Charlette,
Looks to be in pretty good shape! I have
seen much worse, but you have a decent start.
If you have a running 1600, I would just keep
it running. Don't fret about it being "original"
or not, just enjoy it!
Looks like the front turn signals (clear) and
rear turn signals (orange) are nearly original
to the car, but with lots of sun fading. Typically
those lamps were fitted to cars exported elsewhere,
not directly to the USA. Original owner could have
been stationed in Japan and have brought the car
back with them, or a European import that came
back to the states. Just fun trivia.
Rear bumper is a '68 model year item (recess
for the license plate lamp).
For the dash, do you know any wood workers?
At that point might be simpler to have a friend
make up the new dash for it. Since you are in
Phoenix, home of many home built aircraft, you
should be able to find someone to make a new metal
dash if you wish.
Looks like FUN! Just get out and drive it. ;-)
> I have a question for the group, as there is a lot of experience here; if a
> car is run without water and the engine is damaged, how repairable would the
> engine be? We were chatting with a guy who had this happen to him and we
> told him we would pose his question to a very knowledgeable group of people.
Near impossible to know without knowing: a) what
type of vehicle/engine. b) how long, and under what
type of load was it driven.
Some vehicles, like the new GM's with the Northstar
Aluminum block engine are designed to run without
coolant for short trips (to allow you to get to the
next service station). My sister managed to drive
a '64 Ford Falcon without water for two weeks (finally
did seize the engine, and cracked the block). Other
engines, like my old 510 or our aluminum head roadsters,
will warp a head in 20 minutes. Yes, you can run them
and keep going for some time, but the damage will be
done.
Cheers,
Tom Walter '68 2000
Austin, TX
[I need to get back into the garage so some
long over do project work. ;-)]
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