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Buddy of mine got a call from another car nut in our local car club. The car club had run an article about his Qvale in the neighborhood magazine, and a guy in the neighborhood called him wanting to sell his car. Actually, he didn't want to sell his car, but he hasn't driven it in a decade and his wife wants it out of the driveway. So, my buddy and I went over to look at it, and long story short, we bought it.

I'm calling her Sabine.

In the seller's driveway:

In the sun for the first time in a long time:

Arrival at my buddy's place:

Got the fuel tank drained, and surprisingly, the tank looks quite good.

She turned over well by hand, so we pulled the fuel pump fuse, put a battery on her and she cranked over nicely.

Alas, no spark.

After some investigation, we found somebody had broken a tab on one of the resistors under the coil, and cobbled in a replacement resistor using some pretty crappy crimp fittings on the wires. Cleaned up that junk and we had spark. Toss in a little starting fluid and she fired.

So, got it moved, started on fuel system clean up, replacement battery in, got spark and got her to fire. Not bad for a first day's work.

Looks pretty good and complete, nice score

Please keep us posted on your progress

Many fans of Henna Red here

excellent find. looks nice and straight. Is it dry? Dogleg?

Beautiful.

I love stories about these cars getting saved, esp. these rare ones.

Keep the updates coming.
Yasin

Bought the car from the second owner, who purchased the car when stationed in Germany with the US army in 1984. His name is on the federalization plate on the door, which I think is pretty cool. I have federalization papers and a complete service history. He obviously loved this car.

Car is straight and has very little rust. M90, dogleg transmission, limited slip dif - exactly the drive train you want in one of these. Interior is rough and as you can see, paint is not good. Plan is to get her running and assess the condition of the engine and drive train before deciding what to do.

Cleaned up the injection system ground, which was a mess, and got her to run on the cold start valve, but not on the injectors. Two injectors are not functional. And, of course, in the process of testing the injectors I discovered the original fuel hoses, and had to pull a bunch of stuff apart, which entails a lot of part cleaning. Will be swapping in a couple of working injectors from my stash. Am going to replace the injector seals and fuel lines while I am in there, so won't get a chance to try to get her running again for a few days. But there is plenty to do.

unless big pieces are damaged, that paint might come back with a thorough correction since it's single stage.

rear headrests, too! I didn't know they had them that early on.

Got her up in the air, powerwashed the undercarriage, inside the wheel wells and the wheels and tires. I'd like all the current residents to vacate before the car moves inside.

Brakes look really great, lots of pad left and the rotors look very good. Heck, most of the mechanical stuff on this car is quite good. Oil looks clean, Not much rust either.

Some of the paint might clean up, but from all the years of sitting with a car cover on it the roof is worn off and there are some spots without paint on the rear fenders and wheel arches.

But first, I'll get it running and then see where we are.

Looks like a great find, well done.

I think the Henna looks good, really suits the 79 era of that car.

Are they TRXs?

Did you get to keep the number plate?

Agree on the Henna; really like it on this car.

Not TRXs; and yes, I did get to keep the number plate. Number plate may end up on my garage wall.

Figured out why she runs like crap:

YIKES! Well that explains alot! The wheels look like mahle's. Good luck!

Great Series 1 find!
The "Ever-Elusive" HennaRot Sixer & a Slick top too. With or without A/C?

So, I removed the Whistler 2 radar detector that shreaked to high heaven each time you turn the ignition key; that got old fast. And cleaned up the wiring mess that install created.

Got the bell crank cleaned up and the linkage is a little better, but the bushings on the pedal rod are shot and she wobbles around a fair bit. Will get at that when I pull the brake booster (it is covered with a nice even shade of rust brown, which is not attractive).

Got her running with a borrowed computer, but she was running rough; changed a fouled plug and she runs much better. And she finally moved under her own power after more than a decade. No brakes, and the ebrake has a bolt that is too small through it - need to get at those things as stopping is rather important.

Got her up on the lift and she looks solid underneath. Very little rust. Exhaust looks great, but exhaust hangers are missing (Exhaust is held up right now with huge zip ties). Bottom of the engine is pretty clean, except around the leaky power steering pump. All the bleed screw rubber covers on the calipers are still in place - good sign. Front brake hoses look pretty new; rears are probably original and will need to be replaced and the right rear looks to be a pain with the dif in the way. Center tie rod looks very good, as do tie rod ends. Couple of the CV joint boots are cracked; dif mount is shot, one of the motor mounts is mushroomed out, tranny mount is not looking good - but you have to expect the rubber stuff to be shot.

I have a line on a new brain so I can return the one I borrowed.

Next up - need to get to the brakes. Reservoir was dry, which is weird because a leak in the lines should only impact one of the two systems. After filling with fluid, the clutch works and I don't see leaks in any of the brake lines. No brake fluid inside the booster either. Might be that the reservoir is cracked. Next step is to re-assemble and bleed.

As to questions - car is dry. Georgia and SC are pretty easy on cars, unless you live hear the ocean. Wheels are indeed Mahles, as is the spare so I have five. Yes, she has a/c. Compressor is huge so I assume its original. Obvious change is to a modern Sanden, biggest parallel flow condensor I can mount up front, and a Spal pusher fan on the condensor - but that's down the road.

I have a '78 ECU and AFM sitting in a box if that's useful to you.

Thanks kronus. I bought one the other day from a guy I've bought parts from in the past. If I have trouble with that part, I'll keep you in mind.

So, got the refurbished calipers in and have brakes. Window wiring redone and tracks cleaned up; windows now work. Trunk latch repaired, can now open trunk without key.

Time for some road tests.

Yeah, so first road test and the clutch pedal goes to the floor and stays there. Luckily, I have a clutch slave in my stash.