[Svendog]

Went out to take a few pictures. One the engine bay where I ran the cable to the master fuse. The other two are where the battery's new home is. The wiring is a little messy right now, but I want to test the whole system before locking everything down to its final position.

 

[jvanabra]

Nice!

 

[dougsaab]

Wow, glad you're OK. I used to run a kerosene torpedo heater in the garage when working, but got tired of the fume smell. I always knew it required a constant fresh air supply(door cracked) when using one, but I have since upgraded to a propane torpedo heater - I see they also need a constant fresh air supply or they consume all the oxygen in the space you're heating. As I'm getting older, I don't like working out in the cold, so this winter I haven't run the heater at all. It might be a good idea to invest in a CO monitor.

 

[99Super]

Glad you are ok! Enclosed space accidents are all too common.

I've run batteries in that exact same location on my 99's, using an Audi battery cable.

 

[Svendog]

Yeah... was not fun.. but lesson learned. If I get the car fired up today, I'll clean up the wiring and lock everything down and get back to sanding

 

[99Super]

Good luck! 👍
Body work...ugh.😬

 

[jvanabra]

Srsly.

 

[Svendog]

Wired and Fired!!!!

 

[Svendog]

I hate sanding. Found a paint stripper that works really well. It's slow (needs at least 12 hours to do its work) and has to be at least 50 degrees to start it's process. Being in New England, I don't have a lot of those right now. But, it's progress.

 

[jvanabra]

It's really hard to beat effective chemicals!

 

[99Super]

I plan to chem strip Frank when I get that far. Glad to see it worked well for you!

 

[Svendog]

I plan to chem strip Frank when I get that far. Glad to see it worked well for you!

I put some more on last night, just to see what it'd do in a garage that would get to about 40 overnight. When I checked this morning, I was surprised to see that there were areas that can be scraped down. So, I'll go out in about 30 and see what I can clear off. Since it's supposed to get into the 50s this week, I'll do a little each day and see if I can make a notable dent by next weekend.

 

[Svendog]

Still stripping away, but am seeing progress..
But, want to report out on some recent events.
Although I keep the battery on a trickle charger, I start it up every couple of weeks to keep the various fluids moving. Because I have the car on tire dollies so that I can move it around the garage easily, I could not get to the driver's seat easily as I have it against one wall so that I can make more working space for myself on the passenger side.

So, I tried the lazy solution and just tried to fire up the car by leaning over from the passenger side - with not a lot of hope because I normally need to pump the throttle once started.

The car not only fired right up, but was smooth from the start, idled strongly and sounded better than it ever has.

All I can think is that dipping the gas tank cleared out some gunk that was choaking the fuel line and, now that it's cleared out, everything is working fully.

I cannot wait to get this car on the road.

 

[jvanabra]

You definitely shouldn't need to touch the pedal to start the motor... Fuel injection handles all that. Definitely sounds like something has been improved!

 

[Svendog]

You definitely shouldn't need to touch the pedal to start the motor... Fuel injection handles all that. Definitely sounds like something has been improved!

Including my level of excitement. My plan is to have it in to paint and body in 2.5 weeks. Not sure how long it'll be in there, but am assuming 6 weeks. That means that I start reassembly end of May. Since I need basic upholstery work done before the glass goes in, I'm thinking that I'll be driving it by July.

 

[Svendog]

Random thought today.
All of my window and door seal rubbers are not great. Does anyone know of a source for those pieces? I heard an ad years ago about a company that could recreate them, but can't find them now. So, I'd appreciate the ideas.

 

[Svendog]

Update:
The car is ~95% sanded with the remainder being some nooks and crannies and two big spots under the front bumper.

I did find one area that will need to be rebuilt as it was repaired with fiberglass and the repair area is larger than I thought. it's the lower left front fender just ahead of the wheel and appears to be where the washer reservoir was/is and the drain hole must have been plugged up long enough for the metal to just rot out. So, that space either needs to be rebuilt properly or I need to find a donor fender/panel that can be welded in. So, to the 99 crew, does anyone know of someone that might have a parts car that I can pull from?

 

[Svendog]

Sven is off to body and paint tomorrow morning. Theses are the last pictures of him stripped down.

The battery was too low to start him initially, but after a couple of hours on the trickle charger and the car started up. I must have a parasitic leak somewhere, but it could be as simple as the courtesy lights getting power all the time because the doors and trunk are open.

 

[jvanabra]

That must have been a riot driving it down the road!

 

[Svendog]

Update.. went to the shop today to see the progress in person. The shop is so backed up that they've only recently been able to make notable progress.
What's done:

• Doors are fully prepped, primed and ready for paint.
• Trunk lid and hood are also ready
• The patch panel on the left front fender is done and looks so good that you'd never guess that work was done there.
• Two spots ahead of both rear wheels that had the start of rot have been addressed and prepped
• All of the body panels have been body worked.
• Car is going in for primer and final body work the week of 6/20 - which means that paint is probably not too far behind.

By August, I should be in reassembly mode (hopefully)