My First Build Thread, and a long time comin' Options

[skeates]

So...technically I started this restoration a month ago, but now it has a thread (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

A little history...This was my first car. I picked it up for $1200 back in high school and had it towed home with mice in the glove box and hoses going to no where in the engine compartment! My dad and I had it up and running off and on for three years before I shipped off to southern California for college. It has sat in the 'rents driveway for 5 years now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) waiting for the restoration that it deserves

Well...now that I'm edumacated and have a "real" job (and also have moved back to Northern California) my pockets are slightly deeper than in high school and the build has commenced!



So far I have stripped it to a tub, built me a rotisserie and washed off about 30 years of road grime and PO molestation. Along the way I even made a new friend! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[skeates]

With the rear trunk mods and rust repair finished (minus the cover panel) I focused my attention to pluming the coolant lines. For this I had the following criteria in mind:

1) Protect the hoses!
2) Keep the car nice and flat underneath
3) Limit heat from hoses to cabin
4) Enable easy future servicing
5) Limit number of connections (i.e. future leaks)
6) Hide the evidence

I played around with some different ideas but finally came to the conclusion that routing the coolant lines through the longs made the most sense. In order to enable installation and removal of the hoses from the engine bay I knew I would need to run a chase down the tubes (FYI the original heater tubes had been chewed up long ago by mice). Ideally this chase would also be used to help insulate the cabin as well. In the end I went with PVC pipe for the chase (I know, it seems kinda hokey but I think it makes sense). The PVC was the only readily available rigid pipe material I could think of that could offer some insulation without absorbing moisture or trapping water against the metal. For the sections the route through the cabin I plan to "get my fiberglass on" and make some cover panels. I also plan on adding some foam insulation behind the panels. Also, a gratuitous picture of the new radiator and cooling shroud