Yeah, so this is a bit of a rant... I decided while I had the rear end out to change my fuel lines... They look shitty, they are original, and well, they look shitty, like they're gonna split any second. So, I go and buy some fuel line, some hose clamps... Then I decide I'm gonna go ahead and turbo it either this summer or next summer, dependant on time, money, and inclination. So, I buy the FI fuel line, the better hose clamps, etc. Then, I get under the car and get to work changing the fuel lines... And I notice that there's some pieces that have some pretty bad surface rust or some scale... So, I get out the impact wrench, and start stripping it down.

What started as a rear-end swap and a fuel line change has now morphed into no exhaust, no fuel tank, no rear suspension, and multiple days with a wire wheel on my drill, cleaning every ******* nook and cranny under the *** end of the car. Part of me wants to just say **** it, put it all together, and maybe actually enjoy the car , while the rest of me says, hey, it's apart, let's do it right, get it done, and it will all be worth it... maybe. Luckily this isn't my only transportation, so I can afford to do this as I have time, but man, what a PITA.

Anybody else do that to theirs? Start out with something kinda minor, and next thing you know, you've got half the car disassembled?

 

I ended up with only the windshield, steering and front suspension left on. all else was removed. damned thing is Im looking forward to doing it again. this time correctly.

 

Oh hells ya. That's why it took me 4 years to do the original restoration (that, and money).

My current project started with "you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to take the car off the road for a week, get some more simple green and shop towels, and clean the engine bay for the meet"

and morphed into a "let's dissasemble it right down to the keg, replace the rad, install my efan, fc fuse box, fc ignition coil, powdercoated panels, new intake and carb, re-wire the harness, AND clean everything with simple green and shop towels.... and I should probably wirebrush the engine too... replace all the coolant hoses...."

So you're definitely not alone.

Jon

 

Yeah, I don't even know what it's gonna be like when I get to the engine bay. I know the radiator is going, I'm switching to the Dellorto, I need to do the DLIDFIS thing, the headlight relay mod, I really want to go with either flush mounts or my other headlight idea... The interior is still mostly out, the dash needs to come back out, along with the carpet so I can put down the sound deadening...

The list is long and distinguished... Just like my johnson.

 

Do it the right way, or sometime down the line you will say to yourself "Damn, I wish I had cleaned that up before I put everything back together". All of the extra effort you put in now will show up tenfold in the finished car. I know it's tempting to just get it running, but you will eventually have it on the road.

 

Yea, this is what happened to me when I started restoring my MGB. I had no intention of doing a full out down to the last nut and bolt restoration, but as I got into it, I just couldn't see doing it half-assed. So I either replaced or restored every single part on it. Cost beaucoup bucks, but well worth it...do it right!

Rich

 

You've seen pics I have posted of the widebody in different threads and have some idea of the amount of work that went into it.

What I never did say was it all started because I found a set of Epsilons, and they wouldn't fit the stock body with lowering springs. I could have put stock height springs back on the car, then concentrated on the engine build, since the suspension was alrady done, but NOOOOOOOOOO, I had to take it down to a bare chassis, leaving the dash and wire harnesses, and nothing else. Every other little piece that could come off of the car, did.

Trust me, you haven't even started yet. LOL.

 

I have a feeling that I'm gonna be ending up in pretty much the same place you are... No widebody for me, but other than that... It's gonna be a long summer.

 

You'll need lots of beer.

If I could ship it accross the boarder, I'd send you some Canadian beer... much better suited for this kind of thing.

Jon

 

"when you set up to just drain the swamp, but then find you are up to your *** in alligators", old Cajun, southern louisiana saying.

and "any project will expand to fill the time allotted" , "the last 10% of any project will take 50% of the time"

 

My 3 month widebody project grew into almost 9 months, fulltime. Fortunately the expenses didn't increase at the same proportion.

As a kid, my father always told me, 'If it's worth doing, It's worth doing right'. I found that quite irritating, being young and impatient. Things have changed much since then, I'm a lot older and he's been gone for nearly 6 years. I would really like to be able to show him now that I did listen to him, occasionaly, and that he was right.

Once a project is completed, and one knows that it is right, the pleasure and satisfaction after completion is on an entirely different level than a job that was done half-assed. For me, a half-assed job is a constant source of irritation,. The woulda, coulda, shoulda syndrome. On top of that, I hate having to go back and redo a project a second time because I didn't do it right the first time, and could have have.

I'm sure many of you have seen that old motor oil commercial where the mechanic says 'Pay me now, or pay me later'., with the inference that pay later gets very expensive. This is dead on true when it comes to rust repair. Not doing it right the first time can increase the degredation of the vehicle because it has been disturbed.

 

just take a break for a week or so, don't even look at the car, go do something else. when you come back to it, u'll realize its so much more satisfying to do it right the first time

 

Yep... And my old LPO, HM1 Crocker, used to say, "There never seems to be time to do it right, but there's always time to do it again." I have no desire to do this a second (or third) time, so I'm taking my time, getting the best parts I can, and doing as good of a job as possible.

Well, I had basically the whole winter away from it, so it's nice to actually be making some headway. My GF and I are never selling either 7, so it's worth the time and expense to make them exactly how I'm visualizing them. Plus, while I do "busy work" like stripping the muffler brackets down to bare metal, I can problem solve other things in my head, like what I want to do with my rear spoiler, headlights, etc.

 

I agree with the multitasking part. I often come up with new ideas or solve a problem that has had me stumped, when doing some of the most mundane tasks.

 

One thing you may want to consider while you still have the dash out is replacing the heater core and associated plumbing. The heater will work more efficiently and you'll have eliminated the possibility of springing a leak--- and having a bitch of a time replacing the core after everything has been reassembled.

I had this happen several years ago with my second of six 1st gens. Fortunately (unfortunately) it was a rust bucket and beyond redemption so I simply dremeled the leaking inlet flange off the heater core, drilled another hole in the firewall and routed a new heater hose through it and to what was left of the inlet flange. There was barely enough material left to clamp the hose onto, but it held for the folowing six months--- at which time I parted the car out.

 

Today I went under the hood to re-seal a fitting on my fuel pressure regulator (small leak) and replace the one stock fuel hose I left (ran out of hose during the install) with 3/8" hose. Now my entire air conditioning system is on my garage floor and the panel above the radiator is repainted. **** happens.