Thirty Three Years Later…

It was just a few months after driving Pandora home from Colorado that I decided to restore Pandora. I had no plan. I just started taking everything apart with visions of a show-quality Camaro just a couple of months down the road. I basically blew what little money I had on a bunch of powder coating, a super cheap, amateurish engine rebuild, and getting the headlight doors to work. For some reason, I also removed most of the interior without the intent of making it any better. The next couple of months had me wrenching, scraping, painting whenever I had free time – usually with my dad.

Fast forward three decades and I’m about to do the same thing again. This time with more of a plan, but, crushingly, without my dad. This time around, the goal is to make Pandora both road-worthy and reliable. Something Wifey and I can hop in and roadtrip somewhere without worrying about staying in cell range. To make this happen, I have a fair amount of stuff planned. Replace the engine and transmission, replace the exhaust, fix the brakes so the rears don’t lock up so easily, add gauges, add air conditioning, add a posi, and get the front tires from rubbing the subframe. Oh, and get those headlight doors operational again!

The shop is as functional as I can make it. There are still things that need to be put away, but I’m at the point I need to spend some time working out there to see what needs to be changed. My biggest concern right now is how cool I can keep it out there. Last time, I started at the end of the summer. This time, before. I guess I’ll see if that window AC is up to the task.

I took her for one more quick drive in search of new radiator hoses, more to burn off some fuel and enjoy another drive than anything else. Now she’s parked in the shop waiting patiently for me to make things better, just like she was in my parent’s carport 33 years ago. I intend to do a much better job this time!