Joe Palmer
Well-Known Member
Just wanted to share the history before I dive into getting this car back on the road after 40 years....
I found her in the salvage yard in Ridgecrest CA in late '96. A deal was made and I had the car shipped to OH. While I was still in the service my dad performed a pretty decent restoration on the car. Being from CA the only sheet metal replaced was the panel under the back window. As you can see it the photos (lower of each) that the car was in good shape and complete as found. The upper of each picture was during the restoration from 97-2000. The car was documented to be numbers matching. The motor was rebuilt, the small amount of body work completed, the car was painted single stage acrylic enamel, a fresh interior from Year One went in. The dash and steering wheel were sent out and restored, However the suspension, trans, rear end and wiring were left untouched. The car accumulated about a 100 miles for the next 20 years as my dad said "it don't quite run right".
Last month I made the deal to get the car for my wife as a 40th birthday present as she has drooled over this car our whole 15 year marriage every time we went to dads place. The car is a time capsule for me...20 years past...no changes....We went down to register the car and had to surrender the 1973 CA title (Bummer) So she is the second owner. Car had not been registered since 1980. (40 years!)
We have already put a Holley carb on so it starts reliably, New wheels and tires, changed all fluids, and tuned up the motor (it still don't run right...LOL) but we will get to that.
The paint was nice, but fading. You can see the different color panels. My dad is no professional painter. So we blew it apart to get a new coat of FC7 base clear this weekend.
I have not come across many Bee's with this many options (19), should be a fun car!
I found her in the salvage yard in Ridgecrest CA in late '96. A deal was made and I had the car shipped to OH. While I was still in the service my dad performed a pretty decent restoration on the car. Being from CA the only sheet metal replaced was the panel under the back window. As you can see it the photos (lower of each) that the car was in good shape and complete as found. The upper of each picture was during the restoration from 97-2000. The car was documented to be numbers matching. The motor was rebuilt, the small amount of body work completed, the car was painted single stage acrylic enamel, a fresh interior from Year One went in. The dash and steering wheel were sent out and restored, However the suspension, trans, rear end and wiring were left untouched. The car accumulated about a 100 miles for the next 20 years as my dad said "it don't quite run right".
Last month I made the deal to get the car for my wife as a 40th birthday present as she has drooled over this car our whole 15 year marriage every time we went to dads place. The car is a time capsule for me...20 years past...no changes....We went down to register the car and had to surrender the 1973 CA title (Bummer) So she is the second owner. Car had not been registered since 1980. (40 years!)
We have already put a Holley carb on so it starts reliably, New wheels and tires, changed all fluids, and tuned up the motor (it still don't run right...LOL) but we will get to that.
The paint was nice, but fading. You can see the different color panels. My dad is no professional painter. So we blew it apart to get a new coat of FC7 base clear this weekend.
I have not come across many Bee's with this many options (19), should be a fun car!
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