The Initial State of the Car

So the car is in pretty good shape overall which was one of the reasons I bought it.  The engine was not in the car but all the parts were there.  The seller actually had two engines and two transaxles for the car.  He sold the car with both engines and both transaxles.  One engine is what appeared to be the original engine, a 1300cc single port engine with the original swing arm transaxle.  He also had a 1600cc dual port engine with an independent rear suspension.

The body was in good shape for the most part.  There was a bit of rust here and there but had been repaired mostly by the previous owner with some patch panels.  Some surface rust and a few minor dents remain but nothing too major.  I've seen 5yr old cars in far worse condition.

Almost all the trim and bumpers are there and in good shape.  It had the orignal wheels and hubcaps which were in decent shape.

The one aspect of the car that was certainly showing its age was the interior.  It was very worn and rotted from moisture and sun exposure.  The previous owner purchased the car from New Mexico which is where it appears the car spent most of its days.  I have the original owners manual and the maintenance book that were issued with the car.  Pretty cool.  Anyway, the interior smelled bad and there was no way of salvaging it.  Besides, the floor pans of these cars are notorious for rusting out so pulling out the carpet was a must to inspect the floor pans.

Ok, on to some pictures:

The car in its new home

The original wheels (these are not staying)

The interior in sad smelly shape.  Note the aftermarket AC under the dash.

I have the warranty and O&M for that too.  It was installed in '68.  This was the only part of the AC that remained however.  The compressor and condenser coil have both been removed.

The pile of engine parts.  The next step was to sort through all this to figure out which parts went with which engine.  I think I figured it all out though.

A picture from the rear quarter.  Looks like the rear deck might have been crashed at one point.  It looks like the previous owner had used some heat to straighten the sheet metal out and some bondo for finishing it up.  It needs more work but it looks like it must be better than it was.