$400 '69 SRL project

[dld]

Will,
Thanks for the offer, but at least for now I think I'd like to keep them. I found a collector for about $40.00, so I can clean them up and have a really cool setup. If there was a fabricator that wanted to use them as a template to make more, I might be interested. It seems that there might be quite a few Roadster owners that would like them.

Garm,
4-1, The primary tubes are approximately 36" long, with an 8" collector with an outlet of 3". the primary tubes are 1 5/8" diameter.

[dld]

One thing I didn't mention is that they are slip fit type headers, and they have to be to go around the frame, which means they are not quite as leak free as many would want for a street car. I suppose small two bolt flanges could be added so gaskets could be used, but for me personally it's not a big issue.

[spl310]

Check with some local speed shops to find out what getting a few sets made up would cost.

[dld]

Been busy with other stuff for a while. Just had a few hours to spend on the Roadster, so I took the driver's seat out, scraped all the crap off the floor, revealing surface rust, but no worse, 76 cents (deduct from $400,00 purchase price! LOL), and some interesting mods to the seat. A PO had inserted a stadium cushion in between the straps and the seat foam, and there were nuts used as spacers to raise the front of the seat. Pretty funny, but it's what you do when you're short on cash. Rebuilding the seats is definitely going to be a challenge, a lot of the foam has deteriorated to the point that it's not worth keeping, so I'll have to reshape new foam before re-covering the seats. I will also have to replace the straps, as they have sagged. It's going to take a little research, but unless something changes, I'm planning on doing them myself. I'll try to insert some photos when I can.

DLD

[dld]

Here are some shots of the floor pans. Not too bad, mostly surface rust. Pretty easy to clean up. Also a photo of what mice did to the glove box. they love that cardboard, it makes good nest material! OH, and I'm up to 83 cents found in the car. That brings the purchase price down to $399.17!

[notoptoy]

Those floor boards look geat, especially the passenger side.
Tom

[dld]

Yeah, the passenger side is much better for some reason. Neither of them are too bad. I've done some work since the photos were taken, and with some rust inhibitor like POR15 or similar it should be fine. Someday in the future I'd love to do a frame off restoration, but with two boys in college right now I just want to get it back on the road this year and make it to Solvang in 2013.

[Gregs672000]

You may want to remove the stuff on the firewall too, mine was rusted through, could put a fist through one hole once it was cut out. Yours is probably surface but "rust never sleeps." Lookin good man, and I love the tight budget... penny saved is a penny earned so they say. Found $12 worth of Fred Meyer (grocery store here) "2 dollars off your next purchase" coupons thrown away on the ground the other day... needless to say my night time TV popcorn has been free for the past several days... I like free... probably why I tend to give away my spare parts!

[dld]

Greg,

Good advice. I probably will go ahead and strip it off the firewall just to be sure, and to stop any progression of rust.

I ride a 1979 Yamaha XS650 that I bought from a co-worker for $1.00. It gets about 50MPG, more than twice what my other commuter vehicle gets, so at $4.00 gas it saves me a ton of money. It's helping me to fund the work on the roadster. Free or cheap is always best.

DLD

[ppeters914]

I ride a 1979 Yamaha XS650 that I bought from a co-worker for $1.00. It gets about 50MPG, more than twice what my other commuter vehicle gets, so at $4.00 gas it saves me a ton of money. It's helping me to fund the work on the roadster. Free or cheap is always best.

DLD

Hmmmmm.....maybe my first step should be getting my '83 Suzuki GS1100E back on the road to fund the roadster.

[dld]

Update. Here's something really unusual. I keep finding the weirdest mods to this car. I sure wish I could talk to the owner that made these mods, but I have no idea how I would find him. He tilted the windshield back. If you look closely at the quarter window, you'll see that it comes to a point at the top, where as the stock one has a short horizontal piece there. He added material to the bottom of the windshield frame. I discovered this when I removed the dashboard. Compare mine, the ugly one, with the red roadster. This really going to be challenging to correct!

[spl310]

Looks like he was going for a Fiat look. If it works, I would keep it just to be different. If you need something cut from an unmodified cowl section, I have one I can cut up for you. I am pretty sure I have a set of vent windows as well.

[dld]

Thanks for the offer. I would keep it that way except for two items. One is the windshield is cracked and has to be replaced anyway, and two, he added some galvanized steel to the lower flange so the windshield gasket would seal. This left a gap at the bottom, which he apparently filled with a section of old gasket, so the lower gasket looks really thick. My plan is to get the windshiel out, assess the situation, and determine what my options are. I have lots of experience repairing this type of thing, so it's not a huge issue, I just thought it was interesting. combined with the other strangely done mods to this car, a P.O. had some interesting ideas but evidently not much cash, so he did what he could cheap and dirty. some of his ideas are pretty good, just poorly executed. I'll keep you in mind if it turns out I need portions of a cowl.

DLD