The other small surprise came late in the fall. Went to unlock the doors and had this happen! Lock cylinder pulled right out of the drivers door with the key.

<a href="https://ibb.co/6v1dDkh"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/4sYQ4Hy/IMG-0730.jpg" alt="IMG-0730" border="0"></a>

I very quickly learned how the door panels come off. I was never able to locate the screw that fell off the back, but luckily had one that fit perfectly in the “box of random screws and nuts”

This winter I had grand plans, and instead of making progress I simply acquired lots of parts that are now sitting in boxes by the car. Soon to come - sitting in said boxes:
-New rear shocks
-Rennshift shifter - initially was going to rebuild bushings but after a lot of reading figured this may help clean up the driving experience a bit more. Weird how used to a self locating shifter you get!
-Blaupunkt Bremen radio - get this thing period correct while letting me connect via Bluetooth!
-LED gauge lights
-Replace plastic looking gauge trim rings with stainless. I was planning to remove altogether but found that the gauges are damaged underneath due to the glue that was used on the current trim rings :(
-Restore front seats. Already have a shop located just need to get them pulled and over to the shop

I feel your pain. My car came with tires that still had the nubbies on them. Unfortunately they were date code 2000. Must have been NOS some where. Were like rocks. Look great but any kind of agressive driving and they were done.

My first drive I was thinking - man this rides rough! Turns out I had Flintstone wheels made of concrete on it at that point!

Well - seats were dropped off this am for a refresh! I am super excited and will post pictures of the results.

Here is the current state - not completely hammered but could use some love.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1681160616.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1681160616.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1681160616.jpg

Just heard the seats are done. They sent me a photo and I think we will be happy!

Can’t wait to get them back in the car for spring. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1682561384.jpg

Great story and progress.
Going through these cars and making them your own is a lot of the experience.
Whether it's perfect or a bit of a mutt i love them all.

My car isn't perfect but it can hold its own when parked at gatherings or out on the road doing what they do best.

The more seat time you get the better the experience as you learn what the car will or won't do.

You already realize that it will never shift like your mustang but that's the charm.
When you hit that perfect up or down shift its very rewarding.

You adjust to the machine it will not adjust to you.

Welcome to the forum by the way. There's a lot of knowledge here as you've noticed and we've all been where you're at now.

Thanks a bunch. And yes - I very quickly realized I cannot hammer the gears the like Mustang!

The driving experience is so much better than I expected!!

Once I got the seats back in, all the parts started calling my name. To that end the first order of business was the Sony cd player. What a difference!


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1682636026.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1682636026.jpg

The work on Maverck continues. Once I started driving the car again this spring in MN it always had a warm start condition / troubles.

Doing a bit of research I figured it was likely the fuel accumulator which looked older, and I knew the PO had done the filter and a new pump / gas tank.

Job went ok but way more gas dumped out the bottom than expected!!! Good thing I had a bunch of towels already on hand / under the work surface. I also threw in a new coil I had purchased.

After letting any residual gas evaporate did a few starts and it certainly is starting better. Crossing my toes that my first few warm starts are just as successful!!

It feels great to be getting my fingernails dirty under the hood.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1684886611.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1684886611.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1684886611.jpg

Congrats. I can’t see from the pic above but one of the first issues I had with mine was the broken cruise control throttle stuck open problem. Check yours before it kills you

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/778302-dreaded-cruise-control-cable-throttle-hang.html

Thanks for the tip!!! Will definitely double check this one. I can confirm the cruise doesn’t work right now.

The problem can still happen if cruise control isn’t working or on. Mine stuck and I wasn’t trying to use cruise control at the time.

Consider replacing ALL the fuel lines. Those at the filter / accumulator look like vintage rubber. It's like a little bomb driving around with 90+ psi inside the old brittle rubber. When they fail it's like a garden hose of fuel right next to the ignition .
While pulling the engine from my 1986 the fuel return line in the tunnel snapped while I was getting a wrench on it to counter the torque required to disassemble.... They are nylon hose and were brittle as glass. The rubber sections all cracked when bent.
New fuel with ethanol is going to require new hoses rated for it.
David
Performance EngiNerding

and suspension bushings...check the ball joints and tie rods too....all mine being replaced next week....all original 41 year old stuff on mine. Drives ok but....will drive better and be safer with new ball joints/tie rods. im also replacing front and rear shocks

you seem more inclined to do this work. im not interested in doing this type of work on my car and can tell you the cost of doing this, at a good air cooled shop here is $3,500 labor. I bought all the parts (elephant racing rubber bushings, turbo tie rods, ball joints, Bilstein shocks F&R) for about $2,700.

By far the most I will have spent on mine in 16 years I have owned it but it will be very worthwhile

Obviously check your brake lines too....had mine done 5 years ago. They were original and brittle.

Check the tie rods and, if not already done, replace with Turbo tie rods.

Thanks all! Yea I was wondering if there was a way to see if the fuel lines are original or not. For sure I know the suspension needs some love. Feels like my fillings will come loose going over road bumps. I need to get my suspension parts list sharpened up.

If you find any good threads or guides on what all needs to be replaced please post them up. The fuel lines on my 83 look just like yours and seem to be original.

I can confirm after I put on some miles today, that the fuel accumulator did the trick. No more warm starting issues!

Has anyone come across a good parts list for the fuel lines in the engine bay? I started searching within our host and it looks like there are quite a few!

And of course - one is already leaking!!! These tricky to replace where they go behind the air box?

Yes - all of the wetness on the line from the top of fuel filter is fuel :(

Guess I am not driving the car for a bit.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1685210661.jpg

Maverick: Your WUR is missing the vacuum and vent hoses. Did you remove them for testing, or did it come to you that way? What is your WUR Bosch part number? its something like 438 140 0XX and is on the top front edge of the WUR.