#1
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![]() So its about time I get it together and get a thread started on my car....I will try to keep the very very long story as short as possible without boing you to death but I figure its worth including a bit of background
![]() Fast forward a few months, god knows how many cars I looked at in that time but the end result was that everything in my price range was lacking in one way or another, so I convinced myself to up the budget by nearly $15k....in doing so I became even more picky and struggled to find something I was happy with. After basically giving up I came across an ad for a car I had loved but was originally well out of my price range, this ad showed the car for almost 15k less which was the very top end of my budget and seemed too cheap for what it was but I thought it can't hurt to give them a call and see what the story was. Turns out the ad was a fake ![]() After spending a ton of time on the phone with him over the following week I knew I wanted the car, in the family for 30yrs and he had 3-files detailing everything done to the car including all of the receipts and around 500 photos of the transformation. So I started juggling some numbers to see how high I could go and organised to have it inspected just to make sure everything was as advertised. The report came back very positive and only highlighted a few minor things it also had a suggested current market value. I managed to find out what it was going to cost him for the whole BJ Auction process and after taking that off his asking price we were pretty close, a short spike in the Aussie dollar and the deal was done! I will save the rest of the story for another time but lets just say it took over 7mths to get here after getting stuck on the Wharf in the middle of the strikes.....not happy Jan! So why is this in the builds thread? I will cover that in my next post, but for now here's the full rundown on the specs as it arrived: ![]() Motor:
Transmission:
Rear End:
![]() Suspension:
Steering:
![]() Cooling:
Fuel:
Exhaust
Brakes:
![]() Wheels:
Body/Exterior:
![]() Interior
![]() More to come soon......... |
#2
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wow - that's ticked about every box on the option list
![]() Bloody good base to draw from - you must have some serious plans, as it seems to be ready to rock n roll already
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#3
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What ever you're taking off, can I have it?!
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Still trying to deal with the dilemma of not being able to stare at my car while driving it. Better to build to a budget than not at all. Youtube Channel: Shift Happens Instagram: Shift Happens |
#4
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Cheers guys, yes it ticks all the boxes hence why I was keen to find a way to get it! I knew it wouldn't be perfect with that list of specs given I wasn't paying top dollar (don't get me wrong it wasn't cheap) but the line-up provided a great base. The car went through a 3yr re-build starting in 2008 and only clocked up 3000 miles since the build was completed.
When the car arrived I was very happy to find that it was pretty much exactly as described, straight after it rolled out of quarantine I gave it a fresh battery, added some fuel and it fired up straight away! I was very surprised considering it had spent more than 7-months on tour in a container! So why its in the build thread?! As soon as I drove it the list started in my head...things that weren't working or needed attention and while I knew there was some work to be done to get things to a point where I would be happy and before it would be ok for licensing, I didn't expect it to turn into a 12mth project.....Off the batt it was clear the interior wasn't given the same level of attention as the performance, it was looking a bit tired and unfinished, and even though it had a full re-wire it was clear there were some issues. Introducing Mr OCD ![]() The original plan was :
Then start the licensing process......LOL I was dreaming! ![]() ![]() ![]() Just to confirm, the car is now 95% complete and most of the start of this thread will be covering the work I have done to this point and I will keep it going once its up to date ---------- Post added at 07:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:37 PM ---------- So after a quick look over and without pulling anything apart the issues list looked something like this:
Annoying, but nothing that couldn't be sorted. ![]() The biggest and hardest decision was to remove the Roll Cage, if left it it would have meant licensing the car as a two seater as the cage ran quite low over the rear seats which wasn't going to work and the decider was the fact that I couldn't install Lap Sash belts with it in place... ![]() The problem was it was bloody welded in ![]() |
#5
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Why don't you rego as 2 seater and put rear seat back in after it's regoed?
That's what I plan on doing if I ever get stickered for mine |
#6
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Quote:
Too late now anyway, the car is around 90% complete now (i mentioned it earlier but the comment was easily to miss ![]() ![]() |
#7
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Awesome. Great to see some good pics of it mate! Gotta say I like the interior. Either the pics hide it well or you are picky lol
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#8
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A smart man starts a project that's at this level. Very cool bud.
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Budgets are for treasurers not car builders, words of a man that learnt the hard way ![]() |
#9
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What a starting point!
![]() Glad to hear you got (mostly) what you thought you were buying. Looks very nice.
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Nev CAUTION. Will spontaneously talk cars |
#10
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.. n choice bro, interior looks sweet as too
N |
#11
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Thanks for all the comments guys!
![]() Quote:
![]() Nev, Yep I am definitely happy with what arrived, the car also came with the original log books/manuals, protect-o-plates plus two files loaded with all of the manuals, build details (inc wiring schematics), detailed cost summary and all the receipts plus a USB with a ton of photos. |
#12
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So first up it was a matter of seeing exactly what I was in for to get the cage out, unfortunately it wasn't what I wanted to see...
First up the main hoop mounts inside were hard core welded into the floor and in a very difficult place to do any cutting without doing damage (to the floor and to the interior) so I quickly came to the realisation that the whole interior was coming out if I wanted to do this properly... Floor mounts (average photo, they are at front of rear seats): ![]() Then into the boot, after removing the boot mat it didn't take a genius to see there were some issues in here: ![]() Firstly the plates were heavily welded all the way around so getting them out was going to take quite a bit of grinding/cutting and secondly all of the rust spots coming through the coating raised questions about the surface prep before it was coated.... ![]() So my new plan looked something like this:
---------- Post added at 11:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:54 PM ---------- So the removal begins....out come the seats: ![]() |
#13
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I ended up removing my cage too (= air hacksaw and patience), for the same reasons (kept bumping heads on it) - although now am probably going to seek a bolt in option for track days
Keen to see where you go with it - Loving that Blue too, be great to see it in the flesh
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#14
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Yeh I would prob still consider a bolt-in at some point too.
Seats and console out, I could never work out why the console was loose regardless of how much it was tightened but I soon found out it was just held in with a single bolt that went through the floor and had a giant washer and nylock nut attached in the tunnel...really unusual! Also found a small birdsnest of wiring and around 8 fuses (3-blown) under the console and behind the head unit...again it was a mash-up of power windows, a console power feed and a ton of other stuff. ![]() Always worries me when I see tape being used ![]() For anyone out there considering Fat Mat, keep watching and I will show you why it should never be used on cars. ![]() It is a bitumen based product that doesn't perform well when its heated and/or cooled and in this case the application was average at best ![]() ![]() Some big holes in the rear shelf ![]() ![]() Not sure if anyone can see anything interesting in this shot? Take a look under the passenger footwell....That black tube is the AC drain, found it under the carpet where it was creating a nice damp area between the floor and the carpet! ![]() ---------- Post added 03-12-2016 at 12:01 AM ---------- Previous post was 02-12-2016 at 11:51 PM ---------- Considered a few options to remove the cage, first step I just cut the bulk of it out using a steel Sabre saw....that was the easy part, it cut through it like butter! ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
#15
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Sensational!
If my car finishes at the level that your build began at ... I'll be a happy man. |
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