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Thread: Subaru 360 restoration archive

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    10

    Subaru 360 restoration archive

    I have been keeping another forum posted with my project, and this is the archive

    We just spent the entire day yesterday heading for those Subaru 360's in New Jersey. They are what we are looking for. It is a restorable one and a parts car. The restorable car has only 12 miles on it, because it was one of the many that didn't sell at dealerships during the 1970s, and some people vandalised it by painting it and breaking the windshield. The floors are brand-new looking and you can tell by the guage cluster that this thing was never driven. The parts car had a good windshield and a bee's nest. The guy also had a 1970 Plymouth Superbird just sitting in his garage.

    We bid the guy goodbye, and set off in our trusty Chevrolet Astro van. This van has taken us to Flordia and back without problems, to NY and back without problems. Apparantly the van decided it needed to do something to stop our positive attitude and promptly commited suicide. It stalled and we coasted to the side of the road, where my dad got out of the van and pushed us into a exit.

    My father, who knew the van was going to s**t the bed at some point, ordered road-side assistance that he was paying monthly for. We called them and they said they were on their way. One hour, two hours, the van wouldn't start, there was nothing we could do. We cleaned out the van and thus hired a Taxi cab to get us to a greyhound station. We got on a bus 10 mintues later. We wanted an express bus, but we got tickets for a bus that takes six hours to get from Bridgeport to Boston, because the bus made stops every 50 miles or so, and took an hour to leave again. This bus was not exactly a good bus, it was kind of dirty and crappy, and a girl threw up in the seat in front of us a few times.

    When we got into Boston at 10:30, after being on the damn bus since 4:00, we finally got a ride by calling a friend on our dying phone and got home at 12:00, luckily we got the ride because we wouldn't have gotten home until 6am on Greyhound. We are stuck without anything to drive for a while, but that's OK because we got our 360's if we can get anything to tow it with!

    Pics:

    The engine
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...daywkd0008.jpg

    Full shot
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...daywkd0009.jpg

    How new!
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...daywkd0010.jpg

    Solid floors!(and others)
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...daywkd0011.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...daywkd0012.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...daywkd0017.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...daywkd0018.jpg


    parts car:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...daywkd0013.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...daywkd0014.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...daywkd0015.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...daywkd0016.jpg

    Van s**t the bed on the way home!
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...daywkd0020.jpg

    Our ride home!
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...daywkd0150.jpg
    __________________________________________________ ______
    Going to get the 360 6/18/05

    Hello again!
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600072.jpg

    The guy has a Superbird rotting away in his garage...
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600073.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600074.jpg

    Loading up...
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600076.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600078.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600079.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600080.jpg

    The next morning...
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600081.jpg

    Unloading...
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600083.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600084.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600085.jpg

    It is a treasure box full of extra parts!
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600085.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600086.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600088.jpg

    Rusted plate
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600089.jpg

    Part of the vandalism...
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600090.jpg
    ^It says "Little Blue"

    Wash down!
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600091.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600092.jpg

    Began to strip the interior...
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600093.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600095.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600096.jpg

    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600097.jpg

    Found the emblem!
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600098.jpg

    Gas tank removed...
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600099.jpg

    Engine access plate
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600100.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600101.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600102.jpg

    In the garage for now...
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6173600103.jpg


    Just on the trailer, in the condition it is in, it attracted attention wherever it went! If we stopped anywhere, we were mobbed by people asking what it is.

    "Is that an old english Ford?"
    "What year is it? What the hell is it?"
    "Is that a Fiat?"
    It even brought a smile to the bikers faces when we stopped at a rest area. Everybody that saw it thought it was really cool, even in the shape it is in.

    Imagine when it is done...
    __________________________________________________ _______
    June 19, 2005

    Engine Shots:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6193600104.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6193600105.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6193600106.jpg

    A comical picture
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6193600107.jpg

    Artsy shots:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6193600110.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6193600111.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6193600112.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6193600113.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6193600114.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6193600116.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6193600117.jpg

    A "J.H" was burned into the celing by a vandailser during the 70's?
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6193600118.jpg

    Interior stipped
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6193600109.jpg


    __________________________________________________ _____
    Going to get the parts car, July 1st, 2005
    We got back at Midnight last night.

    We got down there, there was still the bees nest and many bees even after the 360 mile(Ironic!) drive home.

    Our van died on the side of the road. Out of gas.(Our gas guage doesn't work). Luckily we were not far from a gas station and got that taken care of. But it was a scare because we did not know if it was just the gas. dry.gif


    It is home and has many good parts that our "good" car doesn't have.
    All seat uphoulstry, although bad shape and ugly, it can be recovered and it is all there.
    Windshield(Most important, impossible to find good ones now)
    A good, solid hood.

    I also got pictures of a 240SX with a S13 conversion.


    Pictures

    S13:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7013600021.jpg

    360: (Parts car)
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7013600014.jpg

    Our savior:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7013600015.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7013600016.jpg

    On the way home:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7013600023.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7013600025.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7013600027.jpg

    Out of gas...(Our gas guage doesn't work)
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7013600032.jpg

    Good(but ugly) seats, all there
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7013600035.jpg
    __________________________________________________ _____

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    10
    Working on the project, July 3rd
    In the past two days we made quite a bit of progress.

    I took the front "hoods" off of each car,
    Before I took the hoods off:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7033600111.jpg
    After I took the hoods off:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7033600112.jpg

    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7033600126.jpg

    We took many parts off the parts car, including the door trim, the rear "hood", we took out some more bees, the interior is stripped, many parts have been moved to the restorable one,
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7033600125.jpg

    the gas tank is out.
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7033600127.jpg

    There is a grille on the rear hood, the one on the "good" car is dented, but the screws are stripped out when I attempt to remove them, so my father uses a grinder to cut them off.
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7033600120.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7033600121.jpg


    The door handle on the "good" car was broken and was replaced with a good handle, door opens from inside.
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7033600123.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7033600124.jpg

    Misc:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6293600120.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6293600121.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6293600122.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...6293600123.jpg

    The 360 is running at this point
    __________________________________________________ ________

    Working on the project, July 7th
    Latest:

    Taillights out(after some drilling of stripped screws by myself...)
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7073600142.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7073600148.jpg

    Taking rims off...
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7073600143.jpg

    New ignition
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7073600144.jpg

    Up on all fours...(funny pic)
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7073600145.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7073600146.jpg

    Our tires and rims in a pile...
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7073600147.jpg

    Interior:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7073600149.jpg

    Look at the comparision of Stingray rear tire to 360 rim(funny)
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7073600150.jpg

    More interior:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7073600151.jpg

    In the garage
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7073600152.jpg
    __________________________________________________ ___
    July 22nd, we figured that the 360 would be in the body shop soon, but that would be about 6 more months...
    The 360 is getting ready to head out to the body shop to get all repaired and painted. We plan to do the base pearly eggshell white base coat and then put quite a bit of clear coats on it to keep it looking nice.

    Gas tank before:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7173600146.jpg
    Gas tank after:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7173600147.jpg

    Windshield:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...7173600148.jpg

    Coming along great so far, except we were supposed to get the van to the body shop today but on the way to get the trailer, like many other times, our current van suddenly melted it's primary belt and the cause of that was the water pump seizing. So, that will need to be held off for a while.
    __________________________________________________ __________
    360 moved into first storage
    Latest pictures:

    Moving all parts to storage
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...eekend0128.jpg

    360 on trailer again
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...eekend0129.jpg

    In storage:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...eekend0130.jpg

    Some new parts ordered:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...eekend0135.jpg

    Some "new" brochures we ordered:
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...eekend0136.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...eekend0138.jpg
    __________________________________________________ _______
    October 10th

    UPDATE! Fiberglass roof is now off to prepare for soft top.







    __________________________________________________ ___________
    January 4th
    Hello,

    today we got all our stuff for the 360 Driver's club...

    All the information I will ever need, and a book full of road tests and brochures, and neat bits of history...would you believe that a 360 can be parked horizontally in a parking space and still fit between the lines? You can fit a 360 "inside" a Caddy of that time, and still have space around the edges for another 1 1/2. Consumer reports called it the most dangerous vehicle in America. >_<

    We are pressurewashing the garage of the bodyshop owner who is doing the 360 bodywork for us, as a downpayment. After the master cylinder, the car runs and drives, after the body shop it will go in for soft top and reupolstering, and sometime when we get around to it, the hubcaps, bumpers, etc. will be sent out to be rechromed.

    We are getting suprisingly close to getting done, with our timeframe being finished around this spring/summer.
    __________________________________________________ __________
    January 27th
    Hi everyone,

    Today the 360 is in the body shop(finally!), and over the next week or so, it will be completely stripped down in preparation for all the bodywork. We will be working with the bodyshop guy as much as possible throughout the entire time there, and I will be taking pictures along the way.

    Soon I will have some new photos showing the latest progress.
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...0/DSCF3800.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...0/DSCF3802.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...0/DSCF3803.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...0/DSCF3804.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...0/DSCF3805.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...0/DSCF3806.jpg
    http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/...0/DSCF3807.jpg
    __________________________________________________ _________


    This is the latest. The 360 should be done by next summer if everything goes on schedule. The Subaru 360 is a 1969, has a 356cc two-stroke motor and will be done up in Eggshell white pearl with a white soft top and red interior.

    Enjoy the pictures, and I will keep updates up here.

    My cardomain, be sure to leave a comment in my guestbook!
    http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2311380/1

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
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    isnt it all about west virginia?
    Posts
    1,927
    dedication'd^2
    badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2004
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    Northern New Jersey
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    16,602
    Looks like a great project. But, I have to ask that you use our UCP attachment feature to post photos in the future. It saves our 56k or lower members and is much more reliable than sources like imageshack and photobucket. Thanks.

  5. #5
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    Apr 2003
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    Canada
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    Nice! These seem to be extremely rare these days - it'll be good to have another one on the road. Let us know what happens as progress continues to be made

  6. #6
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    Feb 2004
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    9,465
    Rocke whats wrong if its just links to pictures? And you havn't told anyone off about that in the Random thread..

  7. #7
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    May 2004
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spastik_Roach
    Rocke whats wrong if its just links to pictures? And you havn't told anyone off about that in the Random thread..
    I was mainly referring to the 6 or so inline images towards the bottom of the post. Just UCP procedure.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
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    Eindhoven, The Netherlands
    Posts
    7,833
    We ought to have other members post about their projects so intesively It's a nice read and cool to see the progress.

    are you gonna get it sandblasted anytime soon ?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Rozenburg, Holland
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    Hi Bubs, welcome to UCP, nice to see such a car for change, (and obviously you are not considering the eternal question "resale value versus restoration costs" ) Where exactly is this all happening?
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  10. #10
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    Feb 2004
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    9,465
    Quote Originally Posted by Rockefella
    I was mainly referring to the 6 or so inline images towards the bottom of the post. Just UCP procedure.
    Fair enough, fair enough.

  11. #11
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    Apr 2006
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    10
    Quote Originally Posted by henk4
    Hi Bubs, welcome to UCP, nice to see such a car for change, (and obviously you are not considering the eternal question "resale value versus restoration costs" ) Where exactly is this all happening?
    I am restoring this in Meredith, New Hampshire.

  12. #12
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    Apr 2003
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    Rozenburg, Holland
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bubs
    I am restoring this in Meredith, New Hampshire.
    nice, where these delivered new in the States?
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  13. #13
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    Jan 2004
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    Astoria, New York
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    Quote Originally Posted by henk4
    nice, where these delivered new in the States?
    They were. I have the details in a article published in Hemmings a couple of months ago. I will give you more info when I get home.

    EDIT: I scanned the article that was published in the February 2006 issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car (very nice magazine for those in the States, if interested).
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by dracu777; 04-17-2006 at 04:20 PM.

  14. #14
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    Apr 2006
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    Quote Originally Posted by henk4
    nice, where these delivered new in the States?
    Yes, but for a short time. To keep the story short, they were brought here, and basically they failed in the US market.

  15. #15
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    Germany -> West Germany -> NRW -> Düsseldorf
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    Nice to see that progress!
    Only thing which makes me sad is that you convert the car from saloon to convertible....

    Were there convertible/soft-top versions of the 360?
    WRC - That's motorsport!

    "If you can see the tree you are about to hit, it is called 'understeering'. If you can only hear and feel it, it was 'oversteering'."
    Walter Röhrl

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