2088 replies to this topic

[SHEEL]

very tidy packaging. is it staying raw or getting painted?

[76lxhatch]

All that extra weight! Some interesting mods, looks good.

Cold gal black

Didn't know such a thing existed, might have to get me some of that.

[Heath]

Yeah, it's good stuff! Nice finish, very easy prep and I think decent durability.

 

The overhead console will indeed be left as raw brushed stainless. Like the other stainless parts of the interior (shifter arm & knob, hydraulic handbrake lever, jesus handle, taxi/harness bar and the tubular cross brace through the rear of the car) I didn't want that console to try and look factory. 

[GMH-01X]

As always an inspirational update Heath

[toryman76]

I think i just found my two new favorite consumables, Mr Black and black cold gal! Awesome work as always heath. Love that your mum is involved. 😁🤙

[SHEEL]

that little bit of stainless will tie in nicely if that's the case. nice

[Shiney005]

I think this thread should be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. As always, a great couple of posts Heath, and I can't wait for the next chapter.

[Ddstoys]

You sir are one talented and clever man everytime you post I go WOW hopefully get to see this monster in the flesh one day


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[Heath]

Thanks so much guys.

Daniel, I certainly expect you to have many opportunities to... I want to get this car out a lot!
 

Time to look at seat belts now. These are the ones that came with the car, I think they're from an early Commodore? They're kinda cool with the GM-H logos and they're in nice condition, but I don't love the red buttons or square plastic catches all that much. I'd rather genuine Torana seatbelts even though it's a pain in the arse to organise... I'll try and find a new home for them.

 

Got my collection of original 'Cool Drive' post-ADR4B seatbelts out... these are genuine for LX/UC sedans mostly I guess, so nearly all of the latch plates have had a hit in a door that is being closed. Some of them need re-webbing, they all need a good scrub and some blackening work. I need to make something good out of all this, and then find a home for all the other bits.

 

Does anyone know if you can buy reproduction latch plates (the male parts that you pull down and stick into the catches) with the black plastic over-moulding?

[SHEEL]

I'll take those Commodore ones off your hands for My HZ if you want?

[BIG KEV]

Heath i spoke to Seat Belt Solutions in WA 

I think they maybe able to help you 

 

Cheers Kev 

[ReplicarSLR]

Heath i spoke to Seat Belt Solutions in WA
I think they maybe able to help you

Cheers Kev

Yes they do top work, I gave them multiple sets of of the buckles, inertial reels etc and they picked the best of each and ended up with one really good re-webbed set. Not worth skimping now on trying to clean old seatbelt webbing etc when you’ve come this far Heath and safety first

Edited by ReplicarSLR, 25 May 2021 - 05:49 PM.

[Ice]

Heath i spoke to Seat Belt Solutions in WA 

I think they maybe able to help you 

 

Cheers Kev 

They do great work but a little bit pricey 

There is a couple of blokes in your home town of Melbourne that do them a lot cheaper if you want to save money 

[claysummers]

I shipped seatbelt solutions a set of the lion buckles and tongues which they turned around in good time with new webbing, Hemco inertia reels, anchor plates and new mountings and bolts. Driver and passenger lap sash and centre lap was around $300 - $400.


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[UCgazman]

We use seatbelt solutions at work too, they do nice work (and fast!)...

[Heath]

Seat Belt Solutions (WA) sound like they know what they're doing with the Torana belts. They aren't that quick at the moment; a little short on some of the re-chromed change-over parts that I'd use if money was no object. But they do have those tongues/latch plates as a swap-over item. Nice!

 

Seat Belt King (Braeside VIC... a stone's throw from where I sit most days) are certainly a bit cheaper, but don't have the same extent of capabilities. 

 

Took ages to take half decent inventory of it all and start cleaning some of the belts. I've got some alright belts here, so I'm not going to pay to get every one fully rebuilt but I've made a bit of a game plan to get a few things done. 

 

Sorry Daniel but I put those Commodore belts on FB and they were snapped up really quickly! Gone already.

[SHEEL]

No Worries, I had other idea's of trying to match up some modern belts to my interior trim colour... (maybe 90s or00s before seatbelts had too much tech in them) 

 

I might still explore that idea.

 

I just wanted to have a really clean set of factory black belts as a back up plan.

[samuel86]

Heath, I've spent the past 6 hours reading this thread. Awesome mate, just awesome!

[Heath]

Cheers Samuel! Happy you're enjoying it.

 

Time to put my seats together... they have been patiently waiting in storage since getting re-trimmed a few years ago. 

 

First I made some carpet sections to trim the back of them:

Matching up nicely with the black zinc coated hinges & latches:

 

Because I have changed the height of the UC false floor (to LX height) I had to move the pivot point to a new hole in the rear centre hinge point. My plain drilled hole wasn't going to pair well with the original plastic bushes (i.e. the metal would just cut through the bushes from the weight of someone leaning into the seat properly) so I turned up some brass versions on the lathe:

Plus the vinyl trim for the central hinge (from Dash Original), and the rounded shaped... part? I don't know what you call it. It came with the car and makes the vinyl foam stuff create a nice rounded shape in the middle of the seat. I also had to "slot" the holes in the vinyl trim to suit my custom pivot point, and made some textured plastic washers to conceal the slotted hole.

 

Added a nutsert for the rounded thing:

Cut some more of that ~6mm Car Builders self-adhesive foam under the rear seat... figure a bit of extra insulation is not a bad thing.

And glued the vinyl trim and bushes into place:

 

Late last year I went and bought some carpet (plush pile, black) from Knox Auto Carpets, and the normal insulation rolls as well.

 

I test-fitted the stuff that came with the car, and made lots of notes about how I wanted to adjust it to fit the floor better with the new tunnel etc.

Laid the old stuff on the new stuff:

Got cutting:

All done:

Test fit:

 

Added some drillium in the mounting tabs for the rear seat base, and painted those tabs in black cold gal:

 

Got my Fashion Pack door trims from Dash Original out, and opened up all of the reproduction door clips so that they can fit around the masonite... used some square-nose pliers and a big flathead screwdriver to lever them until they the two bits were about parrallel.

Added some extra holes in the door-trims to fit the aligning dowels on the later model LX/UC reclining seatbelts:

 

I replaced the flogged out 1/4" UNC screws with stainless equivalents (because they stick through the wheel tubs) and painted the heads with some of that SCA black cold gal.

Paired with rubber washers... this should protect the area from road grime being flung up from the rear wheels.

 

Installed the seat backs:

Quickly realised that my weird custom floor wasn't quite far forward enough to support the back of the seats in the upright position. Ooops!

That screwdriver is pointing into a ~1/2" gap, not ideal at all. Need to make a pad to fill the slot.

Marked out some MDF patterns:

Sealed with varnish, painted in satin black, and thin strips of black carpet adhered on:

Drilled and added nutserts:

Secured with some countersunk stainless fasteners:

 

Added some expensive reproduction hatchback rear armrests:

 

Sweet office!

 

(ft. some unrestored lower seatbelt sections for a test-fit of suitable lengths)

[Heath]

Dyed the best pair of rear seatbelts I had, and had them opened up to install the best used tongues I had. They ended up a touch shorter from cutting the end off, but still have plenty of length for rear passengers. Before and two afters:

 

Found the best trims for the upper rear seatbelts, and sanded the weird moulding defects out of them. Real pain in the arse... not sure what was going on on the machine when they were pumping these out at the Holden plant decades ago. Before and two afters:

 

Front seatbelt stalks copped a respray, some Mr Black on the plastics and some Rare Spares replacement decals for the buttons. Also did an exchange with Seat Belt Solutions for some re-chromed, re-over-moulded tongues that look brand new, these will be fitted to re-webbed.

Before and two afters:

[Heath]

In addition to making this car comfortable... I need to make it run as well!

So trying to juggle aesthetic things and things that actually help this car function mechanically.

 

 

Victorian Speed Pro Distributors sorted me out with some black -10AN fittings and push-loc hose for the catch can. First time working with this stuff. My advice is:

- Make a cardboard template of the path (single plane in this case) it needs to run along, so that you can put on the desk in the store and ensure the fitting angles will help it flow into the curves you want

- Before you assembly, dunk the hose in hot, hot water directly before-hand.

 

Then bought a Kilkenny Castings WO8NPN thermostat housing - the one with no heater hose outlets because I've already done that with the stainless hard lines.

Well using any standard thermostat housing wasn't really working as it was putting the radiator hose too close to the catch can breather line. So spacing it up seemed a good solution.

Marked it out on a thick bit of 20mm ally plate. Initially I was going to bolt it on the top and run long bolts... but decided that was a pretty ugly idea.

New Melbourne lockdown means no access to friend's milling machines...

I ended up cutting the bosses off so the new KC part was instantly massacred and unrecognisable (a bit of a waste I guess! lol)

If the bolted flange isn't in the top piece... it certainly needs to be in the bottom piece.

Did my basic milling operation with an angle grinder, lol.

 

Neato

 

Final part (needs to be hydro-blasted, but that's all) compared to the universal Aeroflow one that came with my motor... I'll sell that instead.

 

Hose clears:

[Ice]

Good lord that trim 

[SHEEL]

If this car doesn't win trophies, I'm going to burn down the institutions that overlook it.

[Mitchyboy]

Wow Just caught up on all of this.
Smashing it out Heath.
Interior is looking mint mate!!
Motor looks awesome sitting in there!
You must be getting excited now bud.
Nice work


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[Mitchyboy]

Also what Die did you use for your seat belts? I recently got some belts and they are in great condition, yours came up a treat. It would be worth having a crack with the ones I got too I think.

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