ScatsManul
Member
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2017
- Location
- Tucson, AZ
Ian's build thread: https://turbobricks.com/index.php?threads/rusty-the-1971-145s.354188/
Back in May I bought Ian's 145. This is certainly a big project but I think it will be a lot of fun. Off the delivery truck it was running, but running quite poorly. Had to floor it to get up to speed. Once I got it home though I got to enjoy the incredible amount of parts and supplies! There should be just about everything to give it an interior again.
The next day, I drove it to my local volvo friend to start some diagnosis. First thing I noticed is that the door REAAALLY did not want to open and close all the way. We sprayed the hinge and every other rare piece of metal that rubs on another rare piece of metal with a bunch of lithium grease.
This quote from the owner's manual is now my life's motto.
To get this thing under my name I needed to get it smog ready. Yes, if you want to register a car made after 1966 in Tucson or Phoenix you have to get it smogged. We cleaned the distributor's points and set the gap which remedied the lack of power. Then we drove around town in search of spark plugs. As part of that we confirmed that it indeed did not like to start hot! Soon enough we found that the reason for this was at least one big hole in the intake/exhaust manifold gasket. I plugged it with unnecessarily strong goo.
I ordered a new gasket and went along with my work week. I did some more lubing and replaced the hatch's gas spring with a new one in the pile of parts. After a while I noticed it had a bit of a lean...
Whoops. Turns out that tire and the spare needed new valve stems. That Friday I got them replaced and came down with covid. Once I recovered I bought some vinyl from Joanne's Fabrics and set to work on my first carburettor disassembly on the dining room table. One seemed to be stickier than the other but after a clean they passed the drop test. All I replaced were the gaskets to the air cleaner.
While the mainfold was off I found the red under the gunk.
Attached it all with new studs and mostly new nuts. With those leaks fixed it was much quietier and had no problem starting when hot.
Later I removed the AC compressor and found that it really is a B20!
With the leaks fixed, carburettors set to stock, and all the "eco" features permanently disabled by previous owners, it was as good as it was gonna be for the smog test. I took it to Michael's auto, a local guy who only works on red blocks, to see how it would do.
We've got a winner! I immediately took it to the smog station and it got the same reading the manual says it's supposed to.
It has earned its shiny copper license plate.
Next up, replacing all the fluids and the rest of the basic maintenance to teach myself and record the dates. Once it cools down I'll start sanding EVERYTHING to start on its path to a respectability. My goal is to drive it to the snowball rally in the bay area next year.
Back in May I bought Ian's 145. This is certainly a big project but I think it will be a lot of fun. Off the delivery truck it was running, but running quite poorly. Had to floor it to get up to speed. Once I got it home though I got to enjoy the incredible amount of parts and supplies! There should be just about everything to give it an interior again.
The next day, I drove it to my local volvo friend to start some diagnosis. First thing I noticed is that the door REAAALLY did not want to open and close all the way. We sprayed the hinge and every other rare piece of metal that rubs on another rare piece of metal with a bunch of lithium grease.
This quote from the owner's manual is now my life's motto.
To get this thing under my name I needed to get it smog ready. Yes, if you want to register a car made after 1966 in Tucson or Phoenix you have to get it smogged. We cleaned the distributor's points and set the gap which remedied the lack of power. Then we drove around town in search of spark plugs. As part of that we confirmed that it indeed did not like to start hot! Soon enough we found that the reason for this was at least one big hole in the intake/exhaust manifold gasket. I plugged it with unnecessarily strong goo.
I ordered a new gasket and went along with my work week. I did some more lubing and replaced the hatch's gas spring with a new one in the pile of parts. After a while I noticed it had a bit of a lean...
Whoops. Turns out that tire and the spare needed new valve stems. That Friday I got them replaced and came down with covid. Once I recovered I bought some vinyl from Joanne's Fabrics and set to work on my first carburettor disassembly on the dining room table. One seemed to be stickier than the other but after a clean they passed the drop test. All I replaced were the gaskets to the air cleaner.
While the mainfold was off I found the red under the gunk.
Attached it all with new studs and mostly new nuts. With those leaks fixed it was much quietier and had no problem starting when hot.
Later I removed the AC compressor and found that it really is a B20!
With the leaks fixed, carburettors set to stock, and all the "eco" features permanently disabled by previous owners, it was as good as it was gonna be for the smog test. I took it to Michael's auto, a local guy who only works on red blocks, to see how it would do.
We've got a winner! I immediately took it to the smog station and it got the same reading the manual says it's supposed to.
It has earned its shiny copper license plate.
Next up, replacing all the fluids and the rest of the basic maintenance to teach myself and record the dates. Once it cools down I'll start sanding EVERYTHING to start on its path to a respectability. My goal is to drive it to the snowball rally in the bay area next year.
