WyKiD said:
Impressive mileage bud. nicely done...
Hows about some detail, original motor, major repairs , etc....
Thanks, WyKiD!
A brief history then:
* Bought her in 2004 for R10 and a Mazda 323 from a gentleman wanting to get rid of her (probably about 310k on the clock at that stage).
* 3-day valet to get rid of all the sand and dust in the car (seriously!)
The valet shop called me at the end of the first day and asked if they could please keep the car another day to finish properly.
Same at the end of the second day. On day 3, she finally came home, looking sparkling.
The valet guy told me years later that never before or since have they had a car with so much work that had to be done.
* Parked her end of 2006 after spotting oil in the water.
* A friend helped me get the head off early 2007 and took it to a cylinder head place in town, then ran out of money so couldn't go fetch the head.
* Cylinder head shop went bust later that year, then reopened the next year, with same owner under a new name.
* Went to get my head back from the "new" shop and after a bit of to and fro after I found the original receipt, they managed to find "my" head.
It wasn't my head, but a much better one...
Evidently my original head had been done previously and would've required a spacer gasket due to being out of spec from all the skimming - the one I got back was perfect and just needed a new gasket. :rollsmile:
* Head sat around in my garage due to souring of the friendship with the guy that helped me take it off - until 2013, when I decided to get a local workshop to assist with getting her back on the road. (Spousal unit threatened to sell the car for scrap, which added motivation to stop procrastinating about it but I'm pretty sure she was kidding...!:fencelook
Major repairs thus far?
* New radiator (2005)
* Head gasket, etc (2007-2013!)
* LAD system delete (2006) (which I'm still sad about - knowing what I know now, I would've kept the damn thing and fixed it somehow but newly married with limited finances you make the call to save yourself money in the future, not knowing that the future is much better than you imagined...):flyfun:
* Engine mounts (2013)
* New exhaust system (from the manifold onwards) (2013)
Engine, transmission, diff - all original, nothing major replaced there.
Future plans?
* Restore the interior somewhat - the wood trim needs a lick of varnish and the leather is a bit worn here and there but it will be done sensitively - I have no intention of erasing the character she's already gotten.
* Full fluid flush - everything. She's done about 2500km since being woken from her slumber and although everything was renewed when the work was done, I don't think it would be a bad thing to do it again given how long she's been sleeping.
* Respray bonnet and roof (the only panels still on the original paint after a late-night attempt to kidnap her in 2006 failed but caused some damage to the bodywork).
There are some minor niggles I have to see to - the adjustment switch for the driver's side seat melted and needs replacing, the rear window regulators and door locks still need to be stripped and serviced (did the fronts this year and what a difference it made!), the rear window blind has come loose and needs to be reinstalled, various little things that are fun short projects to do when I want to potter around but nothing major.
A friend told me when we bought her that it will be like a marriage, till death do you part. I think she might have been right...
