
