Project Car
 

OK, I'm taking on a project car. '96 Sebring JX - Convertible. It's got a number of problems, including not running at the moment, but it looks like it's doing 100mph just setting there, so I 'gotta fix it. My 19 YO daughter, with beautiful long dark hair (beyond waist length, wow) will look so good in this car going to college... And it's going to be hers. Dark green with tan interior/roof, nice mags and good tires. 146k miles under a leaky roof.

Mold means it needs new floor mats and carpet - leak worst onto the driver's left foot area. Appears drain tube in windshield is blocked. Rusty bolts on the seat! Oh, my... Odometer come on once in a while. Battery dead. Hood misadjusted so badly that paint is off where it bent from trying to shut. (Otherwise paintjob is GREAT.) Going to need a new roof, but not in the budget for a bit - this 11yr old one will have to due for now.

First phase is to fix the electrical and breathing so we can start 'er up - definitely a bit of a project on a budget. Sitting > 6 mo's.

Phase one, Step one... breathing and spark.

Prior helpful friend to PO (previous owner) attempted to start was with either - tons ot it... not a good idea, esp. when it's backfiring. Blew intake box (connecting carb to air duct on air fitler) into several parts. Bottom splintered, top flew off. Car's been moved several times since so little pieces lost. Concerned that some pieces might be unaccounted for... and could be down carb, sitting in intake waiting for startup. Could damage piston.

Issue one, carb ring in on carb and sides of "air box" sitting there, top sitting in rear footwell. No response from the junkyards. No sebring in local U-Pull-It. Looks like a fiberglass or RTV plastic fix for now. Never done that before, guess I'll be learning.

Second issue, tried cranking it once (jumper cables). Got three puffs of smoke from rear of engine.... hope to heck that wasn't a segment of the wiring harness.... don't want it to burn to the ground while I'm trying to fix it - not a good first step!

Can't see around corners all that well at my age (56), but found ground wire to engine is off. Could be odometer problem, which could help us get started or diag code - or it could just help burn the wiring harness to a crisp.

Oldest daughter is coming for T-Day/Xmas this week and might have camera along so I'll try to get some pictures if anybody is interested.

Clearing '92 Sub Legacy from driveway (fixing tranny problems) to prepare for project number two. (Haven't done much mechanical stuff for years. Decent tool set and wrecked air compressor on hand, but that's about it.)

( When this one's done I have a white 2001 Sebring with low miles and a disaster dash to attack so together, if nothing else, it should help build the FAQ and I should have lightened the car payments with several reasonably running transportation options. )

Goal, sell my '02 Q-45 and be transportation debt free... maybe if this goes well I'll celebrate by getting a motorcycle to fix - used to have a V65 Magna.

Here's hoping some mechanics out there are interested in being kind and informative because I'm a software type and sans manuals... Oh, well.

Day one, its raining and subaru tranny is sitting on a rented jack stand...

RE: Project Car
 

Going over to fetch air box parts today, will have to move the car so it doesn't get towed and stopping by Ace Hardware on the way back to see about plastic... online I see $29 for half a gallon - 1/4 of that would do. If not, maybe a marine or body shop supplies place. (Just pricing today.) Have to make a mold to pour the plastic into. Haven't figured out how yet - duct tape would sag. :-) Anybody with any ideas where to get an "air box" cheap (dealer was $189 plus tax) and save all that uglyness under the hood? Maybe $15 to $20.

Do have a paint gun and electric vibrator sander, and semi-dangerous with them - did one MG-B repaint when I was a kid. (Loooooong time ago.) Thinking about a temp. pattern on the hood to cover the sans paint spots, maybe a 3" black strips down both edges for the moment... do a whole hood repaint job later (to original). Maybe when the car (hopefully) someday runs for a week or two, I'll think about the hood.

Options? Flames not exactly cool for a nice young lady. ;-) Picture of a car would cover primer over the hole, but wouldn't look good. Lemans number and strips not her character. Pictures of options anyone???

Sweet, conservative, quite, gentle gal and she deserves better but post-divorce daddy is very sans cash. Oh, well. ( Don't get me started on corrupt courts in this nation... )