Great thread, and beautiful cars (and bike)!! I love that GT and 912, Doc. I had a chance to go to a driving school here years ago, and the GTs and Cobras they had there were a blast! Also got to drive the formula Fords on the final day.
This was me in the "skid car":
Weirdest car I've ever restored was one of the big Citroen DS sedans. Did a lot of mechanical restoration, resurfaced the fiberglass top, and prepped/painted the entire car. Would have liked to keep it, but its one of those vehicles you really have to stay on top of. Little problems become big problems fast. I had to gut and rebuild most of the hydraulic system, which ran on fluid similar to DOT3 brake fluid (absorbs moisture and corrodes everything it contacts if neglected). It had an early take on the active suspension, and would self-correct when the car banks or nose-dives during braking (...and it was fun freaking out passengers when flying over a speedbump without slowing - you feel nothing!). I really wanted the Maserati-powered SM from the early 70s - but I'm not
that much of a masochist!
Last year I replaced my daily-driver with a 76 Datsun Z car! I work from my home office a lot and don't have to sit in the gridlock much these days, and so I thought I'd get something fun. I really wanted a 240, but ya still have to run them through emissions here in Arizona, and I didn't want to have to be dorking around with the carbs all the time. The 280Z has the 2.8L straight six with Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection. A previous owner had swapped the tranny to a Borg T5, installed Tokico springs, and added a nice free-flow exhaust (6-1 header, 3" pipe, performance resonator, and a Supertrapp on the end). Has a nice menacing rumble, and not too drone-y or obnoxious higher rpms.
It supposedly has 76K miles on it. Can't verify that, but it certainly looks it.. So far, I've only had to replace the howling fuel pump (found a NOS unit on Ebay) and hoses, fix an air/fuel mix problem (just a bad connection on cold start valve), and replace the evap coil and expansion vavle to get the a/c working again. That was a big ordeal- had our mechanic tackle that one! At some point here soon, I'm going to order a new weatherstripping kit and replace all of the seals. When I got it, it REEKED of (what I thought was) exhaust in the interior, but turned out to be gas
. Some knucklehead had used the wrong diameter hose on the high pressure fuel line coming out of the pump and simply clamped it down to try and compensate. It was weeping gas, but not enough to create a puddle under the car. Fixed all that right, and threw a fire extinguisher inside for good measure.
Haven't had this much fun driving into the office in a looooooog time!
...and here's my fav pic- gigmobile! Everything actually fits!
Dream car? If I were to treat myself to something, I think I'd try a Lotus Elise - the "Federal" version with the supercharged Toyota ZZ mill. Best of both worlds - handbuilt English sportscar with a Japanese drivetrain.
