My 1978 Matador - BIG RED!
Some pictures of the Matador taken before we bought it. |
| This'78 Matador 4 door sedan was purchased on July 20, 2001 and is in the process of being restored into pristine condition. Thanks to my husband Craig, we are already well on our way towards this goal already. New tires and brakes were installed and the AC charged. I worked on the only tear on the upholstry of the car (black interior). The driver's side seat had a 3" rip in the vinyl on the side of the seat nearest the driver door. Worked with a vinyl repair kit for about an hour but achieved a satisfactory result (sure beats duct tape). This Matador was purchased in #3 condition, with everything "there" and working, almost all original with the exception of a few things (like replacement knobs, etc.--easily remedied). It has only 47,800 miles! |
| Update July 29, 2001: Replaced thermostat, had the radiator cleaned & flushed, replaced upper and lower hoses. |
|
August 7, 2001: Installed new shocks. Monroe Sensatrac Part # Front: 5809ST; Rear: 5803ST Adjusted timing and adjusted idle speed. |
| August 8, 2001: New exhaust system installed. Wanted dual exhaust, but the shop was required to install to factory specs. Therefore, we replaced the rusted out section of pipe (that was flattened at the factory to fit around the tranny or for some government reg?) with an open 2" pipe. Put a turbo-type muffler on, of course! |
| August 19, 2001: Decided on color scheme for repaint. Will keep original color but take away the rocker panel moldings and scuff moldings. Played with MGI Photosuite a long time to "test" colors--ended up going right back to the original Firecracker Red! Off-White also looked very good. Some manufactured "pics" of how it will look are below. |
 |
 |
 |
 Couldn't match the color at the scuff moldings on this one, so left it on. |
| Aug. 25, 2001: Met with body shop that will be painting the Matador. We want it to go in after the New Year and should take a couple months to complete. Trying to find a donor car for left front fender (if possible) in the meantime but is not a necessity. May consider a black pin stripe down the side where the trim piece used to be to split up all that red. Now all there is to do is wait.......... |
| March, 2003: Well, the car is roadworthy, and is driven nearly every day, but we haven't done any restoration work yet. Too many other bills to pay! After trimming down our fleet of cars from 7 to 5, Big Red now has an honored spot under the carport in back, along with our new Ford truck. Someday there will be garage back there..... |
| July, 2003: Big Red has been running pretty poorly lately, so my husband decided to tear into the carb and rebuild it. The float level was way off, choke and idle settings were wrong, and there was a lot of dirt in the bowl. After reassembly, the car runs much better, idles smoothly and is much more friendly. A new cap, rotor, coil, plugs and wires completed the tune-up, along with general chassis lube, bleeding the brakes, and a transmission fluid and oil change. My husband will be driving Big Red to Cordova for the 2003 AMC Nationals put on by NAMDRA. |