Datsunrides

Rear torsions reset by 1 spline and stock front springs cut 1 and 1/4 coil. Yeah, its a little low, but I leveled it off what I could set the torsion bars at. Still plenty of suspension travel. Paul, just let me know. Actually I did get a windshield gasket from you about 5 years ago. I know that's rocket speed for you lol. Thanks Danny, both for the compliment and parts! Thanks. It's actually somewhat of a miracle I was able to pull this off. If you go way back, the initial plan was to just get the engine compartment painted while I had the engine out to replace the clutch! Then the while I'm at it quickly escalated after that, mostly due to the cowl rust. Mark

One thing about JCCS is the judging makes no sense.........at all. Don't get me started.......... Now, it's all about checking out the cars and meeting new owners and catching up with old friends, whatever the brand. If I happen to get an award, it's icing on the cake. You need to bring the Brat again so I'm not the only Subaru!

I can say I am now 99% done! Here are the final pics I plan to post until I build up a nice EA71 (maybe turbo or SC, for sure with EFI) and drop in my 5 speed. I would have done the 5 speed now, but in the interest of just getting the car back on the road after 6 years, it was easier to just go with the 4 speed. It's been quite the adventure for sure. Anyways, pics! And as a final note, let me add I am still looking for the following parts, so if you can help either with parts or know where I can find them, it would be appreciated. (please, only really nice parts) Especially if I could get the items before I take it to represent old school subies at JCCS on the 18th of september. -Dome light lens -glove box insert -rectangular seat trim between the headrest and seat back -outer door wiper seal (yeah right, but so far I have not been able to find anything that would work. hell even if you have a good section I could maybe send to someone to try and match?) I would like to thank Jesse (subafreak), Danny (drivesubies), Nolan (gopherbroke), and Bill (billyg) for making parts available and Charlie (ctsuba), Paul (moosens), Steve (kostamojen), (leeroy), and others that helped with information. I think the end result speaks for itself. Mark

I got rebuilt units from NAPA, but that was 5 years ago. Most NAPA stores offer rebuilding services, probably through Cardone, or like Steve said, find a local rebuilder. Keep an eye on Ebay as NOS joints do pop up from time to time. Ebay is a PITA nowadays. Make sure to use quotation marks around your description and try different descriptions to avoid a million returns. As a last resort, try car-part.com for used. Mark

So I did finish the paint on the hood and trunk last saturday and picked up the car today from upholstery. Looks awesome and he was able to save quite a bit of the original seat material. There is some staining in a couple spots I need to try and get out or maybe vinyl dye. He also did up a custom rear parcel shelf and kick panels and reglued the original door panel vinyl. He also got the front and rear glass installed. I'm not sure exactly how he got the rear to fit, but I have to assume he stretched the hell out of it as the corners look like they are under tension. Since I have not come across a coupe specific seal, this will do. It will either last a while or start splitting. Time will tell. Mark

My 1st new car was a 90' Calais, a quad 442 model. It had the 180HP quad 4 engine, black with a gold stripe. That car was such a blast and would run with the V8's of the era.

Just taking it to the next level. It's funny, the trunk looked bigger before it got trimmed out.

Stopped by to check progress on the interior. Trunk is done, working on the carpet and package shelf. Mark

Thanks Leeroy.

No earth shattering news. Polished the hood and gutter trims. Finished the bodywork on the trunk lid and painted the underside of the trunk lid and underside of the hood. Will paint the topside either during the week or Saturday morning at the latest, then paint is 100% done! :banana:

Nope, both cars just had the bases.

Thanks Leeroy, that does help a little, but of course an actual part would be best (if any still exist). The diagram give me enough info to fab something up worse case. Also, I will consolidate below the things I would like to source as the thread is stretching out a bit and some items have been found so, What I would like to find as of 8/1/15, Dome light lens 1 rectangular seat trim (just below headrest) glove box insert Molded rad hoses (new only) Heater valve (new only) Mark

Sorry to hear about Charlie, Paul. I've actually been pretty lucky with finding either NOS or very good used parts so far. I will still need a few bits and pieces to make it 100% complete to my satisfaction, but nothing that will stop me for the time being. I'm glad to hear parts will be available, albeit the circumstances suck but it's just the circle completing itself. Hopefully the other guys on here with early coupes can also benefit from parts (and get their cars done!) With that said, I actually got a few things finished this week. Managed to make up the A/C hoses, get the unit wired in, and put in the re-cored radiator. It can out pretty nice but the shop did not solder the upper and lower flanges back in the correct position so I had to spend a little time "massaging" it to fit. Ran it for a while to confirm no leaks and that the fan worked. Since I have not been able to get the original fan working consistently, I bolted up a universal one I had laying around. Vacuuming down the A/C tonight and hopefully it holds overnight and I'll throw a pound or so of freon in there (converted to R134a). Taking the car down to San Jose tomorrow morning to get the interior spiffed up. Should have it back in the garage in 2 weeks. Oh, and I added it to my insurance, it added a whopping $41 a year for $7500 agreed value coverage. Mark

This just showed up today gratis! Thank you very much Jesse! It may. Please post it if you get the chance. I see where the little notches are, but I think there is a rubber piece that goes between the notch and the metal bracket. I also found a place that would recore the radiator for less than I bought the car for (!) so I dropped it off and should get it back Thursday. We'll see how it comes out *NEW REQUEST* As with most everything else, this is probably a next to impossible request. I need one of the plastic end pieces for the stainless rocker trim if anyone can spare one.

Ok, back to the build. These will be the last pictures for a few weeks while the car goes to get the interior done. I should have the rocker trim and the bolts that hold the hubcaps on back from the chromer next week and hope to have the hood and trunk finished and painted before the car comes home. Mark

Yeah, though pretty soon it won't matter what, if any, the demand becomes, there will be none left that the rust monster didn't get! Going into this, I was well aware that the market for old subies was pretty limited, and what market is there does not have "deep pockets". Over the years I have thought about scrapping or selling the car numerous times. I would get PM's on occasion asking about buying it and when I threw out a number, I would get silence or a offer of basically scrap value. Now, I know some would not agree with this, but if someone won't pay me near what I would reasonably ask for something, I would rather scrap it than lose a bucket of money just to "save the car". Pardon my french but codswallop them. Even at the stage when the car was sitting, I had a ton of time and money invested in it. I say if you are an enthusiast, you should be able to recognize the investment and be willing to pay *somewhat* for that time invested. Now I don't recall exactly what I paid for the car, but I think it was about $500. Now the parts car that donated most of the missing/damaged parts was probably 1k by the time you figure in the failed trip to get it and the cost to have it shipped to me. Then there was the cost of getting it running and stopping before it was stripped and sandblasted and mostly finished the dreaded cowl repairs. So figure at the time I set it aside, I had about 2-3k cash involved plus maybe 60 hours (and low end labor here runs $50/hr if I were to have had a shop do this work). So, even though the car was basically a shell, you can see the enormous investment that was in it at that point, but it is easier to turn a blind eye and say it is worthless. Well, if it is worthless, why do you want it then? It is HARD work restoring a car, whether the street value is $100 or 100 million. On a final note, I accept your offer Subafreak. Please send the money to my bank in Nigeria. I will also require a credit card number or 3 and your social security info to start the transfer! Mark

If anyone can help out with a pic of what the forward edge of the upper and lower quarter glass mounting point looks like, it would be appreciated so I can make something up. I have the brackets but need to figure out how the glass mounts to the brackets.

If parts were easier to come by, this would have been done 3, maybe 4 years ago. Well, having to rebuild the cowl had something to do with that also. Probably won't be a whole lot more pics for a while. Car is pretty much back together except for the hood and trunk and I need to finish the bodywork/paint and drop it off for the interior work in about 2 weeks. May see some progress on the hood/trunk in a few weeks and the interior around the end of August. Anyone that can help with the few remaining items I need to complete this long running project, let me know. Check my post under "help me finish my coupe". Oh, and speaking of cars worth their salt not being cheap, I highly doubt this applies to Subaru. Now if this was any number of "collectable" japanese cars, i.e 240z, 510, RX3, etc I'm confident it's value would be in the 15k range when done. I have a feeling when I go to insure it here shortly, I am going to have to fight if I want to have it covered for 15k. Being honest, if you had the means, would you pay 15k for this car? (*no it's not for sale-at least until I get to enjoy it for a while!) I mean I know what Kostamojen was initially asking for his FF1 and I would think with the exception of the interior not being done, that car was done to a level exceeding mine and I think he took it in the shorts on that unfortunately. Mark

I am not sure if they are the same. I think the size is similar, but the mounting is different? Can you post a pic? If I can make it work, $25 is a hell of a deal. Shoot, I was just at a wedding at Avila beach 3 weeks ago and would have just got it then! (had I known I needed it) Mark

Couple more things to add to the request list radiator fan motor (it worked before ) the rectangular plastic trim that goes on the seat below the headrest area. (just need 1) Mark

So I am just about complete with the reassembly at this point, until I get the interior spruced up. The plan there is to install the new headliner (NOS thanks to Nolan), new carpet, re-glue the original door panel vinyl, and refresh the seats using as much of the original material as possible (I saved the good material from the parts car just for this purpose). Once the interior is done, I will install the glass. Just going to go with universal bulb seal for the doors, trunk and quarter windows. Not yet sure how I'm going to deal with the rear glass yet. I really don't want to have to buy another sedan rubber to splice together, but that is probably what will happen. I should get the quarter window hardware, hubcap screws, and bottom molding back from the chromers next week I hope so I can get the hub caps on and quarter glass installed. Still need to do some final blocking to the hood and do the bodywork for the trunk then paint them The plan has been to get that done while the car is getting the interior done. Oh, and making up the A/C hoses too. I sure did not expect it to take this long to get it done, and almost gave up a few times along the way, but 6 years later I know I will have a damn nice example of a early coupe (and rust free!)

Mark

You will find part outs here from time to time. Another option is car-part.com Mark

If you extract a shift knob, find that new radiator also! Just got quotes for a recore. Need you to come thru on this one Paul Mark

That brings back bad memories. Like Leeroy said, if you are seeing rust under the dash, the middle section of metal is probably completely gone at this point. When I deconstructed the cowl on mine, that is what I found. Basically a couple cups of rusty junk. The other bad thing is the cowl is a major structural part of the car. Once the metal starts to go, it will slowly lose structural integrity as the rust gets worse. If you truly like your car, the only real option it to replace the metal. anything else is kicking the can down the road and it's only going to get worse and start affecting other areas. Mark