First Roadster

[Winnfield]

I've been lurking on the forum for quite some time, mainly reading the classifieds. It's a challenge on the east coast to find a reasonable roadster - I've been close a few times and finally closed a deal last week. Now there's a 68' in my garage...

It's an older restoration (80's), titled as a 69 showing only 67K miles. The previous owner kept it well stored with limited use - the bulk of restoration was from his father-in-law. It ran well at highway speeds for the 4 hour trip home, but the cabin was drafty after the sun went down... Definitely a fair weather car.

I think it's in good overall condition, but not perfect. All the trim is in good shape, the paint is showing it's age (a few small bubbles, a penny size ding, and 2 bondo cracks near fender edges), the frame and inner fenders are well treated (no surface rust), the engine runs well (needs a crankcase vent and a tune up). The interior is okay (driver seat has 2 small tears, carpets needs cleaning or replacing, the stereo was "upgraded" to an AM/FM + 8 track) and there's a small tear in the top.

It also came with a service manual & a few old receipts and information - including a 2003 print out from 311.org listing compatible oil filters, a few very old receipts from Rallye, and a 1983 Rallye catalog. Although it was fun tinkering in the garage this weekend, I'm hoping spring will arrive soon...

Thanks for the great site and wealth of information on the tech wiki.

[twistin]

Berry nice ,waiting for nice weather will be an understatement wih that sitting in the garage.

[topdown]

Welcome, .Its nice to see another east coast car .I am not but 1.5 hours away , I think we are all ready to knock the dust off ,looking forward to some nice weather .Congrads on your car

[notoptoy]

Welcome, that's a fine looking Roadster. Congrats on the purchase!

[jamesw]

Great looking roadster. You are going to LOVE driving a car w/ Solex carbs. You may want to check the cam as one of your cold weather garage projects. Just take off the gear at the front and see if it is a B cam. If not - get one It makes the car REALLY perform w/ those carbs.

HTH
James

[L320]

Nice looking Roadster, I like that color. Welcome!

Dale

[spl310]

Why take the gear off? The stamping is at the back of the cam - is yours stamped at the front James?

[jamesw]

Even better! No Sid - I just forgot.

James

[Winnfield]

It has a finned oil pan and there's an old receipt listing a "B" cam.... It was tempting push it on the way home, but I was able to mostly resist. While the weather remains uncooperative, I'm giving it a thorough maintenance cycle - oil, plugs, brakes & clutch fluid, thermostat...

[DivinDave]

Great to see you on the site. You are just down the road from me as I am over in Centreville. Another roadster in the area is a good thing.

Your roadster is the exact color and year of the first one I had back in 1970! I would like to get to see it sometime.

[bikermike]

Welcome. Please consider adding your car to the registry.

http://www.311s.org/registry.html

[Gregs672000]

Nice car with some spendy hipo stuff on it, cool! We'll be happy to help you get her running her best. First things first, we need to take a look at that upper timing chain guide, make sure the chain is not cutting into the underside of the guide, and creating the "Evil L" engine destroyer. Do a search for "timing chain tensioner" or "evil L", or "shimming the tensioner", etc...

[OldYeller]

Sweet '68! I like the color too

I think you'll find this is a great forum - very laid back and most helpful.

Welcome!

[jbmilman]

Great car! Perfect color and man is that in fantastic shape! Welcome, and heres to good weather headed your way soon!