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Old 07-12-2015, 04:13 PM
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b-man b-man is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Sunny So Cal
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Default Project was just beginning, and then put on hold.....

Here are a few pictures I took of the LeMans around 1998, about a year after I purchased the car. The grille and bumper are missing because the two front fenders were just hung on the car with a couple of bolts.

I had taken all the front sheetmetal off the car and removed the engine and trans so I could clean and paint the firewall and frame rails. I rebuilt the front suspension using all new rubber bushings and ball joints, replacing the original front drum spindles with '69 GP spindles and 11" disc brakes. I also installed a hastily-rebuilt 325 HP GTO 389 79J engine and matching auto trans in the car to replace the very tired 326.

I also repaired the passenger side footwell that had some rust due to a long-ago leaking heater core, using silver POR-15 and some fiberglass cloth. I did the same with the trunk floor, it was a bit thin from rust over pretty much all of it. In a couple of spots I used the fiberglass cloth to fill some holes about the size of a quarter.

Note the accessory luggage rack bolted to the top of the trunk lid, not sure if it was a dealer item or added later by the owner. Either way, it's not going back on the car.












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1964 Tempest Coupe LS3/4L70E/3.42
1964 Le Mans Convertible 421 HO/TH350/3.08
2002 WS6 Convertible LS1/4L60E/3.23
1966 VW Type 2 Single Cab Pickup 140hp 2276
1956 VW Type 2 Panel Van 36hp 1200
1957 VW Type 1 Beetle 180hp 2276