The 308 dream, realized

Thank you! Likely getting started on the Leatherique all around, this weekend. I've been waiting for a warmer day, so that I can properly bake it in Also need to get going on sway bar bushings and a good inspection of the suspension bushings as well. I took care of the rust under the bonnet and it's looking good.

 

Cleaning and a new coat of paint for the rear valance/heat shield and skid plate. New stainless bolts and screws throughout. Heavy sanding and new paint for the sway bar and new bushings from Superformance. A friend's shop took care of pressing in the new silent blocks for me, and gave the drop links a good soda blasting. a clear coat finished them off.

Before and after photos.
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HOT!

I'm going to replace those bushings soon... never thought to refinish the rest of the linkage, but your pics convinced me otherwise!

 

Thanks. Yes, since the parts had seen so much punishment from the elements, I wanted to treat them right. Soda blasting of the aluminum parts does a great job, without eating up the metal. Those silent blocks in the drop links are in there good and tight. A little MAPP gas torch heat and the right sized impact socket took them right out. I removed the rubber before, so as to not pollute the garage the shop's 40 ton press slid the new ones right in. The Superformance rubber goes in easily and is completely silent, though I did apply a thin film of 3M silicone paste to each rubber-to-metal mating surface for good measure (including the machined ends of the bar where the bushings ride). The main bushings' brackets are very pretty stainless Superformance units. Doing the front bar this coming weekend and looking forward to pulling the upper/lower arms at all four corners once the cold weather returns. The bar paint is via a spray can of good quality rust-inhibiting satin black, after a heavy hand-sanding with a block.

 

Angle grinder + flap disc my friend. $60 at your local hardware store.

 

That sucker's on my short list of things to invest in

 

Took care of the bad temp/fan switch today (Superformance #24610155), with minimal coolant loss. It was great to retire that thing and to get my fans back to automatic operation. I'd bypassed the switch for a while and didn't want to work them more than necessary. Fun with wrenches though...the part that came out was 32mm, the part that went in required a 1 1/8" SAE wrench At any rate, the work is done in time for Motori Italiani. The switch did its job for 20 years....no complaints here.
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Nice work Matt. Looking good.

 

Thank you, Dan....and greetings to Folsom. I grew up in Orangevale

 

Wow, small world. Last time I got pulled over in the F-car was on Madison near Pershing avenue. Didn't get a ticket though. Sweet talked my way out of it even with my wife chewing me out. Female officer.

 

Wow, I know the spot well. Right along the path where I rode my bike to Andrew Carnegie, then Bella Vista every morning.

 

Matt,

It's a good idea to take off the louvered pieces that are on the underside of the rear valance behind the wheels and refinish them. They are rust prone and it's an easy job. You do need to drill them out and re-rivet them but it's no biggie. Go to autozone and get some aircraft stripper and the paint will be off in 5 min. Then taclke the rust with a wire brush on a drill or a chemical. Prime and paint at home.

 

Thanks, Steve. They're definitely ready for it. That rust had just gotten started. I'm going to get it while it's young Good excuse to find a good rivet gun and black rivets.

 

Or less from harbor freight tools.

 

I have plenty of extra rivets if you want them.

 

Thanks much. I'll likely take you up on it. Let me get a rough count, as I want to pop the spare wheel bucket soon as well, to check out the chassis and parts under there.

 

NOOOOO!

You only buy tools from Harbor Freight if you're going to use them once then throw them away.

Mom always said "buy nice or buy twice". My DeWalt is going to last me a long time.

 

I haven't bought my car yet, but my wife has agreed to read this story to me as a bed time story! LOL

 

Hey, it came with extra brushes for the motor I hear ya but I beat the hell out of it and it's still going. Plus, the store is 7 min from my home. It's hard to not go buy stuff every week.

 

I'm glad, Jeff. I have no doubt that you'll find one.

 

New Pirelli P7s for the QV and Continental ProContact EcoPlus for the Honda. Good deals from TireRack.com. Finally the garage is cleaned up and sorted. I made several trips to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Now, to draw up and build my heavy-duty workbench.
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20% off all online orders at OSH today.

Get yer damn grinder already or I'll get it for ya!

http://e.osh.com/a/hBPaHObBwwYccB8hbcuNsgOe6NA/savetwenty

 

You're experiencing grinder-rage Thanks for the tip, I just put an order in.

 

I drove down to Motori Italiani this past Saturday, in the warm rain. The car ran beautifully in the rain, and I was really enjoying the new Pirelli P7s. They really throw water and have grip to spare. The wipers were terrific. They did a great job for me, even the delay.

I arrived at the site and ran down the passenger window to receive my packet for the show. When I went to raise it back up...*POP!* went the cable. The window now slides down freely, as it's bottomed out. I took that as my cue to open, clean and rebuild the motors and install new cables/parts as needed. Nearly 27 years with no problem, so I have nothing to complain about. It will be good to get in there and clean things up, as they have all of the customary slowness. The search for window motor/cable maintenance threads is on! In spite of it all, I had a great weekend with the car, basking in the sun. I hope that you all did as well

As I dig into the window acrobatics, I will continue to snap some good photos.