Thanks for the input...Yes the old belt "squealed" too. I agree with you on belt conditioner...I don't like it but it quiets it down for a short time. I have visually check the alignment and every pulley appears to be lined up. I will take a hard look at the tensioner. Since you experienced the same symptoms it probably is the culprit. As far as the radio it worked fine when we started this project but some it will not turn on. Will check connections again but I suspect there is a capacitor or something dried up. Seems like I have heard other SC guys having the same issue

 

The serpentine tensioner on the SC300 has factory marking on the front face of it to tell you if the internal tension spring is beginning to lose it's preset tension. I am not sure how it is on your 400 but if you have the factory manual it will show you how to perhaps check it. Those internal springs do loose their tension over time/mileage.

 

I was under the impression that you swap out the tensioner with the belt for piece of mind? did you reuse the tensioner when you changed the belt? not sure about the radio.

awesome find and project btw! hands on learning about cars from the ol' man is priceless. $300 or not.
I never got the chance R.I.P.

 

I believe that is the kit Ebay user exotikleather sells. They sell synthetic kits and leather kits as well. This is the link to their complete leather kit http://www.ebay.com/itm/400566753839...84.m1423.l2649 . My opinion is it looks great for the price but if you're looking for a more OEM look leatherseats.com is the way to go.

 

Can anyone pinpoint the shade of green I am right now?



My SC3 was $1500, with 228K, and I was happy. I'm still happy, with maybe another $800 into it --- and around 300 hours. I wish my dad did something like that with me. Your boy is very blessed.

 

Too say the very least.

 

nice SC find

 

that is an amazing job. where did you go to do the leather on the seats? pm me please and what did you use to paint the calipers?

 

Wow what a find. From the photos the car looks like it was still in very good condition. Father/son projects are great.

 

We started getting a "shimmy" when we hit a bump at 50 MPH or faster so we swapped the struts..all is fine now

 

Exterior looks pretty clean. Interior looks a bit messy but still not bad for such an old car!
Your son is so lucky! Hope you have fun with this project,
I do wish my dad loved cars as much as you do.

 

Yep we have scrubbed and scrubbed the carpet we can't seem to get some of the stains out. However, for some reason the pictures look worse than it does in real life.

 

IDK if this is what you're doing but take the carpeting completely out and soak it with water with soap. Rinse it thoroughly, then get out the hand held carpet steam cleaner, and just suck away at the carpeting. Did it on my 96 Explorer and it makes the carpeting look brand stinking new. You'll also find a couple bucks in coins under there...

 

make sure to update us with more pictures as the project moves along

 

Update on our $300 SC 400. My son got his license in Dec 14, loves driving the car. 4k miles since it was "reborn" in our garage 18 month ago. Almost all the miles were driven by him with me in the right seat teaching him to drive. However we have a new issue. The low oil level sensor illuminates on hard left turns only. Oil level is good and only on hard left turns...any ideas?