276 replies to this topic

[slar]

Hey Sam long time no hear.......any progress mate.

[SmacT]

Hi Al, yes, been progress, but I did give it a break for a bit. I stopped enjoying it, and no one does good work when it's like that. Back on track and update soon.

You may have seen the car in the latest Unique Cars - I know the editor so he asked for a balls and all account of what building a car takes, and he got it! Ha ha.

Funnily enough, I gave the panel work a miss for a bit - it was shitting me - and started the wiring instead. FFS, I don't know which sux more...

[axistr]

Sam wiring it all is the fun bit, testing and seeing all the circuits working when its all finished is satisfying, especially when the battery is finally connected and no fuses pop or smoke appears.  

[slar]

Yeh I know what your saying Sam....its a long hard slog restoring cars but well worth it in the end...keep at it your making progress.

[SmacT]

Thanks fellas. I actually draw alot of satisfaction from both when it works - and the engine wiring was sorted a while ago - but the wiring for the chassis is all over the place. I went through and identified most wires on the weekend, but still not sure what one lot does and can't find it on my wiring diagram. I suspect it's for something non-standard.

 

I bought some trailer cable (7-core) to extend wiring, etc, so have done most of the hard bit, I just have to connect it all up now.

 

I'll stick it up later as I am sure someone here will know.

 

Should have the sills finished this week, have ordered my lower door replacement panel, too and getting there. Just needed some deep breaths... :-) 

[SmacT]

Nearly Xmas 2105, and still no finished Torana BUT it’s still going along at a pace. Just not a very fast one...

 

Repairs to guards (files finished some dents from where I knocked it off the car with my shorts a while ago), nose cone (welded up badge holes and some minor repairs) are now done. You can see how tiny my shed is, had to push the car outside to do a few panels...

 

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The last big panel job was the near-side front door. Thing was a mess, but with file finishing of the metal (check out this short video here – see if you can spot when Hammo farted), a lower replacement panel from Rust a Part on eBay, the removal of all rust and epotech applied, as well as a generous skim coat, it was almost ready to hang and gap for poly over the entire car.

 

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Instead, I stripped the back of the corners, which were already “done”, to find filler sitting in rust holes… It didn’t take long to fix and treat, now I just need to strip the back of the door, then epotech it and on it goes.

 

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Next is to either gap the last panels and poly the entire car OR pull the engine and box, complete the little bit of dummy wiring required, then epotech the bay. I think the latter.

 

So, the longest effin’ build in the world is continuing at a pace, just not a very fast one.

[slar]

Good on you Sam....still slogging away.....same with me.....its all down hill once the body and panels are prepped....well done

[SmacT]

Thanks Al. Your definition of "slogging away" and mine differ a little, but yes... :-) Hanging for your next update. Can you or anyone else tell me what size bolts they used for the bonnet scoop. I want to go a size or two smaller than the flare bolts (not the A9X original screw kit from Rares, I want stainless allen cap bolts), but wondering what everyone else used?

[slar]

Yep im using dome head stainless cap screws with a stainless washer underneath and nylock nuts and washers on the back....dome heads are nice and smooth and polish up like chrome.

[SmacT]

Christ this is dragging on... 

 

Following the door repair, we fitted the door and realised why you should finish the door edge ON the car... We stuffed it. So a bead of weld on the door edge, fitted the door, ground the edge, some filler to finish, and now it's actually done. There were some little things to fix on the nose cone, too.

 

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I had then found a problem with the guard - a big crack that was too hard to fix properly. So I bought another one, stripped to metal, welded up the old flare holes and re-drilled new ones, file finished and finally epoteced. It was the straightest panel I had to deal with, so it went well.

 

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Kids, business and life has been taking priority lately, but finally all the big panel work is done (I seem to remember saying that before). I now need to finish the flare work.

 

How have people prepped their fibreglass flares after fibreglassing to clear wheels etc? Is standard filler ok for the small imperfections, or should I use fibreglass filler? And is epotech ok for the finished flares/spoilers? Hopefully this next section doesn't take 12 months...

 

 

 

[myss427]

Glass in areas for strength, bog for show.

[SmacT]

Actually spent some time on the car today, blocking back the Epotec - two guide coat's worth of blocking with 180 and it's starting to look straight. It's getting polyester next, though I have the roof and front panels to do yet. The Epotec blocks so nicely, much faster than I thought it would be.

 

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Got a weird problem (as usual) though. The flares are in the same spot, the front guards are gapped and all lovely. However... The passenger side wheel is clearing the front of the flare, and I have cut the rear, ready to glass up, for clearance. Seems good.

 

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The driver side wheel, however, is tagging the front of the flare and doesn't need much cutting, if any, to clear the rear of the flare. It all points to the crossmember not being in straight (it has new everything, bushes, etc), however I thought there isn't much movement in that area. It seems the passenger side wheel is an inch or two further back than the driver side. Any ideas?

 

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Anyway, today was a big step forward, feels good!

 

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[Ice]

Keep going Sam it all takes time bud and lots of it

[SmacT]

It really does, doesn't it... I had planned to build a stunt bike before a car - probably should have! Ha ha. Thanks Gene.

[76lxhatch]

Start measuring. Do a rough static alignment so you can compare the left to the right and decide which one is not where you want it for starters. It may just be a matter of altering the shim stacks to get the caster (being careful not to upset camber) even, its not uncommon for things to be a little out of whack and need a shim or two different from side to side.

Beyond that sometimes the top arms get bent when bushings are replaced, they can generally be bent back safely (bottle jack from the firewall is good for moving them forward, obviously something different required to move them back).

There may also be a little movement available in the final positioning of the subframe too.

It will all come out in the wash, looking good.

[Bigfella237]

The upright part of the K-frames tend to twist over time too, especially with repeated hard-braking events, this tends to remove positive caster (or add negative caster as the case may be).

 

In any event, don't change anything until you find out where the problem is, it's pointless modifying a flare if the problem is gonna change with a wheel alignment for example!

[slar]

Had a similar problem with mine Sam.....I set the flares up while the original K frame was still in the car and hadn't been touched yet so I assume the caster and camber was relatively close to where it should be.

I then removed the k frame and overhauled the lot...put it back together and stored it away while the car was on the rotisserie.....got the body finished and painted and installed the flares... all good until the engine install......lifted the car over the engine and k frame and dropped the body on and bolted it all up.......chucked the wheels on and all of a sudden the wheels where hitting the flares just like yours.

The problem was during the k frame overhaul the new bushes and the fact that I didn't take note of the shim positions, tie rod positions so all added up to very bad alignment.....caster was extremely bad so after a few adjustments and a wheel alignment the wheels moved back to there original position and problem solved....it had me worried for a while but after thinking about it I realized what I had done.

[SmacT]

Thanks Al - I actually measured everything and it turned out it was the flare that was out, it's fixed now, I had to move the flare forward 1.5cm. I answered on another thread, I should have updated here, too. It was a pain, literally, because I was holding a piece of brass behind the hole I was welding up and somehow ended up with burning hot mig wire right through my finger! In one side, out the other. How does that even happen? It cauterised it, so didn't bleed. Bit weird... First time I've hurt myself on the car, I'm pretty careful, but yeah...

 

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Anyway, flare on right now, so time to cut. Once I have fibreglassed up the cuts, I am just going to fill some small imperfections with fibreglass bog, but then what? I only have epotech, not primer, should I just hit the fibreglass with that? Or use ReFace polyester? I don't have a gun for the latter, but have a panel beater mate who could lay it on for me, then re-fit the kit to stop it drying out of shape.

 

Also, in the second pic, you can see the front of the spoiler sits out from the nose cone, rather than flush - the rest is fine - I was thinking of taking out a slice to allow it to sit neatly. Any other ideas, sing out!

[axistr]

keep going Sam is all a big learning curve to try our patience, don't let the car win and get the better of you. when its all done its the satisfaction of knowing you have done your best and learnt lots of new skills along the way. The pure driving experience in the end will all be worth while.

[SmacT]

Thanks Lenny, I'm actually as keen as ever! Just have to stop welding my own finger and I'll be there... Need to keep reminding myself it starts and runs, etc. It really isn't too many man-hours and frock-ups away. :-)

[grumpy xu1]

If the front spoiler was sitting 4mm to far forward & you make the 2 holes into the flair & spoiler about 2mm bigger i think you'd take out the gap mate + you'd be cutting more of the back edge where it goes over the flares anyway ! Gary.

[grumpy xu1]

Sorry i forgot to mention either use the epotec or the polyester on the flares, if there in good shape just use the epotec & then hi build mate, Gary.

[SmacT]

Thanks for the encouragement fellas.

Thanks for the advice on the flares too, grumpy. Epoteced now, I'll let them dry for a few hours then re-fit so they stay in shape as they totally dry.

Unfortunately the passenger side door has some issues, so not sure what to do there. Thinking of starting again. Sigh. Nose cone got blocked back though and it's perfect, so that's great. Two steps forward, one step back as usual. :-)

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[grumpy xu1]

Welding your own finger "prothstetic hand" mate ???????