what a nice straight looking car!!!   they must have polished that car on slow days, or used it for a learning vehicle WOW is it nice and clean.  hope you got it for a good price.  cheers

Thanks guys    but the pics make it look a bit better than it does in person. The paint shines somewhat but the bodywork under it is rough. There are deep sanding marks & the whole car will need re-done at some point. It's a 20 footer but at least it's better than primer & rust. For a grand I did OK but I have a long road ahead on this car.
 
With the exception of both lower quarters that are loaded with patches & bondo & the drivers floorpan I can't find any rust on her. A panel wagon(no portholes) was always a future build on my to-do list & I think this is a good candidate.
 
It will make a good driver/parts runner for a couple years while I whip my other cars into shape. My daughter wants my Neon(48K orig miles) as her 1st car which is 6 years away but that gives me time to get this car right before it becomes my main driver. With that in mind I'm not planning anything radical for this wagon. No V8, no turbo, just a good running 2300 & since I have all the parts probably a 4-speed swap.
 
I put near 100 miles on it over the weekend & it ran great other than a tendency to run close to 200 degree water temps in the 90 degree heat. Someone already replaced the 36 year old hoses & belts recently bit it's still sporting the ORIGINAL radiator, water pump & thermostat.
 
I ordered a brand new radiator from AutoZone($115 with discounts) & a new, not rebuilt, water pump plus a thermostat from Advance($32 after discounts) & I'm hoping that's all I need to spend on her for awhile. That's on this weekends to-do list along with checking the timing since I can pull the belt cover while it's apart.
 
Supposedly it's got a new timing belt & I suspect the lack of power is the 36 year old carb but I wanna double check the belt while I can. My '75 wagon was a 2.3L/auto & I seem to remember it having some balls. This thing is getting good mileage but power is non existent & that's going to get resolved real soon. I'll rebuild the carb & see where I need to go from there if that doesn't solve it. The cat's already been removed BTW.
 
I'm not enthused by the interior colors but at least it's not shredded.
 
 
 

 

Very Nice Car and what a Great looking interior!
Congratulation to this Catch
Bart

Yesterday I drove home an '87 Mustang LX that I found for $350 bucks. It has a 2.3L EFI with a T-5 trans. I wanted to do an EFI(non-turbo)/5-speed swap into this wagon down the road so I got a jump on it.
 
The only problem I face now is what to do with the rest of the Mustang after I strip out the drivetrain & wiring. I was planning to sell some parts off it & scrap the remains but this car is clean. I cant find any rust through & the floors are nice. I'm now debating on installing my 5.0/T-5 that was destined for my '73 & selling it for a profit.
 
I've been leaning towards a 2.3L turbo in the '73 with these $4.00 gas prices anyhow. Decisions, decisions, decisions..... ..

i would pop in the 5.0 in the mustang and let her fly, every kid out there wants one and a easy $5,000.00 if its cleand and runs strong! just my 2 cents.
plus like you said gas prices keep climbing thats why im doing the 2.3 turbo set up in my wagon!

I took a good look at the car today & while the car is clean I will literally need a parts car to replace all the trim & interior pieces that the previous owner bought the car for. I'll end up wasting a year & a couple grand to get this car rolling & ready to sell. I'll just strip it out, sell the parts I don't need & scrap the remains.

I just picked these up for the wagon an hour ago down in Cincinnatti. These will be on it by Saturday since the hubcaps just aren't doing it for me.
 

 
My Neon is nearly finished & should be back on the road in 2 or 3 weeks so then I can get back to my Pinto's.........

I finally swapped wheels to rid the wagon of the "grandpa" look. Now I can drive it as-is until I whip the new wagon body into shape.
 

 
This one is already built in my head, now I gotta bring it to life in steel.

Oh, that's you I bought the front spoiler from lol. I'm the guy who messaged you on Ebay about whether you had those missing pieces.
 
I paid way too much for the porthole panels because they were local & saved me 70 bucks shipping but I never owned a Cruising Wagon to know I was going to be missing pieces. My plan was to shoot them red & pop them on my wagon over a weekend. Instead I gave up & went back to my original plan.
 
I always wanted a true panel wagon & after talking with Pinturbo75's dad about how easily his were welded solid I'm just going that route on the '74 wagon shell.
 

 
^^Here's my replacement body^^. Mine needs quarters, doors, floor repairs & I found a few hidden issues that are probably much worse than they look. I can now whip this body into shape, get the 2.3L EFI out of my '87 Stang installed & wired & get it right while I drive mine till I'm ready to strip the last parts off it to complete the new one.
 

 
^^This is the vision of a panel I always had in my head anyhow so I may as well do it right the 1st time^^. I'm also leaning towards welding up the rear window like authentic deliveries & the Ford parts don't fit the theme.  I'll hang the porthole panels on my wall as a lesson on how to waste 175 bucks on parts I can't use unless someone out there really needs them.

Finally snapped some pics of the turbo parts for the wagon. I have the complete bottom end from an '83 Turbo Coupe with 52,000 miles on it. I think I may re-do the hed off my '87 parts car, install a roller cam & bolt it on this engine.
 

 
I have the E6 manifold which I didn't want to run because of the blower motor clearance issue. I'm still leaning towards a center exit header by the time I'm ready to assemble this car but right now money is tight.
 

 
I have the inline intake which I wanted so I can build a box plenum down the road when I start pumping up the power. I gotta find 30# injectors & a fuel rail but that's easy stuff.
 

 
I also have the small VAM which I'll use untill I jump to bigger injectors & a bigger turbo.
 

 
I have plenty of intercooler piping, silicone connectors & clamps. It's a generic kit with 2 1/2" tubing & a blowoff valve. I got it all cheap from an abandoned project so the price was right.
 

 
It looks pretty but my assumption is that it's cheap Chinese junk that will self destruct the 1st time I bang through the gears. I guess I'm gonna find out in about a year.
 

 
I also have the stock '83 turbo but I need an exhaust housing & downpipe. I need to find a turbo shop that can assess it & let me know if it needs anything or is good to go as-is.

The CABOV might suprise you.

You mean it will actually hold up? That's good news. I gotta figure out where the 2 vacuum ports connect

I've had an issue with this car draining all the brake fluid out of the master cylinder to the rear brakes since I bought it & a left front caliper that sticks when the car sits for a couple weeks. I've never found a leaking brake line nor a leaky wheel cylinder to account for it so I assume it was the master cylinder.
 
I had Friday off so I installed a new master cylinder, rear wheel cylinders, rebuilt calipers, front brake pads, front hoses & all new rear brake springs. The rear brake shoes were in great shape & probably have another 20,000 miles left in them so I didn't replace them or the front rotors which looked like they were replaced less than 5K miles ago. I already re-packed the wheel bearings when I bought the car & they looked near new as well.
 
Wow, what a difference that made to my stopping ability. They felt fine before swapping everything but now it really feels firm. Best part is I'm no longer losing fluid. Thanks to discount codes for Advance Auto I spent just under 100 bucks(Gotta love how cheap most Pinto parts are) to completely R&R my brakes.
 
Next on the list is gonna be swapping upper/lower control arms since the upper bushings are pretty dry rotted. Ball joints & inner/outer tie rods as well as rack boots look great(60K mile car) but I have a full set of control arms I got off Ebay for 100 bucks that were blasted, painted & fitted with a full Speedway kit so I think I'll make time to install those before winter & get an alignment.

so how ya comin along with the  new wagon?

So far I just moved it over & covered it. That never ending winter we just got out of has me over 2 months behind on my to-do list. I did get the '77 scrapped & got the '80 in the garage & started working on it so hopefully I can get to the wagon this fall.