I thought it would be fun to arrange some pictures of the car as I received it and the changes as I restored it. This should provide a good overview of the project, and it is little easier than going through all the web pages that document the restoration. The pictures on the left show the car as I received it, and on the right, after the restoration. I have also included links to the relevant restoration pages.
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Pictures of the entire car seem obligatory for this page. They don't show many differences, however, because most are in finer details than these show. Pitted chrome, for example, isn't visible in the before pictures; neither are the grubbiness of the old upholstery or the rust and dirt on the insides of the wheels.
In the rear view, you can see damaged left rear fender and the sad condition of the dashboard. More on those below. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the bumpers and overriders have been replated.
Not all the chrome needed replating; a great deal can be accomplished by buffing and polishing. A few of the more visible parts, however, were worth the cost and effort: the bumpers and overriders, windshield frame, and so on. Replating even small things like the hood-latch levers, door handles, and other minor parts is worthwhile, as they create nice details. Windshield, Engine Covers, Door Handles.
The original TD dashboard had been replaced by the mess you see in the first picture, below. An important part of the restoration was to create a correct dashboard. The new dash has a walnut veneer, not original but a common enhancement of the period. The gauges and switches are all of the correct type. The seats have been completely restored, not just recovered, and new carpets and panels also have been installed. Interior.
The car didn't come with correct instruments, so I bought a used, populated dashboard on eBay to obtain what I needed. The instruments needed a good cleanup and lubrication, but that's about all. The speedometer is shown below; the tach was about the same. Amazing what some cleaning, buffing, and a new cover glass can do. Instruments.
The completed seats are leather. They are much nicer than the cruddy vinyl of the previous ones. The car now has good-quality seat belts. Seats.
The wood in the seat back was rotted and had to be replaced. (The back of the seat has a leather cover, but in this picture it hasn't been installed yet.)
The old seat-bottom upholstery had been installed overtop of the previous covers, which were quite old. The seat bases were rotted, so I made new ones, and their internal wood needed repair. The seats had no slides, so I installed good generic ones, superior to the original type. Finally, I installed hinges (which support the seat back) in a manner that was much stronger than the originals.
The footwell was like something out of Dante. It's much nicer now. Interior.
The engine and its external components were restored. Engine Restoration.
I rebuilt the carburetors. I restored the throttle shafts, made new shaft bushings, and, of course, replaced all the usual internal bits. The carbs are now better than just rebuilt; they're like new. Carburetors.
Below is a jet assembly.
And a carburetor body, cleaned and restored.
I painted the intake and exhaust manifolds with a high-temperature coating. Two of the manifold studs used to attach the exhaust pipe were almost totally stripped and impossible to remove. I drilled them out and replaced all the studs with bolts. Manifolds.
The cooling system had been jury-rigged; it's correct now. The radiator was in good shape but needed some paint and other cosmetic work. The cooling passages in the engine block were full of debris, mostly rust that had slaked off the sides of the passages. It was all cleaned out. I filled the cooling system with top-quality coolant, so the block won't rust further. Radiator and Cooling System.
The engine had suffered some bottom-end damage when the car lost oil pressure, the result of damage to the oil-pump drive gear. Below you can see the damage to the crank journals. Perhaps surprisingly, the compressions were perfect and the cylinders looked virtually new, so those were not touched. (I did replace the valve guides in the head, however, which were worn and had been installed incorrectly.) The engine's cooling and lubrication channels were cleaned out, and minor repairs were made throughout. Engine Internals.
Below is the engine as I took it apart and partially reassembled.
Here's why the engine lost oil pressure: the camshaft's oil-pump drive gear was broken, and it pulverized the mating oil-pump gear. The cam lobes were badly worn as well, a common TD problem. The camshaft was not salvageable, so I got a new one. The previous owner had replaced the oil pump, in the vain hope that it would be enough, but risking that it might break again. Fortunately, the new pump survived, so I didn't have to replace it.
The front suspension was fully rebuilt with remanufactured shock absorbers, all-new hardware, and all-new rubber. The car has new tie-rod ends and steering boots as well. I replaced all the brake hydraulic lines, both hard and soft, and all the fittings; you can see some of that here. The wheels were restored, new tires were fitted, and they were aligned and balanced. Front Suspension, Wheels and Tires.
The brakes had been replaced recently; the shoes and hydraulic cylinders were in nearly new condition. They required only cleaning. The hardware and backing plates were another story, but they received the usual cleaing, replating, and repainting. Front Brakes.
The steering rack was cleaned and relubricated and new boots were fitted. An aftermarket stabilizer bar, which obscures the rack in the left picture, was removed. The front and rear suspensions were completely rebuilt; the old and new A-arm bushings are visible in the pictures. Steering.
The views below show the rear axle and suspension. The rear shocks also were remanufactured and the links were replaced. The springs were disassembled, cleaned, painted, and reassembled with new rubber bits. Both the hard and soft brake hydraulic lines were replaced throughout the car. The differential was disassembled, cleaned, and set up properly with new crown-wheel bearings and, of course, fresh oil. Rear Suspension.
The rear underside was extremely dirty and worn; now it's like new. .
The fuel tank, sender, and rear valence were cleaned and restored. Fuel Tank.
The pedal box was full of old grease and dirt. It was really gross. Now it's clean and painted. Brakes.
The scuttle was especially cruddy and was the wrong color. After cleaning and sanding it down to bare metal, patching unneeded holes, and beating out dents, I repainted it with some color-matched paint. Body Work.
The footwell was a real slum. It was completely stripped, sanded, and repainted. I had to hand sand it, as it's too tight and complicated for a sander. The transmission was recently rebuilt, so it required only clean-up, paint, and new GL4-rated oil. Footwell, Transmission.
The left rear fender was damaged. I straightened and repainted it, again with the color-matched paint. Here you can also see the restored wheels and the new tires. Fender Repair.
The inside of the body was restored, the differential was repaired and rebuilt, springs were completely restored, and shock absorbers were remanufactured. Rear Body Restoration.
Below is the entire front suspension assembly. Front Suspension.
The electric wiring was a colossal mess. I tore it all out and replaced it. The black box with the fuses in the second picture contains a set of modern relays (for headlights, turn signals, switched power and so on) and more extensive, modern fusing. The electrical system now uses a single-point ground, which completely eliminates the problem of unreliable grounds. You can see it in the top left corner of the footwell picture, above. The two large connectors allow the relay box to be removed easily for servicing. One goes to the dashboard panel, the other to the wiring harness. Wiring.
The area around the horns is now a lot nicer.
