My initial plans for the Boy were to at least get a 4 speed manual box and hopefully source a nice little 800cc motor for it somewhere down the line. A thorough investigation of the little bea-ute revealed the following: She ran like s**t for many reasons.
Goats had annihilated the roof,
Karate practise had taken place on the tail-gate,
Carbie was all choked with oil and the whole block was thick with the stuff,
Top engine mount was shot,
No keys and the ignition barrel had been made to work with a screw-driver as a result.
Wiper-linkage had deteriorated,
The car had driven over a boulder/tree stump that had re-modelled the floor pan and frontal bodywork on the P/S,
Dash was all cracked,
I had no Sound System,
Cheap electric fuel pump had been fitted (with a cable tie to a heater hose might I add)
Someone had used double-digit grade sand paper on the outside then left it to rust,
The fuel tank was internally rusting and contained actaul gravel,
Whole bunch of stuff was missing,
Seats were beyond economical repair
Suspension + brakes were all good,
Needed a D/S inner CV Boot,
I didn't have a roof-lining
Tyres were shot,
Battery wasn't great,
Exhaust was 'good',
Body was... well, yeah...,
Needed a windscreen (was a saga + 1/2 to get one in Tassie),
My free time for the next ten years was gone and what have I gotten myself into?
The Answers:
Flush the tank then convert and paint the inside,
Blow out the fuel lines,
All new filters,
Re-connect the original pump on the block,
Carbie cleaner and a spray gun cleaning set followed by an oil catch can,
New CV Boot,
New Windscreen
A lot of filler, a white under-coat and a Ford Elecric Orange pearlescent paint-job.
Full new ignition set-up (coil, condenser, 9v ballast resistor, HT Leads + Plugs)
Pay the vacuum system a visit,
Extensively flush the cooling system,
Source the other missing bits and pieces.
But first! Get onto that Bodywork. I had 10 days with the Missus gone and no work on... Aching back and forearms + a few home-brews later:
- A box or two of Wet + Dry later.
- Slightly cleaner with a little spit-shine
- Some rather Shag-a-delic carpet I had lying around.
- Loom and coil etc... back in.
Serious progress but it then sat there a long time waiting for the new engine and trannie etc... that until last week never materialised. Will try to continue tomorrow. Not sure as to how much detail is expected/needed, I'm sure someone'll tell me
:compulsive use of smilie:
Like I said, the only section of my MB not in need of any attention was the rear axle, all the suspension, brakes and bushes etc... were in great condition. Kind of surprising until I realised the boy only has 28,000k's on the clock, I reckon the was still on orgiginal tyres when I bought her! (As a f**ked up banger of a wreck.........)