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LH-LX Tail-light buckets


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#1 Torananut

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Posted 17 March 2015 - 10:42 PM

Hi everyone,

                     Late last year I asked for some feedback on whether people would be interested in LH and LX tail-light buckets as they seem to be an area that always rusts and is very difficult to get to and try and repair, not to mention some UC owners wanting to swap to LX rear lights. So I have made a series of prototypes of them and have slowly worked through the minor teething problems to get them to resemble the factory made item. Luckily I have a new old stock original to use as a guide but for a relatively small item they are a bit of a bugger to make, which is why not too many others have tried. Looking through old posts today and someone from the Gold Coast (Paul maybe?) hand made a few years ago but it sounds like he got busy with work and hasn't posted on the forum for a while.

 

                     Well here are a few pics of what I have come up with so far, so let me know your thoughts and where I might be able to make improvements. If people are interested I am looking at selling them for about $120 each but only when I am happy that they are as close to the N.O.S. one as possible.

 

                     If anyone would like any further info on them either send me a pm or give me a call on 0478 732274.

 

Cheers,        Grant

 

 

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#2 slar

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Posted 18 March 2015 - 07:22 AM

Geez very nice work....they look very good indeed....$120 is very reasonable for a part thats impossible to get....i would buy for sure if i needed them...excellent

Cheers
Al

#3 308 Sunbird

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Posted 18 March 2015 - 07:32 AM

Geez very nice work....they look very good indeed....$120 is very reasonable for a part thats impossible to get....i would buy for sure if i needed them...excellent
Cheers
Al

agree, well done.

#4 purrlx

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Posted 18 March 2015 - 01:53 PM

Well done they look good may need some in about 12 months when rebuild starts.



#5 royalplumss

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Posted 19 March 2015 - 02:10 PM

Yes

very nice!

Not worth trying to fix an old rusty one at that price.



#6 dattoman

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Posted 19 March 2015 - 10:15 PM

They look pretty good to me

 

I don't need any... but will take a set if you need the numbers for a production run



#7 eyepeeler

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Posted 19 March 2015 - 10:26 PM

Nice work Grant, that is fantastic. Agreed with Datto, not in need of some for anything I am doing now but would buy a couple of sets off you.

#8 Toranamat69

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Posted 20 March 2015 - 12:45 AM

I would grab a pair, just because I like to have every spare for my Torana.



#9 Covert

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Posted 17 April 2015 - 08:44 AM

I recently purchased a pair of these from Grant and they look great



#10 Shiney005

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Posted 17 April 2015 - 08:49 AM

Two pairs for me too.

#11 AbsynthHatch

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Posted 17 April 2015 - 10:38 AM

I will take 2 as well, expect a PM shortly.

#12 dattoman

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Posted 17 April 2015 - 08:05 PM

He's holding out on me... wheres mine !!



#13 009pk

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Posted 17 April 2015 - 08:45 PM

Great work grant keep us posted when you have them available at least 1 set

#14 _ryan350_

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Posted 25 April 2015 - 12:04 PM

i am keen on a pair as i need to replace the current ones! how do we go about getting a pair, cheers ryan



#15 mandytory

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Posted 25 April 2015 - 10:23 PM

I would definitely take one pair possibly two.

#16 crackers

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Posted 07 May 2015 - 12:37 PM

Grant, received mine the other day. Excellent work!! Keep me posted on the tail light panel.



#17 Heath

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Posted 13 May 2015 - 03:11 PM

Looks like a great quality product judging from the photos, and perfect for rust repairs.

 

My question is if you are doing a UC-LX conversion, just having the 'bucket' piece doesn't completely get you out of trouble. I imagine you'd still have to be a bit of a skilled sheety to construct a nice 'turn' on your sheet metal to meet the bucket, wouldn't you?

 

Then again, Holden didn't exactly raise the bar high with that piece of workmanship lol.



#18 Torananut

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Posted 14 May 2015 - 12:16 AM

Hi Heath,

 

Your right, the tail light bucket is only part of the job to convert a UC to a LX. The bucket sits up against the inner part of the rear panel while the edge of the rear panel is folded in to form a flange and that overlap is spot welded (see the photo below). The hard part is making the opening in the quarter panel for the side of the blinker. At the moment I am trying to make a new rear panel as per a NOS one I have, but whatever method you go with it is a lot of work.

 

From the pictures you have posted it looks like you are doing a great job, and I can only imagine the hours you have spent measuring, cutting, welding and grinding so far. Keep up the good work and I'm sure it will look terrific when completed. 

 

  

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#19 Heath

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Posted 14 May 2015 - 09:56 AM

Cheers mate. Yeah I think the hardest part would be doing a hot stretch in the corners.

 

Outside of my capabilities but some could pull it off and I reckon you could get a better result than Holden ever did.



#20 Bart

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Posted 14 May 2015 - 11:29 PM

Are the rear panels for hatch different to sedan?

Hi Heath,
 
Your right, the tail light bucket is only part of the job to convert a UC to a LX. The bucket sits up against the inner part of the rear panel while the edge of the rear panel is folded in to form a flange and that overlap is spot welded (see the photo below). The hard part is making the opening in the quarter panel for the side of the blinker. At the moment I am trying to make a new rear panel as per a NOS one I have, but whatever method you go with it is a lot of work.
 
From the pictures you have posted it looks like you are doing a great job, and I can only imagine the hours you have spent measuring, cutting, welding and grinding so far. Keep up the good work and I'm sure it will look terrific when completed.



#21 Torananut

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Posted 15 May 2015 - 12:28 AM

Yes the rear panels are slightly different in the upper top corners. The sedan rear panel fits up inside the inner part of the quarter panel where as the hatchback has a separate corner piece just above the tail light. The opening for the hatchback is also wider that the bootlid on a sedan. The NOS rear panel I have is to suit a sedan.



#22 Bart

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Posted 15 May 2015 - 10:50 AM

Cool mate.

I have one for a hatch that im about to copy. And hatch lid, and another part.

I think eventually all together we will have a whole car :)


Edited by Bart, 15 May 2015 - 10:52 AM.


#23 Bart

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Posted 15 May 2015 - 10:52 AM

And the great thing is Aussie made not in China



#24 Centurian

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Posted 16 May 2015 - 09:21 PM

This is interesting reading. I see some good work here. I happen to have been doing a similar thing myself, bucket and panel fabrication, though it's not really my thing.

Here are some panel bits and buckets I have done to date.  

 

 

Capture2_zpst9advzdz_1.jpg

Capture1_zpsw2mgzdr6.jpg


Edited by Centurian, 16 May 2015 - 09:27 PM.


#25 Bart

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Posted 16 May 2015 - 09:51 PM

^ NICE :)




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