2011 still had us working on the vacation home most of the year but a lot of work got done. I was able to spray paint the interior surfaces of the car. This was definitely a backyard paint job but it turned out well and it was my first attempt at spray painting.
Painting looks pretty simple but you have to spend a lot of attention to how the paint is going onto the surface. Hold the gun too far away and you get lots of orange peel. Hold it too close and get lots of runs. I found that a cheap Harbor Freight detail gun did a really good job in confined places and it actually did a better job than the expensive gun I bought from Eastwood.
Once I had the interior surfaces painted I was able to start putting things back together. The doors were fitted and the bonnet was put on and removed multiple times so we could line everything up.
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I installed stainless water pipes behind the firewall and these were the first new parts that actually started the reassembly process.
The aftermarket lower valence had to be fitted to the bonnet and that took a lot of time because it was not exactly like the original. This would take quite a bit of time and some miner modifications were needed to make it fit..
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The interior pieces of the bonnet were installed and tied down with stainless screws. Finally everything was together on the bonnet.
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The brakes and the brake lines were reinstalled, connected and the brakes bled.
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The boot lid was installed and adjusted.
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The engine was installed back into the car. This took quite a bit of effort to get the cross members and all the other connections setup. Radiator, holding tank, etc.
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Engine started and ran for the first time in 31 years but water leaks were everywhere.
Mufflers and fuel lines were installed along with lots of little things that take up time.
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The dashboard was refitted along with the original wire harness. Time had blackened all the wire insulation, so it was impossible to match the wire colors up with a wiring chart. I labeled all the connections when I removed the harness otherwise the task would have been just about impossible. Things actually worked but I still had many loose wires.
The gas tank was cleaned using the POR-15 process. It worked well but getting the tank back into the boot area was a real challenge. Everything has to be aligned perfectly or the bolts that hold it in place will not start. I actually had to do this process multiple times and it eventually did get easier.
Installed the rear bumpers and the tail lights.
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At this point the car is ready to be test driven and none of the moving parts have moved for over 30 years.
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Ran the engine for 10 minutes and the 40 + year old water pump started leaking. I tried to rebuild it with new seals but I ended up buying an aftermarket pump.
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I installed the fan shroud and the cooling improved a little bit but the engine still overheated after 10 minutes.
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Next problem: The coil blew up and created a real mess in the engine compartment. I replaced the coil with a Pertronix Flamethrower coil.
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I was making progress on getting things adjusted but the engine is not running well.
The new coil helped somewhat but the engine would not idle well.
I changed the whole system over to negative ground along with the connections on all the instruments.
Reset the floats in the carburetors, cleaned the plugs and reset the timing. This got the RPM's down to 750.
Drove the car around the block twice. First time it has been on the road since 1979.
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I installed a Pertronix electric ignition and everything is working better.
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The fuel tank started leaking around the repair that was done 30 years ago so I bought a used tank on Ebay that was not supposed to leak but it did so I filled it with water and welded a patch on the leak then I used the POR-15 process for cleaning the tank and sealing it. This has worked out well.
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This was the end of 2011. I got a lot of work done and the car actually runs.