frankle951

Nice buy, Im glad somebody seen the great deal on the 5-spd shark !!!!!!

ReDesign by FEATHER

I have driven the 85 around town for several days and then the brake surge finally got to me, so I jacked it up and pulled the rotors and miked them and found one of them about 4 thousandths out in relative thickness, so I had both of them turned.

While it is jacked up I also removed the front bumper cover and found that the front bumper bar is in fact collapsed on the shocks all the way on both sides. I have them replaced now and have the bumper mounted again and will hope to get it buttoned back up this weekend.

I also started to replace the stereo speakers, but find that the grills or covers are pretty well broken up and put on in pieces with some adhesive. I am going to try to fabricate some new grills for them, at least the ones on the doors, and maybe the large ones on the B post. I have some replacement speakers with a suitable squarish grill that will work for the farthest aft pair. Then I am going to replace the after market stereo head with one with a black face that I bought on eBay that has more of a look similar to the original ones with much less bling, and with a little more power, I think.

Here are some pictures of the front bumper project before and after the shock replacement.

I also find that the front two-bar grill under the bumper is pretty messed up as a result of the bumper shock collapse. I will be replacing some of those parts also, and may be converting it to a three-bar from two-bar grill in the process.

Jerry Feather

When I got the bumper cover back on I discovered that the left turn lite was not very well oriented; so I took it all back off and started over. This time I bent the lite bracket back into place and fitted the new bezel before I put the bumper cover back on to be sure that the lites were correct. Then I noticed that the left turn lite was not quite right, so I shimmed it up a little to match the left and then put the bumper cover back on.

I have gotten really good at taking the front buimper cover off and putting it back on. You will notice that I have the headlites out in the pictures above, and I have found that removing them is necessary to do the job correctly. It really isn't a problem until you drop one of the screws that mounts the lites and then have to go look for another because it is lost in the bodywork somewhere.

Then I discovered that the grill was pretty well destroyed, at least to the extent of the three verticle standards and then one of the horizontal members is missing. I have ordered the necessary parts from 928 International and will have them in a day or two, so that I can try to finish this up this weekend.

The brake vents have been reformed with my heat gun, and one is remounted. The spash guards are cleaned up and have new closed cell foam installed in their groves and will be installed using some of my handmade plastic washers to spread the load. The front wheel well liners are in pretty good shape, so they will go back in quickly with only a little cleaning.

I expect that the newly turned rotors will cure the brake surge, so I ought to be able to be driving this 85 again soon.