1980 Stardust Blue
 

So I'm going to try a build thread. Some of the pictures you may have seen before. This has been a slow start as i picked up the car last April I believe. By goal is to bring it back to the original Stardust Blue with possible mesh wheels.

This is the foundation

I will be doing short posts that focus on a idea or topic.

My God what have I done
 

So I bought a car with a wiring harness that was ravaged no engine or transmission. well, here are some picture:

wheels wells look mostly OK
 

The bin sheetmetal was toast, I will have to find new tin for that. Seats will need to be recovered. New carpet.

GSL-SE 13b! and suspension too!
 

Score an '85 13b with crossmember, transmission no driveshaft. I am still missing that. I have intents to convert the 6port to a 4 port and add turbo using an IDA throttle body. Time will tell if I go with this or not. I also snagged a GSLSE rear end from one guy and found the front suspension parts from Boriquaguerrero, who really saved this project in ways he will never understand. I left with the suspension parts, e-brake lines a complete wiring harness (out of an 83, but i see that as a benefit) and a set of seats. Pure awesomeness.

Electrical
 

I am leaving no stone unturned.I have gone through the instrument cluster and chemically cleaned the copper to remove oxidation. (vinegar and salt mix). I am also going through the wiring harness and bench testing and cleaning and getting it ready. I am thinking of trimming off parts I will not need, such as the carb controls as I plan on running an ECU.

Here is a before and after:

Wiring harness in process
 

Just cleaning and and stuff. I thing I'm going to try the Retr0Brite to see if I can get just a bit more white out of the plastics. My garage wall looks like a cheap Sci-fi tv serial.

I cleaned up the under dash and cave it a quick spritz with a clearcoat.

Clear coating the under dash, cleaning the instrument cluster circuit board, this is going to be intense isn't it? I like your life size schematic you made on your wall using your wiring harness. Should be fun to witness.

It's a bit messier than I would like. I think it will be transfered over to a ping pong table latter this summer. I just want to clean up any unneeded bits and test it out before install. It really is easier to work on it out of the car. I will probably leave the main harness in tact but trim down the engine harness to accompany what ever EFI I choose to go with.

no pictures but transported the car home.

Stardust is in the Lab
 

Which was a challenge since my home is on a hill. a short steep hill. Anyways my son Kristopher helped out. Also included is Kris's first car. a '79 with the hood prop on the right. real good shape outside of the faded paint.

not sure why the photo is upside down, too tired to give a damn.

pulling stuff off for paint...
 

but incase anyone did not know this. You can Allegedly get keys made from the code off the cylinder from the lock on the passenger door. Waiting to try this out.

I cut my keys using a file from the drivers door tumblers. The keys I made from that work everything. I guess the GS trim didn't have a "valet key".


Good move going back to blue... hell of a better color than red IMO.

yes... the blue is a wonderful color. Red works on the FB's I guess.

I can't bring my self to attempt a color change. I would if I could, but there will always be part of me that knows underneath the paint or inside of some panel in a nook or cranny I didn't get to is the OE color. And it would haunt the living daylights out of me. :lol:

E-Brake cables.
 

piddled around today, removed the drivers fender, cleaning up some surface rust. Detailed the e-brake cables

Dropped the tank today
 

Some rust, but not as bad as I was expecting.

it will be a 4 digit number

Turns out that I do not have the ignition lock or the electrical switch that goes with it. I am not sure if the tumblers can be reset for a replacement one. Good thing I am a long ways from working about locks.

got some things done
 

detailed the transmission and removed the steering box

Whats the deal with the vent on the side of the bell housing? I've never seen that before.

GSL-SE Transmission

prepping for SE suspension and paint
 

Just posting as it has been a while. Just a lot of little detail work working out rust removal that has been hiding under paint. Let me tell you that my car was pretty clean but the crap that hides under the paint.

sorry about the weird picture orientation I have no idea what the fuck is happening.

Rust sucks, that's for sure. I found that if I saw a spec of rust and started to sand it away that it would turn into a dime or larger sized 'spider' of rust. I found LOTS of those on my project which forced me to sandblast the entire front half of the car. I used the metal prep after I got to bare metal, then used the POR-15 paint as a base to start from.