2003-07-29 09:17:31 | Steven D. writes:

Mike Moore's latest project car

2003-07-29 16:34:19 | Jerry Mouton writes:

Info from Mike Moore

2003-07-29 20:24:57 | Steven D. writes:

Added engine number. Waiting on Mike to confirm body number (number he provided seems like it would be WAY out of sequence).

2003-07-31 00:10:27 | Mike Moore writes:

I have confirmed the numbers again, and they are correct as stated. The registration plate, window frame, and registration data all concur. Dr. Haddocks book would lead me to believe the car was built in March/April of 1964. I think the last of the 3.8 S1's ought to be around 881886.

2003-07-31 19:56:36 | Steven D. writes:

Mike Moore wrote:

Steve,
881012 is the correct number of the car. Haddocks would indicate its a
March/April 1964 car. Close to the end of the 3.8 production. If the first 3.8
was
875001, and they built a total of 6,885 roadsters, the approximate last 3.8 S1
car would be 881886. So it would be in the last 12% of the 3.8 S1 production
built. built.

The speedometer is 6322/03, indicating it left Coventry with a 3.54:1 rear
end. Should be interesting to see the difference between it and 878877, which
has (6322/00) 3.31:1 final ratio, and has difficulty backing out of my steep
driveway! Also interesting is that Haddock states the very late production
3.8's had an all synchro transmission, which this car has but I had assumed it
was
retrofitted. Do you know which 3.8s had all synchro tranmissions from the
factory?

BTW, the original color was BRG/blkinterior. New color will be ODM/biscuit.

Best Regards, Mike Moore

His other note stated:

The 64 car will be restored for my son and will go to Dallas when debugged.
Target is 2 years from now. Car is to be ODM (his company color) and the
restoration goal is reliabilty above all. We are planning how to build it now
(which
is pretty much fun). He is a 6'4 former Iowa State lineman and is squeezed
getting in; therefore special attention is being given to cockpit size. He's
decided on a 15 inch wheel and as cut down seat cushions as possible. The first
step will be to move the existing low cushions into MY car (878877) and install
a 15 inch wheel in my car as a test to simulate his car when completed. If
that doesn't work, we're going to look into making a rear bulkhead/irs mount mod
to get a little more travel.
I plan on doing all the things I regret not doing on 878877 on this car. Not
shown in the photos are the boxes and boxes of extra parts (3 bonnets, many
doors and bumpers, many new parts etc.)
The history is that he car was in storage for 15 years while the PO collected
parts to do a restoration. The owner woke up one day in his 80's and decided
he'd never do it. Two partners bought the car and started to put it together
, but lost interest. Since we plan on a total disassembly and rebuild of everything,
the condition of it, beyond rust and big dents didn't matter. It seems
(ha!) to have very little rust.

BestRegards, Mike

2008-02-27 08:29:51 | Mike writes:

The car has taken a couple of years longer to ccmplete than expected. In 2003, I said two years, and it is now 2008. The car was complete in the summer of 2007, but I need to get some miles on it before it is shipped to Dallas. The longer restoration time is due to (1.) Overly optimistic estimating (2.) More do-overs than expected (I had three tops on iot!) (3.) An accident when I drove it into my 63.
After I got rid of the "upgraded" aftermarket shocks and installed Koni replacements, the car is a joy to drive. It is surprising how much of a difference shocks can make.