2-year Sway Bar Install Finally Finished (aka Another F'n Backdate Project)

[djwhite]

A few years ago I bough a bone stock 1980 SC off this board to drive as a daily beater. It was a but mushy in the suspension so I dropped it off to have a set of stiffer sway bars put in . Two year's I finally picked the car up....it rides much better now.

Original car:




Time for some hand shaped custom flares...John Esposito is magic!





A longer nose also done by hand....



Ready for paint



Reassembly time



It already had a nice fresh Motor from Flat Six...thought that muffler had to go...



Some red interiors bits and bobs.....






and the final product



Happy motoring....

[djwhite]

a few more shots of the end results...

[impactbumper]

That thing is ridiculous.

[tdw28210]

Beautiful... Congrats on the suspension refresh. 😊

[flyn-hawn]

I Like, I like alot, very well done

What seats are those, GTS Sport Seat?

[Last911]

WELL!!?? Where's the picture of the Sway bar??

[lrodri64]

Hi!
Tell us about the interior rear view mirror.
You bought it new?
Where?
I need one
Thanks.

[blucille]

Nobody better than Esposito. He did a 'sway bar' project for me a couple of years ago.

[Cairo94507]

That is a beautiful car - love it all and especially the red leather. Enjoy

[McLaren-TAG]

Not bad at all, I'm sure you could flip it for a few bucks now!

[fanaudical]

Very nice! I love the interior and how clean the body came out.

[Crown]

Wow! amazing. Love that color.

[djwhite]

Thanks all. Very happy with it overall. Yes, GTS Sport Seats, extra-wide for a bit more comfort. The rear-view mirror is a vintage one I picked up online somewhere and had refreshed. Before anybody asks about the color, its a custom mix we put together starting from a 356 color called stein-grau, but with more gray, and blue mixed in.

[billydeakins]

stunning car djwhite!!! color combo is beautiful. what speaks/covers are those? i need to replace mine in my '89 and want something simple/clean looking as it has the RS door cards as well.

[axvel]

nice!

[Fixer]

How long since it's been painted? Are there any signs of the bodywork underneath showing? I found it very interesting to see the process shots of Mr. Espesito's work.
They had a lot of careful filler work to do there. That's why the metal was so roughed up so it would really bite.

I'm curious as to when it shrinks if anything will show in the right light/angle. It's very hard to make it so it does not eventually show something. Beautiful job and color.

My 2 cents from hard learned experience:

If this were my car I'd be sure to check that behind all of the major metalwork (i.e. the front turn signal boxes, wheel arches) that the undercoating or sealer did not shrink anywhere to allow any moisture in. It always happens.

It's very important imo to do a follow up spray of sealer inside the wheel wells where the fenders were cut. The sealers dry, shrink, crack and then allow water to get in and it can't get out. Then you get a bubble here and there due to the body filler.
Ask John about this. Cheap insurance to re undercoat the heck out of it.

I had this happen to me a year after a really nice job and paint. Tough lesson learned.

Absolutely beautiful and unique car ! Good luck with it -Matt

[OldSpool87]

Very well thought out color schemes and design. What color leather? It doesn't look quite as bright as Can Can.

[TheSt|G]

All of your cars are excellent, this one included.

[Arts911]

Beautiful car.......


What size tires did you use ?

[djwhite]

Matt, its been about 6 months or more with paint done. No issues so far, and don't expect any. I watched the car closely through the whole process since I live very close to the shop. Very minimal filler was used throughout. The rough marks in the photos are just the way the light is reflecting off the grinder marks from paint stripping before it was sanded.

The leather is a BMW color. Berry Red I think. Its much darker than can can for sure.

Tires are 245/45/16 and 225/50/16...

Thanks
dave