1972 Luxury Lemans

The story...

I had a 1991 Lincoln Mark VII. Great car. 5.0 Ford engine, embarrassed some Mustangs when I was a youth. Then some lady decides she doesn't need to look both ways before pulling out into the street. There went my pride and joy in the flash of an eye.  Insurance company said "bent frame, here's 5 grand" to mom who promptly looked at my hair and said "no money for you you damn dirty haired hippy who will never amount to a damn thing!" So there I was, car-less with a job across town I needed to get to. Doesn't bode well. I borrowed Lisa's Honda Civic for a while, but wanted my own car. I was leaning for an early 80's car... but figured that since this was my car, I was going to be even more daring and go all the way back to the 70's (before I was born). I liked the 1975 era Buick Regal (big car, two doors) but not a single one was to be found. I wanted a Trans Am, but after my unfortunate incident in high school with one, I decided that I couldn't get one. Then I was flipping through the Thrifty Nickel one fateful September 18th in 1999 and found an ad for a 1972 Pontiac Lemans that "ran good, good student car." Hey, that's what I need! I remember my physics teacher in high school, Mr. Bell, had a 1971 Pontiac Lemans Sport in really really sad shape that I lusted after, so I knew what it looked like. I called the owner Saturday morning and went to check it out. Cracked white paint, some engine ("I think it's a 400" the owner told me, it was a 350 2bbl) that didn't like to idle cold (divorced choke setup that wasn't really hooked up to anything), and black interior. I drove it around the block and was sold. I called dad. Dad said "no, insurance will be too high." I cried. Lisa says "grow some balls you wussy" so we called USAA up and asked for a quote on the car. They said "$85/month." Most excellent! Called dad back. He was impressed I had grown a pair and did something on my own (I was too). I went and got the cash that day, except that every ATM in town was down, so I had to write two checks and give the guy my word of honor that the checks would clear (they did). $1200 later and it was MINE. It reeked of gas and had been driven by a the owner's daughter who had gotten pregnant and couldn't use it anymore (hard to put the baby seat in the backseat of a two door car like this). I love this car. It got me through 3 trouble-free years with no major work other than two valves needing reseating and a new distributor cap. Then I decided to get crazy once I had my own place...



Technical Documents\How-To's

Carburetor Rebuild (Rochester 2GV) - 05/06/2006

455 Transplant

The Saga Begins... - 02/19/2003

It runs! - 02/20/2003

Progresses

Coolant!?! Oh noes! - 07/29/2002

Rust Never Sleeps... - 11/15/2004

New Battery Cables - 12/24/2004

I'm Actually Working! - 04/22/2006

d00d! Work again! - 04/23/2006

Brake work - 05/06/2006

New Brake Hoses - 06/03/2006

AC Blower Motor Replacement - 07/08/2006

Starter Replacement - 07/09/2006

The New Engine - Part 1 - 01/28/2007

The New Engine - Part 2 - 02/11/2007

The New Engine - Part 3 - 02/18/2007

The New Engine - Part 4 - 04/14/2007

The New Engine - Part 5 - 09/01/2007

The New Engine - Part 6 - 09/08/2007

The New Engine - Part 7 - 09/15-22/2007

The New Engine - Part 8 - 09/29/2007

The New Engine - Part 9 - 11/10-11/2007

The New Engine - Part 10 - The Conclusion. - 11/23/2007

Heater Core - Day 1 - 06/20/2008

Heater Core - Day 2 - 06/21/2008

Heater Core - Day 3 - 06/27/2008

Heater Core - Day 4 - 06/28/2008

Gas Tank Change - 11/14/2009

Intake Upgrade - 01/07/2012

Smack! - 07/04/2013

The Rebirth - 07/13/2013

Investigation Day - 07/14/2013

Interior Installs - Part 1 - 08/31/2013

Window Replacement - 09/07/2013

The End of an Era - 09/15/2013

Swap Completion - 09/22/2013

Stereo Install - Part 1 - 09/28/2013

Heater Core - 10/09/2013

Stereo Install - Part 2 - 10/10/2013

Shipment Day - 11/01/2013

Paint - 02/28/2014

Interior Installs - Part 2 - 12/08/2014

The Rescue - 07/29/2015

Glass Install - 07/30/2015

Doors? - 04/09/2016

Driver's Door - 05/02/2016

Rochester 2GV Rebuild, take 2 - 08/07/2018

The New Engine - Part -1 - aka "Once More With Feeling!" - 02/17/2019

The New Engine - Part -2 - aka "The Degreasening..." - 02/24/2019

The New Engine - Part -3 - 03/23/2019

The New Engine - Part -4 - 04/17/2019

The New Engine - Part -5 - 04/20/2019

The New Engine - Part -6 - 05/12/2019

The New Engine - Part -7 - aka "will it or won't it????" - 03/17/2020

The New Engine - Part -8 - spoiler alert: it did - 04/10/2020

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Last updated April 10th, 2020