• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Now I've gone and done it

Share this page

drooartz

drooartz

Moderator
Staff member
Gold
Country flag
Offline
I think I may have finally crossed over the line that separates maintenance from restoration. I've got a re-cored radiator and cleaned gas tank coming, and am sending my master cylinder off for re-sleeving. That's not the problem, though.

The problem is that I don't want to connect those nice parts to the dirty/questionable systems on the car. The engine is full of gunk, I'm sure, and I don't want that going into my nice clean radiator. Same with fuel lines and brake lines. So I think I have gone over, and will just have to bite the bullet and start rebuilding.

I'm in the acceptance phase of this right now, and really feel good about it. I had fun puttering around last summer, but now it's time to get real and focus the efforts on getting the Tunebug to where it needs to be. May take a while, but I'm okay with that. The little guy's going to be quite something when I'm done in a year or two. Still shooting for next June, but I may wind up at the Sprite meet in my Hyundai...

Don't want to keep chasing the little problems, time to tackle the big ones and fix things right the first time. Luckily the body is sound (with a few small exceptions, we'll see how/when I tackle them), so I'll just be working on each mechanical system in turn. Also (surprisingly) takes some of the financial stress off, since I've removed the deadlines to have everything done. I just want it done right, and it will take whatever time is necessary.

So off I go...
 
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif

May as well. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
Drew:

Painting the engine compartment is what got me.

Patrick
 
Man, my car has been a part for what feels like a loooooong time. I finally got my head back from the machine shop after it sat there for 3 months. Good work is worth waiting for, but it looks like I am not going to have the car back together before the HOT gets here. And that is a big downer.

There is nothing in your brake, fuel, or water lines that a good flush won't fix. I say drive it for as long as you can while fixing the easy stuff. You are really gonna need those fond memories when it comes time to really tear into things.

Your brake system can be fixed well and right in the course of a weekend. Same thing for your suspension, rear end and interior.

Repair one system, then drive it for a while, then move on to the next.

Once that thing is in a million pieces in the garage, motivation to go out and work on it can gets harder to muster the longer it sits.
 
I agree with Morris as far as flushing the engine cooling system /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif ! The fuel lines and brake lines are really not that big a deal to replace with new, and that would be better/easier than trying to "flush" those lines!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif
 
I've got the brake lines already, just need to put them in.

The old motor is just no fun, so I'm going to hold out for the rebuilt 1275, even though it may be a while. That's part of the reason why I have a motorcycle, keeps me entertained while the work is being done.
 
I've got 2 rules for this work:

1. Don't add up the costs /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

2. One system at a time. That way, the car is never rendered into that "box of parts" status where it becomes worthless.
 
I'm don't agree with that approach. Why work on a car for "years" when NOW is is the time when you want to drive it. Seen too many projects come apart permanently to take that kind of chance. A good friend of mine has a totally disassembled E type coupe going on six years now. Hasn't lifted a finger to it in two years. The sad part is it's all done except for the reassembly! Stick the 948 back in and "peck away at it" while you drive it. The AH in my signature was somebody elses restoration project that was abandoned. Don't let it happen to you. Bob
 
Bob - I do understand the dangers, but I want it to be drivable and safe. The 948 is still in it, but up in the mountains where I live is essentially unusable. A year to a year and a half, and the engine and brakes will be done and I can be driving again.

I'm not going to disassemble the entire car, just the bits I'm working on at any given time. Keeps it more of a "car" on any given day!
 
Oh I agree! I am working on a beautiful 280ZX right now that I picked up really cheap on e-bay. The guy took it all apart (I mean into 28 boxes...including the windshield) and then life got in the way, he lost interest yada,yada, yada whatever...anyway six or seven years later...I got it on e-bay for a song. Other than the hassle of putting it all back together (I always did like jigsaw puzzles) Within a month or two I will sell it (and get lots more than he did.) This is the fourth car I have bought the same way...all to finance my LBC habit /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
Back
Top