Finally got my XLR, Now to Rebuild it!

[graytoad]

Finally was able to schedule and go for my salvage inspection!
Here in Wisconsin they do them at State Patrol headquarters, Police and Sheriff offices by specially trained officers. Closest one to me was the State Patrol and when I called for an appointment he squeezed me in between a couple other appointments a couple days later.

Didn't give me much of a chance to check everything over and make sure everything was in order but I thought I was all set.
I never really got to drive it around any distance, just around the block basically to make sure it drove ok and everything was working right. It's about a 20 mile trip out to the State Patrol headquarters so I was hoping there wouldn't be any problems.

Got out there ok. Parked it and went inside to let them know I was there.

View attachment 8159

Inspection went pretty smooth. He only gigged me on one thing. I had forgot to tighten the bolt down on the battery hold down. I had taken battery out originally to charge it up and must of never tied it back down. He just told me to take care of that which I did.

So I passed!
And got temporary plate.

After inspection, Parked outside Headquarters:



Celebrated by driving to work after.



So now it's legal!
I noticed a couple issues with it on that trip. First one is I definitely have a bad front wheel bearing. Used Corvette spindle I put in I guess had a bad wheel bearing in it. No big deal on that. Ordered a new one and will change that soon.
Next is I have a small oil leak somewhere. I know Northstar's are famous for that. Just hoping it's not one of the serious ones.

Anyway, just glad that is over. I'll have a rebuilt title now. Never mattered any to me on any other ones I've ever done. I never did them to resell anyway, just for my own use. Last ones I did were 11 years ago and vehicles were a couple years old already so by the time they are that old I doubt it matters much on resale anyway.

Regardless I have an XLR and it's back on the road!

Kevin

Fabulous! Congratulations for nurturing a Wreck into a Reality! On behalf of the XLR-Net forum I am sure I can speak for everyone in giving you an "Atta-Boy" pat on the back (or a hug in my case) for bringing this beauty back on the road and into your garage!
Now get this car road tested and attend the homecoming in Bowling Green with us at the end of September! You wont regret it and we would love to meet you!

 

[BlackCatXLR]

A little Update

So it's been quite a while since I posted anything so here's a little update.
The XLR is a car I always wanted but my wife had a special birthday coming up and since she had always wanted something cool (a Prowler) I was looking for a reasonable one for her but the deal fell through on the one ideal one I found.
Right about then I was looking on some salvage sites for another one and that's when I spotted this XLR. I couldn't believe what I found and snapped it up almost instantly. I figured an XLR was way more practical of a car than a Prowler in my opinion and was hoping she would like it.
There was no way I could keep the car a secret for all that time while I was rebuilding it so I just told her it was for me and nobody ruined the surprise!

One thing she always said is she wanted a car with a big red bow on it so me and my mom hand made one because I couldn't find one big enough.



Needless to say she was surprised by it!
I think she is still a little afraid to drive it yet so I've been driving it the few times we've both taken it out.

One place we did take it was her cousins annual reunion.



Her cousin is a big Corvette fan so I figured he would like the XLR and be surprised to see us pull up in it.

He has a very nice 2017 Grand Sport presently.



It is a really really nice car but like I told him it doesn't have a retractable hardtop!

Anyway, an update on the car,
I've put about 800 miles on it total since I got it back together. It runs great but like I first suspected has an oil leak which needs to get fixed. To me it looks like it is leaking out of the very rear side of the oil pan gasket on the passenger side when I clean it all off dry which seems odd so I figure it is coming from somewhere else. It's bad enough that it has to get fixed soon. If it was just an occasional drip I wouldn't even worry about it but it's worse than that.

Also, thanks Rexster for the tip on that leather dye!
I ordered a small bottle of it and tried it on a small spot and it's a perfect match. I haven't had a chance to actually do the whole seat bottom and side but when I do I will post pictures.



And Sandy, (that's also my wife's name!),
Yes, I really thought about coming to that 15th reunion, It looks like a great time.
We just no way could make that. We were just out of town last week for a trip and have another one planned in a couple weeks. No way could we both get off work and I wouldn't drive the car that far with an oil leak like that. I'm going to do the local city car show in a couple weeks with it and then take it in for a diagnosis. Usually I do everything myself but I don't think I want to tackle this as I've never even owned a Northstar before.
Really do wish I could do it and meet everyone and if anyone is coming through SE Wisconsin let me know.

Kevin

 

[mtrocket]

Brings back memories

Boy, your rebuild really brought back memories. I did my 2007 in 2008... took only 3 months to accomplish. Mine was FAR worse than yours though. You can see pictures in my garage. Mine was hit HARD in the right front. Frame shop had to pull the left frame section (had only a mash), but had to section the front 13" piece of the right frame (was twisted and mashed). How many miles did yours have on it... mine had only 2075, now has just under 59000. Absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the car as I'm sure you will as well. Good luck and many miles of smiles to come, I guarantee it!!

 

[cobratoo22]

Not to be nosey but can you tell me what you have in the car now in time and money? That was a real labor of love?

 

[BlackCatXLR]

Wow, sorry I’ve been on forum but haven’t looked at my own thread for a while. Didn’t realize I had a couple questions.
Mine has over 100,000 miles on it. It was from Florida and was a clean car. Was only up in Illinois for a short time before it was in a colission and totalled out. I got it very reasonable but with auction fees quite a bit more. Only saw one that was complete which was basically identical with same damage for any less and I wish I could of snapped that one up and rebuilt too but there was no way.
Can’t say exactly what I have in it as I never figured it out but I’m pretty sure I could of bought a couple I’ve seen since advertised that had a few problems mostly with top for about the same. There have been a few that I thought were a pretty good deal.

Kevin

 

[pure zen]

Kevin,,, You did a excellent job of bringing that XLR back to life,,,I admire your skills and determination to save that car from the crusher!

 

[mtrocket]

Not to be nosey but can you tell me what you have in the car now in time and money? That was a real labor of love?

Yes, it was a labor of love, had it on the road in just 3 months. Bought it for $24,250, and about $12,000 in new parts (nothing available in salvage yards for these in '08). Another $3000 in frame work and still more in miscellaneous things brought the total I have in it at around $40,000. But WE'LL WORTH EVERY PENNY; I'd do it again in a heartbeat.