Hi All,
My apologies if this is a duplicate.
I just got back from vacation and found my inbox full of some great
introductions. It certainly made my weekend catch-up at work much more
interesting, not productive but definitely interesting. I am surprised at the
lack of New England representation. I guess it's just me and Ray Gibbons.
I am a 34 year old Systems Analyst for Thomson Financial Services in Boston, MA.
I am divorced (no children) but have an extremely understanding girlfriend who
lives in Vermont and has given up her garage for the greater good of automotive
history. I enjoy music, snowboarding, peeling all of the skin off of my
knuckles, swearing at frozen nuts, getting rust in my eyes and the sound of an
air impact wrench.
My first restoration project was a 1972 SS Chevelle which I rebuilt from a pile
of rust and a burnt out engine. I don't know if anyone has reassembled an engine
in an unheated garage in February, I wouldn't recommend it. When your fingers
stick to the metal it tends to foul up the engine. This project was useful only
for the experience. Shortly after completing the restoration the car was
stripped by some lowlife types and ended up going to the junk yard. I did have a
lot of fun in it for those few weeks.
I purchased my first Alpine in 1986. It was a white Series V with a big black
racing stripe down the middle and a big hole in the head gasket. It sat in my
driveway for a while until I came to my senses and realized that I was a broke
and starving college student and had no business getting into another
restoration. I promptly sold it and do not know where it is now.
I now own, with much assistance and advice from the people of this list, a
Series III GT with the original engine. I found it in a garage in Worcester, MA
where it had been parked for about 17 years. I towed it and a wrecked Series II
home to much head shaking and questions about my sanity. I immediately began to
disassemble it and got even more questions about my sanity. I am fairly sure
that the previous owner specifically avoided using standard parts and/or repair
techniques. Absolutely nothing on the car that was repaired was done correctly.
This includes welding patch panels on top of rusty ones without removing the
rust. I have now reached the point where I have an empty shell and about 10,000
spare parts and am thinking "My God! What have I done? I can't rebuild an entire
car!" Luckily my friend Chris, who owns a beautifully restored TR-6 (he bought
it that way), was there to calm me down. My plan is to have the shell dipped and
restore it back to it's original condition.
My second car is an "arrest me red" 1995 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo. This car will
almost certainly be the death of me as I plan to take it to a track this summer
where I can drive it even faster than the standard downtown Boston driving
speed. It does cut down on the weekend commute from Boston to northern Vermont
and back very weekend.
Now the questions:
Does anyone have any experiences that they can share about dipping a car?
I am planning on using the front crossmember from the Series II. The one on the
Series III is severely dented from an accident that also ripped one of the
crossbraces. Is the Series II crossmember compatible?
I have been unable to find a piece of the car that I could bring in for a paint
match. The car has been painted three times and there is very little of the
original Autumn Gold Metallic paint left. How much do you have to bring in for a
match? Would I be better off just trying to match the paint by code?
Thanks in Advance,
Kurt Eckert
Boston, MA/St. Albans, VT
1963 Sunbeam Alpine Series III GT B9200634
Member: TE/AE, SAOC
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