Exocet Update 1: Teardown Starts 8/29/23

Teardown of the donor car begins after lifting it for the first time.

I purchased some car dollies from Harbor Freight to make it easier to position the car in the lift and also add some height to allow the arms to swing under. I made a second trip to Harbor Freight to swap a set out after finding one of the studs on a caster wheel wasn't threaded at all, I guess that's what you get for going cheap.

This was the first time we got the car up on the lift. The dollies made it very easy. After lifting to full height we were able to walk around under the car for the first time. Thankfully things were very rust free. There were spots on the body shell that had been ground through by the road since the car is so low but nothing serious. It definitely would start rusting seriously if driven in winter. The brake lines had been replaced with braided steel lines at all four corners which is good. Unfortunately they will all need to be replaced, the front passenger line has been hitting the lower A-arm of the suspension which has rubbed through its protective coating.

We couldn't find the source of the oil still dripping but the entire transmission from the top of the bell housing to the tail was oily. I think the major leak was fixed with the CAS O-Ring replacement and it is oil that was already on the transmission that just continues to drip. It did appear that the shifter assembly was leaking transmission fluid but nothing serious.

We started tearing the car down by removing the rear racing tow hook, all side marker lights, the front turn signals, inner fender liners, and the front fascia.