Will have to start somewhere

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Elu, just my opinion but when the original rocker covers are put on and painted the correct black it thins out the body and gives the car a sleeker look, also, there are openings between the front fenders that are designed to drain water so it would mean allot of re-engineering and not just re-design if you were to change that around. I'm learning allot about the car as I go through it and the cleaning is a big part of that learning curve. When you go at these things you notice all sorts of little quirks, and like my punk kid I keep asking why, why, why, and when I try to change something I usually find the answer

 

[eludvigs]

Ha. I was saying why why why today when pulling the door glass and components out.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

As long as the door did not answer back "because, because, because"!

Well, since the business day was a bit slow today I got a little more work done. I can't believe she should be driving in a couple of weeks, God willing! Like all men I complain allot and I was running low on vocabulary to describe the "erzatz, monkey-snot" 3rd party undercoating that was sprayed on the poor polaris coupe. It all had to be removed because either it was mixed 1:1 with sand when applied or driven through the sand before the stuff dried. I guess it's better than repairing rust but I could not find any places where it was sprayed that did not have plenty of the original undercoating left and I think they got it on every conceivable part of the mechanicals under the car. I think the bottom came clean easier because there was less applied but the wheel wells are a different story, anyhow, quite nasty- and boring- sorry. I tried to get the Wurth Grey but I think it is only available in gallons and not rattle cans, so I had to use Wurth black, I did leave the entire undercar original though- I figure if someone wants to buy it some day they can see how clean it is, plus I can only drive one car at a time and being a partial follower of some of William Morris' ideals, something is only as beautiful as it is useful, I fear if I have too many cars that I can't drive I will be in "artistic error".

I documented the mess with some pictures and then took a couple of shots of the blue one since one of our fine forum members was kind enough to deliver a very fashionable steering wheel and knob. I have not finished all the trim work on the headliner of the blue coupe so I am embarrassed to reveal its state at the moment but it's coming along. The final step on the blue one is to remove the dash and have it re-done (final ha!).

And to finish off the season, I guess my team is getting used to me missing in action when I should be working so they got me a Christmas gift to keep me busy.. Thus the earlier reference to Salvador Dali in an adjoining post
I think it's their way of saying that they're running the business better than I can....

Pictures below

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Looks like the folks who live in climates "sans penguins" got allot of work done on their cars over the break!

I pretty much finished up the rear end, brakes, parking brakes, new fluid, and then had to scrape, prime and re-seam seal the area close to where the fuel line runs front to back and that mess all has to dry so progress was a little slower than I would have liked, also took a little time to slap around the kids but there's always after work tomorrow! The bushings that I ordered for the rear sway bar were kind of small (ID) so I see myself possibly having to re do that job, I think these might be for a 2002, but maybe someone can tell me if I'm incorrect. Also pictured is a piece of channel steel that I attached to 2 lug nuts on the rear drum to help me seat the spring and mount the shock; I just put the floor jack under the steel piece and since it was attached at 2 points it made slipping less of an issue, but still have to be careful . And I hope you don't mind that I shared a picture of the blue coup's new home and a couple of her friends. Wheels (4 of 5) were sent out to get cleaned and repaired- that's maintenance- right? I hope to get the trunk finished now that the fuel line is in and tight so that may make for some interesting pics if I do it correctly. I posted a couple pictures below just to keep the thread alive

 

[eludvigs]

Lookin good man. No idea on those bushings. The sways on my car are aftermarket so I have nothing to compare them to.

Is that an Iris Blue Targa back there? 85?

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Iris blue, 86

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Again, not much going on but I did manage to re-apply the elephant skin to one side of the trunk so I took a couple of shots. The old glue did come off with some scrubbing with a spirits soaked rag, heck of a way to end the day I might say. Anyhow, the idea is to bring her back to stock so nothing special. I think the exterior shot shows how nice a job Mario did for me fixing some dings and scratches below the trim line, he offered to have it done because he thought the rest of the car was near perfect and I was worried about matching the paint. Well, he assured me that he could, and I am a bit of a PIA about that stuff and I must say I am very glad he did the paint from the rear of the doors all the way around. I wish I had him do the blue coupe. anyhow, I also posted a before picture of the next section to be worked on and since it's "hidden" for the most part I am going to attempt to do the paint. I will meditate and pray for many hours before attempting and I hope my results are 1/10 as good as Mario's. Anyone having his shop do the body/paint is in very good hands in my opinion.

 

[adawil2002]

I will meditate and pray for many hours before attempting and I hope my results are 1/10 as good as Mario's. Anyone having his shop do the body/paint is in very good hands in my opinion.

Mario's Shop does excellent work, tough to beat for quality. Did Athena's rust repairs last year. Couldn't be happier with their work. Repainting the hood and doing a 5-speed swap currently.

Really enjoy your posts, Peter.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Andrew, please post some before and after shots, I think Mario will be VERY busy

Also, another forum member warned me about the glue being used on the elephant skin, his experience was that the 3M product only lasted about a year before the skin came loose. Does anyone have a suggestion on the correct adhesive to use- luckily I only put on one piece before being warned.

Thanks!

 

[HB Chris]

I used 3M and six years later no issues but they come in different strengths, get the highest number, e.g. 95 I think.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Thanks Chris, I'm using "90" so I'll check @ HD and see if they have a higher strength.

 

[Stevehose]

Might need to go to a body shop supplier if not at HD

Thanks Chris, I'm using "90" so I'll check @ HD and see if they have a higher strength.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Thanks for the help all! Well, moving from one sticky mess to another I realize that although the engine bay is still a mess there are lots of components to clean and untangle so i started on the wiring harness forward of the firewall. I'm not sure exactly what happened in there but between an electrician who knows less than I (which is very close to impossible), maybe a couple of members of the phylum rodentia, a decade of mold and some-dare I say- electrolysis there was quite a "dogs breakfast" in there. I unraveled, cleaned and checked for damaged wires and the only problems I saw were the ones caused by said above "electrician", however I did post some shots so we can possibly play that game "what's that wire"? ... or "why's that wire"? My sermon continues; for some reason on the headlamp connectors two wires from the harness are spliced-rather poorly- and then shoved in there. Does that have anything to do with a Halogen conversion? Possibly the high beams? this is on both sides of the harness (both hi beams), while one of the connectors is just left alone. also on one of the relays there are two wires that have melted the socket, are those relay sockets still available? and, is there a likely reason for this. So other than that, lots of fumes inhaled today, some tired fingers (have to skip the piano concert at the retirement center tonight) and another chance to find Waldo. I posted some pictures here but above I will point out the areas in question and reference the picture by name. Any help is always appreciated!

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

wiring puzzle

Ratsnest6 shows white with purple spliced together then shoved into headlamp receptacle, also pleas note cut wire (blue) where might that belong?

Ratsnest7 at about 1:O'clock, there are 2 white wires that melted the relay socket. Pourquoi?

Ratsnest8 is a better shot of the spliced wires going into the headlamp socket.

Ratsnest9; where does that green wire go?

Add Draino to the list of shop supplies- that was inside the drain tube by the wipers

 

[Stevehose]

Wow someone really buggered that wiring :-(

The substance in the drain pipe looks like contraband!

Ratsnest6 shows white with purple spliced together then shoved into headlamp receptacle, also pleas note cut wire (blue) where might that belong?

Ratsnest7 at about 1:O'clock, there are 2 white wires that melted the relay socket. Pourquoi?

Ratsnest8 is a better shot of the spliced wires going into the headlamp socket.

Ratsnest9; where does that green wire go?

Add Draino to the list of shop supplies- that was inside the drain tube by the wipers

 

[HB Chris]

White and white/purple are hi beams. If at the lamp end there are two short wires they were converted to halogens but it's obvious that there would be a removable bulb as well. If you have a wiring diagram look at the relay area for wire colors. As I remember the horn relay feeds a hot red wire to the hi beam relay and the white wire to the relay is the trigger wire, white/purple goes to the hi beams. The other wire will be a brown ground.

 

[HB Chris]

If you need the plastics receptacles I just bought some on the 2002 forum, let me know. (Yes, I hoard the can relays and mounting clips!)

 

[restart]

Not much help here, all my 'stuff' is in storage. But I wanted to say that this is currently my very favorite thread! Thank you, and I appreciate your insight into putting stuff on wheels in my new small garage.
Bests!

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Thanks guys,

Steve, even "Crack Head Bob" would not smoke anything that looks like that!

Chris, I'm sending a PM-

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

More questions

Hello all, I have a couple of little things that I've been wondering about, nothing of great consequence but for starters, the grey "foam" hood insulation (3 piece set) that many of us have on our coupes, is that OE or??

Was/is there a factory heat shield that goes between the header pipes and the lower firewall?

I did a bit more scraping of the engine compartment today and rebuilt the clutch master, btw, extremely easy to do for 11.00. Allot of the next stage of work requires a hazmat suit so I have trouble getting anything done during lunch at this point. I'm having the leather repaired on the front seats but purposely not totally re-doing them, I am very hopeful that this project turns out a car that looks 45 years old but is in perfect original running condition. The only "changes" will be the shocks and springs and likely the A/C compressor and associated plumbing. The headlamps were up-graded :-( but I have an original set of sealed beams and of course the paint- but I think it's expected to have at least 1 re-spray and it's the same color.

Any suggestions are always welcome.

Thanks,