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Looks like it is time for the major restoration of our 62 Jetfire 4 speed car that we picked up back in August of 2015. Most of you know but for the new thread I will fill in a little back story.
This car was parked in a garage in 1974 and not likely ever moved again till 2015. It was bought new in Chicago and the first address it was located at when new was the very same address it was located at when found in 2015. I got it from a middle man but was still owned by the original owner and I still have the original 1962 title. Below is a You Tube video about the find in Chicago. A guy by the name of Ryan Brutt located the car and eventually the information found its way to Stefano on this site. He hooked me up with the right people and it became our car.
The engine had all the lifters stuck and major issues with the antifreeze that had crystallized in the intake manifold. I was just lucky that the engine was not stuck. I have done lots of work to the car to get it driveable. I even have the turbo spooling and the fluid injection is working as it should.
**EDIT June 23 2019**
The below is a little off, the car was delayed from being restored and now the car will be a full restoration. We will still be driving it but it will be restored to like new or better.
Our goal on this car is not a 1000 point restoration. WE WILL BE DRIVING THIS CAR WHEN DONE!!! I don't even care about having it points judged. This car has 44,000 miles so I hope to be able to just clean the steering and suspension parts and put it back together. The bushings will need replaced on the rear I am sure but I do not believe there are any rubber suspension parts on the front.
The engine runs great but I will likely pull it completely apart and do a rebuild with hoping that the cylinders are ok. I would like to just re-ring it with a new cam, lifters, and gaskets. A valve job will also be in order just to be all fresh.
The weatherstripping is very nice in this car but not mint. I fully plan to reuse it if it will come off. I hope with enough patients I will be able to remove all of it without hurting it.
The bumpers and about 5 other pieces will need rechromed but I am not going to rechrome everything. I have several NOS pieces that I have collected over the past 3 years that I will use also. I will likely do the bumpers in show chrome but the other parts will only be original quality so it will match my NOS parts better.
Overall I plan to reuse as much as I possibly can. Even some rubber parts if they are soft and safe to not fail.
Here is what I started with in August 2015
Last edited by jensenracing77; June 23rd, 2019 at 02:47 PM.
Last winter I pulled all the interior out and cleaned all the vinyl with Goop hand cleaner. Also died the original carpet. Every piece of this interior is original and is amazing condition. The headliner is stained but my body and paint guy things he can die it and not have to pull it out. I really hope to not have to repaint the interior metal surfaces.
I plan to start the disassemble process later this month. I have no idea when I will be done because I will likely be waiting on the paint and body guy longer than it will take me. My bet is that I will not get the body back till 2019 sometime. I would like to see it by November or December of this year but I will not get my hopes up.
No good pictures to share but done some pre-restoration work and planning today. Took nearly 500 pictures of trim, body lines, hardware, and anything else I could think of for future reference. After today, I am going to have to re-evaluate my plans. I am going to have to get more parts re-chromed than I wanted to. Also going to have big issues with bolts and hardware needing re-plated and colored. I need to find someplace that I can get the bolts and screws like what these cars have. I don't think I am going to have enough originals good enough to reuse without getting more. I can usually hit very close how much a restoration project will cost but this car has far to many unknowns for me to get it right. I am almost sure that I will have to sell off my remaining W-30 parts to be able to finish this car. I missed the mark on my W-30 by $3000 and I was ok with that. For this car I have to toss all my pre-planning figures out and just hope for the best.
If thats the case why not leave it alone and enjoy the car as is? It runs and does everything it should right? And your plans are to drive it, why blow it apart to restore it?
BTW why would the bolts and screws be any different than any other 61-63 GM car?
Eric, that interior looks AMAZING as is. It would be a really cool unusual display at a Nationals to show thar car with such a great interior and a " barn find" exterior appearance.
Yes, that interior is both classy and sporty at the same time. It's awesome. Why don't the manufacturers do stuff like that today. Everything is so boring.
What is the name of that exterior color? You really have the right color combo for this car.
If thats the case why not leave it alone and enjoy the car as is? It runs and does everything it should right? And your plans are to drive it, why blow it apart to restore it?
BTW why would the bolts and screws be any different than any other 61-63 GM car?
The car looks good in pictures but if you see it in person, it looks terrible. The interior is great but that is the end of it. Also, it is not original paint so I don't feel as bad.
The next issue other than paint, the suspension all needs to come apart because the grease is dried out in it and is doing more damage than good. It needs disassembled, cleaned, greased and put back together. The engine leaks oil all over the place and needs all new gaskets. The transmission is leaking oil between the case and tail shaft. Needs all new exhaust. The gas tank is leaking. The list could go on. I can't keep driving it this way or I am going to ruin it.
With all that said, I don't want to waist my time pulling everything apart and rebuilding it without doing all of it. I don't play the "might as well" game very well so I want to go all the way right from the start.
Yes, that interior is both classy and sporty at the same time. It's awesome. Why don't the manufacturers do stuff like that today. Everything is so boring.
What is the name of that exterior color? You really have the right color combo for this car.
Garnet Mist is the exterior color. My wifes car has the red interior and I believe I still like the red better but the silver is a very close second. They had some terrible colors in 62 so I am glad to have the color combos I do.
lol, I guess you have to start somewhere. On this car it was removing the jack instructions decal without destroying it. I can't stand the repops of this decal but this one is not going to cut it. It has yellowed from the glue penetrating it over the years. I have another one stashed away that I saved on another car. I need to dig it out and see how good it is. I will likely have to live with the repop.
Major events have changed our plans and my buddies (body guy) family's lives. My body guys shop burned to the ground today. It is a total loss including some beautiful cars. Lucky for me, my car was not there yet. I had already put this car on a temporary hold so I could get the basement cleaned out to make room for the parts from this car. I was going to start pulling it apart next weekend. Now I am just going to have to leave it together because it will be at least another year and likely longer before he is back up and running.
At least him and his family are ok. I believe the house had some damage also but I believe it will be ok. The video in this link is just terrible
This morning I am hearing that his Motor Home caught fire that was stored in there. By the time they found the fire it was to late to save anything. So sad, I feel so bad for him and his family. He is an amazing guy that does incredible body work and also builds incredible houses. Just hope he can pick up the pieces and continue doing the work he does. I believe he had a customers GTO in there but not sure on that yet. I know there was a couple high end resto-mods in there and a couple 65 Chevelle's
The car is on hold but I had already sent off my carb parts and other parts to Sparky's to be recolored. He sent me pictures today. Now I am looking forward to getting it all back so I can build it.
With this restoration on hold I have decided to drive it. I have a small hole in the tank so I have this one from a low mile car that was undercoated very early in its life. I have lots of time in it but slowly getting the undercoat off and finding that the original zinc coating looks amazing! I will have to sand a couple spots and touch up with some zinc paint but it look great for a driver. The inside looks as good as the outside.
It is crazy how much has changed since I started this thread. Now I am not going to use this carburetor that I had Sparky's Carbs recolor. I am assembling it and may use it for a short while but it is not going to stay on the 4 speed car. I have decided to restore the original one that is on the car instead. I may put this one on it till I restore the car and then install the original one at that time. I started driving the car a little and the original system has some issues that needs addressed. I have another rebuilt turbo and will likely put this carb on that turbo and install it on the 4 speed car so I can drive the car while I rebuild the original system. At least this 4 speed carburetor is going together good.
Building this red turbo and going to put the new carburetor on it. I will likely use this setup till I restore this car and restore the original setup. I have good used diaphragms in the controller and it was apart before. Someone had this turbo on a boat so not sure where they had it shimmed at, it may boost to high. I just shimmed it where it was before. If it boosts over 8 psi I will need to pull some shim out.
Not sure why my pictures are sideways now. They are correct on my computer....
Lots of messing around here. I built this turbo setup and will be testing and tuning on it on this 4 speed car. I will use it on a later project in a couple years. At the same time I am going to restore the original setup from this car. When it is done I will install it back on the car and get it dialed in perfect before I pull the car apart. They are not that hard to tune but I want to be sure it is right before installing it on a restored car and having to deal with it then.
The clean restored turbo look funny on a used looking car.
Well, Some good news. My body guy is almost ready to take a car. His new paint booth is almost done. I will be pulling this car apart after the Homecoming show and start the restoration then.
Things have changed for the turbo system. This system was an extra system I built for the car. I have decided to restore the original system and use it instead. That system is all apart now and parts sent off to be recolored. With the one year delay I am having to re-evaluate cost and expense.
Well, Some good news. My body guy is almost ready to take a car. His new paint booth is almost done. I will be pulling this car apart after the Homecoming show and start the restoration then.
Things have changed for the turbo system. This system was an extra system I built for the car. I have decided to restore the original system and use it instead. That system is all apart now and parts sent off to be recolored. With the one year delay I am having to re-evaluate cost and expense.
Are you still using the same guy who had his place destroyed? If so, how is he doing now?
Are you still using the same guy who had his place destroyed? If so, how is he doing now?
He is almost back up and running. It is hard to believe just how bad these situations are. He wanted to get started rebuilding right away but had no tools to rebuild. He does construction also but had to buy tools and equipment to get started because they were all lost as well. His truck was even lost and had to replace it. The insurance only covered so much so he lost a huge amount out of pocket. They did not even cover his paint booth. If things go well, I will start pulling my car apart in July and have the body to him in October. The plan is to have it back by March of 2020 and start reassembly. Planning to take it to MCACN for 2020 as a restored former barn find. That is if they will have me back.
He is almost back up and running. It is hard to believe just how bad these situations are. He wanted to get started rebuilding right away but had no tools to rebuild. He does construction also but had to buy tools and equipment to get started because they were all lost as well. His truck was even lost and had to replace it. The insurance only covered so much so he lost a huge amount out of pocket. They did not even cover his paint booth.
This right here is, unfortunately, an example of being under-insured, and why having a good insurance agent is important. Too often, those folks will sell you on lowest premium without properly explaining that what is being quoted is not replacement cost coverage. Had this happen to an aunt and uncle, they had a home fire and insurance only covered the loss LESS depreciation (or whatever the equivalent term is). Hell, I was guilty of being under-insured on my Starfire until I pulled it out of storage. The folks at Hagerty said, "Whoa... it's been awhile since your coverage has been updated. Let's take a look at the value of your vehicle and adjust it accordingly."
Eric, as always, I look forward to reading about your ongoing efforts with these cars. They hold a unique place in automotive history, and you've done a lot to bring attention back to them.
This right here is, unfortunately, an example of being under-insured, and why having a good insurance agent is important. Too often, those folks will sell you on lowest premium without properly explaining that what is being quoted is not replacement cost coverage. Had this happen to an aunt and uncle, they had a home fire and insurance only covered the loss LESS depreciation (or whatever the equivalent term is). Hell, I was guilty of being under-insured on my Starfire until I pulled it out of storage. The folks at Hagerty said, "Whoa... it's been awhile since your coverage has been updated. Let's take a look at the value of your vehicle and adjust it accordingly."
Eric, as always, I look forward to reading about your ongoing efforts with these cars. They hold a unique place in automotive history, and you've done a lot to bring attention back to them.
Absolutely. He did not even have insurance on a couple of his own cars he was building. I would bet he had close to 30K in the one he was building and never got a dime for it. It was a wake up call for him and many others in the area. I had looked into my policy about a year before because my cousin lost his garage to a fire. Turned out that I do have good coverage but I also knew I studied up on it when we bought our house. I even had them shift a little of the contents coverage from the house to the garage to help cover all my tools. It is possible I am over insured but rather have that than the other way.
I am a little light on my coverage for both of the Jetfire cars. They have gone up in value over the past 5 years more than I expected. I need to review those policies.
I just got back from my body guys house. We talked about this car and what the plans are at this point. After Homecoming I will be pulling the car apart and taking it to his place by early August. I told him if possible I would like to get it back by February so I can start assembly and have it ready before the 2020 Nationals. Even if I get it back by the end of March I think I can still have it together on time. These cars are much easier to assemble than the full frame cars. The core support area is a little more complicated but still not that bad.
He was working on his new paint booth when I got there. His new shop looks amazing! He is already looking at ways to expand it and make it bigger, lol.
Got my carburetor parts back from Sparky's carbs. They look great. Looking forward to putting it together but will be at least a couple more weeks till I have time.
I drove this car out to my body guys house last week and he has his new paint booth done now. For the most part he is ready to take my car but I am running behind. The plan was to take him the body around late July but it is looking more like September before I get it there. Not likely going to have the car done for the 2020 nationals but maybe make it to the MCACN show. Anyway, I layed many of the original carb and turbo parts out and decided to at least put something together so now I have the fuel filter assembly done. I am using an original filter on this car instead of the common new style that everyone is running. These originals look so much better to me.
Got the turbine housing back from being porcelain coated. Many of the 62 Jetfire were this way from the factory. Mine was not but I am restoring the car as if it were. I got some done on the carburetor but not much. The last one I built had an antifreeze leak on the throttle body so I installed the lines, added water and pressurized to 25 PSI. It held for 2 hours with no pressure drop and no water leak so I should be good on this one. Rochester has a very poor design on the coolant and fluid delivery line seals. I will never build another one without testing. Now to match the red with paint so I can paint the compressor side of the turbo.
March 5th, 2018, 04:35 PM
