Project Money Pit - A 24v Story

[GuercII]

Polished... And Polished... and Polished

Over the last few weeks, I have been polishing up Money Pit. Clay, rubbing compound, polish, then wax. After wearing out my arm, I bought one of those buffing globes that mount on a hand drill. Boy, did that make my life easier at least for the final wax. It's not a Porter Cable, but it's a start.

The front and rear valance, as well as the lower rockers need attention. Needs to be clay-bar'ed first of all, the lower valance is visibly grimy from 22 years of close-up road detruitus. The black accent paint on lower rockers also needs to be repainted once I clean it off. Any suggestions for paint formulation? Obviously black, but gloss or semigloss? The white 'is' front lip needs to be reshot also. I might paint that in black, just to do something different.

[GuercII]

Another shot

Another shot... evening sunset.

[GuercII]

Front End Shot. It is tough to photograph Alpine White, and get good reflections!

[GuercII]

Farewell....

Well, the car is sold. It's been a hell of a lot of fun. I enjoyed revisiting the '80's, but still not sure I want to live there for good. The car went to a good buyer, I feel good that it's in excellent hands. I can sense that it will be on the track before you know it. Here's one last pic of Money Pit, with her replacement sitting behind her.

As a post-mortem assessment, I revisited my initial objectives: Keep expenditures modest, and do most or all the work myself. Don't go overboard, and keep the car within the limits of the SpecE30 series. I recognized that I had moderate mechanical skills and limited tools, so I set a hard budget at $5k, including the cost of the car.

By now, I've spent many multiples of my hard $5k budget. I learned to do the vast majority of work myself, but had to go to a pro for an engine swap that was way beyond my competence. I went completely overboard, and blew right through the limits of the SpecE30 series. I ended up with a garage full of specialized tools that I'll never use again.

So, in other words, the project was a complete success. I can't wait to do it again.