Joining the family

[SPLutah]

Hi all! I’ve been looking for a project car in this realm for a little bit now. My initial interest in the genre was sparked by a Honda S600 I came across in Venezuela many years ago. Fast forward through college and starting a family and having a few different jobs and I finally am at a point where I am more ready to take on a project.
I came across what was labeled as a 1969 311 a few days ago relatively local to me. I took a look and ended up taking the plunge. I am now the owner of car number SPL311-22243. Reading up tells me it is actually a 1968 despite the title. There does not appear to be a lot of rust on the body though the back trunk wells have some holes and will need some attention. The front of the car has been in a fender bender before and was fixed with a lot of body filler. It will need to be corrected.
The engine and transmission are not in the car and the previous owner had another engine and transmission. The engine is stamped with R105585 leading me to believe it is a later production R16. I am not sure how to ID the transmission to figure the year of production.
The plan from here is a touch hazy. I am going to work on cleaning up all the debris in the car and trying to get a clear understanding of what I have and do not have. I will have a lot to learn in the process but that is fine by me. I will keep reading and searching around here. Thanks for creating this wonderful reference!

[notoptoy]

Welcome, looks like a project indeed - a solid project though! Do you have the radiator, and cross braces, lots of small parts are going to be needed.
We welcome your questions!

[SPLutah]

Yes - I have the radiator. Not sure what crosspieces I’ve got yet. I need to get everything out of the trunk and laid out. Then hopefully everyone can help me understand what I have and may be missing.
I am able to fabricate some things where needed - I am comfortable with a welder and have access to mills and lathes to some degree.

-Daniel

[SPLutah]

I am thinking I would be best served by basically piecing the car together and get it to run and drive before I attempt to do any significant restoration. That way I can identify anything I am missing and learn the basic ins and outs. Is that flawed thinking? If it is, why?

[notoptoy]

That is what I most highly recommend. Get it driving and running. I try to keep projects with a goal of driving it after each project completion.