Raul wrote:Are you just sick and tired of seeing posts of scmucks starting their project thread before their project even starts?

So I recently acquired a rustfree 1972 96 that I'm using as my daily driver. It's a totally original and unmolested car, it could use a repaint and there are some dings on the body but none of that really concerns me. The interior is in great shape except for the front seats which need reupholstering. It had been mostly sitting for the past decade so I had to do a lot of little things to get it going.

For better driveability I installed a Pertronix ignition, 70 amp 900 alternator, and Weber 34 ICH carb. Other than that it is completely stock so it's only making 65 hp. My plan is to rebuild and modify the V4 to make around 85-90 hp. You can safely go up to 120 before you start shredding gearboxes but getting that much power out of one gets very expensive. I'm trying to find a good balance between power and affordability. An extra 20-25 horsepower in a 2000lb. car is pretty noticeable.

The plan now is to have the heads redone for unleaded fuel and shaved to bump up the compression. I have a two-barrel manifold with a Weber DGAV carb. This, along with an F4 cam and Jetex exhaust should give me the power I'm looking for. I have been considering big valve heads but that may bring things out of my price range.

The suspension will get all new bushings, MSS springs, and some stiffer shocks. I have a pair each of both Konis and Bilsteins for the front so it all depends on what I can find for the rear. Skandix sells the Bilsteins for $165 a pop but I hear 900 fronts will work on the rear of a 96.

There's not a whole lot more I can do with the brakes, I've replaced the rotors and pads along with the rear shoes, cylinders, and hardware. I'll probably just install some stainless steel braided hoses the next time I do a fluid flush.

Right now I'm running the stock 4 inch steel rims with skinny 165R15 tires. For the time being I'll probably just put on some Sonett soccerballs with 185/65/15 tires. Eventually I'll like to get some steel rims widened so I can safely run 195s, I saw a lot of 95/96s in Sweden with these and they look great.

Here are a few pics:

Oh, that´s a nice one, looks great in white!

Want to trade the grille for a euro-spec one..?

Krister K wrote:Oh, that´s a nice one, looks great in white!

Want to trade the grille for a euro-spec one..?

Ha, well I've actually been there, done that. I have a Euro-spec grille and lights that I got years ago by trading a U.S. spec front. I do, however, have an extra U.S. spec front that I might be willing to sell.

looks like a solid specimen, with a little TLC i bet it will clean up very well. Hopefully you can drive to the convention or Carlise this year. I go back and forth about selling my '72 95. I do miss driving it.

West of Sweden had a one-day only special yesterday on the Jetex/Simons exhaust ($349 shipped) so I decided to spring for one a bit earlier than I'd planned. It's Swedish-made and patterned on the original Sport & Rally system and will allow the car to breath better and bump up the power a bit, even before I do any engine mods. It's much less restrictive than the stock system but still makes a nice V4 burble, it's much quieter than the MSS system I had on my last 96. Another thing I like is that it uses all of the stock mounting points so no need to drill anything. And it has a nice chrome exhaust tip.

Green interiors are definitely the coolest.

The Simons exhaust just arrived, looks very nice. Even the instructions are in Swedish.

I picked up my new engine for this car yesterday. It's a 100 hp 1.5 V4 built by Jack Ashcraft, still in the shipping crate. The guy who had it built decided he was never going to use it so I bought it at a significant discount, about 1/3 of what he paid for it. Should provide a lot of go! Now I have to clean up the engine bay so it looks as good as the engine...