Well, now that we had our first significant snowfall, I expect that Ms. Jenavieve will not be hitting the road until spring. We had nicer weather than I expected this fall and she got about 200 miles put on her just driving around the countryside… otherwise she would probably be farther along.
So, the project will be beginning. I’ll be starting small things first and then once we get past the holidays I’ll have more time to devote.
To do list as it stands at the moment, in no particular order:
NOW/SOON:
Spend a LOT of time with a sander. I want to take her down to bare metal to see just what I have to work with. The overspray that was done by the previous owner just isn’t going to cut it, and I’d rather start fresh.
Obviously, repair and repaint the body. So far it doesn’t look like I’ll have too much repairing to do… she’s actually in a lot better shape than I initially thought.
Replace front brake hoses that I got from Greg about 2 months ago and have been sitting on my workbench.
Replace all brake pads/shoes, just because now seems to be a good time to do it.
Replace timing belt, just because everyone says it’s a good idea. I assume I’ll need a new tensioner as well.
Find a replacement light switch (I’ve disassembled mine a couple of times and cleaned the contacts but it’s still “intermittent”).
Find a replacement tach… I assume mine is bad because I’ve checked the wiring thoroughly with my Fluke and everything seems to be as it should be. Still, no movement whatsoever on the tach.
Fiddle with the carbs to see if I can get her to start any more easily than she does now. A cold start is a 3 minute process these days, messing with the choke and getting her to run for a few seconds, stall, restart, repeat… but once she is warmed up she starts and runs fine.
CLOSER TO SPRING:
New tires. I’ll probably go with close to original (185/70SR13 or so) on the stock wheels. It’ll be nice to get a set of tires for what I pay for one tire for my Excursion. The tread is ok on her tires now, but I have no idea how old they are, the sidewalls show a bit of cracking, and for the ~$300 or so it’s a good investment. With the amount of driving she’ll get, new ones will probably last me 10 years.
And, just before spring, a Retrosound radio. Don’t need it yet, but it looks at least halfway period authentic for the car(other than the fact that it’s digital and has an MP3 port). I just need one that works, and it’s got that nice dual knob chrome look.
My goal is to have her back on the road all shiny and mostly new by next April. Once I get to that point, I can address the nitpicky points like new dash wood trim, etc.