Bringing it back to a driver
I’ve had the suspension finished for about a couple of months now. It rides great! The steering is what it should be and tracks well. The only drawback are the 13 year old tires. That still have quite a bit of the original whiskers on them. The dry rot has set in and the car wasn’t put on stands soon enough to prevent permanent flat spots. That makes the ride not as smooth as it should be but other than that it’s bueno.
Lots of working on the car and some driving. As I’m posting this it’s back up on stands finishing off the new suspension and a rebuild steering gear. I’d rebuilt the steering system last year but the box was toast and needed to be sent to Chock for a full rebuild with some new internals. The box wouldn’t hold a calibration and after my wife riding with me a couple of times she complained she didn’t want to ride in the car until I fixed the steering. No problem. So I did this. No passenger seat, no problem..
The wheel is done but not without some drama and disappointment. The initial plan was to shape it, prime it and finish it with the Seymour custom rattle can lacquer from NPD. From there I’d do a spray out and see if that coating could be cleared. After shaping and high build primer a couple coats of Transtar epoxy primer is laid down.
The steering wheel was baked from years in the sun. Rather than buying a reproduction I decided to refurbish the one I have. The repros are about $200. I have most of the material for this, the only thing I needed was panel bond so I’ve got about $35 out of pocket but it’s far more material than I need for this job. The cost of the materials used is well under $50 total including the finish paint. If you didn’t have the materials I would guesstimate $100-120 to buy it or just under $100 for a kit from Eastwood or the like. My goal is to use as many of the original parts as I can even if the cost to restore is at or near the replacement cost.
Not as much progress as I would like. Between some middle aged man maladies and a change of the schedule when the day gig goes dark for a couple of weeks the time is eaten away. I’ve hit some milestones, seats are well under way, the radio upgrade is complete and the steering wheel restoration is progressing.
