I cannot begin to describe the amount of time that has been put into this car but I will do my best. However the times I worked on it brought pleasure and many other times I wish I had never bought it at all, just wishing it would just go away. Frustration was brought on the the gross amount of rust as well as the lack of good parts locally. Aiding the problems with my back added by many hours working under the car scrapping and sanding rust. This restoration is more involved than I was prepared to put time in for, lack of proper space and the never ending lack of time almost caused me to sell the pile of junk a few times.
The car was purchased in October of 1999 from a body shop, the owner of the shop said it was his own since he opened his shop. Since then his son had been driving it, “The Demise” of this little car. The owner said all it needed was an exhaust gasket, you think. I talked the owner down to $500.00 from $750.00 as he could not start the car. When I finally picked up the car it was running, so I drove it home.
I hate sand blasting only because no matter how you dress you still end up with sand in your shorts. I think I need new glass for my goggles though. These work great if you have to get up close if you are working under the car, any thing else and the lens would only last seconds.
These are welding goggles, I just removed the filter glass and taped up the little breather holes. I put some foam weather stripping on the goggles where they come in contact with my face, this does a great job of keeping the sand out.
The floor of the car was completely gone on the passenger side, held together by undercoating and carpet, the drivers side of the floor was 25 percent gone. The windshield had a deep crevasse from a absent wiper blade, tires are badly worn, and unsightly rotten moldy disgusting smoke and garbage stained interior. Oh I forgot to mention the mouse nest in the air cleaner and vents. Upon inspection the dash had a huge hole in it from the heater controls to the right side of the steering column made for a huge modern Honda stereo, which kept falling out.
After stripping the car completely except for the engine and wheels I discovered that it had been in an accident, the passenger side door and pillar were poorly repaired, this side was pushed in by approx. 1″. The front drivers side had been pushed in and covered up by new bumper and fenders.
