MikeW

Yes, it's just a fairly late '73. They should have a VIN between 120000 and about 172000.

Looking good. I'm partial to blue myself. The backup lights not working may be as simple as one or both bullet connectors disconnected at the transmission switch. BTW, did the car used to have a trailer?

I replaced my headliner with one purchased from Too Intense. It took me about 3 attempts to finally get it to stick permanently. I finally realized that you have to use lots of the spray-on adhesive, you have to apply it to both the headliner and the roof and you really have to wait a seemingly long time for it to get tacky per the instructions. I thought I had it installed properly only to have it droop in the middle after a few weeks. I'd peel it off and try again but it wasn't until I did all of the above that it truly stuck. Since it's a tricky job I'd make sure to get it right the first time. Since yours is just sagging near the front edge you may be able to leave the remainder attached but I'd still follow the steps carefully.

Could be a slow timing chain cover gasket leak. I'd clean it all up really good with some de-greaser or a pressure washer and then keep a close eye on it. It will be easier to determine where it's coming from the sooner you catch it.

Did you add oil to the dampers?

You might want to check to see if that number also matches the number on the dash. This same number is stamped onto the firewall. There's another tag under the hood that also shows the number along with the engine number. That will allow you to determine if the engine is original to the car.

That's a little trickier since there aren't an infinite number of VINs but we'd have to assume that one of every 10 cars has a specific digit in a specific position so the odds of having an 8 in the 1000s column is 1 in 10. Having two cars that both have an 8 would be 1 in 10 times 1 in 10 or 1 in 100.

Nice find. 1 in 100 times 1 in 100 = 1 in 10,000

Speaking of tags I was surprised that no one replied to this post I made a while back: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27847 Perhaps it's so unique that there's no definitive explanation.

Welcome. I don't see the word "rust" anywhere in your post. If the car has been in New Mexico the whole time you may be in great shape. If so everything else is easy by comparison. There have been a number of threads here on dealing with cars that have been sitting a long time. Hopefully you've already seen them. Post some pictures if you can; I'd like to see what digging it up involved.

FYI I recently bought a 2008 Toyota RAV4 Limited as a family car. Nissan doesn't offer anything equivalent that has an optional 3rd row seat for 7 passengers yet still get 28MPG on the highway out of a 269HP 3.5L V6. With a new baby I needed more than a 5 passenger vehicle as it's not realistic to have 3 kids across the back seat when two of them are in car seats. 0-60 is the same as a Miata and strangely enough for a small SUV it has the best acceleration of any Toyota. I have no doubt that it's faster in a straight line than my 240Z. -Mike

No, never.

If this were that simple I'm sure it would have been done before. Photovoltaics on a car like this charging the batteries all day long in bright sunlight might get you a few hundred feet of driving. The solar powered cars you may have seen driving across Australia tend to be extremely light and aerodynamic with room for only a driver and a huge surface area of PV cells.

Can you shift into any gear when the engine is not even running? The first thing I'd check is the level of fluid in the clutch master cylinder.

When I saw your map through Tonopah I was wondering if you got too close to any top secret bases. I also recall that the road to the Grand Canyon from the highway is long and desolate. I drove it after dark and it was eerie.

I don't recall seeing flashing yellow lights on the Saturn/GM EV1.

Does it still run rough even after getting completely warmed up? I don't think the stock needles would cause a problem with a 2.8.

I wouldn't call it an option; it was standard. Only very early cars came with clear glass (no defroster).

The car certainly looks quite nice but here are a few things I see wrong in the pictures: Original hubcaps are mentioned but not shown in the pictures. Polished valve cover and carbs are not original. Non-braided radiator hoses with wrong clamps. Fram oil filter and non-original battery. Deck jamb plugs painted over.

Fluids: Bad gasoline, coolant, oil, brake fluid, clutch hydraulic fluid, etc. Anything that's rubber like hoses for the above. The good news is if you do a search you'll see many good answers to this same question; many cars around here hadn't been cranked in more than 5 years.

I'd buy new locking pins as well. No point trying to reuse anything that could add to the difficultly the next time.

It's probably still up and running quietly and still accessible if only we knew the old IP address.

I'd pull the wire off of the sending unit and see if needle stays all the way to the right. If so I'd say the gauge itself is physically stuck. Tapping on it might unstick it.

If my battery started hissing at me I'd be somewhat inclined to start running.