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Before the Restoration

After the Restoration

After the Restoration (2018)

Goodbye

December 2, 2001

I also re-cleaned up my Z-bar; some surface rust had developed while sitting in the basement the last 6 months. I then installed it in the car.

Last activity for the night was installing the driver's side exhaust manifold. That was fairly easy, although getting at all the nuts/bolts put a couple kinks in my back. I used thread sealant on all the studs/bolts, as at least some of them live in water passages.

December 3, 2001

I then moved onto the passenger side exhaust manifold. There was a 3/8" hole in the middle arm that needed to be plugged. My only guess is that somebody mounted an exhaust temperature gauge in there at some point. Here's an image of it (manifold mounted on previous owner's engine):



I put a bolt in the hole, and cut it off. Then I ground it level w/ the manifold, and put a couple coats of paint on it. I was pleased with the results.

I also painted the thermostat housing, which wasn't on the engine when it was painted. I was getting ready to bolt on the passenger side manifold when I realized I'll need 2 more studs. The stock manifolds use 2 studs per side and 4 bolts, but the oddball hi-po manifold requires 4 studs and 2 bolts. That will require a trip to the hardware store.

December 4, 2001

I then removed the sending unit from the gas tank, as I'll be taking the tank to a local shop for boiling it out/cleaning it up in hope that I won't have to buy a new one. The sending unit seems to be in ok shape, other than some rust on it. It was working in 1988, so hopefully it still is. Those are pricey also, if I have to get a new one. I figure I'll put it back into service; if it doesn't work, I'll deal with it then.

Last task for the night was mounting the passenger side exhaust manifold. I screwed in the 2 studs that I bought on the way home, and tried to get the manifold on them. Unfortunately, there's wasn't enough room; The new studs were about 3/8" too long, and the manifold encountered the inner fender before being able to slide over the studs.

I wasn't about to resort to unbolting the engine and raising it, so I removed the studs and hacked 1/4" off them. I screwed them back in the head, and I was then able to get the manifold on (although it was still a really snug fit). I scuffed the inner fender (slightly) while getting the manifold into place. It's not bad, but it still pisses me off, because it was avoidable. Why I didn't have a sheet draped over the inner fender while I was trying to get it in place is beyond me...

December 5, 2001

I then installed a throttle cable bracket extension that I bought on Ebay. It should allow me to use my stock 318 throttle cable. I had to modify it slightly, but I think it will work.

Last couple small activities for the night were bolting on the thermostat housing and adding the special sure-grip additive to the differential.

Took a couple pix of the engine bay, since some goodies have been added over the last few weeks:

December 6, 2001

The main activity for the night was fabricating a mounting device for my new tach. I think I came up with a good idea. Since other people may want to do the same thing, the specifics of what I did will appear on another page.

December 8-10, 2001

I need to replace the rear U joint because my new pinion has the 7260 yoke, where the original had a 7290. So, I bought a conversion U joint. As of this writing, I still don't have the old one out. I don't know if it's rust or paint, but the damn thing just won't budge. I've used heat, a BFH, and a vise, and it still won't move.

But mostly I've been working on the wiper motor. It was a rusty, grimy mess when I started, but it's looking pretty good now. I had to cut a couple wires to get it all apart for detailing, but I've got a soldering gun, so putting it back together shouldn't be a big deal. Trying to get all the little recesses in the aluminum piece that bolts to the firewall was very time consuming.

December 11, 2001

Back in the basement, I degreased the wiring harness for the wiper motor. Messy and tedious, but it looks good again. With everything cleaned up, I started putting things back together, which means re-soldering wires. I couldn't get the ground wire soldered to the bottom of the housing. I'm not sure why; maybe it's aluminum or something. I'll be going to the hardware store to get some flux and different types of solders.

I then wire-wheeled the paint off of the U joint to see if that would allow me to remove it from the driveshaft. Still no luck...

December 12, 2001

I soldered those back up, and re-assembled the unit. I then decided to paint the motor housing; I had played with the idea of leaving it unpainted. I bought both gold and brass paint. The brass looked closer to the original cadnium color (at least I think it does; I've never seen fresh cadnium plating up close), so that's what I used. It looks pretty good, especially considered the rusty, grimy mess I started with.

I then bench tested the unit to make sure I put it back together properly. To my amazement, it still works!

December 14, 2001

Hooked the video camera up to my computer for the first time to see how still images would look. They're ok; lousy resolution, but it does work. Took these shots of the wiper motor:

December 15, 2001

December 16, 2001

Rest of the evening was spent on a couple small refurbishing activities: degreasing/derusting/painting the coil mounting bracket and battery tray support bracket. The dremel tool died a couple days ago, so I'm now derusting hard-to-get-to spots with my fingers and sand paper. Very time consuming.

December 18, 2001

December 19, 2001

Started cleaning up the heater assembly. After taking some videotape of how it all goes together, I removed the heater controls from the cables that had it tethered to the heater box.

I then cleaned up the heater controls. There was some rust on the top side that I wanted to remove, but I couldn't take everything completely apart to do it. There are plastic parts involved, and I didn't want to break them. So I took as much apart as I could, degreased everything, and shined it up w/ steel wool. Also sprayed down moving mechanisms with WD-40; the levers move much more easily now.

December 21, 2001

December 22, 2001

I also bench-tested the heater motor. It still works, although it's a little noisy.

Also checked the heater core for leaks; well, as much as I could. I filled it with water and looked for dripping water. Not the same as a pressure test, but better than nothing.

Started putting the assembly back together before the end of the night...

December 26, 2001

Moved onto the driver's side vent assembly. Really nothing to take apart, so I just cleaned it up w/ soap and water, and painted the vent door. There was some minor rust around the edges that I removed w/ the wire wheel.

Moved onto the pedal assembly. Took video tape so I know how to put it back together, and then started disassembling it for painting; it has some light surface rust I might as well take care of now...

December 27, 2001

Painted one side of all the pieces before bed. Didn't use POR, as these pieces won't be exposed to the elements. Nevertheless, it should look very nice when it's all put back together.

December 28, 2001

December 30, 2001

Time to bolt things back into the car! The video I took when I removed this stuff was invaluable, as I watched it before doing anything. I was pretty fired up - this is the first stuff that's going back into the interior. There weren't any nasty surprises or difficulties. Just had to replace things in the correct order: first the switch that mounts above the kick panel, then the insulation, then the vent assembly, followed by the parking brake and then the pedals.

Last thing I did was adjust the clutch pedal free play, with the help of my wife. It's pretty damn cool to have a working clutch system again!