My 505 V6 rebuild

[paraic]

HI all

Not sure if it counts as "my rebuild" since Dave in Eurocar is doing the rebuild, but I wanted to share the work being done on it.

The 505 is now our family car while we move to CA in a few months so its gotten plenty of TLC in the past few month. The car is in great condition apart from the paint. Very comfortable and very clean inside. Everything except the sunroof and A/C works. Moving to CA will mean getting the A/C fixed. Don't care about the sunroof honestly.

It has only died on me once when the alternator failed. But I was a few blocks from the shop and we pushed it in!

I have done over 6000 miles since I got it over a year ago and it has been a real pleasure to drive even with some of the issues.

One of the unique things is the vast space in the rear seats - the car seats have loads of room and a huge difference to the Jetta and the Buick LeSabre we had as family cars before this. Makes it very easy to put the kids in.

Stuff that got done recently by Dave:

- got the cv axles swapped out - the rubber on them was rotted away and it was making noise. Big job - Dave got one axle from Brian Holm and one from a local guy who was scrapping his V6. ITs an ABS car so that made it a bit harder to locate.

- fixed a water leak very similar to Sina's but this one was from blocked up vents. This car lay up for a while in SoCal before i bought it so there was gunk in various areas accumulated over the years.

- fixed the nozzles on the washer spray

- fixed a stubborn lock on the rear passenger door. Looks like the back of this 505 got very little use over its life.

- new distributor cap and rotors (fixed the timing issue I was having)

- new plugs

From previous visits to Eurocar:

- new rad

- new alternator

- usual service and tranny flush etc

- replaced very noisy tie rod ends and some other bushings

- swapped out the dodgy cloth seats and put in an entire leather interior, with matching door cards etc - very nice! Transforms the interior.

- overheating issue - bled the system

- fixed air lock in brakes

Stuff I've done

- new K&N air filter - gave Dave the old unit complete with housing etc

- new ECUs from the Euro V6 - big change in performance and profile

- new carpets

- new decals for the back lettering and a few extras (will post photos of these as I think they do look good)

- fixed washer container

- full detail!

- new trunk strut

- new battery

- new tires

- new rear light clusters on left and right

- fixed interior light - swapped out the almost new one from my Turbo

- new chrome strips around the body - make a big difference

Still left to do:

- fix the A/C - looks like its not too damaged

- paint - as much as can be done - some scratches here and there and some serious clearcoat peeling on trunk, hood and roof

- new clock!

- new shifter (its not bad but since I touch it every day I would like to get a fresher one)

- dash is cracked - Dave has a nice one but not sure if I have time to get it done.

Photos to follow.

Paraic

[Bean]

Really looking forward to the pics!

Rabin

[norcal505]

+1, inb4 hawt 505 pics

[paraic]

Some photos..

(the good and the bad)

The interior still has the gray dash which I intend to swap out eventually making the entire interior blue.

The car seats are out so you can see the back area.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9fhuiuyfwjrf710/W0knQTvxDI#/

Drove it again this morning taking the kids to the playground and it really drives very well. The new air filter gives it a great sound when the revs go above 2500rpm.

Long may it last - it has been very good to me in the last 14 months. I am still debating whether we should sell the car or not before we move to CA. There are practicalities to consider since we have two cars as it is right now.

So I may have to sell it unfortunately - but it has served me well and there would be no regrets. Whoever got the car would get a very viable car with little or no issues and easily maintain it for another 50k.

Paraic