By February 2004, I had a new battery in place and the bird was drivable (sort-of). The 430 was difficult to start, but seemed strong with gobs of torque. One test drive left me stuck several blocks from home and on another more daring excursion, it shed a hubcap at 50 miles per hour There were quite a few mysterious noises from the motor, and driving it was just as scary as before due to the questionable brakes and loose front end. A couple of shots from February:
The old wood barn was still the only home for the bird for the next two years.
My son Rob pretending that it is drivable – 2/14/2004.
Once the weather warmed, it became obvious that the bird had one major problem – MOLD! The previous owner had kept it under a car cover that didn’t allow moisture to escape. Many parts were covered with surface rust and the interior suffered from an advanced case of mildew.
After pulling up the trunk lining and carpets, I attacked this with wire brush and primer. The seats were pulled out and given a thorough cleaning. It was clear that this was a bigger project than I expected. Yet I could also see that this was a remarkably solid, rust free car and would be worth the effort to do a total restoration.
The trunk after the pulling the liners out. there is no rust-through, just surface rust!
The floor pans had surface rust only. Here they are after some Rust Encapsulator primer and new seam sealer.