G'day All
Just an update on where the rebuild is at, on Stiffy's prompt.
I can say bits of the car are all over the place at present. I'd stripped the car down to allow the boys to work on it and am now slowly reassembling.
Marty did a great job straightening out the chassis on what only seemed (and looked) mildly bent bits at first but which needed a bit more tweaking than first thought.
Marty added his own form of radiator frame and modded the seat belt anchor locations to allow me to relocate the belt retractors into the boot. He also added a fourth roll bar point for the missus's bar and third leg points. I thought his mods. very well thought out given the space restrictions.
The first pic. shows the sandblasted chassis and new radiator mounting bracket out front.
The second pic. is the modified seatbelt attachment tower. The cross pieces at the top are Martin's addition to allow the reels to mount below and allow the belts to roll over the frame and into the cabin. The cross pieces at the top also provide the bolting location for the inside leg of the roll bar.
I used Por15 and only brushed it on. Finish isn't bad though I perhaps wish I had some spray painting skills. It would have made the application easier and quicker, however it is done now. As shown below.
And I also had all my suspension bits blasted and have given them a Por15 coat. These have come up well.
Am belatedly getting the springs blasted too as I found they had developed rust spots beneath the paint coating. Will cheat with epoxy style spray packs on these.
So the rebuilt engine is with Don S. being finalised and just with RPM heads for the moment. I have ordered a TKO600 to replace the buggered T5 I had. The previous owner must have been a drag king, as the gearbox was totalled. And I have my diff being checked as well.
Seems I'll have a new old car painted care of Greg and I'll approach all roundabouts with far more circumspect in the future.
Cheers