Introduction from Lexington, VA

[ETI2K]

The 76 280 I have is my second.  I bought it in 1994 as a perfectly sound and decent running car.  In the first couple of years I made some changes to start the inevitable restomod that I knew would one day come.  By 1996 I had worked the engine with a slight compression increase via shaving the head, stage 2 Crane cam, headers and exhaust, some minor suspension work, new seat covers and carpets, dash cap, and bodywork and paint.  The car was great and I loved every minute of driving it hard and quick.

 

Unfortunately, one of the revisions I had made under the hood resulted in the lower radiator hose coming into contact with the alternator cooling fan but only while the motor was under heavy load.  It took a while for the hole to develop and eventually wiped out the motor when it overheated.  But in loss comes the opportunity for renewal.  So the motor work began anew.  Cut the head again, decked the block, same cam, bored over, balanced and blueprinted, lightened flywheel, and changed to a 5-speed.  However, while doing all this work the dark clouds of a brewing storm were becoming too obvious to ignore.  I had frame rail rot plus front strut towers, rockers, doglegs, rear wheel arches, and some very minor floor pan involvement.  The time had come to make these vital repairs.  

 

With the car on its wheels I started cutting and welding.  One day I was working on the rocker on the RH side and very thoughtfully tied back the wire harness running just inside the car to keep away from the weld heat.  So down I go under the car again and after about 10 minutes or so I smell an unusual odor.  Hmm, I say, left's have a look inside.  Well while I was patting myself on the back for the attaboy I so richly deserved to think to get the harness out of the way, I had failed to secure the end of the rope I used and left it hanging - you guessed it - right over the spot I was welding.  It's amazing how cotton rope will burn - took out the wiring harness and door panel.  Ahh, lessons learned, and, oh boy, more work.

 

That led to my completely disassembling the car and putting it on a rotisserie.  Wow, does that make welding easier.  That was 1997.  Its now been 23 years since that day.  Over the years, the only work I was able to accomplish was to remove ALL rusted metal and weld in new  or handmade parts, and have the entire car blasted clean and acid-etch primed.  I think the last time I touched it was 2003. 

 

Jump forward to 2020.  I just retired (yahoo!).  All I have to do now (since moving) is build a new shop.  Once done, there is no thing (sic) that will stand in the way of completing this car.

 

Plans include:

Re-examine crank and mains fitment (ala PMCRaceEngines, et al)

TotalSeal rings

Megasquirt - Full sequential fuel and spark

Z-Story stainless headers and exhaust line

Adjustable LCAs

BC Racing coilovers

2-Groove balancer (BHJ seems to be the only one)

240 bumpers

Xenon front dam

Rear discs/ Front 4-piston

Vintage Dashes

Trans bearings and synchros

Diff bearings

Halfshaft rework

Nostalgic AC compressor and hoses

New (handmade) Cu/Ni brake, fuel, clutch hydraulic lines

Refresh wiring harness - new connectors, solder terminations, eliminate unused (Megasquirt to replace)

Port and polish

Rebalance and blueprint

New injectors

Sound/thermal insulation
Convert to crank trigger

 

Considering

Oil and coolant level sensing

Ceramic coating headers

Ceramic coating exhaust line

 

Still Struggling

Wheels?

Tires?

 

 

Thanks for being patient while I got all that out.

I'd appreciate any thoughts/suggestions/etc.

 

Rich

Edited January 26, 2020 by ETI2K

[DPG]

Welcome!  Sounds like a great project!  Hope to see it as it evolves

[ETI2K]

So much fun to be had.  Looking like my dash is arriving tomorrow!