Hello Gang,
This will likely be slowly meandering thread on the restoration of a '74 3.0 CS that I picked up from California this past fall. I'm new to e9's and don't fancy myself handy with a wrench ( failing on both aspects of Red Green's quote "if women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy" ), so the results should be interesting.
The ad:
Looks great doesn't it?!
Well that was at the car's peak in 2014. Wasn't used much since that picture, sat around and got flabby, or maybe I'm confusing what happened to me when we had kids...
It received the papal blessing from none other that sfdon, who said it had good potential. (Just like my grade school teachers would say when they were trying to be nice to my parents about my school performance.) Anyhoo, I didn't grow up to become a criminal, so Don's advice was well taken, and I purchased the car.
My son and I smuggled it across the border one weekend and I managed to get it licenced in BC with only a few hiccups, none that were insurmountable. The plan is to buff it up a bit and keep it going as a driver. Being born with all thumbs and living in the frozen tundra will limit what I can do, but ignorance is bliss.
Driving a 40+ car is a new experience for me. Being raised on fuel injection, the whole choke thing takes some getting used to. It seems to start cold fairly well and driving is fine. However it tends to stall when slowing down at lights, leaving me wondering why I never learned to heel-toe. I've overshot the stop line once or twice when I stall her and lose the power braking, but no harm done yet. The idle will return slowly and she can sit at a light once it has returned, it's just losing those rpm's on the way to stopping and wondering if they will completely go, or if they will return to a slow idle that is a bit disconcerting. So likely first order will be a idle adjustment!
The car:
She has seen better times, but hopefully there will be many more to come. One bad eye, vinyl interior missing a few bits and '74 bumpers, but good structure.
It has a dark blue headliner. Has anyone noticed that before? I've only seen white on other cars, but what do I know.
The previous owner was very practical. Did a great job re-upholstering everything, but chose vinyl.
Also chose map pocket delete, no door chrome strips and later model door arm rests. Oh well...
The engine bay is messy, but I hope that messy is something I can do!
The trunk is also missing a few things, but the journey is part of the fun.
I have a malleable plan: spit and polish for now, and in a few years replace engine with 3.5 fuel injection and 5 spd LSD and redo the interior in leather.
Realistically, I'll do what she-whom-must-be-obeyed will allow me to do.
This forum has been a great resource, and I apologise in advance for being such a needy bast*rdo, but the kinship has inspired me to try something new, try and keep my son out of video gaming if not for a few minutes, and hopefully have something we can be proud of for years to come.
Please bear with me...
This will likely be slowly meandering thread on the restoration of a '74 3.0 CS that I picked up from California this past fall. I'm new to e9's and don't fancy myself handy with a wrench ( failing on both aspects of Red Green's quote "if women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy" ), so the results should be interesting.
The ad:
Looks great doesn't it?!
Well that was at the car's peak in 2014. Wasn't used much since that picture, sat around and got flabby, or maybe I'm confusing what happened to me when we had kids...
It received the papal blessing from none other that sfdon, who said it had good potential. (Just like my grade school teachers would say when they were trying to be nice to my parents about my school performance.) Anyhoo, I didn't grow up to become a criminal, so Don's advice was well taken, and I purchased the car.
My son and I smuggled it across the border one weekend and I managed to get it licenced in BC with only a few hiccups, none that were insurmountable. The plan is to buff it up a bit and keep it going as a driver. Being born with all thumbs and living in the frozen tundra will limit what I can do, but ignorance is bliss.
Driving a 40+ car is a new experience for me. Being raised on fuel injection, the whole choke thing takes some getting used to. It seems to start cold fairly well and driving is fine. However it tends to stall when slowing down at lights, leaving me wondering why I never learned to heel-toe. I've overshot the stop line once or twice when I stall her and lose the power braking, but no harm done yet. The idle will return slowly and she can sit at a light once it has returned, it's just losing those rpm's on the way to stopping and wondering if they will completely go, or if they will return to a slow idle that is a bit disconcerting. So likely first order will be a idle adjustment!
The car:
She has seen better times, but hopefully there will be many more to come. One bad eye, vinyl interior missing a few bits and '74 bumpers, but good structure.
It has a dark blue headliner. Has anyone noticed that before? I've only seen white on other cars, but what do I know.
The previous owner was very practical. Did a great job re-upholstering everything, but chose vinyl.
Also chose map pocket delete, no door chrome strips and later model door arm rests. Oh well...
The engine bay is messy, but I hope that messy is something I can do!
The trunk is also missing a few things, but the journey is part of the fun.
I have a malleable plan: spit and polish for now, and in a few years replace engine with 3.5 fuel injection and 5 spd LSD and redo the interior in leather.
Realistically, I'll do what she-whom-must-be-obeyed will allow me to do.
This forum has been a great resource, and I apologise in advance for being such a needy bast*rdo, but the kinship has inspired me to try something new, try and keep my son out of video gaming if not for a few minutes, and hopefully have something we can be proud of for years to come.
Please bear with me...
