Let me start by saying that the vehicle is in *ok* condition. There are a number of minor things amiss but primarily there is a spattering of rust about the vehicle. I photographed the patches that concern me the most (pictures). It seems to me that taking care of the rust should be priority but I don't know for sure and am interested in everyone's input.

After I've gotten the rust taken care of I want to prevent it from comming back by repainting the vehicle and possibly applying something like spray-on truck bed liner on the underside and in the wheel wells. Again I'm interested in everyone's input.

Unfortunately I have no garage, I was wondering what suggestions and recommendations there are regarding restoration under such conditions.

My ultimate goal is to restore the vehicle but to modern rather than vintage; replace the wiring and lights with more energy efficient counterparts, restore the interior wood paneling, replace the seatbelts with three point harnesses (five point if possible), replace the seats accordingly, and lastly replace the dinosaur burner under the hood with an all electric drivetrain.

Now I've got some restoration to do before I get to that last bit but I've already begun planning and started a thread on diyelectriccar.com for the EV conversion part of the project.

Thank you all in advance.

you have a lot of rust to deal with. what you see is just what has come thru the paint. rockers are probably toast. the fender flares in the back are a 3 sheet sandwich and probably all 3 sheets have rusted. with what i see, you need to do a close inspection of the front shock towers to make sure they are structurally sound. the doors are rusting from the inside out, so pull the inside panel to see what you are really dealing with. check your floorboards as well.
going electric is a very ambitious project. there is and electric spider out there in the community so should be able to find someone who has already been down that path.

Thanks, azruss. I already anticipated needing to do some bodywork but I greatly appreciate second opinions. I'll be sure to keep your advice in mind.

I've gotten quite a bit done with the vehicle since my last post and I have many pictures.

As I mentioned before, she's far from mint but I wanted to address the rust before anything else. One of the many other issues was an overheating problem I had been combating since the beginning of the summer, simply the inline thermostat had expired and I was in need of another.
A long story told in short; I was unable to find a replacement for less than $50 but it turns out that $12 of pipe fittings from my favorite orange and white hardware store does the job just fine, if not better.

Now I realize that I've neutered the engine's ability to warm up quickly but the vehicle isn't in any condition to be driven in the winter anyway. Another plus is that I now have a handy fill and burp point.


After I had taken care of that, I noticed something I found rather troubling.

From what I understand, it's a combination idler arm pivot / steering dampener, but most importantly, it has completely detached itself from its mount. I haven't driven the car since I found this and I don't intend to until I get it fixed.
At the time I thought it was just an old, stiff joint finally loosening up but I do remember when the broke it free. I was moving the car and after an audible "clunk", the steering wheel suddenly had much less resistance.
International Autoparts wants $128(!) for a replacement (item no. 33531) but before I even get to that, I can't seem to remove the damaged device. The mounting bolts holding what's left of the bracket seem to spin in place and I haven't been able to get the lone bolt holding the dampener to the idler arm to move at all. Any suggestions?

Lastly, the windshield wipers, unlike their modern relatives, never seemed to have quite enough gusto to actually wipe the windshield, rather their actions have been more along the line of a lazy back and forth dragging. I opened up the cowl to see what could be done when I found this.

Yes, that's water.

This was actually a straight forward fix. The drain tubes had clogged and the problem was remedied very quickly and easily with a garden hose and a small, metal pick.

I then proceeded to remove the motor from the wiper assembly and the reconnected the cable to run the motor. It spins about as well as it did while it was submerged but now it leaks rusty water from its openings. I suspect I'll have to take it apart and clean it, but that is for another day.

well you need this so
GOOD LUCK MAN.joe