Howdy Folks,

So I had been daily driving my SS Cobalt for quite some time now, recently cammed it, built the top end, and converted to e85. It's really fun to drive, but not really a practical DD anymore since gas mileage on E is awful and having to strategically plan fuel-ups isn't too fun.

So back on December 21st of 2012, I went and picked up this beast. It's a 1994 LS in Milano Red.

Drove from DFW to Kansas City to pick her up, round trip was 1100 miles.

Interior was in such great shape!


In the shop getting ready for her makeover. She was quite rusty on both rear fenders, and the front fenders were god awful and needed to be replaced.












Still have a ways to go on her, but here is how she is sitting at the moment.









Hope you enjoyed the transition! In about 15K miles from now, she will be getting a hybrid 3.5RL (C35A) motor swap. Should be quite fun with the 6MT gearbox.

-Blake

 

Awesome work! That's quite the transformation!!

 

Nice. Looking forward to the progress.

 

Quite the transformation, nice work.

 

Nice work, do you do any of it? Is that Katzkin inside?

Just curious on the interior and not trying to be negative if you paid

 

Seats are not Katzkin, they were done by a local upholstery guy (lower cost this way). I did everything mechanically to the car and tore down the motor, but the shop did the paint/body work.

 

Wow, it looks great. This is one of my favorite cars.

 

OH MY GOD....

I CANNOT wait to see that beauty!!!!!!

 

What wheels are those? And are you using gunmetal/gray lugs? Car looks great!

 

The brand is Kudo, not sure which model. I had never heard of the brand, but in my vast search for a low cost and good looking wheel i stumbled across them. Lugs right now are the stock chrome ones, but I do plan on getting a color matched lugs in the future. Too many other things on the agenda currently.

 

Sweet! What a transformation.

Looking forward to seeing it in person soon.

 

That is a beautiful paint job!

 

Wow nice work. She truly is a Legend.
What's in store for her next?

 

Very nice job.

But it seems like many people are painting their roof black these days, including manufacturers like Kia.

 

Let's see here...so many little things that keep adding up! In no particular order and i'm sure i'm forgetting a lot.

1. Install trim around the rear glass
2. Install chrome trim around driver/passenger door (in the mail)
3. Install OEM fog lights
4. Colorsand the whole car, paint is rough in a few areas
5. Try to save the badly stained carpets, might do a dye.
6. New window tint
7. New spoiler (without 3rd brake light)
8. Swap in a new motor from 3.5 RL, current motor is burning a bit of oil from bad valve stem seals and would rather just do a swap for increased reliability. Current motor has 240K on it.
9. Fix broken cruise control
10. Replace steering wheel
11. New shift boot and knob
12. New center console
13. New e-brake
14. Needs brake job all around

 

Guess I hopped on the bandwagon then! I love how it looks.

 

Wow, even more impressive! Keep us updated

 

Wow, great restoration!
Keep us posted on any more work.

 

Nice progress and great work! I know I wouldn't have tackled a project like that, especially with that interior! That Legend is a such a beautiful car though...nice save!

 

I was about to comment on the head gasket, but a C35A swap will cover that hole.

 

Nice!

 

I'm the 5th owner of this car, there's a gray area where the maintenance records sort of fall off.

1st owner: Dealer maintained, records up to 150K miles when sold.
2nd owner: Motor was pulled at some point, chain maks on the engine lift points, they owned the car from 150K to 205K. I suspect the HGs were done by this owner. They also sanded part of the car down for paint.
3rd owner: Put new clutch/lower mileage transmssion and a lot of work into it, sold it at 225K mikes. Active member on the Legend forums.
4th owner: Barely drove it, sat it outside for 2 yrs. Sold it to me with 240K on it. Nice guy just didn't have time to restore it.

 

Coming along nicely!



This pic with those wheels makes your car look kind of like an R32 Skyline!

 

Thank GOD you have a garage to keep that sexy beast in.... Hell, I'd somehow make it to where I could keep it in the living room!

 

Haha yes, for now she is sitting in the garage. I'm really debating on which one of my cars to keep in there...I need a two car garage so bad!

 

As a past '97 3.2 TL owner with a Type II head swap and a past '02 RL owner, I'm especially fascinated by this.

Great job!

 

What's the story with the wheels? It came in on some aftermarkets, but ended up in the shop on stockies.

 

The car came with some 01 Mustang 16" wheels with mismatched gigantic tires, the front wheels wouldn't turn all the way due to tire size...not sure which previous owner did this, pissed that the car didn't come with the GS 16s. I sourced a set of 91 Legend sedan wheels so I could drive it to the shop for the time being and I didn't care if they got overspray on them. When I got the car back from the shop, I put the new 17s on there.

 

I may miss the car, but I will never miss cleaning those wheels. Your new setup will be much easier.

 

Great work, so far!

 

Great looking car.. Awesome job on the rebuild.. Sooooo glad to see you ditched those vents or whatever in the QP's..

The ONLY thing I don't like is the black leather. The only thing it currently goes with is the roof. Personally would have used a darker brown or something. Just something that doesn't clash so much.

 

I do plan to reupholster the door panels to match the seats. May also get black carpet to match. We will see

 

Nice work! Always loved the legend.

 

curious what did it cost to redo the seats?

 

Blake,
Amazing transformation. Look forward to seeing it in person soon.
Great job!

 

Beautiful! Always wanted a LS 6-speed coupe!

 

Wow, great work so far! I always liked the Legend.

 

Would rather not talk about the $$ I spent in this thread, but you're welcome to PM me.

 

The Legend is loking great! It is really making me miss mine and I am really thinking about looking for another. I had the exact same car, but in silver. I loved the 6 speed and the Type 2 engine had some pretty decent power with a few mods. Sold it back in 2001 and have regretted it ever since. I have now updated to a 2G RL, but that Legend was still one of my favorite cars. Good luck and I can't wait to see all of the updates!

 

Paint job is gorgeous!!