Adams Probe 16 Restoration Project...

[bkreigsr]

How did they miss all that in the PPI ?....

[Leprcon311]

Victory! That fuel line routing looks a mess, good to set it straight and safe.
Definitely seal all exposed wood (especially end-grain), I love using West System for this, but there are cheaper epoxy alternatives available at surf supply stores. (foam-EZ is one)
You want to make sure when fastening into wood backed glass, definitely wet install your fasteners, it is well worth it.
There are techniques for glassing over wood, (hot coat first among them) , well explained on West Systems website. Lotsa material sources available locally. A free hand available when you are ready, if needed.

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by bkreigsr

How did they miss all that in the PPI ?....

That would have been me, at the Petersen Museum. I have actually done borescope inspections of cars sitting in the auction paddock, but you *really* have to know the people at the auction and it helps if you've already written five or so how-to books on Porsches!

On this one, the car was / is simply so rare and unique that the actual condition was secondary. The best part about this car was how original it was - the most original out of the three of them for sure...

-Wayne

[Fast Freddy 944]

My pops had a kit plane that had its fuel tank fiber glassed and foam encapsulated to hold the tank in place. Why, lord only knows, the plane was made of wood, carbon steel, fiber glass and other stuff. To pass inspection, the tank needed to be removed, it was alot of work removing the foam fill and cutting and hacking into glass fiber, but once it was done the tank was free to be replaced, alot of work for this kit plane. So good luck!

[Don Settergren]

Am I the only one thinking copper fuel lines instead of rubber? Not sure how you'd work out all the bends and then fitting it... Yikes, back to rubber!

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by Don Settergren

Am I the only one thinking copper fuel lines instead of rubber? Not sure how you'd work out all the bends and then fitting it... Yikes, back to rubber!

Well, now that I have access to this area, and it will still be protected behind a cover, I think the rubber will be okay (and easy!).

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

After seeing what was inside the tank and the condition of the hoses, I decided to just pull the motor and send it off to someone to have it rebuilt. The Petersen Museum also called and they want the car back in the next month or so as they open again, so I will have it rebuilt while it's at the museum.











-Wayne

[Nostril Cheese]

Huh, that's a Mini drivetrain.


It has to go back to the Petersen? Or are they asking to display it?

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

Huh, that's a Mini drivetrain.


It has to go back to the Petersen? Or are they asking to display it?

They want it back for their exhibit which it was in when I picked it up and they were closed down due to Covid...

-Wayne

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by Wayne 962

They want it back for their exhibit which it was in when I picked it up and they were closed down due to Covid...

-Wayne

I saw it there right before the shutdown. Seating position looks challenging.

[dad911]

What? Surely you Jest..... tease us with a few holes in the fiberglass, then we don't get to live vicariously through the engine rebuilt?

What about the "How to Rebuild and Modify Probe 16 Engines" book?

[Wayne 962]

It's indeed an Austin B-Series motor that's been tuned. Relatively unexciting in general, and I don't know enough about them, and I also know that if I do it myself, it will take a long time and distract me from the rest of the car (which needs my attention).

-Wayne

[rusnak]

Now we're talkin'!

Pretending to not have seen the "defective" jack and crescent wrench...

[Wayne 962]

Yes, that one has a tiny, slow leak that makes it drop down if you leave it up overnight. Works fine for day-to-day stuff, but I don't trust that one (or any jack for that matter) for any length of time. The sign is there as a reminder...

-Wayne

[1990C4S]

https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/4qiglv/1969_adams_probe_16/

[GH85Carrera]

Wayne, I am curious, if it is displayed with no engine, will they put a weight in place to make the ride height look right? I suspect like most cars it will look funny with the suspension jacked up with no weight.

[Wayne 962]

Nope, it looks a little funny. But it looks funny regardless, so no one's the wiser? Not much I could do - I didn't want to stuff concrete blocks in the (wood) trunk!

-Wayne

[Coverman]

The drivetrain is straight out of the Austin 1800, known famialarly as the Landcrab. There was an 1800S version, which was essentially in MGB state of tune.

[Wayne 962]

Car is back! Picked it up this week and promptly took it apart again. The gas tanks are / were full of crap - we've been working on those all week. Flushing them with POR-15 degreaser (yes, this stuff does work) and then flushing them with water. Seems counter-intuitive to use water, but that's what everyone recommended, and it is working, since the solvent is indeed water-based. The tanks were replaced 40+ years ago with stainless steel tanks (thank goodness), so the job involves simply cleaning them, and not replacing them (as they had to do with the car that was restored in the UK - that one, they had to cut the tanks out of the wood and fiberglass body to replace them).

The tanks are full of the degreaser right now at this moment, and are almost 99% clean. I'll leave them full over the weekend and then flush again. I'll take some photos, I have before and after, and the difference is quite amazing. We used a "throwaway" carburetor fuel pump to pump the contaminated junk out. The pump is not sounding too good nowadays as we weren't able to use a filter (it kept getting clogged because there was so much stuff). Doesn't matter, the pump was considered "expendable" anyways.

Next is to replace the shocks while we're waiting for the tanks to clean out. Of course they are ancient SPAX shocks which don't appear to be made any more, and I don't think anyone is rebuilding one. So, last night I pulled one, and I will see what we can do with finding NOS ones, or a similar replacement that maintains the period-correct look.

Cheers!

-Wayne

Here's the car as we're picking it up from the Los Angeles Petersen Car Museum:




Back at the Dempsey Motorsports garage:




Stripped down again and flushing the tank:




Everything taken out of it again:




Front view, flushing the tank:




Seats, etc.




Inadvertent selfie while trying to take a picture of the SPAX shock part number:




In with the hose, and out the other end:




The POR-15 Solvent doing it's job:




Proof of the POR-15 solvent doing it's job!

[masraum]

Very cool. Thanks tons for the update!