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VIN 4494 - James, Scotland

PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:18 am
by jwrayth
Just realized I keep asking for help but haven't really documented any of my work on the car here despite owning her for over 2 years now! A bit rude of me, so thought I'd share.

VIN 4494 was a California car that was well kept by the first owner, but the owner immediately before me was more of a driver and less of a hands-on chap so there were a few rough edges. Then I imported her to the UK and she got introduced to English and then Scottish weather, so the suspension components got a bit of a beating.

This past winter I embarked on a rebuild of the front/rear suspension and ended up having to tackle a few other jobs whilst I'm in there since with everything off the car I have much better access.

So here are a few shots from my "before" progress as I stripped the parts off;

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Running out of space for bits in my garage

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Fortunately I have a little cubby area that I can pile up with more parts

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I have the complete service history and no mention of the bushings ever being replaced :o

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No cracks, but plenty of rust. Needs boxing, but already had PJ Grady ball-joint collars. Got rid of the DMCH repro ball-joints though and will be replaced with UK ones soon enough

Re: VIN 4494 - James, Scotland

PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:35 am
by A Van
Nice pics and info James, thanks

Re: VIN 4494 - James, Scotland

PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 12:01 pm
by Dan 6511
There's something very familiar about all this ;)

Re: VIN 4494 - James, Scotland

PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 6:41 pm
by jerzybondov
Funnily enough I looked at 4494 before I bought mine! PO was a nice guy.

Re: VIN 4494 - James, Scotland

PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:08 pm
by jwrayth
Yeah, he was a nice chap to talk with and made the deal real sweet! Owner before that was really into it too and put a lot of effort into making 4494 what she is now as detailed on this site.

Especially useful that they both kept all the receipts and logs of modifications, and I am keeping up the tradition with my own logbook (both digital and paper!)

Re: VIN 4494 - James, Scotland

PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:27 pm
by Admin-bloke
Keep up the good work there James

Re: VIN 4494 - James, Scotland

PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 8:09 am
by ALEXAKOS
Another sweet turnaround!!!;) yay!!!

Re: VIN 4494 - James, Scotland

PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 8:06 pm
by jwrayth
I got waylaid with overtime at work, but still kept up working on the car on my lunch-break and at weekends. So being that it was the MOT today, I thought it was only fair to share some progress;

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Trailing Arms needed some touching up, but mostly good!

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LCAs needed more work, but now boxed and with proper UK Balljoints now :D

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Rebuilt Master Cylinder. Didn't want to pull the pedal-box, so just treated the rust and put a light paint coat over to cover up the bare metal.

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Rear end came together a treat! Shiny-shiny

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Front end scrubbed up pretty well too. LCA braces, bushings, shocks, tie-rod ends, ball-joints and bearings all new so the handling is totally transformed.

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...and since the MOT passed with no advisories, I took her for a 200 mile "road-test" in the West-coast of Scotland. Windy roads gave me ample chance to try out all the new bits and man-oh-man did it feel transformed.

Re: VIN 4494 - James, Scotland

PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 8:53 pm
by A Van
Well done mate! Really pleased for you thanks for taking the time to upload the pics

Re: VIN 4494 - James, Scotland

PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 9:01 pm
by Admin-bloke
Excellent :D