Daily Driver Becomes Project: What to Do?

[shrouded]

So, here's the deal. My '82 SC is my daily driver, and has been for the past couple of years I have owned it. My wife is looking at buying a new car (mini & WRX are the frontrunners), which would allow me to use her old Saturn to shuttle to & from work. The best part is that without being dependent on the SC daily, I could toss it in the garage & spend some time to work on it.

Enter my quandry; I don't know what direction I want to take the car when I start working on it. I'm interested in suggestions from people who have been in similar positions.

The SC is still pretty much stock. No engine rebuild or tranny rebuild, at about 110k miles. My wrenching has been limited to pulling the AC compressor (thing needed new hoses/conversion anyway) and updating the tensioners. Projects I know I want to address include the front seats (upholstry is splitting at the seams), doors (speakers were damaged in a break-in, pockets are pulling away from the door), and killing oil drips (I get some smoke after I let it sit for a while that I think is oil that dripped onto the exhaust burning off). A few little things (headlight cleaning jets, etc.) haven't worked in the time I've owned it.

As I start replacing bits & pieces here and there, I want a firm idea of where the car should end up. Do I want to drop all the power accessories & go RS style, or go for a showroom look? How do the costs of the two concepts compare? What projects should I _definetly_ plan on taking on? My eventual focus will be on a autocross and DEs along with Sunday drives. I'm not interested in having a concourse car. An engine swap might be called for in a few years, but starting with basic projects is more than enough for me.

So, what do you think? Start piecing together an RS replica? Replace parts with what feels right regardless at the time?

What have you done?

[W Scott Shores]

Sounds like a great time!
My two cents: when working on the items you've mentioned (seats, door panels) replace with light-weight pieces: race seats and RS door panels. My vote goes for RS-style -- but at a slow and deliberate (and affordable) pace.

Enjoy it! And be sure to post pictures for us.

[88 Club Sport]

It all depends on budget and what you will do with it at the end.

It is for the street...the track....both? Depending on the answer, you may want to consider what DE class you are shooting for before you start the mods.

If budget is an issue as it is with most of us, decide whether you want to start off in the "looks" department or the "handling" departement. I'd rather keep it stock in apperance and spend money on suspension goodies....bushings, torsions, sways, tie rods etc. If you can afford to do bother, better still.

If you need help spending your money, post what you have to spend and I'm sure we can help you spend it

[Dave Nordhoff]

Go for the RS look. As mentioned above get some race seats. If you are
going to track the car, seats will give you the best bang for the buck.
Have fun and spend as much time on the track as you can. There, you
will learn how to spend every last penny you have and how to drive your car as it was ment to be driven.
Dave

[randywebb]

It will be hard and spendy to turn an SC into an RS look car. An SC/RS look would be easier.

I would strat by doing things that you would do anyway no matter what direction you go in - that will give you at least 2 years to think.