A little history found!

[jscaptura1]

With the cold & snow here in upstate NY, I decided to post a little bit on the journey of the 1600.  As my dad was going through some of his old photos, he found a few of the 1600 before it was restored.  The pictures are from the spring/summer of 1986 and it really shows the problems that '02's faced in the Northeast.  It also shows the great work that the local body shop did in bringing this 1600 back!  It was done by DeSarno's Cody Shop on 12th st. in Watkins Glen.  I was lucky to have the owner (Junior DeSarno) and one of his employees who was an artist & very meticulous working on it.  They took their time & did things very well.  When people ask about the restoration, I tell them for the most part, at least on the outside, the car is new about halfway up the car.  It has had the fenders, rockers, bottom half of the doors & rear wheel arches replaced.  Luckily everything underneath, as well as the front & rear shock towers were pristine, & pretty much still are!  The body shop is still there & run by his son who still does work for me on occasion when needed.  My apologies for the quality (and '80's hair) in some of the pictures.

The final picture is what the car looks like today.  When I retire in a few years, I am hoping to do the drivetrain & suspension, (it is all still original!).

[EPK]

@jscaptura1,

Wow. That's fantastic that you not only have a history with the car but also pics to reflect upon.

It looks fantastic.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[saaron]

Wow, you're lucky the body shop did such a great job!  The car looks great.  

 

I bought my 02 in '87.  It is going under the knife soon for similar work on the rusty patches.  

 

My buddy Jason rebuilt my suspension in '11 - the car drove like a new car when he was finished.  Here's the thread.  

 

 

Here's my car today - color looks familiar.  

 

 

[Gordon]

Great restoration, hopefully it now hibernates in the winter. I'm so glad my tii is originally from CA.    Been there and done that regarding rust repair on my former 74 2002 that I brought back from Germany in the early 80's when I was in Air Force. The car was a Frankenstein from all the rust repair welding done to it. It was at Leif Andenberg's shop in Walnut CA and Leif put  it on the lift, the lift kept going up but the car stayed on the ground.  That's when Leif told me, time to find a shell to transplant everything into. 02 shells were cheap and plentiful in So Cal in the early 90's, those days are long gone.  Three weeks later my 02 was totaled by a red light runner and the insurance company gave me far more money than it was worth.  I hate rust with a passion.

[Conserv]

Very cool. I just love period ‘02 photos!

 

I’m guessing your car is a 1970 or 1971, manufactured after December 1969 and before April 1971?

 

It looks great!

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[jscaptura1]

Steve,  manufacture date was Mid-November 1969, so yes, it is a 1970 model year.  Thanks to all for the nice comments.  This is the last set of pictures my dad has found so far.  First one is at WGI either 86 or 87, right after the car was finished.  I had to run the original wheels when it was first done.  The last picture is the next summer when I found some of the stamped steel wheels and upgraded.  They stayed on the car for almost 20 years until I was able to find the E30 basketweaves that are currently on the car.  Middle picture is from about 10-15 years age during a race at WGI.  I will keep looking & post more when I find them.

[jscaptura1]

saaron,  like the thread on the suspension.  Have not quite decided if I am going to remove everything as all of my pieces are unbelievably rust free!  They have the scaly surface stuff on them but are still rock solid.

Steve,  my vin # 1570472 so I am assuming it is one of the earlier production numbers for the 1970 model year.

[2002#3]

Nice job so far.  Very nice.  For you to consider/decide in the future as you go along...a few non-body items you can remove and a few replacement items you can install...

Keep us posted.

Larry

[jscaptura1]

Larry,  Wow!  That is a lot of stuff!  And yes, I will be considering most, if not all of those things as I go along.  Right now I am in the process of finishing up modifications to my 318ti autoX/track car.  Then I have a few issues with the E28 to address this summer.  After that I am hoping to start collecting pieces for the eventual rebuild of the drivetrain/suspension of the 1600.

[adawil2002]

On 1/21/2019 at 9:37 AM, saaron said:

Wow, you're lucky the body shop did such a great job!  The car looks great.  

 

I bought my 02 in '87.  It is going under the knife soon for similar work on the rusty patches.  

 

My buddy Jason rebuilt my suspension in '11 - the car drove like a new car when he was finished.  Here's the thread.  

 

 

Here's my car today - color looks familiar.  

 

 

 

There I am in my Blue & White shirt...Talking to Wegweiser.

 

Edited January 23, 2019 by adawil2002

[TobyB]

Mullet!

 

t

lived near the Glen in 1986

Edited January 23, 2019 by TobyB

[jscaptura1]

I wondered when someone would mention that.  Oh the wonderful days of our youth!  Those pictures were taken on 12th street  in the Glen in the Summer of 1986.  about 3-4 blocks from the Start/Finish line of the original 6.6 mile course that went through the village and around the sate park. 

[NYNick]

There were some repair receipts that came with my car from 1974. I Googled the guys name (original owner) and found out he was a big, millionaire philanthropist in NJ who (I assume) custom ordered the car. 

 

So cool to have that history.

[Jimmy]

6 hours ago, jscaptura1 said:

I wondered when someone would mention that.  Oh the wonderful days of our youth!  Those pictures were taken on 12th street  in the Glen in the Summer of 1986.  about 3-4 blocks from the Start/Finish line of the original 6.6 mile course that went through the village and around the sate park. 

 

 

[Simeon]

"business at the front, party at the back"