OK, so heres what this project looked like when I started with it. Nice car, well built, and in good shape. It was built in 1980 by a Mr Stan Collis in California. It was the second one of these he built. His first one he did in 1979. After he built the first one, there were so many things that he wanted to do differently that he ended up just starting over again, and that second creation is the car you see here. I really cant say enough good things about the way that he built this thing. The floor pan was dropped 3 inches for more headroom, the engine is top notch, the interior dash is well built, the hydraulics are extra powerful, and the car is just generally a great example of good craftsmanship. Not to mention that he kept very detailed records of everything that he did to the car. The sad thing is that I've really only driven this car for 5 days. After I had it for 5 days, I thought the battery died on it. Well, with my hectic schedule, I couldn't get a new battery for it for about a week. A week later, I put it in and it wouldnt start. Figured it was the starter, just by the way it sounded when I tried to crank it over. The motor woudln't turn over, I just got a click on the starter. So I pulled the starter out. Well, the AC system was kind of in my way when I was getting to the starter, and it hadnt worked in 20 years, so I decided to pull the whole AC system while I was at it. This was the official point where it became a project car. From there, if I was taking out the AC, I might as well take out the AC unit inside the dash as well. So I removed the AC system, and had the starter rebuilt and it still didnt start. I began ripping out the wiring trying to track down a problem in the electrical system. I discovered the cause of my starting problem while trying to turn the motor over with a socket and breaker bar and heard a burble. I pulled a spark plug and water came draining out of the cylinder. Basically, the Sterling body drained the water right in to the carbs, as the Sterling was never designed to be used with an engine that had dual carbs. What I did to remedy the leak problem was set up barriers made of caulk, then drilled drainage holes and fitted them with tubing. You can see in this pic where the water normally drained. What a pity, as this is what it looked like before I started. To be honest, the only thing I didnt like about the car was that some of the trimmings had a very 70s feel to them. A lot of brown vinyl and orange/yellow carpeting. I hated to take it out, as it was an excellent upholstery job, along with the woodwork on the dash and console. But I decided it is all coming out in favor of a newer grey scheme.