Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Straysshiftco.com On my morning walks, I often passed by a pair of ’68 1600’s in InterBay on the way to the Ballard Locks. They were stored in a lot full of heavy …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The RatIcon version of the Flipboard logo Victimshiftco.com There was no engine and from the looks of things someone had attempted a swap. Dual coils make me think a rotary was tried. Note the funky motor …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The RatIcon version of the Flipboard logo Rattyshiftco.com The interior of the first car was in rough shape, but more or less complete. It still had the ignition key (no door or trunk keys, however). The …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The RatIcon version of the Flipboard logo Curbshiftco.com All-in-all the first car was in fairly good shape. Originally a 665 Yellow car, it has been repainted a generic red. No major body damage. The …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat The Donorshiftco.com The second car (SPL311-177226) was also a ’68 1600 and this one featured an engine! Rust had really taken hold on this car. The hood and trunk hinges …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The RatIcon version of the Flipboard logo The Donor’s engineshiftco.com The donor came with an earlier 3-main bearing R-16 (R 27460). The motor turns over easily by hand. “Ran when parked,” according to the …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat A new homeshiftco.com Thanks to NWDE I tracked down a guy with a big truck and a trailer with a winch to drag the cars home. They were an immediate hit with my psycho …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Under the hoodshiftco.com With the radiator removed you can see a fairly complete motor. Whoever put this engine in the ’68 combined early and later parts. The carbs have …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The RatIcon version of the Flipboard logo Shag-a-delicshiftco.com The interior of the donor was a throw-back to the 70’s. Early 240z seats surrounded by a sea of black and red tiger-striped shag carpeting. Tecate …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Nagging questionshiftco.com With the help of a few friends I got the car up the sloped driveway and into the garage to start the strip-down in earnest. Hardtop came off and was …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Tear downshiftco.com The duct tape speaker wiring job contrasts nicely with the shag. I had to cut the mounting bolts to remove the seats. They went to a guy in the …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Carnageshiftco.com Windshield came out easily with a little help. Made it very easy to remove the dash. I’m thinking of using this steering wheel for the final car. The …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The RatIcon version of the Flipboard logo Pluckedshiftco.com The engine came out easily with the radiator, grille and hood removed. You can see that this car was originally 664 Spanish Red. A crappy orange-red …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Tasty lumpshiftco.com One of the exhaust manifold studs broke off flush with the head. Against my better judgement, a friend persuaded me to try Easy-Outs. Of course, it …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Next victimshiftco.com The donor was rolled back outside and covered with a tarp. Next under the knife - the rat. The idea is to leave the outside alone and just clean it …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The RatIcon version of the Flipboard logo Guttedshiftco.com Everything came out easily – I’m getting pretty good at this! A few surprises - rust holes in the floor of the foot wells on both sides right above …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Eastwoodedshiftco.com Note to self: next time use the Eastwood Rust Convertor that comes in the spray can. Brushing this stuff on took weeks!
Leigh Brooksflipped into The RatIcon version of the Flipboard logo Insulatedshiftco.com I tried some aluminum-backed insulation from Home Depot. It went in nicely, but turned out to be thick enough to interfere with the fit of the trim …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The RatIcon version of the Flipboard logo Vinylshiftco.com A black interior vinyl kit from Stan made it begin to look like a car again! I had to trim the padding using the original jute as a guide. The rear …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Carpetshiftco.com On a whim I decided to go with a red carpet kit. It is actually a little more maroon than it appears in the picture, but it looks pretty sharp!
Leigh Brooksflipped into The RatIcon version of the Flipboard logo Snowshiftco.com While the work continued in the garage, this is what it was like outside! I’m originally from southern New Mexico, and lived for many years in the …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Might as wellshiftco.com With part of the interior dealt with, it was time to get the car ready for the engine. The more I looked at the various colors under the hood, the …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat More Eastwoodshiftco.com This time I used the rust convertor in a spray can. Much easier! It takes a while to mask everything off, but the paint goes on in 30 minutes.
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Rattle-cannedshiftco.com Three coats of rattle-can red were sprayed on the body after a long time spent masking. The color is not an exact match. Next time I’ll have some …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Pipes, hoses and cablesshiftco.com 1. Take lots of pictures when you take things apart. You’ll need them to figure out how it all goes back together. Take more than you think you’ll …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Center consoleshiftco.com Combining bits and pieces from the two cars, I was able to cobble together a center console. A bit of SEM Landau Black vinyl dye and some black …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The RatIcon version of the Flipboard logo Radio wiringshiftco.com This is an early 80’s Datsun Hitachi A-1551. I’m desperately trying to figure out the hook-ups! The 2 leads on the right on the top row are bridged. …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Smilingshiftco.com The rat seems happy to have her R-16 back in place! I’ve pulled and placed this motor about 4 times now. Each time it gets easier. Next the head has …
Leigh Brooksflipped into The Rat Wiringshiftco.com Work on the Rat has been slow this summer - it’s been too nice to spend time in the garage. A top-down drive in the Miata is much better. I got a dash …
