Project A72V

[varotone]

How were the door panels attached by default? Mine was fixed with numerous screw nails. Looks very untidy. I had to remove the panels from the tailgate to fix the lock. I plan on replacing the panels nicely as it was supposed to be fixed.

[Davy]

1 hour ago, varotone said:

How were the door panels attached by default? Mine was fixed with numerous screw nails. Looks very untidy. I had to remove the panels from the tailgate to fix the lock. I plan on replacing the panels nicely as it was supposed to be fixed.

The four door cards are mounted using metal clips that are hooked into the rear side of the door cards. So the clips are not visible. Example below:

As for the upholstery on the inner sides of the trunk and tailgate, they are secured with screws. 

[varotone]

 

UPDATES:

(I would not call these a part of a restoration. It is basic automotive maintenance tasks to do regularly) 

 

1. Radiator flush and refill done.

I used an ABRO 10 minute radiator flush and one gallon of ABRO green color diluted radiator coolant. I would like to share the following tips to make the process easy.

The petcock is copper and unscrewed easily by hand. The only problem when draining the fluid is once the nut is fully removed, water shoots right ahead to the compressor. The stream of water wets the pully of the compressor and the belt. Take precautions not to wet the compressor. One solution would be to fix a plastic tubing to the drain plug (like you bleed brakes). I could not find a piece of tubing that fits. So, I kept a rag dangling from the radiator housing just in front of the drain bolt so that the stream of water hits the rag and falls down instead of hitting the compressor. Be careful not to get the rag tangled up in the rotating pullies and belts. If you ignore the stream of water hitting the rotating belts, you will end up spewing a warm mix of nasty chemicals all over the place. Always wear goggles and gloves when handling these chemicals. While running the engine and doing the flush, it is easier to close the radiator and run a slow stream of water into the radiator fluid reservoir instead of running water in through the open cap. Pouring water into the reservoir gives some space to work with and avoids the danger of touching hot radiator and splashing hot water. Make sure the radiator pressure cap is functional before attempting this. I had to use a little more than a gallon to fill the radiator and the reservoir. I also had some ABRO radiator leak repair powder handy just in case the flush had done its job too well. I didn't have to use it though.

A leak may be difficult to detect at a glance. Radiator coolants usually contain a luminous pigment which fluorescence under UV light. Shining a UV light at the radiator in the dark will highlight any leaks as bright luminous spots. Mine had none.

 

2. Replaced the wiper blades.

Used a one with a small plastic cover on top to protect from the elements. I didn't make much fuss about the original looks since this is consumables and I will have to replace them again. Because the alignment of the wiper blades was off, I had to remove the arms and re-align them so that the blades don't go out of the windshield.

Hopefully, during the next weekend, I will attempt to fix the scratch marks on the windshield.

Edited October 14, 2018 by varotone
Edit

[tilvin]

1 hour ago, varotone said:

Radiator flush and refill done.

Did you do a radiator service by giving the radiator to the radiator shop?

[varotone]

1 minute ago, tilvin said:

Did you do a radiator service by giving the radiator to the radiator shop?

Nope. I did it myself. BTW, I don't call it a service. Just a flush and refill.

There was nothing wrong with the radiator, at least nothing that I noticed. You can't fix it if it ain't broken. So, there was no point of taking to a shop. I just wanted to get rid of the water and use coolant.

[tilvin]

1 hour ago, varotone said:

Nope. I did it myself. BTW, I don't call it a service. Just a flush and refill.

There was nothing wrong with the radiator, at least nothing that I noticed. You can't fix it if it ain't broken. So, there was no point of taking to a shop. I just wanted to get rid of the water and use coolant. 

Experts - correct me if I am wrong. When we give the radiator to a shop and service, they do a core cleaning and pressure test. Don't we need that?

[Davy]

4 hours ago, tilvin said:

Experts - correct me if I am wrong. When we give the radiator to a shop and service, they do a core cleaning and pressure test. Don't we need that?

Depends. Core cleaning is only required if there are blocks or if there is excessive rust in the radiator. A pressure test is needed to check for leaks. What OP has done here is just a simple flush and refill with coolant as it was using water before and there are no leaks.

[Twin Turbo]

7 hours ago, varotone said:

Nope. I did it myself. BTW, I don't call it a service. Just a flush and refill.

There was nothing wrong with the radiator, at least nothing that I noticed. You can't fix it if it ain't broken. So, there was no point of taking to a shop. I just wanted to get rid of the water and use coolant.

You should've made a vid,..?

Edited October 14, 2018 by Twin Turbo
p.s. was the cap replaced?

[Twin Turbo]

p.s.  Was the cap replaced?  Wish you cool runnings,..

 

Edited October 14, 2018 by Twin Turbo

[varotone]

9 hours ago, Twin Turbo said:

p.s.  Was the cap replaced?  Wish you cool runnings,..

 

Yes. With a 0.9 big head. The rubber washers were missing in the old one. Thank you.

[varotone]

UPDATES

1. Brake liners replaced. I might as well say brake liners inserted give how worn out they were. Had to replace one pair of shoes as well. Surprising the hubs wer good.

2. Passenger side front wheel didn't roll smoothly it was very tight to turn. Problem was not correted with greasing the bearing. So I had to replace it with a reconditioned one.

3. Topped up brake fluid.

Again, these are not exactly part of restoration.

Removed the seats and carpets to detail the interior. Wan to remove the dashboard as well. I'm stuck at removing the dashboard.

Appreciate if anyone can describe how to remove the dashboard.

There's quite a lot of rust in the floorboard. So I will repair this before putting back the carpets and seats.

[Twin Turbo]

Don't remove the dash, nothing for you to clean that is worth cleaning

.besides don't you want to keep the A/C working?\

 

 

[Davy]

9 hours ago, varotone said:

Appreciate if anyone can describe how to remove the dashboard.

1. Tilt the steering column down

2. Remove the centre console by taking out the 4 screws on either side (two right up front and two rear). You will have to untie the shifter boot if you have a lace that has a knot around the the boot. When you take the centre console out, note that you will have to separate the AC "cool" switch connector and any other connectors you might have for an aftermarket radio you might have installed in the centre console. it;s easy to take the centre console out if you have the seats removed or at least slid all the way to the back. After the centre console is out, you will have to take the duct work of the centre console and the ducts that go to the driver's side and passenger side. They should just pop out.

3. There are 3 (or maybe 4) screws that secure the centre part of the dashboard (along with the gauge cluster) onto the chassis on the top under side of the dashboard. Take them out. Then take the ash tray out and locate the two other screws securing the dashboard to the chassis and remove them. There should be two other screws on either side of the steering column, under the dashboard that secure it to the chassis. One more inside the AC vent near drive's side door and another one directly under the dashboard where the vent is. Take them out. Now the entire centre part of the dashboard should come out. Make sure you tag and mark all the connectors before taking them out so that you can identify which ones to plug back in. 

4. If you want to take out the left section of the dashboard, you need to first remove the plastic panel under the glove box. It's secured by 4 screws (2 top, 2 bottom). Then the panel will come off. Next locate the 3 screws under the glove box and remove them. Open the glove box and locate three more inside the top of the glove box and remove them. The glove box should now slide out.

This is all from memory, so only take the above steps as a guide. It should be really easy to take out the dashboard as I have done it plenty of times. 

 

9 hours ago, varotone said:

There's quite a lot of rust in the floorboard. So I will repair this before putting back the carpets and seats.

If there is rust on the floor boards, make sure you check the gutter area under the front windscreen. Water seepage from this area into the cabin is the main reason for the floor boards to rust. So you should fix it to prevent future corrosion. The dashboard will have to be taken out to repair it as there could be some metal work required from the inside.

 

Edited October 19, 2018 by Davy

[varotone]

Thanks for the help gentlemen,

I still failed to remove the dashboard. Once all the screws are removed, I tilted down the steering column and gently tugged at the dashboard. It came loose. I unplugged the connectors in the wiring harness in order to completely remove the dashboard. Looks like some of the wires run all the way to the engine bay without connectors. So I could not remove it.

The driver side AC went was not blowing when I bought the car. While removing the dashboard, I found that a part of ducting had removed and fallen in to a mess of wires. So I want to to fix it as well. I'll give it a try after I get the Haynes manual.

 

The wiring system is a mess. All the fuses in the board are shorted out with a wire. I'll have to start from fixing the wiring.

There's only an AM tuner in the stock radio. I'm planning on stripping the "innards" of the AM tuner and putting in something like an Arduino with Bluetooth, FM, GPS, voice recognition function in to the stock AM tuner "shell" and remap the buttons and volume and tuner knobs to function with the Arduino. 

Edited October 21, 2018 by varotone
Typo

[Davy]

3 hours ago, varotone said:

Looks like some of the wires run all the way to the engine bay without connectors. So I could not remove it.

There is a very short ground wire for the AM radio that is connected to a screw in the chassis, just behind the dashboard. This will be it. Unless someone has messed with the original wiring, I am quite sure that there are no harnesses that go into the engine bay from the dashboard that don't have a connector right behind the dashboard. 

3 hours ago, varotone said:

There's only an AM tuner in the stock radio. I'm planning on stripping the "innards" of the AM tuner and putting in something like an Arduino with Bluetooth, FM, GPS, voice recognition function in to the stock AM tuner "shell" and remap the buttons and volume and tuner knobs to function with the Arduino. 

Nice! Haven't seen anyone do this, so would be a great project. I'm new to Arduino myself.

I left my AM radio alone as it was still working and even the speaker under the dashboard was functional. Later fixed an aftermarket double din stereo in the centre console. 

Edited October 21, 2018 by Davy

[varotone]

ADVICE NEEDED

Insurance for the car expires in December. So, I'm searching for a good policy now itself. I have not yet decided on to get comprehensive or third party cover. All I need is the best bang for the buck.

First, I went to CE¥L!NC0. They refused to insure saying it is too old. Then I went to $R! L@NK@ insurance. A guy had a look at the vehicle and said it can be insured for Rs. 300,000. A full option would be around Rs 10,000 and third party around 3,000. They did not have any special policies for vintage cars.

The comprehensive coverage will cover the full value if parts are replaced with reconditioned parts or 30% if brand new parts are used. Plastics and rubber are not covered.

Since I'm planning to restore this (over 1-3 years), will a comprehensive insurance for this amount be worth the money or am I better off with a third party cover? 

I would like to hear your comments on selecting a suitable cover. Are there any specific insurance policies for vintage / youngtimer cars in Sri Lanka?

[pug306xsi]

3rd Party should be less than that. Check other places as well. If i were you i will go with the 3rd Party option.

[Twin Turbo]

On 10/31/2018 at 7:41 PM, varotone said:

ADVICE NEEDED

Insurance for the car expires in December. So, I'm searching for a good policy now itself. I have not yet decided on to get comprehensive or third party cover. All I need is the best bang for the buck.

First, I went to CE¥L!NC0. They refused to insure saying it is too old. Then I went to $R! L@NK@ insurance. A guy had a look at the vehicle and said it can be insured for Rs. 300,000. A full option would be around Rs 10,000 and third party around 3,000. They did not have any special policies for vintage cars.

The comprehensive coverage will cover the full value if parts are replaced with reconditioned parts or 30% if brand new parts are used. Plastics and rubber are not covered.

Since I'm planning to restore this (over 1-3 years), will a comprehensive insurance for this amount be worth the money or am I better off with a third party cover? 

I would like to hear your comments on selecting a suitable cover. Are there any specific insurance policies for vintage / youngtimer cars in Sri Lanka?

Thre are no policies for youngsters as they are a high insurance risk,..get a full comp cover  on the car to protect you as  you need something to protect you from your self,..

[varotone]

Thanks for the information gentlemen,

My first consideration is a third party cover for Rs. 200,000 for which the premium will be about Rs. 2,000. I could also try undervalue the car if I'm going 3rd party. Just wanted to check if a comprehensive cover would be worth it given how frequent accidents are in these congested roads. Pros and cons of comprehensive cover, specifically with regards to vintage cars.

 

@Twin Turbo Sir, I meant to say young timer cars. (Young timer cars are the old cars which are not yet considered vintage. My project car would be considered a young timer car. Old timers are vintage ones. Ford model T is vintage)

I'd happily call myself young. But not immature, reckless, kind of young. I'm in my mid twenties

Given how the comprehensive policies don't adequately cover older cars that well, I wanted to make sure that it's the right thing to do.

[Twin Turbo]

 

Simply keep it 3rd party for now and upgrade the cover when you get the car on the road .?

 

Cheers,..

Edited November 2, 2018 by Twin Turbo

[varotone]

UPDATES

Took the car out for a spin today and noticed 2 issues.

 

1. The passenger side carpet was wet. Yes, it was a rainy day but I'm sure there are no rusted out holes in the floor pans or the gutter going down for the windshield. 

The ac condensation drain line was missing and I realized it only today! No big deal. Just used a piece of PVC tubing. Will have to wait until next weekend to see how it holds up.

 

2. The key was heated after the ride. Only cranked the engine once and it started without trouble. What could be drawing a current from the ignition switch other than the starter motor?

 

[Davy]

On 11/5/2018 at 12:18 AM, varotone said:

The key was heated after the ride. Only cranked the engine once and it started without trouble. What could be drawing a current from the ignition switch other than the starter motor?

Had the exact problem on mine and its due to the ignition cylinder wearing out over time. In my case, when I removed the steering column covers to swap it out, I discovered that the 4 pin connector had melted at the edges and turned brown due to the heat.

I replaced mine with a new one which solved the issue. 

[varotone]

Had a look at the ignition switch. Here's the connector. Exactly as @Davy described.

But the key barrel looks alright.

Here's a pic of the fuse board just to show how messed up the electrical system is.

[varotone]

UPDATES

1. Removed the fender mirrors. Both need some buffing. The passenger side one needs some restoration because the spring mechanism has failed and someone had drilled a hole and fixed the mirror with a bolt. Here's a pic. I want to fill out the hole and restore the spring mechanism. Metal looks like pewter. I'm searching for some blacksmith/jeweler kind of guy to fix it. If it fails I'll hut for new fender mirrors.

 

 

2. Removed the dashboard. The wiring is a mess. There were aftermarket lights in the front shell. The wiring was hacked to install it. That's why I couldn't remove it the other day. Now I'll have to check the meters and lights of the dashboard. Waiting for the Haynes manual to get the specs.

 

3. Replaced the fuse. Although they were shorted out, none of them except the 5th blew up. Maybe it needs a higher amperage. Didn't have enough time to hook up the multimeter and see how much current it draws.

 

4. Dissembled the AC/heating/ventilation gadgets because only the AC and blower were working. Will take a look them stepwise.

BTW, where can I find connector terminals?

Edited November 6, 2018 by varotone
Added a pic

[Hyaenidae]

Out of curiosity, what's the mileage shown on the odometer?