The Buchka 242 Daily Driver

[Alex Buchka]

I bought this '83 DL about a while back ago from Chris (duder) here on the forums. I had recently moved to LA for work and needed something to drive around. It was all stock when I got it and had about 290k on the clock. Chris rescued it from the crusher, got it basically road worthy and past california smog testing. I took care of some other basic maintenance items and installed a short throw shifter along with a MOMO R-Sport steering wheel just for the hell of it.

After commuting with it for a while I really started to dislike how crappy the car was to drive. All the bushings were blown out, the struts and shocks were used up, the tie rods and rack boots were annihilated, and the brakes squealed like a garbage truck.

Suspension was first up. Basic mod list:

Front:
Koni 8610-1437RACE short strut inserts
500lb/in springs
Kaplhenke roll center correction spacers
25mm iPD bar
Coilover bits from Coleman Racing
Delrin control arm bushings
Chromoly strut tubes
Upper spring perches with 740 thrust bearings
Group-A style camber plates

Rear:
Bilstein F4-B46-0930-H5 dampers
250lb/in 5" ID springs (~375lb/in wheel rate)
Adjustable perches from Coleman Racing
Panhard bar and torque rods with spherical bearings
3/4" shortened lower trailing arms
Stock 19mm bar

Also replaced all the tie rods and the rack boots while I was in there, plus installed some cheapo parts store pads and insulating goop to fix the squealing brakes.

After this it was time for wheels and tires. I covered this in detail in my "Best damn garage in town" thread. Click Here. Basically made a set of 17x8 two piece Gemini wheels using BMW Style 5 barrels and a 10lb box of TIG filler rod. Never again. Karl and Homer helped out a bunch so props to them.

Tires are 235/40-17 Falken Azenis RT615K

Sometime between then and now I put a flathood on it with 7" round Hella H4's

In the beginning of January 2015 I went to Sweden for couple of months to study a few classes in college. Without my knowledge or consent my sneaky brother decided to completely replace the dull beige interior and restore the paint as a surprise.

Interior bits:
Black carpet and rear seat
Manual C30 seats in black T-Tec
Sound deadening mat inside the entire car
Repaired and flocked 1992 black dashboard
All the interior plastic was either replaced with black parts or painted to match
Suede headliner and hat shelf
Replaced the heater box with a 1992 model
New late model windshield
Keyless entry using all 850 hardware
Blaupunkt tape deck with bluetooth line in
MB Quart speakers

Paint:

The paint on the car is all original single stage 139 white. It was seriously neglected by most of the previous owners and myself. I washed it a few times but it never really got clean, there were always specs of crud stuck in the paint that no amount of washing would get off. I've never been one to have nice cars or take care of paint so I didn't really care.

Karl and Chris went to town fixing and painting a few rust spots which turned out awesome. They then got a bunch of friends together for a paint restoration party. I heard it involved absurd amounts of clay bar, DA cutting, buffing, and waxing. The results were staggering, the paint actually shines now.

Karl did a kick-ass job and the car is now an absolute pleasure to drive around in.

Alden took this picture at the Davis meet:

That more or less brings this to the present. I have a few more pictures of stuff to show for the next evolution of the car, I'll add that in the next post.

 

[MadDog_945]

ha.. and again the buchkas got some **** done nice looking car !

 

[crogthomas]

I like this. A lot.
You have strange friends. Mine would have filled the interior with balloons and silly string.

Is it my imagination or is that Panhard rod straight? How does it clear the differential housing?

 

[Råda]

Thats a damn nice ride

 

[The Full Banana]

Wow, that looks excellent. Spot on interior, too.

 

[Homer]

Hmm. I dunno.
That should work.

 

[Pete.M]

That must be a joy to drive. You've got me wondering how/where to source those widened spherical bearings. They look ideal.

 

[Harlard]

Neat. Any plans to make this smog excempt?

 

[SquareD]

Those 2 piece Gems are so dang baller. I want some.

 

[towerymt]

I've never been one to have nice cars or take care of paint so I didn't really care.

Same here. My '92 is looking really neglected now, and I have to do something. Going to be spending some quality time with the clay bar soon, it really does wonders to that embedded crud.

Davis 2015

 

[towerymt]

Oh yeah, make some center caps please.

 

[oldschoolvolvo]

rock on! great work as usual!

 

[Tuff240]

Curious to see how the Delrin bushings do.

 

[adomz]

That is great!! And i didn't believe what a clay bar and a few hours can do to the car untill we did my 244... Keep up the good work!

ADam

 

[Acurry6]

Looks fantastic! Love the wheels

 

[Duder]

Just posting here because I feel it's appropriate to assert myself on the front page of what will become an epic thread. Millions of years from now, our children's children will regale their children with tales of Ernesto, the slammed 242 on 3-pc Geminis.

For anyone who wants more back story on the car, see the Daily Turismo Project Car posts here: http://www.dailyturismo.com/search/label/DTPC

Fun facts: it was a San Diego car from new, I was the 3rd owner, the 2nd owner was a graphic designer guy in the film industry and the car was featured in some tiny-budget Indie flick that probably never got released called "51 West." It was entered in the ipd $25k build-off and was the 1st or 2nd runner up.

 

[fortbrick]

I've been craving more of this car since the custom gemini build thread. Needless to say, the work done to the car so far looks great and I'm sure only more is to come.

 

[Stiggy Pop]

White always cleans up so well. Looks great, and nice pictures.

 

[petiww]

Nice job! Love the wheels.

Jelly about those rustfree original paint cars.

I want to ask also, how are those delring bushings do in the front control arms? Doesn't it make the ride much much harsher?

 

[turbotankshane]

I'm not a wheel guy, but those are pretty ****ing incredible. Like the rest of your car. Good work.