PlumLoco
Vintage Jawa CZ motorcycles
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2007
- Messages
- 2,042
- Reaction score
- 2,864
So nearly a decade ago my wife bought the car from a friend. She had been working for a hot rod magazine and had enough connections to put together a project that would restomod the car as a fastback, and eventually use it as a raffle prize for the Wounded Warriors charity. Well a lot has changed, and the print media industry has shrunk considerably. Several anticipated parts donors have closed up shop, and so have most of the hot rod magazines.
Now I have a real nice, low mileage (61,000 miles), six cylinder, Forest green car that I need to do something with. The wife thinks she wants a sports car but acknowledges that this might not be that car, when it is all said and done. We do still have all of the sheet metal from Dyna corp to make it a fastback. So that means a repaint. That means the motor is coming out. Do I just mod the body, and end up with a red fastback powered by a 190 c.i.? Do I build a 60's style 302 or 351 C4 combo? Or do we top that off with FI? Maybe hunt around some wrecking yards for something real modern like a Coyote motor? Overkill? Maybe.
Seems like a more modern steering system and disc brakes need to happen, especially since we have a brand new Curry rear end also taking up room in the dirtbike garage. I can see this costing $30-40K and I also see that I can buy nice ones already done for less than that, but this car is pretty mint to start with. We know the history of it, as it has spent the majority of its life in a dark garage in Anaheim, with an owner that was in the grip of mental illness, eventually becoming to afraid to leave her house, let alone drive anywhere.
I am leaning towards rebuilding the carb, replacing the battery, and taking it to the auction. My wife wants to build it, "and then we will see if I like it enough to keep it".
So how do I maximize the fun factor, and maybe the profit factor, without breaking my wallet? What route gets me a fun, trouble free car for the least amount of pain and risk?
Now I have a real nice, low mileage (61,000 miles), six cylinder, Forest green car that I need to do something with. The wife thinks she wants a sports car but acknowledges that this might not be that car, when it is all said and done. We do still have all of the sheet metal from Dyna corp to make it a fastback. So that means a repaint. That means the motor is coming out. Do I just mod the body, and end up with a red fastback powered by a 190 c.i.? Do I build a 60's style 302 or 351 C4 combo? Or do we top that off with FI? Maybe hunt around some wrecking yards for something real modern like a Coyote motor? Overkill? Maybe.
Seems like a more modern steering system and disc brakes need to happen, especially since we have a brand new Curry rear end also taking up room in the dirtbike garage. I can see this costing $30-40K and I also see that I can buy nice ones already done for less than that, but this car is pretty mint to start with. We know the history of it, as it has spent the majority of its life in a dark garage in Anaheim, with an owner that was in the grip of mental illness, eventually becoming to afraid to leave her house, let alone drive anywhere.
I am leaning towards rebuilding the carb, replacing the battery, and taking it to the auction. My wife wants to build it, "and then we will see if I like it enough to keep it".
So how do I maximize the fun factor, and maybe the profit factor, without breaking my wallet? What route gets me a fun, trouble free car for the least amount of pain and risk?