Lazarus

Here is my frankencoupler when it was getting installed. It was a mix of all three I believe (original, Lares, Dorman rebuild kit?), but I don’t remember which piece was from which. Hopefully the front and back image gives you an idea.

Great looking car! Welcome from NC.

Just FYI, getting the right rag joint (coupler) was kind of a hassle for me. If I remember correctly (it was a few years ago), my car ended up with a mixed unit made up of pieces from the dorman rebuild kit, a lares unit, and some of my original. None of the options I could find had everything correct. I remembered there was a great thread on it, so I did a search for you. Apologies if you already know the thread (or may even be on it):

Welcome from NC. Very cool car brother.

I can get behind the argent stripes for a subtle color scheme, but I’d personally add an argent rocker. I don’t think the rocker color is always necessary, but I think in white the rocker sans blackout makes the car a little less sleek and more bulbous. I definitely understand folks with a contrary opinion on the rocker blackout (greyout?). On my yellow car I do sometimes think the car looks sort of narrow with the blackout, and have even considered lowering the blackout line to under the door instead of the body line as a bit of a compromise... but the body line is such a natural place for it.

I know I am late to this discussion, but since you mentioned the waterproof thing, I thought I’d chime in. I have experimented a little bit with different outside car covers over the years. I live in North Carolina, where the sun can be fairly rough, and I have had more old cars than garage bays. I have found that very expensive ones did not hold up much better than more reasonable ones. After a while under sun and rain, they all sorta give out and turn dusty and brittle. My humble advice is To find one that is breathable and plan to replace it every so often. Make sure its inner layer is easy on the paint and that it is secure enough that wind won’t cause it to flap and rub the paint. I would avoid the door access zippers and stuff unless I was certain that the inside could never scratch the paint. I personally have given up on the waterproof idea. Never had one actually be waterproof, and outside no matter what you do, pollen, moisture, and dust get under it. Remember, when you try to block water getting in, you sometimes only succeed in blocking it getting out. In my experience water always finds a way in, you want it to be able to escape. Whether we are talking condensation, evaporated water from the ground, driving rain from the wind, or a small leak, you don’t want water sitting trapped.

Exhaust manifolds for this cat. My opinion is admittedly very subjective. I like driver cars and headers have caused me too many headaches in the past. To be fair, I’ve never sprung for really nice ceramic-coated ones (though the ones I used were not cheapo ones either) so they quickly became rusty eyesores that kicked off too much heat and noise. Great on a dyno I guess - and the track of course - but I found they can easily rob the low end if not set up correctly... I just prefer the manifolds as a result.

You always want one you haven’t got. I occasionally look for a good fastback myself! But I do really like the verts!

I have one of each. Go with glass.

Dude, that is amazing. Well done. That guy should be very appreciative. One minor question; is he planning to leave the epoxy primer alone in the engine compartment? I ask because I have noticed that over time that finish becomes chalky and a little brittle. My car has it all over the place; I didn’t leave it exposed on the outer panels long before paint because I knew it breaks down under UV, but I noticed in other areas not exposed to light (floorboards) it seemed to still age a little weird... so I tend to recommend (though as someone far inferior to your skills) a topcoat in the engine compartment. Of course that could just have been the particular formula on my car.

Welcome from NC. Great car, man. +1 on the endorsement for the Rocketman tach.

Bummer about the paint job quality but for what it’s worth I dig the color.

I also like the contrast. Maybe if you find the right color try the armrest pad by itself in blue to see if it looks good as an accent?

You’re not kidding about that problem. I am very conscientious when opening or shutting the hood so it doesn’t skew left or right when the corner of the hood and fender are so close. If I let the hood wander a little left or right, they can touch and scrape. Learned the hard way; that was the first blemish after my new paint. Even though my hinges are in pretty good shape and my tolerances are correct... Where mine want to touch I am not sure the guard would totally protect, but if they protrude a bit into the tolerance, they might help as you say.

Now that you mention it, I think I was remembering incorrectly; it must have been one of the forward-positioned gears that were the problem because the shift boot pulled it rearward when bolted in. I edited my post to avoid confusion.