Author Topic: This is Ruby AKA "The Project"  (Read 42452 times)

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Offline Nexus

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Re: The Project
« Reply #105 on: August 30, 2011, 03:44:49 PM »
Well it has been a year since I have touched the Project!!!

Life has steered me away from her at the moment but it is not forgotten.

she lonely, quietly, patiently in my work closet, just waiting for me to do some work!!!


on the bright side, I had a high effincency gas furnace given to me for my garage, so I'm hoping the work closet will be heated this winter, and just maybe I can do something to her

September also marks the 11th year I have owned the Project and shamefully it still sits in pieces!!

everything is about time and money!!

thanks for looking!!
Charlie
1979 - Esprit (21 years and counting)

Offline Gold79ta

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Re: The Project
« Reply #106 on: August 30, 2011, 04:11:11 PM »
Unfortunatley I have neither.  :'(

Offline CT Bird Fan

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Re: The Project
« Reply #107 on: August 30, 2011, 06:40:54 PM »
Well at least you have it, and will get to it when time/money allows, that's the important thing!
Gone but not forgotten - 1979 Formula, 1980 Esprit.

Being birdless sucks!

Offline 89flyboy

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Re: The Project
« Reply #108 on: August 31, 2011, 04:49:29 AM »
Charlie just saw your thread, your are doing some amazing body work. Don't feel bad about not working on her much. I to said mine would be done long before now, but life sometimes has other plans. The important thing is you do work when you can and when you can't you still think about it so she is not forgotten. I look forward to seeing more of this build and thanks for all the pics.
Josh

BTW how has the chassis saver held up? I used POR-15 looked great for a bit but it tends to not hold like I wanted.
I long for the peace that only driving a t/a can bring.

Offline Nexus

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Re: The Project
« Reply #109 on: August 31, 2011, 06:07:22 AM »
so far the chassis saver is doing well but it hasn't had much of test just sitting there

thanks for looking everyone
Charlie
1979 - Esprit (21 years and counting)

Offline Nexus

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Re: The Project
« Reply #110 on: November 26, 2011, 08:11:52 PM »
Well it finally happened!!!

I found someone who wanted to sell me a toeboard!!!

It showed up in the mail this past friday!!!!

only one problem...my wife took it and said i couldn't play with it until after christmas...she stole it for a gift!!!
Charlie
1979 - Esprit (21 years and counting)

Offline 89flyboy

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Re: The Project
« Reply #111 on: November 26, 2011, 08:26:50 PM »
quick someone send charlie another toeboard lol
I long for the peace that only driving a t/a can bring.

Offline Nexus

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Re: The Project
« Reply #112 on: June 10, 2018, 01:56:29 PM »
WOW...2011 is my last post on this...and that's about the last time I worked on the poor girl. So much has changed in my life over the past 8 years and I am happy to say that I still have this girl, and I will be resuming my work on it this fall. I'm not able to do a full restoration on it as I don't have the funds but I do want to get it cleaned up, and put back together so that I can make it road worthy and drive it. Something I've only done once. I actually need to relearn all the little details I could ramble off before so I figure if I write it down here, then maybe I will be more committed to being active on here again.

Sadly the last picture I posted was about as far as I got on this thing. My dad and I are building a garage, hole has been dug and waiting for the contractor to start the concrete. It will be 32'x36' so it should be big enough to work in it comfortably and it has to be done by the fall.

If people are curious, then maybe I will post progress pictures of it going up on this thread.

cheers for now
« Last Edit: June 28, 2018, 01:58:05 AM by Nexus »
Charlie
1979 - Esprit (21 years and counting)

Offline Nexus

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Re: The Project
« Reply #113 on: August 16, 2018, 10:11:52 PM »
We have a cement pad so this ole girl will have a new home by winter

20180816_081746 by Charles Marson, on Flickr
« Last Edit: August 19, 2018, 07:12:19 AM by Nexus »
Charlie
1979 - Esprit (21 years and counting)

Offline Nexus

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Re: This is "Ruby" formerly known as "The Project"
« Reply #114 on: January 13, 2021, 02:18:42 PM »
Garage is up now and the car has been moved inside.

20190829_195129 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

20201003_133658 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

Recently the subframe has been repainted and restored and put back under the body

2020-09-07_06-06-24 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

20201003_120619 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

Now I am working on the engine that Black Betty provided for me

2020-11-30_10-55-02 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

Got her running - click on the photo

20201215_202638_1 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

and now the transplanting has commenced

20201223_103456 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

20201224_171221 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

Surprisingly, it looks pretty good inside from the top view but I have yet to remove the oil pan. She sat for around 10 years before I went through the steps of getting her fired up again.

2021-01-13_11-15-01 by Charles Marson, on Flickr


and the engine code - Being an 80 block, it is the same block used in the Turbo TA cars, so it's slightly beefier.

2021-01-13_11-14-49 by Charles Marson, on Flickr


I also scored an EFI system for it for a mere $150,00 Canadian but this will be a future mod as right no the goal is to just get the car back together and driving!!

2020-11-30_08-17-19 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

2020-11-30_08-16-58 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

The last thing that has happened, is that I have finally given her a proper name and we settled on "Ruby" formerly know as "The Project"


Cheers and stay safe.
Charlie
1979 - Esprit (21 years and counting)

Offline Cecil07

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Re: The Project
« Reply #115 on: April 17, 2021, 11:13:57 PM »
can you give us some feed back about the fuel injection system when you get it installed?

Offline Burd Turd

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Re: The Project
« Reply #116 on: April 18, 2021, 06:22:24 PM »
Nice,  even Santa helped. 
Born and Raised in South Detroit Bitches

Offline Nexus

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Re: The Project
« Reply #117 on: July 05, 2021, 10:57:44 PM »
I be posting feedback for sure but I'm just hoping I get it done before the second coming of Christ!!

Yeah the old guy hasn't cut much off that beard for quite a while!!


Since the last post, I have cleaned, sandblasted and painted parts while I made decisions on the block.

20210318_155837 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

20210318_155900 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

20210316_211240 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

20210316_211254 by Charles Marson, on Flickr


The JB weld experiment:

So in an event to keep things low cost, the aluminum on my 301 has seen better days as you can see in the photo all the pitting the coolant neck has.

20210311_083308 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

20210311_083319 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

So, pull out the JB weld I had on hand and fill in the pitting.

20210316_191911 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

the final result is this

20210316_211254 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

The experiment comes in when the aluminum and the JB weld get heated up and being too different types of material. We shall see how it does when I pull the engine apart in a few years and give it a proper rebuild!!


funny thing is, the bare metal pics are of a different housing and the one I used looked very similar in condition but I forgot to take pics.
Charlie
1979 - Esprit (21 years and counting)

Offline Nexus

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Re: The Project
« Reply #118 on: July 05, 2021, 11:01:08 PM »
I am still working on restoring the water pump housing as the aluminum was really pitted on both units I had and I'm thinking it's from people using non aluminum friendly coolant.

I have also cleaned up all the casting flash and wire brushed all the surfaces on the block, then everything was coated in WD40 to keep the rust at bay until I can get it cleaned and painted.

2021-04-29_10-11-11 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

2021-04-29_10-11-01 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

DISCLAIMER!!

What I have decided to do with this build is not the most popular way to refresh an engine, and I'm sure others will shutter but with that said, too bad, get over it...lol

Also, I am not building this for maximum power, or racing of any kind. I won't be thrashing the engine so for now, this will suffice and will likely work well unitil I can do it up right.

This is a super budget refresh build so I saved money where I could (like machine shop work) and purchased parts that I could find at the cheapest possible price. Also I am not replacing the rings, crank bearings, lifters and anything else that was working just fine before I pulled it apart.

So with that said, I purchased new connecting rod bearings, to install which will wear prematurely because of the scratches in the crank/bearing surface but It should hold out ok until I can rebuild this properly and at that point, I will purchase some better quality parts that were recommended to me.

Due to rusty push rods, I replaced those and also picked up a new, budget friendly timing chain set. A new pickup screen for the oil pump, frost plugs, temperature sensor, exhaust manifold studs, fresh fuel tank pickup screen, indirectly related to the engine and some shiny rocker cover tabs to spread out the tension from the bolts were also purchased.

2021-05-12_08-25-16 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

Also something that excites me the most is that we decided to go ahead to to install the Atomic EFI I got for Christmas sooner than later.

2020-11-30_08-17-19 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

Didn't seem to make sense to spend money on things that weren't staying with the car so with that in mind, I purchased a 7 pin electronic distributor from an 81 301, and a fuel pump and fuel filters.

2021-05-11_04-53-25 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

2021-05-11_04-53-07 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

Charlie
1979 - Esprit (21 years and counting)

Offline Nexus

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Re: The Project
« Reply #119 on: July 05, 2021, 11:02:20 PM »
Nothing ground breaking but I was able to get the cylinders notched and I also started disassembling the heads

2021-06-25_04-02-46 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

the black marker is what needs to get removed

2021-06-25_04-03-54 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

2021-06-25_04-05-12 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

All cleaned up!

2021-06-25_04-04-51 by Charles Marson, on Flickr

Let the head games begin!!

2021-06-26_04-05-35 by Charles Marson, on Flickr
« Last Edit: July 05, 2021, 11:05:24 PM by Nexus »
Charlie
1979 - Esprit (21 years and counting)