I hope not.

- Eric

 

At least 17s or 18s. 14s or 15s are too small.

 

Maybe for you and that's the one that counts but to me on that large of a luxury car that wasn't met to look like a racer reminds me of a ballerina with five inch spike heals if so dressed . JMHO and I'm old so take that into consideration... Tedd

 

I hear ya, I'm definitely not putting on 24s or 30s!

 

If the car has sat idle for that many years, then you'd be well advised to replace the brake hydraulics -- master, wheel cylinders *and* rusty lines. Inspect the friction components.

I would avoid the Bozo wheels.

 

You didn't mention coolant, transmission or brakes. I'd change out every fluid / filter, drive it 100 miles, and change them all out again.

 

The car will be getting a thorough inspection before she hits the road. Gotta make sure all the lights are working too. Steering linkage needs to be tight also.

 

Are you planning to keep the car indefinitely, or do you just want to tool around in it for one summer and then flip it? How much brake-related risk are you willing to take?

My point about brakes was that inspecting them isn't going to be good enough. You may or may not have seized pistons, and if the pistons aren't seized (or if you are able to break them free) then you may think that because the brakes appear operable then you're good to go...

But after 10 years even if the hydraulics appear to function, you will have corrosion in those lines, which will include all sorts of nasty particulate matter. Flushing it out is only a temporizing measure. Old corroded lines will still shed junk after you flush them -- it's what they do. That particulate matter will destroy the rubber seals in your hydraulic components, so even if they appear "good" when you inspect them, they won't stay that way and they will fail.

Given the low cost of the parts and the high price of brake failure, it makes sense (to me at least) to gut the brake system hydraulics and rebuild from scratch, including replacing the solid lines, flex lines, and all the hydraulic components.

10 years is a very long time.

Just my $0.02.

 

Sounds like a plan! Might do disc brakes up front too.

 

Welcome,SMS Auto Upholstery shows the vinyls for your car available by body style and trim Code.By your back seat being good,any good trim shop should be able to do the front seat to match exactly. Make sure you get all that 15 year old gas cleaned out properly before trying to start her up! Good luck. Oh by the way,I thought it was kinda neat how you had that wrecker "Balanced on one end in one picture, and on the other end in the next picture". Just kidding, Larry

 

^^^ Oh yes, 15 year old gas is going to be a huge problem. Although it'd be temping to just fire it up and see how it runs, you definitely don't want to run the engine without first cleaning the fuel delivery system.

I just brought a Rocket back to life that had been sitting for over a decade, and the fuel system corrosion was horrible. The car sat with 2 gallons of gas/water mix in the tank. The sending unit was rust covered and inoperable, and the gas was so badly contaminated with fine particulate rust that I couldn't see through it. The bottom of the tank contained a cup or two of fine particulate rust powder and a generous dose of sludge. There's no way that I was going to turn over the engine until I had a clean fuel delivery system.

I decided to gut the fuel system. This included dropping the tank, emptying it, power washing it out, and then examining it further to determine if it was worth keeping, whether it needed repairs, whether it needed a solvent + acid wash and a coating treatment, whether it needed to be replaced, etc.

While the tank was out I pulled the carb, changed out all of the rubber lines in the fuel system (they were disintegrating from the inside) as well as the fuel filters, and flushed out the solid lines with clean fuel, then the fuel pump. Then, once I knew that I had a clean fuel delivery system, I attached a freshly rebuilt carb.

I'm still in the middle of the fuel tank repair, so while I was working on getting the engine running, I ran the engine out of a gas can, keeping a fire extinguisher nearby in case something bad happened.

Bringing an old car back to life after 15 years can involve a lot of work that you may not have thought about. In my case it's been a lesson in learning to be patient, because there was always something that came up and screwed up my plans.

My advice would be to think things through, be thorough, and to try to enjoy it when you get sidetracked by something you didn't plan on. Have fun.

 

Good to know on the upholstery! Fresh gas for sure!

 

She's finally arrived! Put a new battery in it and got most of the lights working. With fresh fluids and a tune-up, she should come to life!

 

Well, it's about time.

More pictures!

Those are great cars.

- Eric

 

Ya, it took a while. It was a decent size siding job that I bartered for the car. Could only work on it in my spare time.

The car is pretty straight and solid. They have some cool body lines, should be a nice cruiser next summer!

Pix soon!

 

Ha ha. Way to go! Great car for no cash. A man after my own heart.

- Eric

 

Yes! Just a little of my time, the guy even helped me do the siding!