The Red Cabrio Barn Find Project

[bradnic]

I posted in your thread today. We are on the same page here so if I can be of any help....

will definitely take you up on it :-) don't want to pollute your awesome thread though. will ping you separately.

btw your FS vert looks fantastic and well priced. amazing, detailed ad too :-)
you should hit up damian (GT BMW E30) as he's looking for another car wtb thread here. not sure how he'll feel about the auto but I'm sure he's not above a 5 speed swap

[jeffnhiscars]

will definitely take you up on it :-) don't want to pollute your awesome thread though. will ping you separately.

btw your FS vert looks fantastic and well priced. amazing, detailed ad too :-)
you should hit up damian (GT BMW E30) as he's looking for another car wtb thread here. not sure how he'll feel about the auto but I'm sure he's not above a 5 speed swap

I appreciate the referral. I sent him a PM.

It's all about the details isnt it :-)

Feel free to hit me up.

[jeffnhiscars]

I owe you guys the outcome of the engine saga so I'll get that story together before I tell you how I dealt with this (note the rusty front 1/4 panel)


and this... being the same fender as in the pic above

[jeffnhiscars]

We interrupt your regularly scheduled build thread to bring you this



and this



We now return control of your computer to you ;)

[dvid3k]

Very nice work. :) where in WV did you find this car?

[bsturman92]

intake painting

hey im wanting to paint my valve cover and intake mani as well. but do not have a oven to throw it in besides the one in my kitchen which isnt gunna happen lol. did you have to heat yours after you did it?

Besides the injectors I actually managed a couple of other improvements that I've again long thought about, but never done. Who loves cosmoline ?...I figured as much so how about this:





The pic above are after some healthy scrubbing with degreaser, Simple Green & a surface prep followed by high temp primer.




There was no way I was going to tape off all the highlights prior to the final coat so I applied the wrinkle coats, baked it as directed (which went over big in the house as you can imagine) and THEN took 220 grit to the highlights to arrive at the finished manifold.



Then the valve cover...1st primer coat


2nd primer coat


and the final baked Wrinkle coat with the bright silver features AND mocked up with the stainless acorn nuts and copper washers



This is the stuff I used for the intake and valve cover


Now let's throw in the refinished fuel rail with the updated injectors. Can you feel the pintle cap love ?


time to bag that baby until it gets installed

This is getting to be fun :)

[bsturman92]

oh wow never mind it says you did bake it... you know of a possible way to not have to do that?

[jeffnhiscars]

Very nice work. :) where in WV did you find this car?

BFE :p

It was in Walkersville although I actually found the car on Autotrader. Frankly I was suprised it lasted more than a day but then not everyone is buying cars "with engine trouble". The owner decided I was the right guy to do it justice so he gave me the time to get up there.

It worked out well I think

[jeffnhiscars]

oh wow never mind it says you did bake it... you know of a possible way to not have to do that?

Powder coat would be my best guess

[dvid3k]

BFE :p

It was in Walkersville although I actually found the car on Autotrader. Frankly I was suprised it lasted more than a day but then not everyone is buying cars "with engine trouble". The owner decided I was the right guy to do it justice so he gave me the time to get up there.

It worked out well I think

That is one fine looking Cabriolet, Good to see that it found a proper home. :) I've been watching an 88 Convertible on Craigslist change hands several times over the past six months. The newest owner claims that it is a great car and he drives it daily but he has had it maybe three weeks at most now he wants to trade it off for a Mustang. Although, I seriously need to stop watching Craigslist, I've got enough work to do on the two that I already have but I have no problem admitting that I have an addiction.


I just Definitely had to Google Walkersville, WV, I'm very familiar with the Southern portion of WV, not so much the Northern areas, but from the looks of it, its definitely off the beaten path.

[rcsoundn1]

Just like my car, except for the fact that mine has 180k? hahaha! I am in the process of fixing the years of mistakes of others....

[jeffnhiscars]

So its been a little while so I owe you guys an update. I did try to video the startup but having anew phone I got about 3 seconds so basically I flubbed it. I did remove the fuel pump relay, disconnect the coil & cranked it til I got oil pressure..and yes I threw in fresh oil and a filter before any of this.

It took only a few seconds and damn if she didnt fire right up. Ran a bit rough for a few seconds but then if you had been asleep for over a year....Turns out I had some loose valves which Im sure was due to not properly seating the collets (valve spring retainers) when I had the head on the bench. My preferred method for doing that is to put the rubber handle from a framing hammer on the valve retainer and give it a sharp swat with another hammer (always with a rag to prevent metal to metal). If you dont seat them right the clearances will change when it fires up which is exactly what happened. After re-adjusting the valves it just ran sweet and despite having a 3.73 it pulled way stronger than my '89 with its 4.10.

The joy of a fresh head.

[jeffnhiscars]

A couple of days later it was CarsnCoffee so off I went.


I also took the opportunity to see how the paint survived so I used some Zymol from the rar to the gas cap. The contrast was so evident that matthugie went home and spent the afternoon waxing his car only to blame me for having made him do it lol.


You may have noticed the rust in the front rocker/1\4 panel (see the 1st pic). That is a direct result of the sand that builds up behind the fender liner which, when moist ESPECIALLY if it has seen salt, will eat its way through anything....leading to this


Sucks doesnt it ?...and no it wont buff out.

[328ijunkie]

Car is looking good Jeff, Glad the head worked out for you!!!!!!!!

[kamotors]

great job