z0lt3c

Now that I finally have my vehicle properly on the road, I wanted to start a build thread to document my plans and share the history I have with this vehicle.

I purchased the vehicle over the summer in 2019 from Manheim wholesale auction in Bordentown NJ, I outbid about 2 or 3 other dealers for it. It was described as a 2 owner, clean carfax vehicle with 80K miles in average condition. For those who have not been to dealer auctions, basically they roll the car up into the auction area, you have about 2 minutes to walk around and examine it and then another minute to bid. One of the reasons it didn't attract more interest, it was a previous NYC car and the last owner had alot of aftermarket bolt-on cosmetics parts installed. Here is a shot of the vehicle after I picked it up:



















I paid for the auction house to do a post-inspection and it passed without issue. Probably the last time I'll opt for this inspection as it was worthless. When I went to pickup the vehicle from the auction lot, a few days after winning, I found it would not start as it was bone dry on gas. I had to go buy a gas jug and get a few gallons into it by hand so that I could start it up and take it to the local gas station. However, when I tried to cross the gate to exit the lot, they require you to open the truck to deter theft. After spending about 30 minutes trying I was unable to open the trunk (later determined to be the trunk in valet mode), eventually they let me out of the gate. But here I was in a vehicle with no gas and who knows what in my trunk. Not a great start.

Once I get t he car home, my first objective was to restore the cosmetics back to stock. Here is what I have fixed or replaced so far:
Replaced rear tail lights w/ OEM
Replaced side mirrors & housing w/ OEM
Replaced roof molding w/ OEM
Replaced front and rear badges
Remove vinyl wrap from door handles
Remove oversized door edge guards
Replace rear trunk latch assembly
Full interior & exterior detail

Which I think improved the appears dramatically;












The next set of problems was two-fold. #1 it took almost 2 months to get the title from the auction house, so I was really able to drive it much during that time. #2 I discovered that the previous owner had installed wheel locks, and not the easy to remove kind, the kind with an uneven spline pattern and a round lug head. I'm not quite sure how an inspection can be performed on a vehicle with no gas, a locked trunk and wheels that can't be removed. It took me some time to find a mechanic even will to look at the lug issues, and eventually we had no choice but to drill them off. With the wheels removable and the title in hand, I could finally start to work on drive-ability problems. The tires were all dry rotted, the wheels had multiple bends and the brakes created significant pulsation/vibration when applied. Next round of repairs included;

Drilled out 4 wheel locks (a multiple weekend project)
4 new Nanking NS-25 All Season tires & NewYall pressure sensors
4 new Mandrus Wilhem wheels in chrome
New semi-metallic Duralast Gold front brake pads & Carquest drilled rotors
Full synthetic mobil-1 oil change with new filters
And finally I feel that the car is both presentable and drive-able;



My remaining maintenance tasks include:
Replace HK amp (sounds from only 1 side)
Install bluetooth adapter and phone mount
Replace scratched up window tint
Replace aftermarket fog lights

And then I can finally get to trying to actually make it handle better and run faster (ie: the fun stuff).. So... Thanks everyone from the forum who has helped with my questions so far, you've all been a big assistance!

Thanks,
Z

chassis

Thanks for posting the progress! Feel free to post more photos including the interior.

z0lt3c

More pics added!