Dale L.'s Journal

I bought this car from an estate fo $250.00 US. I knew the owner's son and they took care of it until an electrical problem with Fuse #3 sidelined the car.
It was sitting since 1992 and was in original condition except paint job was showing wear. The top was like knew and had all the tonneau covers, jack, spare tire, etc.
This car has Air Conditioning added and it is a proffessional installation.
I had it towed to my shop and then proceeded to pressure wash the body and undercarrige.( I have a 4 post lift outside for this task). After a thourough cleaning I inspected the body and chassis for damage and rust. All looked perfect and except for a few spots where the undercoating came off it was better than I expected.
I removed the seats and carpet to inspect the floorpans which were in excellent shape and no rust or damage.
I removed the belts and spark plugs, lubed the cylinders and manually turned it over several revolutions until I was satisfied there was no friction. I drained the oil and changed the filter, drained the fuel tank and replaced all the fuel lines and filter. The SU pump was bad so I used a spare to test. With the Coil disconnected I proceeded to spin the motor with the starter and watched the oil pressure get up to normal.
I did a compression check on all the cylinders and it was normal.
I put in a new set of plugs, primed with fuel and cranked it over. After a few pops it did start and oil pressure looked good. No smoke from exhaust except some rust blowing out.
I moved it in forward and reverse to test the clutch and all was good.
The brake drum on rear driver side was frozen. I was able to free it up and took a test drive down the block and back. All gears went smoothly and handling was fine.
Now the decision to keep and restore or just flip it comes in.
Being it is such decent shapeI decided to rebuild complete brake system Including hoses and replaced the faulty fuse box.
Next when the brakes are done I will take it out for a long drive to see how well it does. If it all goes well I will strip apart and completely restore it. Then I plan to give it to my wife as a surprise !