Hi,
I want to share with You a story of three weeks that ended up to be six months.
Bought it on 27.12.2018 with an idea to get a car in decent condition with some small issues. Got a one-way-plane-ticket, bought the car in the night on the spot and drove it back home(half way down was like pumping the clutch pedal a couple times every time I wanted to change gear - later found out it was a leaky booster).
The whole trip getting to buy the car and back makes a crazy story, but i don't wont to get anyone bored;-)
After I washed away most of the mud and gunk and took my first inspection under the car, I knew that the seller was not so honest as I expected - he didn't mentioned most of the issues I asked him about before I went to him to buy the car. I asked about almost everything that could be wrong with the car, but he told me only about that the brakes and the rear right part of the frame needed some welding, and that there was a bit of rust on the wheel arches, thats it. Arguing with a guy that lives 800km away was more/less pointless, especially that from the beginning he had a negative attitude when I complained about the state of things. The car was not that expensive to make a legal case of it, but it was waaay too expensive for the condition it was in.
Before summer I made those most nessessary reparations, like fixing all the bearings and seals in the front axle, welding a new bracket for the front control arm, changing brake pads, termostat and some other small things. During my vacations I started the restoration project. After disassemblying the body off the chassis and sandblasting all the brown parts, i knew that I was scammed badly. A bit shocked with the state of things, it was time to get to work.
Here's the photos of that restoration.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ndVprYn8JjEwYoeQ6
I didn't made those reparations to last forever. I plan to change the frame for a better one, later (or change the car). And also I am not a pro welder, so it can hurt to look at it sometimes, but I did cut away every place with holes and weak structure that I found and replaced it with fresh steel.
I got a big help on the final steps - getting the right shapes and painting was done by a friend.
List of things I did til now:
- changed all the bearings and seals in front axle, along with refill of oil and grease,
- built and welded in a new front control arm mount/bracket,
- changed the termostat and coolant bleeding pipe piece,
- changed the rear right corner lamp and front right corner lamp,
- changed all the filters, engine oil, fuel, air,
- changed engine oil and coolant,
- changed the metal turbo oil feeding pipe,
- sandblasted the frame and nessessary body parts,
- fully renovated all the rust spots I found, both in the frame and body,
- epoxy primer on frame and under body,
- sat on a reinforcement plate between rear spring mounts,
- changed all the fuel and brake hard lines and some of the rubber lines,
- changed rubber lines to diff lock,
- refubrished fuel tank,
- changed brake regulator, the one that changes brake power with more weight in the back,
- changed clutch set,
- changed master/slave cylinder and clutch booster,
- changed front side wheel panels,
- changed left rear axle seal and brake disc shield,
- changed body lift bushings, used poliurethane in original size,
- got the outside bodyparts prepared and painted by a friend,
- changed driver door hinges,
- changed brake rotors and pads, refubrished calipers,
- changed right side mirror,
- changed oil in both axles,
- changed towbar plug and wiring,
- changed sound dempening foam and mat in the front floor panel,
- changed back bumpers corners and the right lamp,
- sprayed the underbody protection Mercasol.
Cheers,
D
