Easter Eggs

The semi-finished floor for Ferris.  This floor wound up costing twice what it should have because I likely paid for guys to take smoke breaks and wander around in search of tools.  It's done and that's all that matters.

The kick panel came from Icarus-one of his lost feathers.

I met with another body guy yesterday-Steve-who drove up to check out both cars and give me an idea of cost and time.  I think I found the right person to work on the car this time around.  Steve and I got along right off the bat and I can tell that he's far more organized and knowledgeable about what he's starting with and what it'll take to finish the job.

The progress on this build is going soooooo much slower than I anticipated. Granted, lots of other things have come up along the way that have delayed the forward motion-some of which were self-inflicted and some of which were just 'found'.  I think I have rooted out the issues but I'm open to the fact that many more may linger.

I started breaking down the 1500 S motor yesterday.  I managed to get the tin and heater box off one side-the other side has a nut that's rounding off.  And as it would happen, it's the nut on the bottom of the bracket where the heater box attaches to the head.  I have soaked it in oil and heated it up-nothing.  All of the stubborn engine tin on the top side is off-after a 15 second per bolt hit with the MAP gas torch to loosen the tin screws.  The tins are super filthy but they're in great shape so I can clean them off and get them painted for the rebuild.  Just keeping my fingers crossed that the engine has good compression so I don't have to do a full rebuild on the motor.

The distributor came out, the fuel pump came out...carbs are off.  I'll pull everything down to a short block for now.  I might wind up tearing it down completely depending on what I find...but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that...I'm hoping for a top end clean/rebuild and fire it up.  The fuel pump is a replacement because there are no markings on it other than 'Made in West Germany'.   I know it's old but there's nothing else on it and it was dry as a bone underneath (no grease).

I traded the distributor from the 1500S and the NOS one for T1 I bought on German eBay today for a one year only ZV/JCU 4 R 3 with the cast iron body that's been rebuilt and is in super nice condition.  I also bought a NOS heater box (right side) so now I just need to find the left side.  I'm also going to be looking for an exhaust/muffler to get it back to stock.  The oil cooler is in good condition.  I have to pull the fan housing and swap it with a 12v housing for the alternator (the only real modification to the engine) because I want to eliminate the voltage regulator completely.  I'll probably put a power distribution block in its place in the unlikely event I decide to install a VR and generator.

I've got a few parts to drop off at Tom's for powder coating to get the rear end rebuild going (rear bump stop mounts) and some other parts so that I can start putting things together.  I'd like to get the extra ignition columns I have put together and sell one of them since I don't anticipate needing three of them.  Next weekend may involve cleaning out the garage and posting up some parts on TheSamba classifieds.


Background Tune: "What You Are" by Audioslave