Proud new owner

[theluketaylor]

Last friday I purchased a 75 2002 from St Louis MO.  After parking it for the weekend and watching the eclipse my Dad and I convoyed it to Detroit so it could be imported into Canada.  It should arrive on a trailer late next week.

 

It happily cruised along at interstate speeds, though with the 4 speed it was around 4000 rpm.  Temperature gauge was rock steady apart from a slight rise during 30 minutes of stop and go traffic in Indianapolis which is really good.  I did put 2 quarts of oil into the engine which seems concerning in 1000 km.  There was no noticeable oil drip and we couldn't spot any blue smoke to indicate it was burning that much oil.  The coolant didn't seem to have any oily film in it either.  I'm interested in thoughts, but I'm planning to degrease the frame rails to see if a drip shows up and check the transmission to see if it's leaking into there.  Anything else I should be looking for?

 

It drove fantastic, though I did my best to let it down.  I've never really driven manual cars with any consistency; all my experience is farm trucks and tractors.  They all have so much low end grunt you don't need to ride the clutch or feather the throttle.  I stalled a number of times pulling away from stop signs, but it always fired right back up.  Once I was moving it was fine (though I did get 4th trying for 2nd once while going left at an off camber intersection. Learned my lesson and didn't change gear while not moving in a straight line).

 

I got pulled over for the lack of plates on the first day.  He just wanted to confirm my paperwork, which I had in order, but had forgotten to tape the temporary Illinois registration to the back window.  It was the first time I've ever been pulled over for anything, so I very grateful he was nice and calm.  He did seem a little annoyed at my Canadian habit of apologizing several times, but to his credit didn't let it affect the stop.  It took about 10 minutes to get the whole story sorted out and then I couldn't get the engine started again.  The battery seemed to be the issue since it couldn't keep cranking very long.  The officer had a battery booster that helped me keep turning the engine over and it eventually fired up.  I wasn't about to question it, thanked him and drove off before anything else could go wrong.  Reviewing the facts later I think the actual problem was vapour lock since that seemed to be a somewhat common complaint among fellow owners of weber 32/36 carbs.  It was very hot out that day and the car is still on the mechanical fuel pump.  After that I bought a battery booster of my own and carefully planned stops that would either be really quick or include a long enough rest time for everything to cool down.  The issue didn't reappear and it fired up quite easily the rest of the trip, but I'll be reviewing all the past threads on weber vapour lock and trying some of the suggestions.

 

The previous owner Ben did a fantastic job with the suspension setup.  The car handles beautifully, cornering flat and it even seems eager for more turn in.  Despite this it was incredibly comfortable for 3 hour interstate blasts and handled pitted city streets easily.  The stance is great, lowered but not slammed and suits the 15 in wheels perfectly.

Quote

The suspension consists of H&R progressive rate lowering springs with Bilstein HD's. 22mm ST front sway bar w/urethane end links. Urethane end links on rear bar as well. 15 inch black Corrado steelies w/ fresh Yokahamas.

With the upgraded suspension, this car handles like a track prepared 2002, but comfortable enough for a everyday driver

 

The ad described it as tastefully modded, which I heartily agree.  Trim delete, 15 in wheels, a wooden steering wheel and a 3.5 mm audio jack for listening to music all make the car much more modern without changing the look much.  The one thing I plan to do right away is get rid of the horrible US bumpers, other than that just drive it around and enjoy it.  I also plan to do different colours above and below the belt line.  I have seen a few cars like that in the 2002 beauty shot thread and think they look incredible.  It's already not a factory paint colour so I feel a certain freedom to experiment.  Maybe do it as a vinyl wrap first to try out out colour combinations.  I'm certainly open to suggestions.

[Simeon]

Sounds like you have a great car. Welcome. Oh and post some pictures!

[theluketaylor]

I wondered how long it would take someone to ask for pictures .  In the all the excitement of the transaction, logistics of travelling to the mid west partly by plane and my father following by car and then getting organized to see the eclipse totality it completely slipped my mind to actually take any.  I do have the shots from the add though.

 

 

 

 

[esty]

i don't know everything but i don't know how oil from the engine could be getting in the trans...have fun, stay safe

[theluketaylor]

1 minute ago, esty said:

i don't know everything but i don't know how oil from the engine could be getting in the trans...have fun, stay safe

 

It does seem like a long shot, but I'm running out of places 2 quarts of oil could have gone with no obvious signs.  It did seem to mostly disappear in one day (tuesday) since we put a quart in both during the morning and evening.  Wednesday after driving 3.5 hrs the level was still pretty much full.

 

I'll leave some cardboard under the car once it arrives and watch the level carefully once I drive more in 20-30 minute sprints rather than 250 miles at a time.  I suppose it could just be normal, but it seemed like an alarming amount to go through so quickly.

[Simeon]

Whenever I am driving a old car that's new to me a long distance I will stop at 10, 20, 50, 100 miles and check the fluids just to gauge how it will burn / leak / spew fluids. I can then decide whether I need to nurse it along so many miles at a time or just get stuck in and do the mileage. Keep an eye on it's usage, you might have started with a sticky pistons ring which freed up as you went. If the car had been standing for a while then the long drive was exactly what it needed. 

[bublinki]

Welcome! With all those photos it looks like you have a great start.

[Mark92131]

17 minutes ago, theluketaylor said:

 

It does seem like a long shot, but I'm running out of places 2 quarts of oil could have gone with no obvious signs.

 

Do a compression test and a leak down.  I had a 75 that would literally drink oil, but no blue smoke out the tailpipe.  I drove my daughter from San Diego to Santa Cruz and back for school and literally burned 5 quarts of oil.  Compression was on the low side but the leak down test wasn't bad.  Pulled it into the garage and did a full valve job and some upgrades, cleared up the oil consumption issue.

 

Mark92131

 

 

 

[dang]

I'm not trying to nit-pic or be that "negative guy" but my natural concerns after seeing the photos would be a new or newer paint job and a questionable trunk and shock tower area.  Anytime the exterior body work looks pretty good and the trunk area doesn't I worry a little.  The engine bay sheet metal looks decent so hopefully I'm wrong.  Get the car up in the air and check for rust/rot when you get a chance...

 

Oh yeah, welcome to the group! 

 

Dan

[esty]

47 minutes ago, dang said:

I'm not trying to nit-pic or be that "negative guy" but my natural concerns after seeing the photos would be a new or newer paint job and a questionable trunk and shock tower area.  Anytime the exterior body work looks pretty good and the trunk area doesn't I worry a little.  The engine bay sheet metal looks decent so hopefully I'm wrong.  Get the car up in the air and check for rust/rot when you get a chance...

 

Oh yeah, welcome to the group! 

 

Dan

let's not start pissing on his car...he sounds enthusiastic about it...we don't need to judge his purchase...he's already done that and seems to have a huge smile on his face

 

very few things in life are perfect and should not be routinely criticized

[ray_]

dang was being pretty mild, I think

 

The shock towers as viewed in the trunk pic do merit a closer look in my opinion. The car does present well otherwise, from the pics. 

 

What are the 3 lights on the seat belt beacon at the center of the dash?

 

Cheers,

[theluketaylor]

2 minutes ago, ray_ said:

dang was being pretty mild, I think

 

The shock towers as viewed in the trunk pic do merit a closer look in my opinion. The car does present well otherwise, from the pics. 

 

What are the 3 lights on the seat belt beacon at the center of the dash?

 

Cheers,

 

I actually appreciate the criticism, I need to know where to focus my efforts on keeping an eye on the car.  The shock towers themselves were previously repaired but it has been a long time.  I poked and prodded them and it seemed quite solid.  Not the most cosmetically appealing fix, but it seems to be holding up.  I do think it looked better in person.  The right one especially is more a lighting issue in the photo than any actual degradation as far as I can tell.

 

I have no idea what the 3 lights are.  I meant to ask the previous owner and forgot.  It does now have a cover of some kind and I assumed it was some kind of parking garage opener or toll road transponder, but those were just guesses.  I'll send him an email and see since it was kind of driving me nuts on the drive home not knowing.

 

[esty]

the dash thing with the light is supposed to have a plastic cover over it that is a warning for the thermal reactor on the smog equipped cars that had it...who knows what it does now...i have 2 small yellow LED lights in mine connected to the turn signals

[TobyB]

You know, that's one of the nicer looks I've seen for a roundie.

<errrrp, edit, square, I meant!>

 

How about a cute little fiberglass bumper in back, and 'chrome horns' in front?

 

I WOULD attack the rear spring towers, if only because, when you do,

you can then seal them up well from outside (seam sealer and paint)

and inside (cavity wax) and then forget about them.

 

Likewise, bang along the rockers with a rubber mallet or dead blow hammer

(on the inside, not the visible rocker!)

and the 'frame rail' structure in front.

 

As to the non- restart, put a voltmeter on it.  Braille batteries are SILLY

expensive, and you actually do the car handling a favor by putting 20-40 lbs of lead in the trunk,

so if it's not so good, maybe a trunk- mount battery would go well.

 

That looks fun, and welcome!

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2017 by TobyB

[Greg R aka Big_Lebowski]

Welcome aboard!