New guy from Gig Harbor WA with an '83 SR5

[JB83]

Hey, I'm the proud new owner of a "gold" or "copper" or whatever that nutty color is, '83 SR5. The guy who owned it before me gave up on it when it blew a head gasket and he signed it over to the garage to pay off his bill. They sold it to me (Craigslist ad) for $200. It had been sitting under a fir tree in the rain for a year, and the guy obviously wasn't the neatest mechanic out there, so it looked incredibly nasty inside and out, with moss growing on the dirt all over, quite a bit of corrosion and grease under the hood. But the body was mostly straight, very very little rust, good rubber at 90%, all glass good, exhaust a little rusty toward the rear but all there and working, interior dirty but totally intact, electrical all worked, so I said what the heck. I paid my money, towed her home, got her cleaned up. Got a good hood and fender for $100 at a local junkyard on my third phone call. Got a newer motor with supposedly just under 100k miles on it off CL the next day for $300. On a roll! I pulled the old motor, and in there I found an almost new clutch! Yeah baby! Now I've got to figure out how to make the emissions systems match, so I'm reading up on that. Anyway, I'm enjoying the project so far, and I know that with a car this old there will be some major challenges ahead. I plan to take the refurb/remodel all the way if I can keep costs under control. I read every single post in the repair section here, and I owe all you guys a HUGE THANKS for all I've learned on this forum, it's really been a godsend, not to mention fun to read. I have some questions. Not sure what I'll be able to contribute, as most of the posts I read are from guys who know quite a bit more about this than I do, but if I have any bright ideas I'll run 'em up the flagpole. Anyway thanks again for all I've learned from you, and hope to learn.
Jim

[Mattel]

Don't be shy, we're all mostly all learning I've been here for years and can't even find where the horn is under the bonnet.. any ideas? good luck with your project, good to have you along

[ARCHINSTL]

Welcome to the Club!
As Mattel stated - we are all still learning.
Tom M.
P.S. And I do not mean this lightly - Congrats for reading the Repair Guides before asking questions...

[Neu]

Thanks for joining. Except to have fun while swapping the engines and whatnot.

The biggest challenge for me when swapping, the damn exhaust. I dont know why but that thing was the biggest pain.

[m1marty]

Good to see you here Jim. Give me a buzz whenever.