Laughing Coyote

All the pieces are ready. Now the fun begins.

I'm with MChinson on the brackets. I think the lights look to close together and it's crowding the grill at the bottom. If the brackets were pointing outward they would follow the lower grill section better and the lights would be farther apart. All about the details and look. Just my opinion.

Matt, job well done!! Now you get to enjoy it with your family and put some miles on it while making memories.

Thanks. I like the bottom parts to look nice just as much as the top parts. As they say it's all in the details. I'm sure over time of driving it will not stay fresh and new, but I know I went through everything and it's good to go. Seymour paint is what I'm using for the cast and silver color. Rust Oleum industrial black gloss for the other stuff. They have lots of different types and colors.

Today I pulled the passenger side trailing arm. Had to sacrifice the trailing arm bolt. Everything was rusted tight. This side has never been off the car and the grease on the bearings was just about gone and turned to heavy oil. Good thing I got new bearings and seals. That's why I wanted to go through everything first before I got into driving it a lot. This poor car has had a tough time over the years.

I won't be afraid to drive it once I get it back together. I just wanted to go through things and make sure they are up to snuff before driving for longer periods of time. After all it's a 50 year old sports car that's probably had a lot of hands on it and from what I'm finding not very good hands. Looking forward to having some fun with it once it ready.

Still plugging away at the parts. The drivers side trailing arm is done. Brake caliper done. Both half shafts done. Just have to pull the other trailing arm and get it torn down. Hopefully it will clean up faster and I can get this thing back together and start driving it for longer periods of time without concern.

https://www.amazon.com/Dressing-Protectant-Attracting-Conditioner-Automotive/dp/B07CRNKGQB/ref=sr_1_2?crid=9GCZG3XVFXGP&keywords=rubber%2Bcare%2Bspray&qid=1686193247&sprefix=rubber%2Bcare%2Caps%2C697&sr=8-2&th=1

Check out "Rubber care products" They don't contain silicones and won't leave you with a shinny and slippery mess. Just a nice rich black color and it helps keep it soft and flexible.

Thanks James. I just need a pattern of the area that the vinyl goes on and I can cut them out. They should do fine for longevity since it's an outdoor type vinyl. Can do different colors too.

At least it has something on the top to protect it from the elements. Wouldn't want to ruin the interior.

More progress today. Pulled the rear caliper on the drivers side and soaking the trailing arm shims in Vapo rust. Good thing I'm going through the calipers. The fluid looked really dark and had black chunks of grud come out of them. The bleeder screws are pretty well beat too. The grease seals came in today so I just have to pack bearings and get the rest of the trailing arm together. Still have to finish the half shaft.

Not sure if that car has a flex coupling like the BMW on the driveline, if so I would change it out.

I was able to do more work on the car pieces. I got the bearings and u joints in today. I checked the pre load for the bearings with a special tool I made so I don't have to keep pressing on and off bearings. The spacers are correct and right on per spec so I'm good to go on that. Bearing seals should be here by Tuesday. I ordered them through Home Depot of all places and it's free shipping and getting them a lot faster than the big name guys. I've gotten other parts through them. They have an auto parts whole seller they deal with. I also made a lower shock bushing with the left over rod material and it's ready to go. The parts pile is getting smaller just in time to do the other side. At least I know what to do and it may go faster. And new stainless steel caliper brake lines.

Here's one for sale in Tucson. https://tucson.craigslist.org/cto/d/tucson-2006-subaru-wrx-sti/7624124753.html

I've been still cleaning up parts. The half shaft on the drivers side has been disassembled and the U joints are going to be replaced since they were the original ones. Was a real bear to get them out. I have new U joints, bearings, and seals coming then I can start to put things back together. I finished up the center cap too. Polished up the stainless bottom ring and then mounted the derby cap. You can tell the difference. Three more to go. The neighbor that gave me the car came by yesterday and has seen all the progress and is happy that I got the car and going through it so well. I also had my Delrin rod come in so I can make new sway bar bushings. The rubber ones were worn and cracked and I wanted something a little stiffer. One done and three more to go. Progress is still on going.

Doesn't she know you got an old Dodge to get back on the road? 😁

That's a work of art. Outstanding craftsmanship.

Took it easy today since this coming week will be busy for the business and I have more parts coming in. I was cleaning up one of the derby caps to see how they will clean up. They look pretty good, but the black stripes were faded and painting them would be a chore. I made a template and cut strips of sign vinyl and they came out pretty nice. No mess, fumes, or masking. Just stick them on. It takes a lot to have it come off. I just have to paint the letters on the top, but that's easy.

Glad to see you back at it. Give'er H_LL Matt!!!! It's not going to win.

I would check the Yellow (grey) one when you turn on the parking lights. It could be a illumination lead. Brown on European cars is usually the ground.

You won't be able to reuse the sleeve with a new stereo. You will have to purchase a new stereo that is a DIN mount, which most of them are and re wire it to the factory harness. You can buy a harness kit so you retain the factory connectors you just have to search for your car. It's hard to say what was in there if there was no markings on the sleeve. You can purchase older Blaupunkt stereos on Ebay that would look fitting for the car since it's a German brand stereo or newer ones from any large retailer. You can test speaker location by using a 9v battery (the little square ones). You put the negative wire of the speaker on the negative tab of the battery. Then use the other wire and just tap it to the positive side of the battery and you should hear the speaker make a popping noise. Then you know where they are located.

Is there any manufacture stampings any where on the sleeve like a name? It looks like the wires were cut, soldered, and heat shrink. It may be the factory sleeve and connections, but the factory wouldn't cut them just a few inches away from the connectors and change wire colors. It looks like some of the black dash plastic was cut out some to fit it. If you have a test light you can test the wires. You can look up 12v test lights on line. Very useful for this type of stuff. Yellow - constant 12v Red - switched 12v (key on) Blue/red - Could be illumination or 12V for power antenna Brown - ground (usually on european cars) The other wires on the other plug should be speaker wires.

Yesterday I made up a puller to press out the spindle hub. Today after changing out 2 fascia boards I went ahead and gave it a try. It actually worked and I was able to get it apart. Then it was a day of cleaning, sandblasting, wire wheeling, and painting things up. Still have to pull the other trailing arm assembly on the passenger side. When I was checking the spindle on the drivers side it was hitting something when it was spinning. After taking it apart I found out why. The back of the stud heads were hitting the cup and spring on the parking brake shoe. It had a groove worn in it so it's been doing it for a while. Once I get the other side torn down I want to check the spacers and make sure someone didn't forget one on the drivers side and bringing it to close inward. The neighbor that gave me the car also had 4 new brake hoses so they will be changed out. I ordered new rotors, parking brake shoes, caliper lines, spark plugs, and an emergency brake cable. So lots of work going on. Hoping to have it all back together in about 3 weeks and back to driving it without worry.

Patina -Rusty Barn find - Dirty Ran when parked - Doesn't run and I ain't fixing it.