Pardon me......trying to get back into the game

[kota02]

Hello All,

Just wanted to say hello after a long time.

I have been enjoying a 1975 Verona for the past three years now and have only had to replace the brake master cylinder in the pedal box.

The car complete with a five speed conversion holes in the floor pans, which I fixed before I started driving it, three years ago.

In the next two months I am planning to get it professionally repainted.

I am also planning to give a good look to all the suspension components and probably replace all the bushings, struts and springs.

The car drives pretty good, but I do not know the difference as I have only driven this one.

On that note, when I bought the car, I got in touch with a wonderful guy named Greg, in Floyd, VA. I have searched my emails and have searched this forum, hoping to get back in touch with him again learn few more things.

Greg, if you do read this, please send me and email at akshay at vt dot edu

or reply to this post.

I will start a project post in the appropriate section tomorrow, with pictures.

Thanks a lot for all the great information on this site.

Akshay

[kota02]

This is the car:

[kota02]

Do we have anyone in the Blacksburg, Roanoke, SW Virginia area.

I think it will be neat to interact with another 02 owner...... and learn from each other.

[BLUNT]

Welcome. Thats the same smile i wear when Im able to drive my 02. 8 below here this morning though. I cant wait

[THE1ST3]

bugtustlebub (Randy) is in the Shenandoah Valley area (near Harrisonburg) which has an active 02 contingent.

My Weim hails from Christiansburg but, he no longer drives after that last incident.

[kota02]

I have had this car for quite some time now. The only problems I have had with it are pretty minimal.

Clutch Master cylinder, plastic corrugated sheet for the door panel backing, few small patches on the floor pans and frame rail repair. The work is patchy, as I have been learning while doing it, but it has kept the water out ....so far.

Last year, I had a major scare, when a 30' tall tree fell on the car and no its not a typo. Fortunately for me, the branches cushioned the fall and the heavy trunk simply laid across the windshield, shattering it, but it also held the large trunk just across the windshield. A foot in other direction, It would have totaled the car for me....

For this reason alone, I think I am destined to be with this car, hence the decision to make it better.

The car drives great, I think. Shifting is little notchy in the mornings, but once it gets moving, there are no issues.

This is the list for interior of the car.

It has some sympathetic vibrations, which I plan to rectify soon.

The door panels need to be redone with the right thickness backing, and it is on the list as well.

The speedometer stopped working some time back, after a violent "whirring" noise and the needle breaking off at the stop. I unplugged the cableto stop the noise, but do need to fix it.

Plan to remove the old carpet, double check the floor pans, fix what needs to be fixed and prep it for new carpet. On that, what do you guys think about the molded carpet from http://www.stockinteriors.com/AutoCarpet.asp?Itemid=5178&MakeId=41&ModelId=433 with mass backing. Its supposed to help with the noise.

Need to install an interior light, as the car does not have on presently.

On the music system front, has anyone done a small amp setup with no head unit but just an aux. input as the sound sourse. The idea is to just plug the phone into the system and get the music. The car currently has speakers wired up, but I took out the system out. I might just bite the bullet and install one from the retro sound.or fabricate a faceplate to get the aesthetics right.But it is not a priority.

Get stock seats for front and add more cushioning to the rear seat. My son hates sitting in the back.

Re-install the panels underneath the steering column.

Get a new steering wheel or install the current one properly, as it squeaks.

Fix the rear windshield defroster as it used to work but doesn't anymore.

List for outside and the underside

Fix the bubbles at the base of both doors.

Get rid of the belt line trim as well as the black strips closer to the base, plug the holes and recreate the belt line trim with the plastic chrome trim from autozone.

Get an experienced persons opinion about getting the wheel wells in good shape, as they have seen better days.

I am afraid, the rust might have affected the mounting points for sub-frames, but I need a second opinion to understand what would be the right fix.

I am also thinking about replacing the struts but need a second opinion on that as well, hence my frantic attempts to find another O2 owner in the Blacksburg area.

The bumpers will be polished and buffed and the black plastic will be dyed black.

The chrome trim around the tail lights is pretty faded, I might just paint them black.

Paint it the same original shade, VERONA.

I plan to document the mistakes I will make along the way, because I truly am a newby. If everything goes even 75% as planned, I think I will be happy. I want to start a project thread, but only after making some progress.

Thanks a lot again for all the great info, I feel I already know most of the things I need to do, just need to get my act together and do it. The project officially started this evening, when I followed the instructions on removing the instrument cluster, and accomplished the task in about ten minutes. I will still need to drive the car, so I will have to keep a five gallon can of gas in the trunk, in case I run out of gas....

[kota02]

Tree on my car...This was two years ago.

I got lucky, simple as that.

[alpinems]

Wow, lucky is not the word.

As per your carpets, I would FatMat/DynaMatt the floor pans, and then get a new carpet set from Esty - one of the forum regulars here. Do a search, you'll find plenty of examples here. Her stuff is great.

[Johnson]

You left "vacuum the bajillion pieces of windshield out of my car" off of your list.

Seriously though, good luck with it and keep us posted.

-Jake

[dwalex]

Stem that I use is a Pyle marine unit. Sits underneath the heater and does pretty well for all my aux jack devices. I no longer use the in dash unit and probably going to remove it, mod the console, and clean it up. I'm out celebrating my b'day right now but I'll add pic's tomorrow.

Dave

72 tii "tupelo honey"

67 gt-6 ###$%=&-+!!!

12 fiat 500s

03 BMW z4....

[kota02]

Whenever you have a few minutes, Please upload some pictures.....I just do not want a head unit that will not fit properly in the center console.

Thanks,

Akshay