It started out as a simple fuel line replacement . . .

On April 6, I started on a simple fuel line replacement on my 1985 3.2. I rapidly crested that modest hill, teetered on the edge, then went went hellbent for downhill--the slippery slope--in a flash.

After stripping off everything that could be stripped off from the top side engine bay, I had everything powdercoated, plated, cleaned up, and pared down (heater backdate). New shocks went in, along with a new set of wheels, and now it looks like I'm converting what I told my wife would be "just a driver" into something more.

Today I fired the car up for the first time, after solving a frustrating ignition problem with the help of a fellow Pelicaner. Now it runs as nice as it looks.



How it looked, midway through my rage. I couldn't just put all those grubby fasteners back on.

A medium dirty, never-in-salt Seattle area car since new. The lack of corrosion was pretty decent. Everything cleaned up pretty well, with copious amounts of simple Green, Brake Kleen, and elbow grease.



I took pictures of everything. From every angle. Yet still I didn't take enough pictures, mostly of the "before" kind. Back when I started working on cars, we didn't take pictures, because they were on film, and developing it was expensive. No excuse now.









Parts back from plater and powdercoater.

Car patiently waiting . . .



. . . for its new jewelry.

Rebuilt injectors going in. I used Dr. Injector, which is a franchise nationwide, I believe. The guy was good, and identified a leaky one, which was doubtless a contributor to the car's unhappy idle. Plus a bunch of vacuum leaks, finger-tight manifold nuts, and other insults.



And, finally, the fuel lines going in! These are Len's and I commend him highly on a very nice piece of design and fabrication. The seem to hover perfectly in place above the shroud. Great work.

Wrong first "after" picture in the OP--the one shown was just after the manifolds went in for a trial fit. This is the running shot today. There are a couple of low-rent hose clamps because a couple of mine got misplaced. I have new ones coming. The car also does not yet have its heat backdate in place. I have the turbo ducting, but haven't figured out how to marry it up with the heat exchanger tube.

[sp_cs]

Nice work! Like the use of the term ‘insults’

[KTL]

Great job on the cleanup of everything. I know what you mean about how it can snowball downhill for you. Same situation for me right now with my 3.2 build.

Did you happen to get the fuel rail regulator and damper re-plated? Just wondering if those two parts are something that can be re-plated in their built stage or whether they're plated before assembly in the manufacturing process. Or, maybe they're just better off being replaced at this stage in their lives since they're over 30 years old?

[yelcab1]

There is that big scratch on the right hand side engine bay. You gonna do something about that?

[jlex]

Originally Posted by yelcab1

There is that big scratch on the right hand side engine bay. You gonna do something about that?

Yeah.... don't be a slacker.

Originally Posted by KTL

Great job on the cleanup of everything. I know what you mean about how it can snowball downhill for you. Same situation for me right now with my 3.2 build.

Did you happen to get the fuel rail regulator and damper re-plated? Just wondering if those two parts are something that can be re-plated in their built stage or whether they're plated before assembly in the manufacturing process. Or, maybe they're just better off being replaced at this stage in their lives since they're over 30 years old?

I did not get the regulator or damper replated, as I was advised by the plater that the process would ruin them. They cleaned up reasonably well, and are virtually impossible to see anyway. I considered replacing them, but they are pretty expensive.

Originally Posted by yelcab1

There is that big scratch on the right hand side engine bay. You gonna do something about that?

Yeah--I know. I may re-paint that area, but it will be hard to match without painting everything, which is not something I want to do. It will probably have to wait for when I have a need to pull the engine out.

[KTL]

Originally Posted by madcorgi

I did not get the regulator or damper replated, as I was advised by the plater that the process would ruin them. They cleaned up reasonably well, and are virtually impossible to see anyway. I considered replacing them, but they are pretty expensive.

Thanks for the response. I suspected as much that the vacuum units can be damaged by the plating process.