Well, I've never had any particular disire to own an 1800, but my expereince with "frank" (now a parts car) that I bought from JohnMC made me appreciate the advantages and handling of such a vehicle. Excellent acceleration, very nimble, nice tight shifter.

So, it's with some anticipation that I've found another 1800 in my price range. It's got some of the usual rust (DS floorpan, crossmember gone), and it is the (imho bizzare-looking) 1973 Wagon. It starts and runs, need a little fuel work, but it is an amazing improvement over my old 1800 and in the short term, will likely be more reliable than my still-being-restored, no OD, low mpg 122S. Despite looking pretty nice (no spot-welded or crunched fenders) it is essentially a "beater" that has good restoration potential.

I checked the car out yesterday and it starts and runs well, but there are a couple of fuel related problems:

(1) The main fuel line is rusted and has been temporarily patched.
I'm going to swipe one of the fuel lines from my 1800E parts car for the repair.

(2) The FPR is "inline" on the fuel rail, and leaks gas onto the manifold... yikes!
I'm hoping new clamps and patch hose will correct this. Would using my '71 1800E D-Jet FPR and Injector Rail be an improvement? The 71 has a solid rail and FPR on the heater unit.

There is also some rust around the rear wheel arches. I'm hoping that I can cut the intact arches out of the 1800E (tudor) and let a skilled welder patch them into the ES. Any form-fit problems, I should know about? From my comparisions, the E and ES models are nearly identical except for the areas between the rear fins (i.e. the wagon part) The fin trim itself looks identical to my E's fin trim.

I do not belive this car has been sitting for any great length of time, so the fuel and brake fluid should be fine, but I'll still drain/flush the system to be safe.


Any sage advice on general troubles associated with this model/year?

--
1967 P220 (My every-other-daily driver...), 1971 P1800 (The Parts Car), 1972 145S (1993-1997), 1977 245 DL (1993-1999), 1983 245 (1998-2001), 1986 745 GLE (1997-2005), 1990 745 GL (2003-4), 1995 945 (2005-Present)....