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I've had my II for about a year and a half and it
was nothing but trouble with the engine. over the past
year and a half its gone though 4 complete engine
rebuilds (3 from an incompetent shop that disappeared
along with the warranty) and a valve job because it
ate a cam (same incompetent shop) The latest rebuild
was from a shop that did the job much quicker and for
less money, even with the roller cam setup I had them
do. The body is all original and is starting to show
it. The quarter panels are staring to go bad and the
paint is bad in spots. The interior is in great shape
for being original, just a couple tears on the drivers
seat and the dash is slightly faded in spots. Despite
all this I love it and work on it every chance I get.
I hope to make it to some car shows this year to show
off my hard work.
I've done a lot to this little 2.3. It now has been
bored .30 over, has a headman Hedder, emissions delete
except for pcv system, Offenhauser 4 bbl intake(with
stock carb via a Mr. Gasket adapter plate), Flowtech
Warlock racing muffler, and a roller cam setup from a
93 Ford Ranger. Its not going to set any speed
records, but it is pretty peppy. It does get great gas
milage, even with a foot as heavy as mine!!! Now that
it's sorted out, I hope to put a Tremec World class T5
transmission behind it soon, along with a holley 390
cfm 4bbl carburetor to go with the intake.
When I got this car the paint was really dull and
oxidized. Recently I spent about 9 hours total (5
hours front clip and trunk, 1.5 hours on the drivers
side door getting scuffs and scratches out and 2.5
hours on the roof, quarter panels and passenger side
door) polishing it to get the little shine that was
left out of it. There are spots that go down to bare
metal but now that I've got a few coats of wax on it
they are protected against further damage. The
original bumper on this car had been hit and damaged
beyond repair but I was able to get a bumper from a
'77 to replace it. I spent a week sanding, bondoing
gouges and then finally painting it and mounting it on
the car.
I was really lucky with the interior. All it needed
was a good cleaning. It has a nice custom sound system
with an Alpine head unit mounted under the glovebox, a
150 watt amp, two 45 watt Audiobahn mid range speakers
and a couple RCA home stereo system speakers. It
sounds really good without waking the neighbors.
Because of all the problems with the engine i've had,
I installed a gauge kit from Summit Racing with water
temp and oil pressure gauges to keep a closer eye on
things.
By talking to other II owners in my state and online,
I've learned a lot about these great little cars and
about cars in general. When I'm at gas stations or out
cruising I get all sorts of great comments on it. I've
gotten a few negative comments but the good outweighs
the bad and no matter what they say, they can't make
me stop loving my car!!!!
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