Saving a 1970 1602....

[Johnson]

@rover1:

I`m gonna have to drive it this winter, so the heat had to work. Hopefully the not stock fan I put in lasts a bit longer.

@KFunk:

Well, I`m gonna drive it in the winter, but I`m also fixing it up. So I don`t know if that balances out or what? For what it`s worth, I`m gonna have to cut a good bit of metal out in the spring anyway to replace it. Count on some gratuitous `02 carnage pics.

I think mines the only one around here that gets out often. I talked to a guy who has a `74, but I haven`t seen it yet. I wouldn`t have been at work Saturday night anyway. If you get up here and have nothing to do, let me know, I`m sure we could BS for quite awhile.....

[Johnson]

So, got tired of my car being three shades of black plus yellow. So me and a couple friends painted last night. Albeit with rattle cans, it looks decent, and should help control the rust until I can fix it correctly. Without further ado, here is the mandatory "my car is on stands" section of the build thread:

The guy in the gas mask is my friend Gary. Long night......

Also, picked up my thermostat at work today(it`s a Motorad). Planning on testing it tomorrow, and getting it put in in the next couple days. May also tinker with getting a radio in the `02.

[potentialm20]

I love beaters. So much more fun than nice cars.

[KFunk]

Wow, that's a change. Gonna be weird not seeing it in yellow, though.

Wanna see what it looked like before?

http://www.maisgelb.com/TTG/1600/FS/1600FS.html

I'm also a believer in running and racing stuff as hard as possible though, so I know that's probably the best use for this car now. At least try to hose the salt off the undercarriage as often as you can, whenever there's a lot on the road.

You actually have a couple options for rallycross around here. I haven't been to a rallycross in a year or two, but they're a very good entry-level of fun. Sometimes they can just be a muddy, miserable mess (still fun times though). Other times you can pick up some serious speed and have a great time.

http://ovr-scca.org/_rallycross/schedules.asp

http://www.worscca.org/racing/schedule.php?type=2

I haven't ran one with my 02, but I've done it with a beater Maxima, a MkI GTI track car, and a rental Focus. It's great stuff, and relatively safe

[Johnson]

@potentialm20:

Amen!

@Funk:

The black is growing on me. At first I just thought "oh, this will be temporary until I paint it yellow or orange". Now I think it may stay black.... And I don`t see me doing the decals now. After some thought, and getting eyed by cops every time I drive it in town, I think I should do my best to stay under the radar.

I actually found that page when I was first researching this car, didn`t realize it was the same car. It got beat-up pretty quick, huh?

Thanks for the links on the rally stuff, I`ll have to look into again once they get next years schedule together.

All:

Tested my new Duralast(lol, it says "MotoRad" right on it) thermostat on the stove. Works fine. Probably put it in tomorrow and see if that helps with m heat problems.

Also, bonus points to whoever knows what the bike is in the background, and extra bonus points if anybody can figure out what the truck cab is.

[KFunk]

Johnson:

For race numbers and such, we just use magnets. You need them for race day and the good pictures, can leave them on for car shows, etc. Take them off if you don't want to be noticed. (oops, just saw you mentioned magnets when I re-read the thread)

Just buy the magnetic material from dickblick.com, cut it up with an X-acto knife, spray paint it with stencils, etc. It's cheap and easy.

Keep in mind the more stock and beat-up your car looks, the less cops notice it. My '02 is near invisible to police. I can blow past them spinning the tires and going 90mph, and they never even seem to bother. If I go 15 over the limit in my rusty red miata, I get pulled over quick.

Also, I don't check the forum much anymore, but myself and others nearby might be able to help you out with parts some. My e-mail addy is funkk@ohio.edu. I've got various weird things laying around (head parts, 4-speed, random bits of all sorts), Charlie in Athens has a spare engine and lots of odd stuff, Karl in Yellow Springs (a54atii, who once owned your car) has a garage full of stuff he''s trying to clear out, Jason/Eurotrash has lots of stuff in Cincy.

[Johnson]

Thanks for the tip on the magnets. I have horrible luck with cops though. Once had my samurai completely torn apart inside looking for drugs. They didn`t find any(duh). I was pulled over for wearing headphones while driving....

It seems you also missed where Karl is almost giving me the front clip I need for this car. I`ll keep you guys in mind though. Say, do we ever get together around here(like `02 guys/gals in Southern Ohio)?

[KFunk]

Thanks for the tip on the magnets. I have horrible luck with cops though. Once had my samurai completely torn apart inside looking for drugs. They didn`t find any(duh). I was pulled over for wearing headphones while driving....

It seems you also missed where Karl is almost giving me the front clip I need for this car. I`ll keep you guys in mind though. Say, do we ever get together around here(like `02 guys/gals in Southern Ohio)?

Oh oops, missed that. Jason (Eurotrash) arranges a lot of g2gs in the Cincy area (find his Rivertown gearbusters facebook group), and Jim Denker in the Dayton area has arranged some good ones. For the southeastern part of Ohio, all I know of are me and Charlie Rue (CHARLIE02) in the Athens area, and now you in Chilli.

I wish I had time to arrange a get-together, since we do have some amazing curvy roads here in the hills (SR78, 555, etc.). But unfortunately, I'm extremely busy these days. Research full-time at OU, teach night classes at WVU-Parkersburg, plus a new-old house to work on, and a fleet of old vehicles to maintain. If you're ever around Athens again let me know and you can stop by, I'm about 10 miles south of town on a curvy road.

[Johnson]

OK, so my life went a bit nuts with the holidays and work and all. I survived though, and things seem to be calming down for a few seconds now. I always liked this car, but now, I`ve decided that I love this car. Among other things, it goes great in the snow, can haul ~300lbs in the trunk, and has plenty of space inside for Christmas stuff and a baby in the back seat(not that I need that often though).

In an effort to keep up my pictures in this thread, here are the updates. Testing my thermostat:

New floor mats to keep my carpet fairly decent through the winter. Drivers side is "custom fit" for the bottom hinged pedals. Or at least it is now:

[Johnson]

Not sure, but I don`t think I mentioned this yet. I installed my thermostat(no pics), and a free cd player/back speakers. I hooked up the existing front speakers as well. It sounds halfway decent, and didn`t cost anything except some time and solder. I somehow managed not to get any pictures of any of this....

So instead, have some snowy pictures:

Those were before we went for a drive in roughly five inches of snow. In the next two, you can see the whirly light we had on top for said drive.

[dasfrogger]

Karls front clip is awesome. I've wanted it for awhile but have no idea how to move it or what to do with it. Would be good for you!

I now own a huge selection of Karl's parts. Let me know if you need anything. I need to plan another trip up to catch up with him - perhaps we can arrange a meet!

We also need to peer pressure karl into fixing his tii...

[Johnson]

Cool, he sent me another email. I`m gonna shoot for this weekend to head down. My next small purchase for the `02 needs to be a passenger side wiper arm.

He has a tii? That needs to be fixed! Maybe if we both volunteer to help.....

[Johnson]

As a fun, cheap little side project I found a couple of the 2002 hotwheels. I bought two, and left one un-opened. The other rolled around on my dash shelf for a couple days, then I decided it needed to match my car. So the modifications began....

The last few pictures are how it sets now. The paint needs touched up in places. It will never be perfect, but neither will the paint on my 1:1 scale car. I was very impressed with the details on this casting. It has the marker lenses, door handles, even the gas cap on it! The undercarriage impressed me more yet. The suspension is correct, crossmembers, axles, exhaust. Most everything is how it should be. It even has a correct interior with the three piece dash. I tried to stay within reason on my paint job, since even with the smallest brushes ever I am way too clumsy to paint fine detail work.

[dasfrogger]

I have at least three pairs of wiper arms. I have a rough idea of where they are. I'll find and let you know - don't hesitate to remind me if I forget.

the tii's frame on the driverside is tweaked a bit. needs to be cut pulled and straight piece grafted in. Karl doesn't trust anyone local to do the work and sending it where he trusts will get expensive - especially with the other 'while you're in there' items. Anyway - karl is a really good guy and knows a lot. I've always enjoyed my visits. make sure to tell him I said hello!

[Johnson]

Ok. I also need the piece that the arm directly mounts on. It looks like it just presses onto the actual stud like a little adapter. I`ll try and remember to get a picture of my drivers side for reference.

Ouch on the bent frame. I know how he feels about not letting anyone local touch it though.