Well, I've always said that I'd start on Magnum #1 when I retired. Well I got retired early so this winter I want to start.

OK, where do I start? I'm doing a total rebuild/restoration. Not to be a 100 pt. show piece but a representation of what it was new. Not perfect.

I plan to add a factory electric moonroof (which I already have) and maybe a full halo vinyl top. That will be the only deviations from original.

Thanks!

To properly follow the standing tradition start by disassembling everything you possibly can throwing all screws and bolts in various coffee cans, gotta start there so you can "see what it really needs" before you really get serious. Step two would be to move and have to relocate all pieces/parts along with a no longer rolling chassis, your choice if the motor's forgotten at the rebuilder's or not. Now piddle around for a few years before you decide to sell it off but don't forget to promise to shred the remains rather than drop a dime below your estimated value from a Barrett Jackson rerun.

Other than that, have fun!

Cool deal, post some pics of what your starting with. Im a huge Magnum/Cordoba fan.

I'll document it of sorts. I'm starting a Magnum-only website in the not too distant future, and have a Facebook page for Magnums as well.

What a pessimist! That only happens 80% of the time...

Just in case you didn't know, a car that is taken apart takes up a whole lot more room then one that is still assembled.

Several sizes of zip lock storage bags, sharpie markers, and a photo album of how things were originally assembled come in real handy. Don't be too surprised when you find out how the car was really assembled.

Have fun...Gene

I would recommend the following:

1) PHOTO - take 'em before something comes off, multiple angles and once you removed the part
2) LABEL - I took to printing those handy little print ribbon labels, tagged each item
3) SPREADSHEET - record all the labels you produced in a spreadsheet, I organized mine along the lines of the Factory Parts Book, and wherever possible I actually included a column that would show the page & diagram in the book
4) GROUPS - I grouped the parts together per their functional use, so suspension split into FRONT & REAR, steering separate, engine bay electrical, wiring, etc, etc...

All of the above was done when I did my '80 Diplomat Coupe, given that life gets in the way of this great hobby of ours, had I not done this, I would have forgotten and/or struggled to find on-line info or decipher the specifics of what I see in the FSM.

Oh, start to finish it took me some 15 yrs to get the Coupe done...ha ha, but that was in between getting married, two houses, two kids...you know, life!

What order did you go in? Interior first? Guess i just need to know where to get started.

Ohhhh boy...it's been a while ya know???

I do remember the following:

1) we did a massive clean-up on the car first, as silly as it sounds, I just didn't want to have to fight dirt and grime as I stripped the darn thing...so the high-pressure sprayer came out and particular focus was paid to the under-chassis

2) I "parked" the car in a location that was going to just require me to push & pull to get it into the garage, point being: once I start stripping things down it is no longer under it's own power but needs to be easy to move

3) trim, lights, came off first, basically things that were easily accessible from outside

4) I then moved on to the engine bay, but I removed the hood first though to give me the room and LIGHT...

5) ...followed by the interior

6) body panels came next, so doors, nosepiece, fenders, and glass

7) under-chassis was left for last (where possible, b/c fender skirts needed to come out first on my coupe to get at all the mountings screws for some of the trim, nameplate badges, etc)

Regarding #7 above, this is where I made a mistake. Once I stripped everything down and I was basically left with a barely rolling chasis, I was ready to complete the cleaning process by stripping as much of the underbody paint as possible (I did not have the means to do something like soda blasting). I did that, re-finished with anti-rust and then black chassis paint and finally re-installed the suspension components, all new stuff, so NEW control arms, new bushings everywhere, etc etc. Eventually all this rolled into a body shop for some work, and this is my biggest mistake on the project. The body shop didn't care that I had pristine floor finish, beautiful suspension parts...they did their body work, oversprayed everything else, it was a freaking mess that had me swearing left & right!!! Lack of pro work by the body shop because I discussed the details of the project with the owner repeatedly, he understood what I was going to bring him and yet never mentioned that "...oh geez man, I am going to get very messy here, you sure you want to have all your pretty parts on there first?...", yeah, live and learn.

I am sure I'm missing some things above, but in general I studied the car in the FSM and the Parts Book first, then developed a plan on how to tackle this as I knew that I would not be able to re-assemble the ride quickly.

Oh, one other point: get yourself a pile of cardboard boxes. I literally have a full wall in my garage that's set aside for the plastic shelving, which in turn is packed full of boxes that have components in them. Most of it today is of course from various parts cars I stripped over time. But the point being, as things came off of the car I would group the functional things together, so let's say the DASH stuff would go into a couple of boxes, all labeled, and each box would get a print-out of the matching spreadsheet tab. That way, it was super easy to go back and forth - sometimes repeatedly - as I tried to scrounge around for the best looking part to put back on the car.

THANK YOU very much Mr. Diplomat!!

Oh, my pleasure and you're welcome. This is the other, non hands-on, exciting part of the hobby for me, when you can share your experience with others and hopefully that makes their process a tad easier.

I have a '81 coupe as well that will eventually get the same treatment as my '80, only better...ha ha...so just writing this up in the post has me inclined to run out to the garage and start "wrenching"...!!!

If you need any other info let me know, I think I have a '78 Parts Book as well that would have your Magnum in there...I will try to take a peek at it, but if you do not have this already do your best to find something on eBag or the forum SALES area, that material goes a long way to simplifying things.