any good pics. of the car itself ? looked through the whole thread to find only that one front shot , you must have more .
My "New" Project- 1979 AMC Spirit 360
- Thread starter 85 Cutlass Brougham
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Sadly, no I do not have any full pics of it available on any of my current computers. It has been sitting in the garage so long that I have gotten my camera and last two computers after it was parked. I may have to take some in a few weeks after I get the roof cleared off, and the engine in. It used to have it's own Geocities site, but their servers have long since gone silent and with them, so have the pics of my car.
Today started out with me talking to my neighbor for about an hour. We spoke of mopeds, Fiats, the Vietnam war, guns and then argued about if Fiats were good cars or not. I say not, but he says they were. This was after I had just helped him push start his 1973 fiat 850, but whatever.... Anyhow, I also managed to extricate myself from bed long enough to work on my AMc today as well. Today I removed the steering column and blower motor, and painted the engine mount brackets and throttle brackets. I also had more fun with my assortment of air powered die grinders fitted with wire wheels to remove the scaly rust that existed beneath the master cylinder. I took about 12 pictures today of the car, and my auto restoration facilities too. I plan to post them later on tonight if anyone cares to see them. Needless to say, I have a very improvised setup that most people would not be able to deal with. I would say it is third world, but that would be an insult to the third world...
Here are some pics of my palatial facilities:
Small parts rejuvenation center:
Garage.
My new Shelves! They took a lot of clutter off the ground!
My Work Area:
And Today's progress shots:
My Shortwave radio setup. The blue wire draped on the hand truck which is alligator clipped to the garage door track and follows a red wire down to the tiny radio is what I use to listen to far off lands. So far,I have gotten Cuba, China, Russia, Romania and Germany in the garage.
And finally, Der Uberfan!!! it's a giant pusher fan I pulled off a mid 80's Mercedes Benz S class. It was a type W126, and I believe it had the 4.5 liter gasoline V8 so... 450SE or 450SEL maybe? It really works good and it's a monster. So far, it is the best $30 fan I have ever bought. It is the only fan I use on the car as it clears up some space in the engine bay by letting me eliminate the engine driven fan.
One more pic: it's a side view, or the closest I could get to one. I took this pic to try and fill the request for a pic of the whole car. Sorry it isn't that good, but it isn't easy to move the car out right now, so I just took as best a pic as I could. To give you an idea on the size of the car, it has the same wheelbase (96 in.) as a Toyota Yaris 3 door hatchback , but a little more overhang.
Small parts rejuvenation center:
Garage.
My new Shelves! They took a lot of clutter off the ground!
My Work Area:
And Today's progress shots:
My Shortwave radio setup. The blue wire draped on the hand truck which is alligator clipped to the garage door track and follows a red wire down to the tiny radio is what I use to listen to far off lands. So far,I have gotten Cuba, China, Russia, Romania and Germany in the garage.
And finally, Der Uberfan!!! it's a giant pusher fan I pulled off a mid 80's Mercedes Benz S class. It was a type W126, and I believe it had the 4.5 liter gasoline V8 so... 450SE or 450SEL maybe? It really works good and it's a monster. So far, it is the best $30 fan I have ever bought. It is the only fan I use on the car as it clears up some space in the engine bay by letting me eliminate the engine driven fan.
One more pic: it's a side view, or the closest I could get to one. I took this pic to try and fill the request for a pic of the whole car. Sorry it isn't that good, but it isn't easy to move the car out right now, so I just took as best a pic as I could. To give you an idea on the size of the car, it has the same wheelbase (96 in.) as a Toyota Yaris 3 door hatchback , but a little more overhang.
That's about how much space I built my 442 in, except with a little less clutter... :lol:
It helps to be able to roll the car outside, but that's tough when you've pulled the front suspension off of it...
Here's my cave
It helps to be able to roll the car outside, but that's tough when you've pulled the front suspension off of it...
Here's my cave
yeah, but you COULD have a whole 2 car to work with if you wanted... :lol: In all seriousness though, right now it does not present much of a problem. I am working inside the engine bay, and that kind of restricts the room I have to move around. The garage is actually MUCH easier to use than it used to be. Plus, I put a Ford compact spare on it to replace the tire that went flat every 4 hours. (The hub center is smaller on the Ford, but it presents no danger rolling in and out of the garage.) The biggest PITA right now is that the Cutlass loves to drain batteries, so I am forced to disconnect it after every use. I will get back to the Cutlass after the engine is in the AMC. I don't use it much right now, so it is not a priority to troubleshoot a minor issue. I need to have the engine in the AMC by the start of school so that I can pick at the final wiring and plumbing a little bit at a time when I have a chance.
I finally called the contractor today to get the roof done, and hope I get a call back tomorrow afternoon. My hope is to have the roof taken care of before school starts too, but if not it is not too big a deal. It will be done soon no matter what. Then I can refinance the house to a lower interest rate and lower my minimum bills. After that, sell the AMC and use the proceeds towards a new car's down payment (Leaning towards a Yaris right now because it makes the most sense on paper.) All in all, I am close to accomplishing what I set out to do 2 years ago, and will have a more stable, organized and less expensive life pretty soon. BTW, as of now, I am keeping my Cutlass and truck.
I finally called the contractor today to get the roof done, and hope I get a call back tomorrow afternoon. My hope is to have the roof taken care of before school starts too, but if not it is not too big a deal. It will be done soon no matter what. Then I can refinance the house to a lower interest rate and lower my minimum bills. After that, sell the AMC and use the proceeds towards a new car's down payment (Leaning towards a Yaris right now because it makes the most sense on paper.) All in all, I am close to accomplishing what I set out to do 2 years ago, and will have a more stable, organized and less expensive life pretty soon. BTW, as of now, I am keeping my Cutlass and truck.
Finally made some progress today! I removed the headlights, wiring harness, master cylinder, and cooling fan. I also started stripping the Bondo off of the battery tray location and found it full of rust under there. It is one of those things my 19 year old self did that my 36 year old self now has to cobble back together again. I may reinforce it by welding a piece of steel on the bottom then filling it and calling it a day. I plan to put the battery back up front again, so it has to be able to support the extra weight. I hope to have it in primer tomorrow and painted in the next few days. I should be ready to sell it by the end of the month if all goes to plan, but... it never does. Florida's weather does not want to cooperate with me this year. It's either too cold out or raining when I want to do anything, so what should take a few weeks takes a few months.
Did I ever mention how much I hate rust? Well, today I have to tackle a problem that my 19 year old self created. Namely, I had pop riveted and Bondo'd my way to a good enough looking battery tray back when I was using a trunk mount, and now I have to fix it the right way. The trunk mount never worked well, and was only good at burning out starters and shorting batteries when they overheated. So, since I plan to sell the thing, it is back to the front with the battery and the new owner can figure out if they want to move it back to the rear again.
Also, I found rust in the top of the passenger's side fender that I will need to take care of by replacing it with a good fender I happen to have. There was more rust found in a gutter for directing rain water too, so I will likely have to do something about that....probably clean it up and treat it with epoxy. I am also debating if I will fix the body and shoot it with a quick coat of paint, but that may be outside my budget of both money and time. Painting it will mean welding in about 6 or 7 new sheet metal patches to fix minor rust spots, then finishing them with filler. It would also mean sourcing a new rocker panel that is not mangled and full of filler. Then again, if I did that, I could probably get $3500+ for it when it is done. It does have the down side though of taking too long, and my truck needs to be retired soon, or it will incur about $1,000 worth of repairs. I also need to have my welder fixed. I know what is wrong, but the part is like $150. So, I may just put it aside and concentrate on the house instead. That way, I can get the mortgage out of the way and at least have some extra money every month to deal with the AMC.
Also, I found rust in the top of the passenger's side fender that I will need to take care of by replacing it with a good fender I happen to have. There was more rust found in a gutter for directing rain water too, so I will likely have to do something about that....probably clean it up and treat it with epoxy. I am also debating if I will fix the body and shoot it with a quick coat of paint, but that may be outside my budget of both money and time. Painting it will mean welding in about 6 or 7 new sheet metal patches to fix minor rust spots, then finishing them with filler. It would also mean sourcing a new rocker panel that is not mangled and full of filler. Then again, if I did that, I could probably get $3500+ for it when it is done. It does have the down side though of taking too long, and my truck needs to be retired soon, or it will incur about $1,000 worth of repairs. I also need to have my welder fixed. I know what is wrong, but the part is like $150. So, I may just put it aside and concentrate on the house instead. That way, I can get the mortgage out of the way and at least have some extra money every month to deal with the AMC.
If you want my advice, other than the engine compartment like you were planning... DON'T PAINT IT!
For the sake of your time and money, but also the car itself and it's future owner.
Paint the one fender if you have to, but leave the rest of it as-is.
Freshly painted projects throw up all kinds of red flags, and people can't help but wonder what's hiding underneath it.
Most would rather be able to see it in it's current condition to get a better grasp of what they're getting into.
For the sake of your time and money, but also the car itself and it's future owner.
Paint the one fender if you have to, but leave the rest of it as-is.
Freshly painted projects throw up all kinds of red flags, and people can't help but wonder what's hiding underneath it.
Most would rather be able to see it in it's current condition to get a better grasp of what they're getting into.
Sold off the old engine/trans today for $275 (paid by Paypal!). The guy is picking it up in week or two, and may buy everything AMC I have. I told him $2,000 for the car, engines, transmissions, sheetmetal, electronics, carburetors, etc. So.... who knows? Maybe this project does not get finished after all. If it all sells, I will be happier to just be rid of it as it spells less work for me. I can then go ahead, hold my nose (and cover my eyes) and buy a new Yaris. All I have left to do is choose the color. Should I go with black or white? Black I figure hides a lot of the lines (like the hideous front end!), but white is cooler in the summer and does not show minor body damage. Either color will be getting the darkest legal tint I can have installed, a decent aftermarket stereo ( I an buying it radio delete), and maybe even a set of black center wheels with a polished lip... if I go that far. A TRD suspension kit is also under consideration.
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