Scorpion #621 resurrection

On Monday, I'm having a little work being done to increase the reliability of the roof latches. Right now they work, but I'm not satisfied with their hardiness. They move around in their seats too much for my liking.

Until then, I decided to do a little work to spruce up the tired, old badging. Nothing like a little paint to make things pop.

Before:

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After:

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tJ
 
Put on the wheel centers, the Pininfarina badges, and gave her the first wash she's had since I got her back. Then drove her around town and took some pics. After parking Sofia, a guy who's leaving a wedding is walking by and says "What kind of car is *that*?"

tJ

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One of the things that had been bothering me about the car is that the engine compartment gets HOT HOT HOT. The engine isn't overheating, but there was steam that always came out of the heat shield due to the fact it had been soaked with coolant after my overflow tank cap failed. So on Halloween weekend, I did three things:

  • removed the heat shield, drilled out the rivets holding the aluminum box together, and extracted the compromised insulation. It was nasty. I then ordered a 1" thick fire-proof insulation for it. I decided the black paint on the heat shield (which was smelling like hot paint) was going to come off, so I took it to my friend's shop to have him bead blast it. While the heat shield was out, I scaled back the old surface rust where the heat shield mounted, sprayed stop rust on it, and then coated it with white header paint.
  • The main reason the engine compartment was getting hot because the bumper didn't have the vents cut out before mounted. So I took the bumper off the car and took it to my friend's shop and had him cut the vents out for me.
  • I took Sofia to my other friend's shop and we swapped the ANSA exhaust back on.
Then I waited 2 weeks. Yesterday I picked up the bumper:

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I put it on yesterday:

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And I cleaned up the ANSA exhaust tips:

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The heat shield should be done today. I'll pick it up and refit it with the new batting and rivet it back together.

tJ
 
The bumper vents look just right. That'd take some confidence to attempt, the kind of confidence that could come from a friend who could be forgiven for botching it...

Is that the RX-7 with the bumper pictured inside of it?

The Ansa tips look great. Better than the Monza tips that I brought back to life, but I'm very happy with them considering what I started with. I still can't believe that I sourced such a proprietary piece.

Mine sits due to my current position as a school teacher for my boy. Got some cool bits for it, but no time to play.
 
Thanks Chad,
Yes, my friend does this for a living, so if he had botched it, he'd have fixed it too. :) But yeah, he did a great job...I couldn't be happier.

Yes, that is one of my RX-7s the bumper is pictured inside...good eye! I have 2 in my stable. This one is my daily driver FC...a 2+2 automatic. The other one is an FB race car (the one with the IMSA livery).

tJ
 
I had my exhaust system ceramic coated which has helped the engine bay to stay relatively cool. Just something to consider.
 

Goodbye, so soon? Hope it does well for you!
 
Wow...I was going to post here before things went live to let you all know what was up. I wasn't quick enough and well...nothing escapes you all!

So, the why of this is that my wife has asked me to let go of one of the cars. It seems that 3 fun cars is too much for her. There are 3 of us and 4 cars. And only two of us that drive. And only one of the cars was made in this century. I get it, so I decided to let Sofia go.

It was a really fun project for me, although at times extremely frustrating. But what long-term project isn't? I learned a lot, had fun commiserating with fellow X1/20ers over Lancia quirks, the lack of parts, and well...just figuring stuff out. Many thanks to you all for your wisdom, help, and parts! I am really pleased at how well she turned out and it's due in no small part to you all.

That said, I'll still be hanging around the X1/20 forum to follow your projects.

tJ
 
Hey all, there's a guy that just posted in the comments to my BaT auction that says he used to make the 037 type bubble top and front bumper and he's willing to give the mold for the bubble top as well as the front bumper (not the mold, but the bumper I think) to anyone who will pay to have it shipped or will pick it up. The user's name is LotusS777.

tJ
 
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