Death of a 99LE
It didn't take a torch, but a lot of cussing and activity
involving a 4-foot long prybar, the engine and car body were inseparable!
Literally! About thirty attempts were made where the front of the car came
right off the jackstands and the motor wasn't going anywhere. Oh and the
rear bumper looks a whole lot better than the front one, but it did its
job, here, apparently.
The desired result. And it TURNS! Only 53k on this, it'll
hopefully be a nice, easy rebuild. Only thing I'm worried about is that
the engine came to an abrupt stop when the impact occurred. The 99 experts
say there's not much chance of a bent rod, let's hope not.
Front hubs, axles, calipers are easy to pull on a 99. Just
a few more minutes and the lower A arms came off (after this photo), one
of which will be blasted and put on an incoming '74 99LE in need of a quick
reconditioning after a brush with a curb and a blown head gasket. Took a
lot of other bits out like the dash (perfect heater controls), doors, trunk
lid (just what I need, ANOTHER ONE!), wiper motor, fan motor, et.c. Gonna
leave the back axle on, the calipers are frozen unlike the fronts (?!?!)
and 99 rear axles are not really desirable items when you can throw a 900
unit on and be done.
The dash, gearshift cluster, heater controls, plenae and other
interior fittings are gone...
...and are now on the shop floor in pieces!
The rear glass came out much more nicely than the windshield,
which broke. Damn.
Ready to be hauled away.
Need parts?