Rob's 262C

Rob

This is my 1980 262C 'Bertone' Coupe

B28 2.8L V6
3 spd BW Auto
Stock exhaust with rear muffler delete

Lowered coils, stock shocks
DVS adjustable panhard bar
DTM 16 x 7.5 wheels +40 (corrected to +15 front, +0 rear)
Front 25mm billet spacers
Rear 40mm billet spacers
205/50R16 tyres

Rear foam type spoiler from a SAAB
83 GLE front painted black
Clear indicator lenses
Blacked out headlight and indicator housings
Black window frames and C pillar trim.
Late tail lights and bumpers
window tint
83 GLE dash and aux gauges

Some Pics

Rob

Project Starts Here

Having a couple of cars that are an inconvenience to drive at times for one reason or another (high fuel consumption, low ground clearance, noise, supercharger whine, no a/c and all that other stuff we love) I decided to look for something that I could leave relatively standard, that had a/c, auto etc but was still a bit different from the norm.

I had my eyes on one particular car for a long time and had come into possession of it kinda by default. It was in reasonable shape but had had a slight whack in the LH front corner at some stage and had been very poorly repaired. it was also suffering from a bit of rust below the tail lights and around the front and rear windscreen surrounds. It had been parked up for several years and would not start.

It had previously had a plastic bumper conversion

I decided to pull it out of mothballs and see if I could get it back on the road without pouring lots of dollars into it.

As purchased

Rob

I purchased @OldnDecrepit's 264GLE after its unfortunate incident on a vehicle transporter

Rob

It is the same colour code and in particularly good shape so I decided to go down the somewhat unusual path of fitting the later front to the car. Fortunately after removing the panelwork the inner guard repair was ok and did not require a great deal of rework.

264 with front removed.

262 with front removed

after initial fit up

jamesinc

@Rob missing a word in the first sentence of first paragraph.

Rob

jamesinc;109653 wrote

Repaired :)

Rob

I then spent lots of time trying to get it to run.

I cleaned and flushed the tank and fuel lines (including the return) replaced both pumps, replaced the fuel distributor and WUR with known good ones, replaced the entire engine wiring harness as it had perished, replaced the plugs and leads, cap and rotor. Still wasn't satisfied that the tank was clean enough so replaced it with the one from the 264.

Replaced all vacuum hoses and all filters, changed the oil and flushed and replaced the coolant, including the thermostat and had the radiator professionally cleaned.

I still had issues with it. It would start, idle and run beautifully. A little hesitant when freezing cold but within a few seconds it was nice. It drove nicely when cold/warming up... nice and smooth with plenty of power (well as much as you would expect from a B28E) but would not rev or make power under load when warm. After a 10km drive it would pull about 65km/h flat out. It would always idle nice, free rev in neutral, load up in drive with a foot on the brake and pull under load to about 1800rpm.

After much input from experts I replaced the injectors with a new set and now it is finally running nicely.

Rob

I removed the front and rear windows and was pleasantly surprised, the rust was quite minor and was easily repaired with a wire wheel and rust converter, no welding or patches required. I primed it all up and gave it a quick lick of paint, then had a windscreen pro install the windows using a modern, universal rubber seal rather than the clip and trim style it originally had, this cleaned it up immensely and should help prevent the rust reappearing.

I removed the dash and fitted the later one from the 264, including the additional gauges and also swapped over the later style wiper mechanism and arms, these are a big improvement over the earlier ones.

264 rear headrests installed.

Ex850R

Good work!
I need the windscreen on the 240 done, is the seal a part they carry?
I must chase the later arms for wipers too, is the later motor better?
Any way to boost the motor to run faster?

Rob

next up some cosmetic work including alot of cleaning and quite a bit of black paint. I also added a rear spoiler 'just cause'.... I like it. It is ex SAAB and fits the theme well in my opinion.

I fitted up a set of DTM 16x7.5 alloy wheels I had laying around along with a set of spacers, 25mm in the front, 40mm in the rear, with a DVS adjustable panhard rod to help keep things centred and a set of 'special' lowered springs to get it sitting right.

Rob

How it sits now

Rob

Ex850R;109663 wroteGood work!
I need the windscreen on the 240 done, is the seal a part they carry?
I must chase the later arms for wipers too, is the later motor better?
Any way to boost the motor to run faster?

He didn't have it in his van on his first visit but came back the next day with it so I assume it is something he had in his warehouse.

I am still running the original motor, no visible difference and the wipers work fine. The biggest advantage is the arms are now secured by a spline and nut rather than the clip type the early ones had, they are also black rather than alluminium/chrome/stainless (or painted (alluminium/chrome/stainless). Is an easy job while the dash is out but is certainly possible while the dash is in place.

Vee_Que

Awesome. Glad the engine wasn't a major issue!

Rob

Vee_Que;109669 wroteAwesome. Glad the engine wasn't a major issue!

Me too. I was worried for a bit but it seems to be really good. It is a B28 so has obviously been replaced at some stage.

The date stamps all over the engine components are 1984

gavinh

Nice work. Looks good

carnut222

Wow Rob, that looks amazing with the black trim and stance! I like that you blacked out the headlight housings. I think I first saw that done by Ash at DVS. Just did it recently on my gold 91 240 GLE wagon and I think it really suits gold cars. Well done!

Major Ledfoot

Fantastic work, and a very educational thread. The photos clearly show what goes on with biodegradable wiring very well.

The visible transformation of the car shown in the 'before' and 'after' pics is amazing. The rear lip spoiler is very effective visually to make the car appear lower, leaner, and wider at the rear.

Rob

bgpzfm142;109680 wroteFantastic work, and a very educational thread. The photos clearly show what goes on with biodegradable wiring very well.

The wiring was aweful, fortunately the wiring in the parts car was replaced at some stage and was in near perfect shape.
here are some more pictures

Rob

bgpzfm142;109680 wroteThe visible transformation of the car shown in the 'before' and 'after' pics is amazing. The rear lip spoiler is very effective visually to make the car appear lower, leaner, and wider at the rear.

I do like the spoiler, I have received the odd negative comment but hey, that is going to happen.

Rob

carnut222;109678 wroteWow Rob, that looks amazing with the black trim and stance! I like that you blacked out the headlight housings. I think I first saw that done by Ash at DVS. Just did it recently on my gold 91 240 GLE wagon and I think it really suits gold cars. Well done!

Thanks Greg

The headlight blackout looks great, Gold is a tough colour, I don't always like it but it can look nice with the right amount of black in the mix.