2/3/02 - Superbowl and Planned Big Lift Day!
Well, I was planning to do the "Big Lift" - remove the body from the frame - today, but the steering linkage was doing its best to quash those plans.

Mac and I finally forced the steering column from its linkage, and I was able to remove the dash (by removing the screws and drilling out 3 rivets from the top. Under the dash, the wiring was a mess:

But hey, I found some wires that aren't red!:

After removing the dash and cutting the wires, the interior looks much better
:
Now I just have to find all the bolts that hold the body to the frame, and get a bunch of pizza and all my friends back to help lift the body off (I've disconnected everything from the engine compartment).
 
12/29/01
I've removed the interior trim. Warning - the rear trim pane is extremely thin, and you will have to take great care if you don't want to break the panel where it attaches to the plastic anchors (I wonder why they don't use velcro...)

Take a look at the different doors:
Driver Door Passenger Door

If you look closely, you can see "Phaeton" written in red ink on the passenger door. All the fiberglass sections have "63" painted on them (maybe car #63 for the year...). The holes look ideal for speakers, but the square ones on the back panels go all the way through to the ground; be sure to protect the backside of the speaker from road debris!

The rest of the nudie pics are here.
 
4/01/01
It looks like the hood catches are similar to a Jeep's. Well, almost. The Jeep has a T-handle on top, and the current catches just have a single hook:
 
Current Hood Catch Aftermarket Jeep catch set

3/24/01
Watching the ShadeTree Mechanic on TNN. They discussed how important it was to make sure the engine was in good health (compression/leakage/ignition) before you attempt to tune it. So I made some mods to the Engine page so I can record the data.
 
3/19/01
Hmm... some of the salt corrosion may not be so bad. Attacking the windshield uprights with a wire brush proved very satisfying:
[picB][picA].

But a lot of the chrome is gone on the bumper and hood ornament, so those will still have to be replaced/rechromed(gasp!)
 
3/18/01
Attempted to fix the transmission wiring (severed, so you can't use the ignition key). Found that the wiring harness to the transmission has been fried/melted/torn. Looks like I need to replace the AT switch and start over.

Also found that the brake lines are much worse than previously thought. The 1/8" lines under the car have nodules and heavy corrosion. I am not driving this car again until I get those lines replaced.
 
3/04/01
Took the car to Pep Boys to take advantage of their Free Brake Inspection. Found that they couldn't put it on their jacks, so they would charge me at least 3 hrs of work @ their $60/hr flat rate. Thanks, but no thanks.

While there, got a starter solenoid. After I replaced it at home, it doesn't start quite the way it is supposed to.... I think something else may have become critical (e.g. the plugs have never been replaced), because once it gets started it runs, but it runs very rough (it ran kinda rough before...).