Getting to know my car...

[68gretchen]

There's two good ways to get to know a car..one is a fly and drive and the other is a rebuild.

Several years ago I flew to NC, bought a '68 1600 and drove home (almost 1,000 miles). It had been upgraded with a 2.0 w/duel40's and an LSD. I enjoyed it for a couple of years and sold it.

During that ownership I picked up the '67 1600 in a parts deal. It sat on the backburner for several years until I semi-retired and had time to "go through it".

At the end of November I started and am now ready for its shakedown cruise...once Mother Nature agrees (20 degrees and snowing today).

Story of the '67 rebuild to be continued, I have learned a lot !

These are the two cars.

[resra]

The photo of the orange car, the scenery is beautiful. Where was that picture taken?

[68gretchen]

Northern Vermont...also known as the N.E.K. (Northeast Kingdom)

A beautiful section of the state with perfect roads for cruising !

[Mike Self]

If you want a shakedown cruise/adventure in your 1600, bring it to Mid America (Eureka Springs AR--a bit of a drive from VT but do-able) or Vintage in Asheville...lotsa folks drive to Vintage from New England so you could probably join up with a caravan.  We have one going to Mid America from SW Ohio...

 

mike

[Son of Marty]

Be aware according  to the road sign over your shoulder you can only stack up 10 02's and drive on your road😜.

 

PS, yes I am that goofy.

[68gretchen]

Ha-ha...wish I could stack up 10 !

I've lived here for 35 years and the only two 1600's (or 2002's) I've seen on the road have been mine !

They are a rare sight in this neck of the woods 🙃

[68gretchen]

1 hour ago, Mike Self said:

If you want a shakedown cruise/adventure in your 1600, bring it to Mid America (Eureka Springs AR--a bit of a drive from VT but do-able) or Vintage in Asheville...lotsa folks drive to Vintage from New England so you could probably join up with a caravan.  We have one going to Mid America from SW Ohio...

 

mike

That would be quite a shakedown !

Although I'm fairly confident she'll perform nicely...I'll do a few 100 mile loops locally first !

[bpeckm]

4 hours ago, 68gretchen said:

Ha-ha...wish I could stack up 10 !

I've lived here for 35 years and the only two 1600's (or 2002's) I've seen on the road have been mine !

They are a rare sight in this neck of the woods 🙃

Saab and Subaru country, for sure!  As good as it gets during the summah, though!

[Lucky 7]

14 hours ago, 68gretchen said:

There's two good ways to get to know a car..one is a fly and drive and the other is a rebuild.

You’re not lyin’. I’ve crawled through both of those ditches and can confirm. 😂

 

Love the cars, good luck with the shaker cruise. I always have a ton of nervous energy leading up to those.  

[johnny02]

@68gretchen we mountain bike in Burke and East Haven a lot over the summer...hoping to bring the 02 on one of our trips this year. I've never seen yours up there or I would have said "Hi'.  If you see an ugly red over bedliner sprinter up there this summer that will be the vehicle I usually take.  

     

[68gretchen]

Let me know when you're in the area.

I'll keep my eyes open for your 02 !

[68gretchen]

OK I confess...I had installed my my springs wrong (thanks for your help visionaut).

Now that they're in the right corners and the car leveled (+or-), I had to face the inevitable...the dreaded rolling of the fender !

I agonized over this for sometime because my fenders are original, ruining them wasn't an option.

I chose the "old school" method. Instead of using a baseball bat I used a progression of aluminum, solid stock and pipe (it's what I had on hand).

Looking closely at my fenders one could still see the spot welds that secured the two layers together. This actually creates a structure so I drilled the them out.

Starting with the smallest diameter (5/8") I place it in between the fender/tire at the front and rolled the car backwards, all the while keeping the round stock at an approximate angle of 45 degrees. (in the picture the angle appears less as I was holding the camera). Basically, you want the pipe to bear on the inner part...not the outer edge

I progressively worked my way up to 1-1/2" sched 40 pipe (measures 1-7/8" outside).

I then sealed the drilled holes and inner/upper fender lip with seam sealer.

I started with about 3/8" and now have (approx.) 1"

I am pleased with how simple this method works. Still waiting for the mud and snow to pass for the final "clearance test". I will add that I do live on a dirt road and Vermont roads aren't known to be the best so my needs require a little more space. Further adjustments might have to be made.

To be continued....

 

[bpeckm]

Fascinating to me, a newbie here.  I just didn't know that "rolling" was so .... actually rolling!  Nicely done!

[68gretchen]

54 minutes ago, bpeckm said:

Fascinating to me, a newbie here.  I just didn't know that "rolling" was so .... actually rolling!  Nicely done!

Thank you...I'm a newbie too.

To be honest, it was harder to "think" about doing it than "actually" doing it 🙃

 

[Mike Self]

On 3/14/2024 at 11:36 AM, 68gretchen said:

Looking closely at my fenders one could still see the spot welds that secured the two layers together. This actually creates a structure so I drilled the them out.

You do realize that you have un-created the structure by drilling those welds out.  As with all unibody constructions, welded-together parts are what gives the body structural strength--in this case, the inner fender wells and the quarter panel stamping should actually be joined by welding (yeah, I know that seam is a haven for rust!).

 

On 3/14/2024 at 11:36 AM, 68gretchen said:

I then sealed the drilled holes and inner/upper fender lip with seam sealer.

 

Sealer does not replace the rigidity made by those factory spot welds.  

 

Please understand, your car isn't gonna fall apart because you drilled those welds out.  But you did weaken its structural rigidity in that area.  

 

mike