Hey guys, its me again. I've been working my butt off (55-65 hours a week) all summer so far, but im still having trouble getting enough cash saved up to get serious work done on my car. (I have a girlfriend- what can i say?) I live here north of Chicago, and I was just wondering if anyone in the area has a car i can look at and would be willing to talk for a while about this and that. I'm having trouble deciding exactly what to do first, and even more trouble finding a mentor to help me get the restoration process rolling. Also, im looking for an opinion on whether i should do a frame-off or if i should just get the car on the road as soon as possible. (i'd love to have it for my senior year of high school) Just post and let me know what you all think- its a 70 gs 350 with the engine out and apart, solid floors, good back seats, ripped up front seats (i want to put in buckets, because im too big to sit anyone in the middle, anyhow, and i think they look nicer), trunk completely rusted away, and no grill. three of my four fenders need only very minor patching, and all can be kept. i need most of the engine stuff other than the block- i have the pulleys and the A/C intact but thats about it. also, my current coloring (what it was when i bought it) consists of white seats and headliner, tannish-colored dash, and a cream colored exterior. I'd love to make the interior all white and paint the car Diplomat blue, or maybe black interior with a british racing green exterior. I'd love to hear from everyone
hey man... I'm a lil north of chicago. though use your name at the end of the posts.. were a friendly group around here and on a first name basis. I'd be happy to bring my un-restored convertible down for you to take a look at. its still rough but it dosen't sound nearly as rough as yours. It is also my daily summer driver. what town are you in north of chicago? the most important thing is what do you want out of the car? do you want a vehicle to get you to point A to point B do you want a nice cruzer. do you want to show the car just to show. do you want to show the car to compete. do you want to run 12 sec quarter mile. do you want to get it decent to sell again? im sure I forgot a few possiblities but thats for you to figure out. nate
town hey nate, im in knollwood, which is unincorporated lake bluff. im right across waukegan road from Abbott Laboratories, if you know where that is. ive had a few people look at my car, but they were really vague with me- i need someone to spend an hour or two with me and help me make up an itinerary for the restoration. basically, i just want a daily driver (if i didn't, i would be getting a 455 im kind of busy this weekend and next (eagle scout project), but id love to see your car sometime. and again, if you can give me some help, id really appreciate it. just post a reply and let me know whats up, patrick
actually I'm looking to pick up rims from a guy in MI next saturday. though i was planning on bringing another car to MI. I could stop by there on the way up or the way back. (its a 5 hr drive one way though) i'd be happy to bring it by. another thing to consider is how much $$ do you want to put into it. a friend of mine restored a 71 hard top gs 350 and spent over 14000 on it. it turned out to be a really nice car though... he built it to be good for a mild track car (though wishes he built it for driving) I'm asuming your not looking to spend that much on it. it does become a love after lots of hrs of banging knuckles. Nate. added.. another very important thing is do you have a location to work on this? and do you have the tools to work on this?. i mean replacing the trunk floor requires a welder. and other general tools... nice thing though is that old cars don't need to many special tools that arn't available autozone as a loan a tool.
place my boss owns a big warehouse for the pool company i work for, and we have a mig welder, an arc welder, acetylene torches, hand torque wrenches, gear pullers, tons of socket sets, hydraulic jacks and lifts, and other equipment. i may be able to get some space in the warehouse for as long as i need, or maybe i can just go over and use it when i need to. i have a lot of connections, including free towing whenever and some great mechanics- i may even get my engine rebuilt cheap/free. in any case, im going to try and not spend much more than 4 grand to get it to daily driver condition
