Told Myself, "No Restoration" But Did I Listen?

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Old Moparz

Old Moparz

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Location
Newburgh, NY 12550
:banghead: It started out as a simple, "Lets make it presentable" but escalated into, "May as well do this.....and this.....and this...." :eek:ops:


LOL.....Not complaining, but it's easy to get off on a tangent with other segments of work & add little things here & there until you have a huge project. :D I've always hated to do something "halfway" & know it could have or should have been done better. That's also probably why I never get things finished as fast I "thought I would" do it.

Here's a brief history of this car.....

I bought it in the summer of 1988 right in the town I lived & drove it daily up until the early 90's. When I saw it, there was an old guy who was getting into it. I told him it was a nice car, he thanked me & started it up......I heard the V8 & then asked him more about the car. While talking he said that it had 42,000 original miles. I asked him if he'd ever consider selling it & he said yes, gave me his number & said to call him if I wanted it.

Called a few days later, got directions & shocked that it was just 2 blocks away! I went over but didn't know it until I was there that the old guy was the Dad of an old friend of mine.....LOL...I took it for a short ride & had to have it. I didn't even haggle with him & he was happy to see someone who was going to take care of it, get it, because he said he had a relative that wanted it to drive back & forth to NYC. He said, "No way I was going to let that car get destroyed in the city!"

In the early 90's I had the transmission rebuilt. A couple of years after that I had the 318 rebuilt & had some high performance parts added. The car was fun but started to get a little rough looking in a few places. The vinyl top is the original one & still on the car. The interior is still nice, but I bought a new carpet & front seat cover for it. The rust that started was fixed in the mid 90's & then the entire car was repainted the color it came in. I added bigger, 15x7 small bolt pattern wheels, heavy duty springs & shocks & several other things over the years.

So........If I didn't have a house this thing would have been finished & back on the road by now....LOL...I miss driving it & my Daughter Kate who is now 15 has never had a ride in it yet. I think it'll be back in service in about a month. Then I'll find all the bugs that accumulated while it's been sitting gathering dust. :sad2:
 

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Right now I am finding out that the underside of this car got pretty damn crusty in the 125,000 miles it's been driven. Most of the parts were original so breaking things was easy. :D

I have a new set of stainless brake lines, new leaf spring hangers, bolts, brackets, 340 exhaust manifolds, new e-brake set up, NOS front bumper & a bunch of other little things that have added up fast. I am glad I have a pair of low mile brake drums because I never expected to see that the 10"x1-3/4" drums are more rare than 1971 Hemi Cuda convertibles....LOL ....I'll probably gather more things at Carlisle & hopefully still have gas money to get home.

I scraped the loose scale, surface rust & some of the dried out factory undercoating. The floors are solid so I simply primed the exposed metal & painted over the undercoating to freshen it up. As soon as I get the frame cleaned up where the front spring perches go I'll prime & paint those areas & start to get the springs & the 8-3/4" rear in. I have a place picked out to cut the drive shaft & rebalance it & then I will tackle the new seat cover.

The last pic is of how it looked before I scrapped the old 7-1/4" rear.
 

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it will be really nice ride. yes things can get out of hand!!???
one thing always leads to another, new paint means those original bumpers must be rechromed ( or lucky you, nos ones), new paint means new interior, new outside mirrow, the list goes on!! LOL
that's why I tell m yself my cars will be a driver, and it will get gravel peck, scratch, dirty etc for sure, I don't sweat that it will never be perfect!! LOL
does your daught er have any interest in it?? she will be driving age soon. I have couple of grandkids bout driving age. i'm not sure I would trust the safety part of them driving old an car, that is lack of air bags????
 
barbee6043 said:
it will be really nice ride. yes things can get out of hand!!???
one thing always leads to another, new paint means those original bumpers must be rechromed ( or lucky you, nos ones), new paint means new interior, new outside mirrow, the list goes on!! LOL
that's why I tell m yself my cars will be a driver, and it will get gravel peck, scratch, dirty etc for sure, I don't sweat that it will never be perfect!! LOL
does your daught er have any interest in it?? she will be driving age soon. I have couple of grandkids bout driving age. i'm not sure I would trust the safety part of them driving old an car, that is lack of air bags????
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True, I know it will be a driver & get chips or other wear, but when you're working on something it's tough to let certain things go when they stare you in the face. The hardest part is trying not to cross the line you drew in the sand for yourself.....LOL

The NOS front bumper was simply by chance, & the price was too good to pass up. I was planning to leave the bumpers alone for now but someone at Carlisle had it sitting there priced at half of what it would cost to have mine redone. So of course the faded rear one now has to match the new one. I'm leaving the wheel lip mouldings, the side view mirror & the other trim alone & remain content with it.

My Daughter likes the car & does show interest in them. Yesterday I had my Satellite out of the garage to work on the Scamp, so when it was time to pick her up at her friend's house I put the top down & off I went. On the way home she said, "You better show me how to fix this car so if you never get to it, I can fix it." :D

When she starts driving she'll probably be using my Wife's Mitsubishi Endeavor for a while. I'll let her drive the old stuff, but she is going to have to get familiar with the major differences. I'm worried less about the lack of airbags compared to the fact that the old ones have 4 brake drums & no discs or ABS. I'd like to upgrade the brake system, but with my schedule & budget it won't happen for a while.

Oh, Here's a pic of the Satellite......
 

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Only difference between these and a boat is these don't float very well.....My Dart is presently nude....in the neighbor's shop............
 
Nice!!! Love hearing about cars with an awesome story, especially getting another chance at life
 
Looking good and yeah it happens to us all. We all say we're going to keep stuff simple...it never stays simple.
 
I have 200 plus pieces of keeping it simple in my garage right now.....
I love the way the car looks. Good luck with the work.
 
Thanks. :thumleft:

This car isn't anything special or rare, but it was one of the more solid, original cars that I had run across that I could afford at the time I bought it. The passenger side, front fender was the only area that had been touched up for a repair. Everything else with exception of a few mechanical parts was original. Not bad considering the car was 17 years old by the time I got it.

From what the guy told me, he was the second owner, but I don't know how long he had it. I actually don't even know why he had it, because he was a Ford guy who HATED A/C....LOL (The Scamp has A/C) In his garage were two 1966 Mustangs & an early 50's Ford that his son still has to this day. His daily driver was an Econoline van, & his wife had Fairmont wagon, none of which had A/C.

I moved out of state & had found out he passed away about 10 years after I got the car so I never got the chance to go back to show him the repaint. I sent his son a photo of it, but he didn't remember the car & said his Dad probably had it when he was away in the Navy. He was also confused as to why his Dad had a Mopar being a Ford guy. My guess is everyone looks to make improvements in their lives at some point. :D

There are photos of when I was bringing it to the body shop but I have to scan them. I have pics of all the rust before it was repaired, pics after I removed trim & pics in the body shop. I'll try to scan them this week & post them.
 
Nice Car!

I'm right there with ya....

Sing it with me "" going off of the rails on a crazy train... "

-AlV
 
AlV said:
Nice Car!

I'm right there with ya....

Sing it with me "" going off of the rails on a crazy train... "

-AlV
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LOL :D

One of my friends has a '70 Road Runner convertible that he restored about 20 years ago. All he wanted was a clean driver, but once he disassembled it it became an obsession to make it like new. It wasn't that he was trying to build a show car, he just didn't cut corners so he refinished or replaced every single thing. He didn't have to worry about something not lasting because it was done poorly.

I just keep having to remind myself I am not doing what he did....LOL :violent1:
 
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