Hello All,
I recently purchased a '77 Y82 SE, and I'm starting on the restoration. I am new to the forum, and this is my first T/A. The car is a Y82 (Hurst T-Tops), with Firethorn interior. It's a 403, with automatic transmission, and an interesting option mix, with AM/FM Stereo, 8 track, but no A/C. The car came with all the original paperwork, including build sheet, various owners manuals and pamphlets, and original invoice. It still has the space-saver spare (used) and the T-Top bag.
I am the third owner, and I know most of the general history of the car. It spent most of it's life in Idaho with the original owner. A gentleman from Oregon purchased the car last Summer and brought it to Portland. For unspecified personal reasons, he had to sell the car, so I bought it from him. The car is very unmolested original, although it's been somewhat neglected. It clearly spent most of it's life outside, as the paint is severely oxidized. It does not show any signs of major accident damage, but it has a lot of "wear and tear" - door dings, scratches and generally worn out exterior.
The interior is a mixed bag. The headliner is gone, and the front seats are torn up. The door panels are a bit torn, and the carpet is pretty dirty. The dash is actually quite good, and the rear seats aren't too bad. All the trim pieces are there, but they range from decent to garbage.
Mechanically the car seems good. It starts and runs smooth, and passed emissions testing with flying colors! It drives very nice, with no funny noises or handling issues. It shows 71K on the odometer, and the previous owner claims it is correct. From the way the car runs and drives, I believe it.
There are some rust issues, but compared to some of the cars I've seen on line, they are pretty minor. Definitely had leaking t-tops, and the drivers front floorpan has a hole to prove it. No other rust-through in the pan, but definitely some other surface rust, some of which may be bad enough to justify patching. The bottom of the rear quarters are showing some rust through, but seems to be limited to just the bottom. The fenders look good, although there my be some pin-holes in the bottom of the passenger side. Trunk floor looks good, and I have not found any other areas of concern.
My first project will be the rust repair, starting with the floor pans. I have a MIG setup, and I've done some sheetmetal work in the past, but I don't consider myself an expert by any stretch. I'll be doing as much of the work myself as I can. I have attached a few pics below, but I have a web site with many more. I'll continue to post my progress here, but I am not planning on doing a lot until the weather improves. My goal is to have the rust repaired, and the car painted by the end of Summer (2008...).
Gregg
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