Things that need fixed

Exterior: Body & Sheetmetal, Glass, Lights, Tires and Wheels

Cowl distortion

Replace cowling

Replace hood

Bodywork; holes and dings

Bodywork; roof rust holes

Bodywork; ground effects

Bodywork; paint job

Replace plastic fender covers if not part of ground effects

Most of the body has small nicks and dings in it. Some are severe with heavy corrosion, at times corrosion has gone completely through the metal. The cowling area needs a fair bit of work. The cowling area was severely deformed following high speed impact from the hood after a previous owner/person failed to pin it and was driving down the road. Might use a Stormin Norman type of hood. See here for some wide skirt ground effects. As for body paint, heavy large flake, med-blue w/ lt blue with thin edge blended midline stripes.

After the paint job is completed, the following areas will be touched. Granted, some of them may be done prior to the paint job but the intent is to not worry about getting paint on them.

Windows & wipers, mirrors

Replace wiper jet (or part of cowl grill)

Replace wiper blades

Replace wiper arms

Replace windshield

Replace door windows

Replace moonroof

Replace side mirrors

Lights and fixtures

Replace tail lights

Fix reverse lights

Replace license plate (tag) light fixtures

Replace head lights

Suspension and tires

Replace hatch lift shocks

Replace hatch striker bushing

Replace struts, springs, and shocks

Replace or fix fill tube for gas tank

Replace wheels

Replace tires

Window support and frame, seals

Replace or fix/paint main windshield frame pieces

Replace run channels for the door window glass

Replace dew wipes for the door window glass

Replace moonroof latch hardware

Replace moonroof seal

Replace door seals

Replace hatch seal and molding

The head lights and tail lights were replaced. Unfortunately the head lights have allowed moisture to get in and are now both worthless due to a black soot deposit inside them. I’ve temporarily fixed them for some light output while I find and order another set. The tail lights are working fine. I built a jumper cable to connect the reverse lights plugtail to the transmission. Here are some possible fender ideas for about $180. There are some run channels here for about $45. A kit for the seals is about $65. If I can find them, I would love to put mirrors in the form of M3, Carbon Fiber, or Diablo LED style on - perhaps these for about $90 ea or $160 for the pair.

Engine Bay

Replace air cleaner

Repair throttle body, bolt hole on air bypass is stripped

Replace oil pressure sender w/ T and stock sensor

Replace water temp sender w/ T & stock sensor

Add T for water temp stock sensor

Replace main ground cable

Replace entire distributor cap and points assy

Replace serpentine belt

Replace oil pan

Reinstall A/C compressor

New bolts for TPS

Replace all seals & rings in engine core (rebuild)

Replace suspension, all 4 wheels

Replace radiator and radiator housing

Replace engine fan with electric fan

Replace/secure bolt on steering shaft to eliminate play

Replace cruise control module, $120 at advance auto

Replace all vacuum lines

Repair wiring harness in engine bay, inner firewall, body of car

Reinstall A/C condensor

Reinstall A/C plumnbing

Needs a big tuneup. ~~Pretty much requires new wiring harnesses due to deterioration of existing cabling by age and by mistreatment.~~ I think I may squeek by with some wiring repairs. Numerous problems have been found and fixed, see log for specifics. Until now I’ve been replacing and patching on an as needed basis. Wiring under the dash has had several repairs made. Some are still necessary. The air intake has been replaced, it needs to be more properly mounted. The distributor cap and rotor have been replaced. They were badly arced and the engine was misfiring badly - might possibly convert to electronic in the future. I have re-threaded the throttle body and cleaned it well. The TPS needs a 2nd screw to hold it on securely. One probably isn’t such a great idea. The EGR Bypass valve plugs up frequently due to mucked up vacuum wiring and bad gaskets everywhere. The Intake manifold both upper and lower need severe cleaning and new gaskets.

A new compressor and clutch is about $150, condenser can range from $100 to $300 and the evaporator can run from $100 to $200. website

Interior

Instrumentation & electrical

Replace brake switch

Replace or fix faulty fuel gauge circuit board on instrument cluster

Replace or fix dimmer

Replace instrument cluster lens

Replace instrument cluster lamps with LEDs

Replace dome light (with LEDs)

Replace faulty wiring under driver seat for fuel pump

Replace fuse holder

Replace cruise control switches and fix wiring

Replace horn switch

Replace horn

Aesthetics

Replace seat belts

Replace head liner

Replace carpet

Replace functional door plastics

Replace door cloths

Replace molded dash and trims

Replace center console

Replace center console control button faces

Replace cabin mirror

Audio

Install speakers in L/R doors

Replace speakers in dash

Replace speakers in rear

Replace stereo

Doors

Replace RH door lock motor

Fix wiring in RH door for RH lock motor

Replace LH window regulator

Replace RH window stop bushing

Environment

Replace solid core drive cable for vent control

Replace or reseal and reinstall heater core

Replace or reseal and reinstall A/C core

Replace seal at firewall for heater core drain

The instrument cluster lens can be a bit expensive, here is a website with some for $45. Seat belts come in a huge variety of prices, here and here are some possibilities at about $100. Headliners are about $150-$200, here and here are some options, 1770 Kadetta Blue color and catalog #: AFH32S-VELOUR.HL. This headliner is 1770 light blue. The new carpet should be medium to dark blue website $119 ea. One Website with some dome lights and switches, and here, another website.

Feb 12th, 2008 :: Intake

Wish I could say I was improving it. Just cleaning out the junk. It plugs up every now and then and I gotta do the cleaning. I don't know why yet - but the intake sucks up a bunch of oil whenever you let the engine drag (take foot off gas and the engine is being pulled by the speed of the car on the road). So it forms a bunch of half dry soot and oil ball chunks in the throttle body cavities surrounding the air intake throat.

I do think I found the reason why it was stalling for a second or two when going over bumps. Not sure how I missed it before but the TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) has a horrible splice job done on one of the wires.

$3.87 for EGR valve gasket.

Nov 6th, 2007 :: Tag Lights

Received and installed the new tag light lenses. Mmmmh, more better!

Nov 5th, 2007 :: Instrument Cluster & Lighting

Managed to get enough solder to make a (at this moment) working connection on the rheostat winding for the instrument cluster lighting. Let’s see how it holds up under use. Re-installed the dimmer and instrument cluster. The original oil pressure gauge in the cluster works again and registers the same as the after market gauge. The fuel gauge also came up nice and clean.

Replaced the under-dash cabin lamps with white 1W LEDs, huge difference and instead of the pale yellow appearance, everything is a lit in a spritzy snappy white light T194 type LEDs. Replaced 1157 front inner lamps (park & turn) with LED bulbs. Again, snazzy clean amber lighting to make me happy :) Note how the corner light (last photo) shows a scorch pattern above the standard filament lamp. Immensely special quality product I say.

$13 in soldering gear, $8 for transmission pigtail, $5 for silicon, $7 for glue, $2 for PVC, $50 for cowl grill, $45 for A/C compressor, $35 for door lock motor, $16 for oil and water sensors, $5 for sensor fittings, $14 for sheet metal, $8 for cork, $31 for sheet metal snips, $36 for rivet gun, $23 for various rivets, $14 for copper pipe, $12 for wipers, $19 for tag lights, $75 for LEDs, $29 for ground cable, $8 for a set of plastic nuts.

Nov 4th, 2007 :: Numerous Fixes

Over the weekend I built a bypass pipe to replace the heater core to allow coolant water to circulate. I pulled out the instrument cluster and repaired the copper film where the anti-slosh circuit is for the fuel gauge. I repaired the header posts on the anti-slosh board since 3 out of 5 had cracks in the solder joint. This should fix all the problems with the faulty readings. Pulled the old pressure tube out for the oil pressure gauge in the cabin and, inserted a tee and reinstalled the pressure tube as well as the new oil pressure sensor for the instrument cluster. Removed RH windshield wiper arm since it's warped and needs replaced.

Stupid me split the corner of the new cowl grill (new for me that is) it’s not noticable unless forced out of position. In related news, I attached the cowl grill. The hood needs realigned to allow for full clearance over the cowl grill. Removed the headlights to clean and dry, found they will be a complete loss. Fucking shitty workmanship again. Anyways, pried the lens up from the LH light and spray painted the inside metallic silver in a blaise attempt to make it somewhat functional for the time being. Reattached the lens and sealed both lenses doubly. Baked the RH lens for two hours in the oven to get the moisture out. It is 75% "burned" but may be useful enough for the time being. Both are going to be left to dry overnight.

I’m presently attempting to repair the dimmer switch. I had to resolder one of the connections on it but I have also found that the rheostat wire is burned through. I’ll need to figure out how to repair that since the coil will generate a lot of heat and would melt any solder joining.

Replaced the main ground cable between the battery and engine block. Original was 4ga, new one is 2ga. Where the hell does that black with orange wire go? Stuff like this pisses me off. It was just left floating there like many other wires I've pulled out that were after-market. This one however is part of the harness.

Oct 30th, 2007 :: Neutral Gear Switch wiring

True to form, yet another bad hack is due to missing parts and connections not done. The reason why there was a taped wire from the ignition switch to the clutch switch was to bypass both the clutch safety switch and the neutral gear switch from the transmission. I simply don’t have time during the week to jack up my car and try to wade through the grease ’n grime and find the NGS and build another pigtail jumper. I put a much more secure jumper on the cable group that runs from just below the A-frame at the floorboard underneath the driver seat to the transmission. The jumper is located below the dash near the floor near the forward point of the door sill.

Oct 29th, 2007 :: Heater core

I pulled the heater core and A/C condenser unit out Saturday. Today I fashioned a U-pipe out of copper as a bypass so I can leave them out for now. A/C is on order, Cowl is on order, variety of other small parts on order. Still haven’t solved the wiring problem that was previously hacked with a jumper from the clutch cable to the ignition switch. Haven’t traced it out yet.

Note how the stems on the heater core are fucked to hell and back (and the A/C). Obviously one of the previous owners ate too much dog shit as a kid.

Oct 28th, 2007 :: A lot?

The past year has been spent fixing a variety of things (and re-fixing things that break frequently). At present I have the entire dash frame pulled out as well as both the AC condenser and heater core. Basically the only thing left is the wire bundle and steering column. Of course a few switches and the instrument cluster remain attached. They are all neatly snugged up to the firewall with zip ties. I did find the wire that smoked a year ago, replacing it was definitely not fun. No room to do things, lots of bugs, and a total of 9 wire ends to make into a single connection. Mix in solder that has spritzing rosen (read: frequent burning temperature drops of rosin applied to skin surface), rain, and lots of bugs and you have for a very wonderful evening. I fixed the reverse lights by creating a pigtail jumper for the transmission. I removed another ~18 wires from the vehicle that apparently don’t belong there any longer and I’ve NO idea why some fool needed that many extra 18ga wires spread all over the place. Never mind you that they weren’t capped off and could swing and short things out fairly easily. All wonderfully good stuff.

The headlights I put on last year are trash. The lamp area is not properly sealed against moisture and water seeped in. This created a sooty black deposit on all the reflective surfaces which makes them pretty much useless. I swear, the automotive parts industry is the greediest of all greedy fuckers. Cheap shit at left testicle prices. My EL gauge lighting is also junk as the inverter no longer powers up. Fuck man, doesn’t anyone make quality workmanship anymore?

The roof has developed even more rust holes but my patchy novice work with the bondo has had a really great impact on the previous torrent of water flooding the cabin. As soon as I get a replacement moonroof and weather seal/stripping, I plan to take it to a local repair guy for professional fixing of the entire roof. I fixed the hatch striker bolt with a bit of PVC pipe cut to fit then sliced down one side and forced around the bolt (the assembly is pressure fitted and I don’t have such pressure tools to re-seat it). It now operates splendidly.

I ordered a bunch of parts; LED lamps, plastic cowling, an A/C compressor, and a door lock actuator. I had the metal areas of the cowl fixed at a body shop. They did a great job on the outer area but a suck ass job on the center cross piece.

Sadly another workmanship thing... My parking brake is again non-functional. This time I may just have to fix it myself.

Dec 15th, 2006 :: Rust

The entire rear seam of the roof where the hatch meets the roof rusted through nearly entirely. Here and there the metal remained bridged enough to support the form of the roof with no weight. I sanded down the entire area and used about a pint of bondo to rebuild the structure. It is now formed and heavy build primer painted onto it. A few more coats of primer and some fine grit sanding and I’ll be ready to color/seal/clear coat it. $40

Dec 14th, 2006 :: Rust and Rain

It rained hard all day today. Sadly my repairs weren’t complete so the inside of my car is SOAKED. meh.

Dec 13th, 2006 :: Rust

Massive amounts of rust-through found on the roof of the car. I have had to grind down numerous areas and have found that far greater damage exists under the paint bubbling. I knew it was rusted and leaking, but not to this extent. I have a LOT of rust treatment and bondo work to do. $40

Dec 12th, 2006 :: Shoddy Sears work

Sears replaced my starter for me a few months ago. Monday it started to grind and whine when cranking. I put it up on new jack stands and found out one of the mount bolts for the starter turned in my fingers. That’s a bit of a bother Pooh would say. While I was down there, I took a peek around. Lots of oil leakage and the transmission is leaking too. The odd thing is, the fluid coming from the transmission looks a lot like oil...wtf? $30

Dec 6th, 2006 :: headlights

Driver’s headlight has gotten moisture in it and is causing a lot of black deposit buildup inside it.

Oct 13th, 2006 :: hatch pops open, driver’s door manual lock

Heheheh, guess what. Found more breakage. The hatch started popping open enough to turn on the interior lights while I am driving. The linkage for the manual lock knob on the driver’s door seems to have come undone. I need to snap the plastics back together. I noted that the power mirror on the LH side isn’t working but I suspect it’s because the RH mirror isn’t plugged in at the moment. On the other hand, I got my window motor in and it works great. I’m having to put this project on hold for the moment. Life is dictating that I move to another place so I need to fork out $2,000 to move in. Yay for landlords that don’t pay the utility $bills.

Sep 30th, 2006 :: hatch lift piston and brake switch

Had a bit of spare cash, replaced hatch lift struts and replaced the switch on the brake pedal so the stop lights work again. Found the lower bolt hole for the air bypass was stripped. Wonderful...yet more $ I need to fork out. $50

Sep 23rd, 2006 :: taillights and instrument cluster

Yay. FINALLY got my taillights. Unfortunately I had to grind off two rust frozen mounting bolts for the old lights. But they’re on and looking sooo much better. I do plan on getting new bulbs, superbright LED style :D I also got my EL panels for my instrument cluster. I put them in but I haven’t plugged them in to the power pack yet. I probably won’t make any permanent type of changes until I get my new dash plastics in ;) Good news on the leak -- no leak. Drain area by air intake was stopped up with leaves and thus the area filled up with water eventually overflowing into the air intake tube. $140

Sep 22nd, 2006 :: cabin leak

Oh the joy. Got up early to go to the gym, it had rained hard all night. Got in the car, saw a big puddle on the RH floor mat. Well, since the windshield is no longer leaking and the fan sounded like there was a lot of water in it when I turned it on -- I think I am going to have to pull the blower box and heater core out and see where it’s coming from. Sigh. At least the lights look good.

Sep 21st, 2006 :: lighting

New Euro Smoked Diamond headlights/running/corner lights installed. Only one trivial issue, adjustment clip was broken so I’ll request another one (done) -- and I need to replace the RH turn signal lamp, it was broken in it’s socket and full of water and crud. ^_- $140

Sep 20th, 2006 :: driver’s window

Unfortunately it wasn’t that simple. Motor brushes are shot, bushings are shot, gear assy bushings are shot. Moved window by hand and attached a C-clamp to the flywheel to hold it in place in the up position. I’ll have to order a new motor assy.

Sep 19th, 2006 :: driver’s side door stopped functioning 1/2 down

Grrrr, on my way home from work and I start to roll the window down for my drive home. It stutters and stops ½ way down. What kinda crunk is that?

Sep 10th, 2006 :: intake cleaning

Pulled the air intake, egr, iac, throttle body and upper intake all apart and cleaned them out a lot. Immensely improved the idle and fuel efficiency. Went from ~4mgp to ~15mpg. $15

Previous history

Had the entire braking system replaced after I had the pleasure of it blowing out on me because the lines near the front discs had deteriorated. Replaced the starter, starter relay, starter power cable. Replaced the alternator. Sealed ½in gap under windshield due to cowling damage from hood. Replaced several wires under dash and center console power plug. $1100

Headlight	9004
Brake	3157
Backup	3156
Park/Turn/Tail	1157
Front Corner	921/194
Rear Corner	194 wedge
License	194 wedge
Dome	906 or 561
Instruments	194

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