Renewing that romance for the family station wagon of bygone days, this rare beauty was lovingly brought back from the dead. She was professionally restored from scratch. Rust areas were replaced with new welded metal on quarter panels, fenders and floor panels, body was rust primed and professionally coated with 2-part base-coat, clear coat paint process. The car never had frame damage and it is now 100% complete and runs and drives beautifully. I replaced the famously anemic 144 straight 6 engine with a rebuilt Ford 200 (stright six) out of a 64-1/2 mustang (that has the exact same mounting configuration) for way more power and ability to comfortably drive at high speeds on the freeway. The car is incredibly quick from 0-40 mph and it served as a daily driver for me for 9 months. It has a 3-speed transmission (on the tree) that works great. Mechanically, the car has many new or reconditioned parts including to name a few: alternator, complete brake system, master cylinder, battery, steerring column, carbeurator, ignition coil and switch, complete muffler system, gas tank cleaned.All knobs on the dashboard work as the heating and air system was completely replaced with reconditioned or new parts. Speedometer and odometer work, headlights, brake lights and turn signal lights and switch all function as they should. The vacum windshield wiper motor was replaced with a new 3-speed electric (with intermittent!). All glass is present and is in good condition along with mostly new weatherstripping. Interior knobs and handles are all present and function correctly. The interior was completely professionally reupholstered to my specifications with an aqua and white color scheme and matching carpet (I think she looks dynamite!) And now for the stuff I didnt get around to which is all mostly minor and just requires some sustained attention if you want to completely restore every aspect of the car (she does deserve it!). The car has some teeth missing on the fly wheel, so every 4th start or so you get a grinding sound when you try to start. She always starts and this has never been a problem but the noise is annoying and it can sometimes blow the elusion of your perfectly restored car! The gas and temp gauges dont work (should be a relitively easy fix), the radio is original, and it has a cracked plastic preset knob, it will light up when connected to power but I never tried to connect the speakers. I installed interior kick panels that would allow for speakers but you will need to get the speakers and finish the sound system. The dome light is completely present and wires connect correctly but I think the bulb is out and it should work by turning the headlight switch. There is a night light out on the instrument panel (1 works so you have enough light to see instruments at night). The tailgate window rolls up and down and opens and closes nicely but it needs some additional (internal) weathstripping. Front bumper could use a rechrome and the rear bumper has a slight ding. Thats all I can think of, I will post more if i think of it. Thanks for looking!
|