Hi Guys,
Its been fun and games for the last few weeks! For starters, I found out that the previous owner had changed the engine compartment firewall - and put one from an automatic car. This means the clutch cable access to the pedal was non existent! Anyway, I got that installed and gears engaging OK apart from reverse probably because my gear lever is not in good shape at all..not sure where I will get another one from:
I got a standard exhaust manifold (Many thanks to Glenn) and a complete rear seat from a shed clearance sale that was going on in my area. The seat was the leather one and mine were the sued material but for $20, I figured I would just take it. He also had a set of these which he off loaded to me as well :)
So unfortunately the standard manifold was removed and this was fitted :). I attempted to crank the car last week not expecting it to start but it did at the first kick :). Realized immediately that there was no water circulation happening. Thermostat seized - should have realized that and checked it:
New thermostat installed and system flushed. If you notice from the photo, the thermo vacuum switch connected to the housing has 2 broken slots :(. Pipes leading to and out of the auto choke were clogged and it took some time to get this going. Stripped the heater box to get to the heater core. The 2 intake pipes had detached from the core. Luckily, its the metallic one. A quick visit to the radiator guy and he welded them back in no worries and pressure tested :). Heater box also cleaned, foam material replaced as well.
The water temperature gauge was also not working but after getting a new sender and facing same issue, I changed the cluster. Luckily, the car came with an extra cluster as part of the package :). This resolve that issue.
There is lots still to be done but I was hoping to get some pointers on the following:
- What can be done to the gear lever? New bushes? Replace lever with original/quick shift? (Was hoping to keep car as standard as possible)
- Where can I get the thermo vacuum switch? Ebay has not been my friend on this one.
- I'm still in search of the front left brake pipe and drivers side mirror
- The pink resistance wire in the harness is getting hot when the ignition key is in the ON position. I'm assuming this is when the points are in contact. Is this normal? I had left the ignition in ON position for sometime when testing something else and this wire become so hot I thought it would melt through. Luckily I had undone the harness. It would have probably have melted through if that bit of the harness was wrapped up. Is this normal? The resistance across the coil is 1.6ohms, so I assume I need a resistor wire. Otherwise, the car starts up with no problems and when running the wire does not get hot.
Would be great to here from someone who has gone through this restoration or has some pointers :)
I'm sure there is other stuff that will pop up as I go.
Cheers!
Steve