=Enigma=

I knew I should have saved those nuts when I tossed my old Mulhollands..........There's a possiblity that I actualy did but I have no idea where they'd be at this point. I'll go digging if you're unsuccessful, however I'll be out of town until the first or second week of June so consider me a last resort.

Hey there and welcome to the site! That's a clean looking car you have there. Nice color. Love the side stripes.

I wish I could read Japanese.

Nice choice Randy. I'm extremely jealous. I have always loved the look of the 308. I hope the wifey isn't too pissed.

My daily driver is either a stock 2002 BMW 525i w/26mpg, or a 1999 4Runner Highlander Edition. The 4runner has a 2" OME suspension lift, custom 1" body lift, front TJM winch bumper, custom rear Sonoran Steel high clearance bumper, custom air intake, Cobra CB with custom in-dash mounting, bumper mounted Firestick CB antenna, some stereo upgrades and a Commando alarm system. All items were installed or customized by yours truly.

Sounds like you have a worn out latch mechanism. Do you keep it lubed up? If not that that may have contributed to it's demise. Perhaps that or how often you pop open the hood and gawk at your engine bay.

Seems like an awful lot of work to me, and in the end you'll probably never get back what you put into it, especially if you pay somebody else to do the work for you. The rust combined with the body/frame damage is going to complicate matters, but anything is possible with enough $$$$$. If it were me I'd find a better shell and start from there. It looks like you may already have one. I'm not sure the VIN is low enough to warrant the investment that will be required, but I'll leave the final say on that one to those more in tune with the actual costs associated with this type of restoration and the valuation of car with VINs in this range.

I'd like ot know the answer to this as well. My understanding that this was more of an issue with auto trannies but....

It may not have been Stephan..... I merely made an assumption based on the context of sentence and the likelihood that the intended word was actually the word "far, combined with the fact that the the letter "t" is right next to the "r" and could very easily have been pressed by mistake. Make sense?

Funny, you used the word "fat" unintentionally yet in proper context. You're car is definintely looking "fat"; as in sick, boss, cool, bitchen, rad, pick.

Wow, you definitely have a lot of work ahead of you. Just break it down into small tasks and take them on one by one. Also, be sure to bag and tag things as you go along or putting it all back together will be a nightmare.

That's a lot of friggin plastic sleeves and a serious case of OCD!

I can't even begin to guess what the PO of my car was thinking when he mangled the fuel filler and fuel filler cavity. Perhaps the white platstic connector between the fuel filler and the hose that goes to the evap tank was cracked or lost, but why cut up the body? The full filler tube is removed from below for God's sake! Time to buy a MIG welder and learn to weld....... Also, it looks like someone got creative in filling a hole in the top of the gas tank. I found the detail in the last pic while prepping my tank for POR15. This is on the upper left front corner of the tank. Based on the originality of the paint on the tank including this area, I'd guess that this was done at the factory, except for the fact that it's US currency. The little circular manufacturing date stamp was still on the tank so I don't think it was an aftermarket replacement. Anyone else find this oddity on your tank?

Hey welcome to the site!

Search search the wonderful thing, the more you search the more you'll sing. Find the things you're looking for, and we'll welcome you back to learn some more....... That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :stupid:

This is the same reason I'm replacing or stockpiling nearly every piece of rubber on my car as money and availability allows.

A remote starter switch is cheap insurance against physical damage to your self and the car.

In answer to some of your questions earlier question, yes you can paint POR15 over other coatings such as scuffed paint to provide a tough exterior finish, however unless it's plainted directly over clean etched metal, or rusted metal, it will not stop or prevent rust from forming. When painted over rust, (preferably cleaned up rust) POR15 will stop it from spreading. When painted on fresh metal it will prevent rust from forming. Also, you can topcoat POR15 with a thin drycoat of your favorite primer as long as you do it while it's still tacky, meaning that is provides a slight resistance when you drag a finger over it, but is not sticky. With this done, you will then be able to apply a regular topcoat on it whenever you're ready. The same is true when applying a second coat of POR15. Just apply it while the previous surface is tacky. Usually between 1-1.5 hrs after coating. Time varies based on atmospheric conditions. If you let it dry completely, you'll need to scuff it up with at least 600 grit before applying a second coating of POR15 or another topcoat. One exception is the TieCoat primer. Note that their topcoatings such as BlackCote and SilverCote can be applied to a dry surface within 24hrs without the need for scuffing, but any longer than that and scuffing is recommended. Always make sure that the surface to be coated is clean and etched chemically or scuffed with at least 600 grit to provide enough mechanical grip for the POR15. Also note that this stuff goes a looonngg way. They recommend at least 2 coats 2 mils thick each if I recall correctly. I did my entire gas tank with 2 coats using one of their little 4oz cans, then topcoated the bottom with their BlackCote product which is slightly less glossy than the POR15 coating and not sensitive to (UV) sunlight. Final word of caution, be sure to wear gloves and any porous surface you don't want this stuff on. If it gets on your skin and has a chance to dry, you'll be wearing it for a week or more until your skin cells shed off. Take my word on this.

Yes. This has been this way for some time and has been discussed on the board before. I'm not sure why it hasn't been addressed. Perhaps one of the admins will chime in.

No problem. Glad to help. Stick around and do some reading. The search feature will lead you to all the answers you desire, and if not there's plenty of others to help.

So true it is....A boot is something I put my feet into, not my groceries.

For an East Coast buy, it seems like you got a pretty good deal for the money based on the stated condition. If you're planing on keeping and enjoying it and not turning it around to make some money, all that matters is what you think anyway.

Lose the stripes. It takes away from the clean look. If you like the stripes, lose the headlight covers. I'll be happy to take them off your hands.

Or a serious rustbucket. Seriously though, welcome to the site and good luck with your project. Even the worst rust is fixable with the proper know-how or $$$$$$$.

You appear to be confused or you're not sharing something with us. Did you buy a complete spring over conversion kit? If not, the Tokico strut "inserts" just slip into the existing strut housing, and the lowering springs sit on the existing spring perch. No cuting or welding required.