As they say life gets in the way of projects.
Lost both of my daily drivers. My 96 Roadmaster rear end failed then shortly after that my M45 started having engine problems indicating I should sell the car immediately before the engine failed. The M45 had 61,000 miles on it, so it was just out of warranty..... Replaced it with a 2013 Genesis V6. The Genesis performance is about equal to the M45. The Genesis makes a little more power with a V6. (333HP vs 325HP) Fuel economy is much better, 25 MPG for my daily drive compared to 16MPG for the M45.
I injured my elbow. Doctors call it golfers elbow. Say it will take around 12-16 weeks for some recovery and 18 months for full recovery. This really makes working on the Lemans hard.
It seems the last 2% of the car is going to take 40% of the total effort to complete. None of the last few items are being resolved quickly and easily.
Things I have done.
Installed the driveshaft. Initially had almost no clearance and thought I would need to have driveshaft shortened. After buying a angle finder and adjusting the upper control arms, the driveshaft fits. I think the angle ended being 2.75 degrees
Set the front ride height. Took most of a day to find the right combination of spacers to get the height I wanted. Installed front shocks after setting front ride height
I sent the original dash pad to "Just Dashes". The repro pad didn't want to stay installed, it kept popping loose and I didn't feel like dealing with the problem.
I got front and rear windshield installed.
Rear windshield trim was in poor condition. Very dented and what looked like 80 grit scratches on most of it. I got three of the pieces restored before I injured my elbow. The forth piece just needs buffing, the dents have been removed.
The rear taillight in the reproduction assembly is wired wrong. Bumper will have to be removed to deal with this.
I managed to throw out the power steering return hose. Finding hose rated for power steering fluid is difficult. I ended up buying 5 feet of it from Amazon.
I also lost or threw away one of the fitting adapters for the Delphi 660 steering box. (Metric to Inverted flare). I spent hours finding a replacement and another week waiting for it to ship.
The battery I bought in 2009 has failed. Won't hold a charge. Only cranked the car about three times.
I added brake fluid and bled the lines.
I worked on the car audio system. The Retro Radio apparently rolls the bass off and sounds like crap. In fact I rate the sound quality from the on board amplifier as very poor. Fortunately the RCA outputs do not roll the bass off. I have hooked up my Kenwood amplifier and get decent sound from the rear speakers, but I now find that I need a amplifier for the front speakers. Every major aftermarket head unit I have ever used (Sony, Kenwood, etc) has been able to power my front speakers fine, generally providing about 25 Watts RMS. While the Retro Sound is rated at 50Wx4 RMS it is misleading because they roll the bass off. I didn't plan to use a amplifier for the front speakers and right now don't know where I can mount one. I hope I don't have to run another set of wires to the trunk.
What remains before the car could be cranked ? Install cooling hoses, steam line etc. Add fluids and I should be able to crank the car. Exhaust system still needs to be installed.
The only major purchase I need to make is a Vintage Air Unit. I have everything else that is needed to compete the car.
The hood needs to be repainted.
The console has been cleaned and dyed. The shade of blue on the seat doesn't match too good. Looks like another dye job needed.
Various parts stripped and painted.
Making hoses
Windshield and trim
Just Dashes Dash
