Roadster in Chicago

[Donald]

Hi All
new to the group.
Just purchased a '67 SPL311 1600 from California off ebay and had it shipped over here to Chicago.
looking for advice on mechanics and auto-body shops in the area.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks

[DCooke]

Donald, Welcome to the group. What part of the Chicagoland area are you in? I'm up in the NW burbs. There are a few of us around that might be able to help you out.

Look forwarding to meeting up somewhere this roadster season.

[kenw]

Hey Donald
Welcome to the family!
Are there specific issues with the car? Just general questions? This forum is a great resource if you want to do some wrenching. With just a little pressure I'm sure you could get a pretty large crowd of roadster owners to give you a hand.
We occasionally have beer along for the ride. I mean the others, not me.....

[Linda]

Chicago dogs and deep dish pizza should help gather a crowd of willing helpers!
Linda

[Donald]

Thanks everyone,

I've been enjoying tinkering with the little beast so far - its been a few years since I was under the hood with a wrench but it's mostly coming back ...
Replaced some parts with originals and resolved an overheating issue - go figure someone had put it back together without a thermostat!
Now got an issue with mis-firing when its hot and under load - that'll be the job for the next warm day - if we ever have one of those again...

Car came with a hard-top and a tonneau cover. I bought a soft-top frame from ebay and just ordered the new cover from Convertibletopguys - hope it arrives before the next snow...

While the body on the car looks good from 15 feet (recent repaint, interior done etc), when you get up close its had some relatively quick and dirty rust cover up jobs with bondo which I figure I may want to have fixed properly come next winter...

In the meantime, the passenger side door isn't closing easily - rubs and is chipping the previously mentioned new paint (gaps aren't right so probably needs panels adjusted...)

So I'm looking for a recommendation for a body shop that could look at the door issue now and then maybe the rust later...

Cheers
Donald

[Gregs672000]

Welcome Donald! Can't help much but remotely from wet and rainy Washington. I would pull your plugs and see how they are burning, may explain your misfire, but pull them after running the car where it's missing and don't allow it to idle long... find a long stretch of road where it's safe to pull off, run the car where it gives you trouble typically, then quickly pull over, kill the engine, remove the plugs (bring cloth or similar gloves, they're hot!) and check the color... black is rich, tan correct, white too lean. There are numerous SU carb experts on this list who can help you troubleshoot issues. Also, one of the best upgrades is the EI distributor. That too may help, but let's dig in first...