Sunset build thread

[krismon]

So I've been lurking a while, following along, asking random questions, but never really put in the effort in introducing myself.

Name is Kris, friends call me Krismon (smashup of Kristoffer Simon), too many Kris/Chris' around.

Last spring, we got an au pair, she needed to drive the family car to shuttle the 3 kids around, so I'm carless. I set out looking for a daily driver, but I'm kinda into this self torment thing, so I decided I'd get an older car. After looking at different cars here and there I ended up with SPL-26312. It's Red-ish, I think the original paint was Sora Blue. I can tell from the many many layers of paint on the car.

It has had a rough life, the R16 was replaced some time in the 80's with an A14 out of a B210. The 4 speed manual was replaced with a 3 speed automatic.

I drove it around for a year, and had some adventures with: the carburetor (if I had only known at the time that Keith was here in Vegas!), the fuel gauge (still unresolved), vapor lock in the summer- which left me stranded on a 113 degree day(previous owner didn't hook up the return line when they did the A14 swap), and lastly the alternator died and had to be replaced with a mini one-wire.

Lots more work to be done to it this year, and will keep all updated with the work we'll be doing to it. KA24DE swap soon. No more automatic for me.

-Krismon

Click to hi-res:




What's different here? PO left me a surprise, care to guess?

There is the A14:

Look! no Clutch master:

[notoptoy]

Well, welcome anyway!
What kind of power does that little A14 have, and how do you think it compares with an R16? I couldn't imagine driving an automatic Roadster - how strange.
It'll be great to watch the restoration/transformation.

[krismon]

Whatever power the A14 has.. the automatic just sucks it up, can barely hold 65mph at 3800rpm.

For what it's worth, it's great off the line.. smash the gas pedal, tiny squeak and I'm ahead of most cars to 30mph.. then I wait.

Kris.

[bikermike]

What's different here? PO left me a surprise, care to guess?

Welcome. Good to put a car to the name.

At 1st glance, looks like the driver and passenger seats are swapped, in addition to the already noted engine / tranny combo.

[zippy67roadster]

^ good catch Mike I saw the seats too! I live in Vegas and still have not had a chance to meet Krismon! Chucks66 has met him already but somehow I keep missing him!

[bikermike]

Maybe it was intentional to avoid interference between the seat latch and the roll bar.

[krismon]

The seat rubs the softtop.frame bolt.. bad gash in the upholstery.. only reason I can think of is that the PO didn't want to sit too close to their passenger.

Brian, been meaning to meet up with you, but life always gets in the way... we'll figure something out.

[Garm]

welcome, cool car with a story!

SPL-26312

I'm SPL-26244 -- within 100 off the line from yours!

[krismon]

Work is progressing. The shop* Started stripping paint on the front half of the car to see what's up.

I can verify, original color was sora blue.


driver's side looks ok, other than normal rust spot on the bottom of the fender. Might buy a patch from one of the vendors here..


passenger side is whack. there was a ton of rust and bondo up where the emblems were.. seems that moisture leaked in through the holes from the badges and did some serious damage, they tried to braze a patch in at some point but that didn't go too well.. will probably fab a new back part of the fender.


I hope to have a motor soon to replace the A14.

Kris.





* "the shop" shall remain nameless for now, will reserve name until after I know the quality of their finished work.

[notoptoy]

Neat progress, sometimes it hurts to peel back the skin.
It will be interesting to watch your restoration.

[zippy67roadster]

Chemical strippers are messy! Glad to see you diving into it. Let me know if you need an extra set of hands.

[krismon]

Big day for me today!

Chuck66 spared a good chunk of his Saturday afternoon helping me grab my new (to me) KA24DE and drop it off at the shop. Motor was on a pallet beside a house and sans hoist, Chuck, my buddy Mike & I managed to wrangle it into Chuck's handy liftgate truck.

Many thanks to Chuck for the help.





And a visit to the car, now mostly stripped of paint..








Yep, they were open Saturday.

[notoptoy]

Wow coming right along. I'm surprised they leave the metal bare, even for a short while.

[krismon]

Wow coming right along. I'm surprised they leave the metal bare, even for a short while.

It's Vegas! not much rusts here, obviously my car had lived where there was more moisture for a long time(though I bought it in Phoenix).

I once had a one of those golf clubs where the head was supposed to rust over time. Never did. After about a year, I had to put in a mixture of 50/50 bleach/water on a sock to wrap around the golf club to get it to rust.

Kris.

[krismon]

It's getting HOT!

Making a little progress.. should I try to move this thread to "members rides"?


Cancer is now mitigated.. welding and patching done.

Broke the windshield.


We're going without the side trim


front fender cancer is gone


This side was worse, the whole back section of the fender was replaced, thanks to an old camry roof for donating sheet metal.