escondidoron Posted September 7, 2010 Share Posted September 7, 2010 We did a bunch of little projects around the house this weekend. In between tasks I found time to work on the Seven and get it back on the road. While it is no where near finished it is now drivable. This afternoon I went in to town and filled up the tank. It was the 1st time the car was driven since it went into storage in the mid '70s. A great thrill. What a fun end to the weekend! http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/4966008623_107a84abc0_b.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automoda Posted September 7, 2010 Share Posted September 7, 2010 Wow now THAT is awesome. It temps me to anthropomorphize the car. I cant help it. First drive since the 70s. Its like a dog that has been spending his life locked in a garage finding a new home where he is part of the family (sniffle). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted September 7, 2010 Share Posted September 7, 2010 Ron, That is fantastic! I love it when something like this happens. Tell us more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruadhd2 Posted September 7, 2010 Share Posted September 7, 2010 Beautiful car. Curious about the tail lights/turn signals, etc. Is that simplification stock for 1962? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvl Posted September 7, 2010 Share Posted September 7, 2010 Wow, Ron. That's awesome. I'm glad to see it back on the road. -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanG Posted September 7, 2010 Share Posted September 7, 2010 You even got the old girl to shine a bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
escondidoron Posted September 8, 2010 Author Share Posted September 8, 2010 Automoda said: It temps me to anthropomorphize the car. Yeah. My wife has given the car a name, "Mrs. Jones." As in the '70's song by Gamble & Huff, Me and Mrs. Jones. But she also says that after >35 years of marriage she can handle this kind of mistress. :hurray: Ruadhd2 asked? Curious about the tail lights/turn signals, etc. Is that simplification stock for 1962? The lights are not even close to anything ever used by the factory...Well maybe the bulbs. The goal was to try to get the car back on the road using whatever I had laying around and not do any damage to the Seven at the same time. While I have a nice set of the original Wingard tail lights installing them would have required making some holes in the fenders. Since I have pictures of the car as raced in the '60's and '70's with the rear fenders that are on the car and since I am planning to install the correct 9" fenders that fit with the wheels I didn't want to cut the wide fenders. So with that in mind and to make do with pieces that I had on hand I proceeded as follows: The OEM spare tire support and license plate mount uprights were still in place, if slightly bent. I carefully straightened the bent tubes and then went to the shelves in the garage. I found I had an old pair of trailer lights (with bulbs) and also an old trailer light wiring harness. I had used these pieces for towing a car I had built (back while I was in high school) from Michigan to California back in the '70s. It seemed like if I was ever going to use them again this was the time. I fab'd a bracket out a piece of 1" x 1/4" steel bar that mounts the 2 lights and the license plate to the 2 license plate mount tabs on the OEM spare tire mount. I used the old trailer wiring harness as a basis for the tail light re-wire and fitted the flat 4-wire trailer light connector, using zip-ties to the chassis tubes, just inside the boot so that the tail lights are easily removable for track days. The "new" brake light wire goes directly to the brake pressure switch and the running light wire goes to the light switch. Power is supplied via a new-from-Pep Boys 4-circuit blade type fuse block. One circuit is for the brakes and a second is for the head and tail lights. I used the remainder of the trailer wire harness to run cable to the head lights. DeanG said: You even got the old girl to shine a bit! Yeah, I thought so too when I was looking at her while at the gas station. So when I got back home I rinsed her off one more time and then spent about 1/2 hour with a bottle of Maguiar's #26 Hi-Tech Yellow Wax. It cut through most of the many years worth of spots and stains on the surface without actually cutting the paint. The pic below was taken at dusk with my iphone (so its not the greatest quality) just after waxing. But you can see that there is some light reflection on the fenders. She actually shines OK, not great, but OK, considering that the paint was applied in about 1967! http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/4965900019_7ee6995998_b.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanG Posted September 8, 2010 Share Posted September 8, 2010 I suggest claying the car. One of my friends has a 20 year old Honda is both love of his life and his daily driver. We attacked it with clay and there was an amazing difference. We were a bit concerned with the thickness of the paint after 20 years of of somewhat regular compounding. The clay took off the embedded dirt and a bit of chalking. Looking good. Keep us posted on your progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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