FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

At last, after 3 years, I found my FC under the dust and accumulated rubbish in the garage and after a quick dust off, out came the wet and dry paper to get the body ready for paint.......

Aiming for the Perth Nationals, so fingers crossed.

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Unfiortunately I have lost all the pics of the work done prior to starting again, but it has been a bare shell rebuild.
Will get some detail on the car here soon.

Cheers, Graeme

Good luck with it Graham  The dash looks real neat   Keep the pics comin   Dave

Thanks Dave.  The dash was made up of 2 fc dashes and fitted with the VL commode instruments. 

Car is now running all VL running gear - motor, auto, diff, loom, steering colomn (although might change back to an early column), 60 litre stainless tank.

The wagon belonged to my grandfather who bought it when it was 6 months old in early 1960.  I inherited the car when he died in 1987 and it was my daily driver until I started the rebuild in 2006.  Unfortunately I got crook (depression) during 2008 and have done nothing on the car until a couple of weeks ago......

Will certainly keep the pics coming as progress is being made - only took the above pics tonite.  Will get some better ones in daylight at the weekend.

Cheers, Graeme

yes the dash does look real good.
keep up the great work.... ;)

Still cant find all the photo's of the build, so here is a brief run down on what has been done.

What started off as a relatively quick strip down and tidy up has turned into a bare body, front frame off rebuild.  Usual rust sposts in the front subframe all repaired with fabricated pieces, radiator support cut and shut to suit VL radiator had a couple of inches out of the height and an extra core installed for compensate.  Sills were suffed, so had a local firm roll some new ones aned cleaned up the inner sills (still in excellent shape) and welded new outers in. A trip to CRS to get engine mounts, sump and trans tunnel.  Rear floor pans replaced, front were done 15 years ago and are still excellent.  Welded new tunnel in and trial fitted VL motor and box - all fitted perfectly first go.  Made up some brackets for the radiator, plugged everything in and bugger me it started first time.

Pulled it to bits again, finished off underneath with sound deadener, paint etc, put the reco'd and reset rear springs in, rebuilt the HR front end included HZ discs/calipers, bolted the narrowed VL diff in then back on 4 wheels.  Motor, box, new tailshaft bolted up, plugged some wires in and a quick drive around the block with no doors, guards, bonnet, glass etc but it was nice to drive it again after 2 years off the road....  Had a mate roll up some door patch panels, welded them in place, fitted them to check door gaps etc and they were all good.

Then I got sick and lost interest in everything - not a good time for a few years, but happily back into it now and hopefully on the road for Perth.

Doors are at the blasters being cleaned up and etched, am about 2/3rd's of the way thru wet rubbing the body ready for some minor repairs, putty, rubbing, more putty, more rubbing, paint then even more rubbing......

Will post pics later when I can get the beast outside for better pics.

Nice car
 glad to hear you are all better (i had a similar situation for a few years)

And another RB powered FC on the road.

Keep the pics rolling.
Did you have any old pics on this forum if so there are a few photo hoarders that might be able to drag them back up for you.


Pete

Thanks Pete, still not 100% but can recognise the signs when things are going sideways now and can deal with it.

Thanks also for comment on the car - I love it.  :)

Yours is a very impressive piece of machinery, and look forward to seeing it in the flesh one day.

I didnt have any pics on the site, had them stored on pc for uploading and now cant find them.  I must have them on disc somewhere.

Graeme

Goodonya, JOX
Love the dash!  8) 8) 8)
That's shaping up to be one cool wagon
More info, more pics please...

cheers, jack

No worries Jack, more pics at the weekend and more info once i post the pics  :)

With your speedo i went to all the same dramas to fit the VL guts behind the original facia and after years of the odometer not lining up properlly only just a little i found out that running a manual box you dont need the speed sensor signal.
But now im running the RB26 and a powerglide i will use the original speedo for it.


Pete

Doors back from the blasters - clean and primed and bugger all beating/bog work required :)

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more pics over the weekend.....

Well Graeme good to see you back with us. Those doors looks good. Hope all goes well now that your underway again. ;)


Regards

Wayne b

Cheers Wayne.  It is good to be almost normal again, and really good to be back in the garage with the FC.  I really miss not being able drive it, late model cars are nice too drive but ohhhh sooooo boring.....

Doors are pretty good, little bit of mud work to finish them off,


Graeme

Doors look great!!.
You are setting the path for others, can see where I am heading next!

Glad to hear your getting well.  ;D

Cheers

John

Hey Graeme,
Looks really good. Glad to hear that you are doing well. Love the dash 8)
Are You going to keep the original colours? Looks very straight!
Nick

Thanks again guys for your comments, much appreciated.

Nick, I was contemplating a color change but have decided to stick with original colors. Wont have to change the interior trim then, apart from trying to find a similar original material to cover the bucket seats with.  Could be in trouble there I think........

John, the doors came up a treat and will only need minor work with the mud pack to finish them off.....

Cheers, Graeme

Graeme, just keep ploding away, you will get there in the end. The trim should,nt be much of a problem,most trimmers can get almost anything.If in doubt talk to stinky thats what he does for a living. Look forward to more progress shots.
Regards Jim

Time for a long overdue update.......

There are not enough hours in the day anymore, so progress has been slow.  Half the fun of building a car is doing it yourself rather than paying someone to do it, but man, is it time consuming......

Anyway, i have board filed everything, put the first coat of putty on, and am ready to start filing it off again.  Doors needed a bit more work that I first thought tho.....

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Board (bored!!!) filing has got to be the most over rated past time in existence lol.  I have been using the AFS boards - remove the rods one at a time to get more flex in the board for the curved panels.  They certainly make life a bit easier.

Still trying to decide on a color combo tho.....

Cheers, Graeme

Shes looking good.

Rubbing back is like painting a house i really really hate it . A whole car anway. ;D


i use Durablock when i do have to rub back stuff really nice blocks up to 1mtr long.

Colours are so hard to decide always like the stock colours not a huge metallic fan
Blues are always popular but pretty common same with two tone green lots of them around.

I always wondered what cream front and a taxi yellowy orange colour for the flash would look like something different ..
Keep the pics coming.

Any dramas getting the RB going give me a yell i still have my full conversion here that i use to run.
Pete

G'day Pete,

Two tone grey is winning the battle at this stage.

Definitely no metallic paint or fancy colors - they look great on a hot rod or full on custom but not a "stocky"....

Thanks for the offer of help with the RB to, much appreciated.

I really like my grey and cream there was a full resto wagon on here last year looked great.
Indian ivory and volcanic grey.

Long overdue for an update....

Body and all panels prepped ready for paint, car starts, drives (really well) and stops, lights, indicators, hazards, wipers, heater and stereo all working. 


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Now back to the garage to continue sorting out all the bits and pieces that came off the wagon and cleaning them, polishing them, making sure I have all the nuts, bolts and screws, chasing up what is missing, etc etc etc

Going to tight for the nats, but JOX515 will be there....

Cheers, Graeme

The little time consuming fiddly things...

Are they rally wheels or Volvo wheels? I'm guessing rally wheels because of the centre caps? They look cool regardless.

Cheers,

Josh.

Very time consuming little things  :)

The wheels are 15 x 7 Chev rally wheels with the corvette caps.

G'day Graeme, good to see another RB30 wagon coming together, I know what you mean re the depression bit, it can be a hard monkey to get off your back, one day at a time is all we can do.  :) :)
   Pedro

Thanks for the kind words Pedro, I have my bad days still but overall feeling ok.  Looking forward to getting the wagon on the road.....

I love your wagon and if mine comes up half as nice as yours I will be very very happy.  Will get some more pics up soon.

Cheers, Graeme

Note to self - take bloody camera when visiting painter......

Body is now all prepped ready for paint, should have it back by the 15th.

Now to start the jigsaw puzzle in the garage - part a gets attached to part b with bolt z  lol

The wagon will be at the nats :-)

Looking forward to seeing the wagon

Cheers Craig D

Yeeha, back from the painters........


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I have 23 days to get it all back together for a week of shakedown / debugging then off to the nats on the 17th.

Let the fun begin....   :)

Whoa!

There is nothing like a deadline to concentrate the  mind.  Good luck - I'll be looking over your car in Hobart in one month's time.

Cheers
David

And I will be looking forward to driving it there and showing it off.  Am as happy as a dog with 2 dicks at the moment  ;D ;D ;D

That's awesome mate!!! Hope it all goes back together smoothly for you.

Cheers
JB

Now why do I have 5 left over screws ???

They must belong to the wife's car NES  ;D ;)

Only the bonnet to collect from the painters.....


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Might have a door rubber nite tonite - fit and glue the inners and trial fit the outers, wax pencil marks to line up to, then glue bit by bit.

And might do bling on the rear quarters.  Still looking for 2 Station Sedan badges

Cheers, Graeme

Just noticed the dash, how are you going to the switches and ignition ?
Jim

G'day Jim,

Am running a commodore column, so everything bar wipers is on the column.  Wipers have their own switch just to the right of the instrument panel.  After the nats, I will be putting in another column with everything on it, including wipers and cruise control.

Cheers, Graeme

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   Pedro

Nice work,love that dash.We've seen a lot of variations but not that one.Cheers,Jamie.

Coming from you Jamie, that's one hell of a compliment cos your black beauty is magnificent.

More progress over the weekend - bonnet on and only minor adjustment once guards are fitted permanently, door rubbers fitted (very time consuming) and a little bit of the bling.


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Also got a start on the sound proofing as well and some other fiddly jobs.

Arvo shift this week, so will do doing a few hours each morning and hour or so after work (8.30pm finish), then back into it on the weekend.

Penners (Matt) from this site is calling over Monday / Tuesday to help with a couple of wiring issues (I cant solder to save my life)...

Cheers, Graeme

And a very big thanks to Penners for giving up a few hours of his break between swings to help me out with wiring stuff.

Very much appreciated Matt and hope I can do the same for you one day soon.

Cheers, Graeme

Initial fitting of the roof lining.....


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Wrinkles, wrinkles and more wrinkle, but at least they are coming out with stretching....

Well, back to it and fingers crossed I don't stuff it up.

Good luck JOX,

If it turns out okay for you, fancy getting me a hand when you come down?  ;)

Cheers,

Josh.

*giving me a hand, I mean.

Would love to give you a hand Josh.  Will see you in Tassie  ;D

Done! I'll hold you to it  ;)

Well, I have sooked out on the roof lining.  Too nervous about all the stretching and trimming and so on.  Will chase a trimmer and see if they will come and finish it......

But the weekend wasn't a total loss.  Got heaps of bits and pieces sorted out, cleaned and ready to install, finished the wiring of the thermo fan, got most of the underlay fitted (ran out.....) and semi attached the rear bumper just so I could see number plates on it again :)


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I really tried to talk myself into finishing the roof lining, honest, but just too nervous about buggering it up....

Cheers, Graeme

Slowly slowly, Graeme.

I always tell myself that any work, regardless of how small it is it how little I do, is a step towards completion.

Josh.

Hi Graeme,
I recently fitted a wagon roof lining and agree that it is quite a task.

It took me about 20 hours to get it to where I was happy. Stinky supplied it based on his template which was not a perfect match for mine, as a result I had to relocate a couple of hoops at the ends. I believe you sent your old one for Stinky to use as a pattern so should be a reasonable fit?

I used a large quantity of bulldog clips to hold it all in place and a hair drier to help stretch the lining to remove wrinkles before hooking it into the teeth. Just watch the stitching to see how it is stretching to see how much tension you can apply. The material that Stinky made mine from was excellent, heavy enough to take a lot of stretching but light enough not to hold wrinkles much.

Having said that, I probably would not try it again...

Cheers,
Trevor_B

G'day Trevor,

Thanks for that info, much appreciated. 

The lining fits up ok, I am just very nervous about stretching, cutting and shutting the thing.  Will have another play tonite and see how I go.  More bulldog clips could be the way to go too :)

I guess I am being over cautious.....

Cheers, Graeme

Heat is your friend with roof-linings, but not too much! Outside in the sun, a warm garage or a hairdryer for localised heat. Avoid heat guns if you can as you can burn through very quickly, if the vinyl is too hot to touch then you are doing it wrong.
Another gotcha that I discovered is over rusted  or sticky hood bows, make sure they are clean so that the sleeves in the roof lining can slide easily this will help get the wrinkles out much more easily.

G'day stinky,

Many apologies for getting the rood lining locally, but when you mentioned in one of your posts that you had an offer too good to pass up, I didn't want to annoy you.  I have got a friend of a friend who is a trimmer coming over Thursday evening to finish it off for me.  He had a look on Monday nite and gave me a little list of things to do for him (straighten all the teeth, etc) and reckons he will have it done in a couple of hours.

Means I can keep going on other things as the nats are getting closer and closer.......

Cheers, Graeme

Yeehaa, JOX515 has a wrinkle free roof lining  ;D


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Glass tomorrow I hope......

Thumbs up!! :)

Did you have your trimmer mate do it, or did you decide to have another attempt?

Cheers,

Josh

G'day Josh, nah I got my trimmer mate to do it but I gave him a hand with some of it.  I never would have got that done on my own in a reasonable time frame. 

That's my assessment too. I've got a trimmer mate coming to put my rooflining in next weekend. As much as I am keen to give him a hand, my projected skill level and actual abilities just don't line up with each other in this situation.

Neat job, by the way!

Thanks Josh, I reckon it came out really neat too.

Well JOX now has carpet, just a couple of little bits to finish then I can put the heater, glove box and wiring back in place.  Apologies for the quality of the pics....


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If all goes well, will have new screen and cargo area glass installed Tuesday, interior finished  and doors on Wed/Thurs/Friday, new tyres fitted Friday, then start test driving and fixing any issues over the weekend.....

Cheers, Graeme

Geting close now......

Interior nearly finished, windscreen and cargo area glass in, tailgates on, doors almost gapped and ready......


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Couple of days off work now to finish it and Tassie here we come  :)

Big week Graeme, looks good.

Is looking great!!

Thanks guys, but unfortunately it will not be done for the nationals  :(

Despite my best efforts, time has beaten me, so will not be going to the nats now.  At least I can concentrate on making sure everything is right and the way I want it rather than thrown together to get to Tassie.

More photo's  to come once I can get my energy back to keep going.......

Cheers, Graeme

Oh Graeme, what a bummer. So near, yet so far. I was really looking forward to checking out your car, it's looking fantastic.

I guess we'll see you at the Nat's in 2 years?

Cheers,
Graham

You certainly will see me at the nats in 2016 and hopefully before that...... :)

Can anyone tell me which way the cowl vent seal fit - I am beggared if I can get mine to fit properly.  Its a rare spares seal if that makes a difference.

Cheers, Graeme

The flap goes up and all those little lines go to the glue side.
Have you removed cowl vent or are you trying to fit without removing.

G'day Pete, Cowl vent is out. So the side with all the little lines get glued to the vent or body?  Sorry to seem like a dumbass, but I cant seem to make sense of it....

Cheers, Graeme

I think all is good Pete.  Was trying to fit the seal upside down  :D  Will try again in the morning.....

Cheers, Graeme

Easier to ask than bugger it.
Glues to the body not the vent.
Check rubber drain pipes still there and not cracked.

Talk about having a blonde moment.... Trying to fit the thing upside down........ LOL

Anyway, thanks Pete for not laughing toooo loud and yes, the rubber drain pipe is new.

Cheers, Graeme

Just a few more pics for an update.  Work is definitely interfering with getting the wagon finished.....

Lots of small fiddly jobs done, interior almost complete, new tyres fitted, new HZ rotors fitted, under dash wiring cleaned up, trial fit of the grill etc etc


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At last there is light at the end of tunnel.......

Cheers, Graeme

Nice work Graeme,my cars been sitting in the shed,had it painted 11yrs ago and finally getting into it,i fitted the cowl vent rubber ok,but for some strange f@#*^g reason,the cowl won't go back in.Anyway more JD's should do the trick lol,keep those pic's com'n,look'n good, Gaz! 8)

JD's worked with my cowl vent too fink  ;D and lots of swear words.......

Looking good Graeme, nice colour scheme, the vents will just slip in to place but you have to get them in exactly the right position first, and hold your can on the right angle lol.
   Pedro

Given where I am up to with my wagon, this will seem like a pretty stupid question.... 

Is there a difference between wagon front doors and sedan front doors?

Reason I ask is that I seem to have gaps where I thought there would be no gaps, in particular the top of the inner door frame.  At the B pillar side at the top there is a huge gap but when looking from the outside, the gaps are not too bad.

Cheers, Graeme

Please ignore that last post - I really have to stop doing things late at nite when the lighting is not so good in my shed and I am half asleep.........  :D

So did you get the ute doors to fit then?

Ute doors???? Are ute doors different.........

Gaps are still not really good, but passable for now. 

Ute doors are curved at the top rear instead of square

Yes I know. That was the joke. Poorly executed somewhat by lack of smiley crazy frustrated emoticons!

LOL nes, my sense of humour deserted me for a while........ cars certainly come apart a lot easier than they go back together

Yeah good one NES.  :D ::)

Hahahahah it's like a dad joke that only dad gets and thinks is hilarious.

hehehehe  I should have known you were taking the piss out of me NES.  As punishment for not laughing straight away I sentence myself to some JD's and will have a couple of extra for you NES

Cheers boys and considered myself sucked in and well and truly got at  ;D ;D ;D

How many? I'll match you at this end

At least you are posting updates... Nes on the other hand has been very slack!!

I'm studying for Approach JB. Next time you fly to WLM....

Just a small update this time....

Guards fitted (not gapped as yet), grill in, indicators fitted.  At last it is looking like a car again.  Might have some clearance issues with the front rims tho, I forgot I did all my trial fitting with low profile tyres (50 series) instead of the 60's I have fitted now.  Have full lock side to side without scraping, but not too sure how it will go on the road.  One way to find out tho - drive it  :)


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Getting close now - go over all the gaps again, fit the front door glass, fit the front bumper, check everything again and DRIVE

Cheers, Graeme

Real good progress Graeme.

Looking good Graeme. I am building a wagon for my son, same colour but the other way around. I love the Chev Rallye wheels on it and the hubcaps. I have a set on the sons car at the moment so that we can move it around, but he doesn't like them. Must get his tastes from his mother! Good luck with the rest of the build.
Ole.

Thanks DJ and Ole.  Can't wait for the first proper drive in it. 

Ole, if you happen to come across any 15 x 6 Rallye wheels for sale let me know cos I think I may be in a bit of trouble with the 15 x 7's on the front. Tell your young bloke that real steel wheels are the way to go, they always look good on old cars.

Cheers, Graeme

Mine are 15 x 7, I'll keep an eye out for you. I was going to have the centres removed for the front wheels and placed in 6" rims. That may still happen if I can convince my son to stick with the steelies.

Getting late, eyes are not focusing properly......

Does anyone have a pic of the front qtr glass rubber fitted to the main bailey channel - I am not sure how the rares fits, but it just doesn't look right.....

Cheers, Graeme

The correct description of that rubber seal is:  FE-FC Quarter Vent Upright Seal

It should be an L shape. The tall part of the L is glued to the bailey channel so that the flap is behind the glass when the quarter vent window is shut. You should be able to glue the strip in and the shut the window so that the window holds it in place till it dries. The rubber should not be distorted by shutting the glass, if it is, the adjustment of the quarter vent or bailey channel is not right.

Ken

G'day Ken,

The seal from rare spares looks nothing like a L shape, more like a T shape.  It just doesn't look right when trial fitted to the upright - not a good fit at all.......

Cheers, Graeme

In here?
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That's the one NES.  And the pair I got from rare spares look nothing like that at all..... 

Might be time for a trip to clark rubber and see what they have got.

Hmmm these are from rares but ten years ago...

Take it back to Rares and ask for help. If you can't get any sense from your representative then I will give you the number of a guy to call at head office in Campbellfield.

Ken

Will do Ken. 

Having some problems with rares lately - delivery sent to the wrong address, ordered set of front indicator lenses and finished up with 2 right hand ones (packaging said left and right tho) and now these seals that don't look or fit anything like they are supposed to.

If your stuck i have 2 full kits here just let me know what you need ill send it and just replace it when you get your bits?


Pete

Thanks for offer Pete, very very much appreciated. 

I had a call from Bob Pyz at Rares and he assures me that the quarter vent upright seal is the correct one but I really have my doubts.  I went down to Clark Rubber here in Ballarat and they had a seal that looks more like the correct fit.  I am going to try and chase a couple of FC owners here and have a look at their seals and go from there.

Cheers and thanks again Pete,
Graeme

ps: if you have any spare time at all, I would love an air intake similar to the one you did for Pedro as I am not overly happy with the look of the standard VL air intake although it does work well.

Im a real fan of the stock intake pipe with a pod filter it looks like its meant to be there..

Yeah, when you look at it like that, the motor does look like it belongs in the car.  Will leave it as is and see if it grows on me  :)

Hi Graeme,

You have a PM. I think I may live close by and may be able to help over the weekend.

Cheers

Rod

Another really stupid question that I cant believe I have to ask......

How do the headlights go back together?  Headlight bucket, headlight, chrome ring over the light and the big chrome bit that attaches to the guard.  For the life of me, a simple job just is just not happening....  HELP  :)

You have not mentioned the metal ring that is at the back of the headlight that the chrome ring is attached to.
Assembly
Sandwich the headlight between the metal ring and the chrome ring. Note the headlight only goes in one way and the chrome ring only goes on one way. Attach the screws.
Make sure the 3 adjuster screws on the bucket are free before screwing the bucket into the guard.
Attach the headlight assembly to the bucket by pushing the metal ring over the adjuster screws and turning.
There is a rubber seal which you may or may not have which is supposed to go on next followed by the outer chrome ring attached to the guard.

Ken

and dont mix bosch and lucas rings as they are totally different..

Been there done that Pete - won't fall for that one again  ;D

Ken, I think the problem is that I don't have the metal ring that is at the back of the headlight - something else that has gone walkabout from my stockpile.....  I have the buckets, inner chrome rings and outer chrome rings.

Cheers, Graeme

Don't know if this is any help Graeme.


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Cheers  Stewy   8)

Stewy, you are a champion.

I appear to missing number 6 in the photo - anyone near Ballarat have a pair of them to suit Lucas lights  :) :) :)

Woohoo - JOX515 has been for its first almost legal cruise around the streets  ;D ;D ;D

Leaky exhaust, haven't found any inner headlight rings yet so no lights, and lots of little adjustments to do, but geez it felt good to drive it again....

Cheers, Graeme

JOX is alive and cruising around the streets.......


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Out the front of supercheap auto in Ballarat....  note the lazy pricks who dumped their macca's on the roadway - there is a rubbish bin about 10 feet away from that car park......

Anyway, like I said the other day, lots of little things to do before it is completely (???) finished but very happy with the way it drives and rides.  Trip to Melbourne in it next week and then home via Geelong which will be around 200k's all up.  Nice little cruise to test the car out.

awesome looks great...

Thanks Pete - that is one hell of a compliment coming from you given the first class work you produce  ;D

Will put up some more detailed shots next week.... Too busy driving to take any more at the moment.

Great job Graeme. It sure looks the part on the street. I think there are alway some little things to do (and we invent some too as time goes on) - does anyone really 'completely finish'?

maybe a turbo upgrade  ;D

Funny you should say that Pete.............   ;) ;D ;D  I just need to make sure that she who must be obeyed at all times without question doesn't tighten the purse strings on me

Thanks Dave  :) and you are right - these things are never really finished......

Back from a couple of days in sunny and warm Perth and get back to Ballarat - cold and wet.  Got the rest of the week off and batching for another 2 weeks, so plenty of FC shed time coming up ;)

No to get stuck into some detail work......

Wheel alignment done - steers much better  ;D  They did suggest I look at a rack set up as the steering box is starting to show signs of age.  I still think it feels OK but it is a little sloppy.

What is general consensus re the fitting of racks......

Cheers, Graeme

The best my car ever drove with the rb30 was with a draglink assembly.
But I went to torana front mount but now have rear mount narrowed commodore.
Everyone seems to be happy with rear mount narrowed commodore.
Sump will be the only problem.
I hear rb30 nissan patrol is close but shouldnt be to hard to fab up.
I would suggest wings out the side of the sump to get more capaacity like a high energy.

Pete, I always thought drag link provided the best steering for these type of cars.  The few I have driven that have racks just don't feel right.... 

Maybe I should invest in a better and/or recoed steering box.

You simply won't do better than a properly fitted [shortened and positioned ]commodore rack .I spent many years doing these conversions and can probably help you with some of the finer points .If you decide to go this way message me . Cheers  Haydn

Thanks Haydn, will give you a yell if I go that way for sure.

Bit more of an update - can't stay out of the car long enough to do much work on it....  ;D

Finally nutted out the vl oil pressure gauge and it is now working a treat - was an earthing issue. 

Washers also working but on a separate on/off button.  Tried a couple of different switches and had either washers and no wipers or wipers and no washers.  Back to the too hard basket for time being on that one.

Still can't work out the fuel gauge tho.  Put a standard FC one back in and that didn't work either.  Wifey bought me a multimeter yesterday, so once I work out how to use it I will tackle it again.

Will also use said meter to work out why the RH indicator flashes fast and the left one normal.  Bloody wiring...... lol

Am changing the handbrake to a HQ item and have only a couple of things to do on it and it will be done as well.

Also trying to fabricate some kick panels which will be a work in progress for a while I think.....

Very happy to say the car drives and rides really well, cruises along the highway without effort, steers well (am still considering a rack and pinion) and am looking forward to getting to some of the FE-FC club runs.  First one will be the auction nite.....

Cheers, Graeme

JOX attending the FE FC Club Auction nite where he met some new friends.....

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and topping up at a servo on the way home....

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Bit more of an update....

As always, no matter how careful we are putting things back together, the new paint always get chipped / scratched, not badly but enough to be annoying.  The really annoying part now is that my painter cannot get the paint made up again as the supplier has changed their computer system and no longer have the old colours available.  I only got my car painted 6 months ago......  The various attempts to get a colour match have been disastrous.......

SO, can anyone steer me towards a paint shop / painter who could match Wangarra Grey and Ascot Grey

Cheers, Graeme

Eastern auto paints are brilliant with the old colours, they should be able to solve your problems.
However matching another colour by formula alone would be tricky- I suspect they would need a sample to eye match to after mixing the colour.

Ken

Have been in contact with Eastern, Ken and while very helpful they also said unlikely to get a match.  I will take the car to them to have a look tho, as they have been recommended by you and others on this site.

Just frustrating that in day and age of computers and technology, something created 6 moths ago is no longer available......

Graeme, I had a similar frustrating experience trying to match paint.
As Ken says, a formula alone is unlikely to work out - for a whole lot of reasons (apart from the obvious) I hadn't considered initially.
Once I found someone highly recommended I left a sample (wheel rim) with them for a while. It was the only way to get a match.

DJ the thing that really bugs me is that the paint was provided by protec less than 6 months ago and was made from a formula not a colour sample from a car.  In this day and age of cheap computer storage etc, I would have thought that the formula would have been saved somewhere......

Just very frustrating......

The colour matches provided so far, taken from a sample from my car, have been bordering on the ridiculous - not even close, yet being passed off as good enough to do the job.

I agree. And they quote - 'The advanced technology of the Protec Colour Software ....'  how disappointing to think nothing is saved.
I was lucky. The batch I had made up has the formula written on the can. While it may not help anyone else, it should ensure the same place can readily provide more to match.

Most panel shops have a machine they place over the paint and it will give them a workable formula, I find it strange that the painter can't eye match the paint. May be an idea to find an older painter as they would be more likely to be able to colour match the car.
Jim

G'day Jim,  finding an older painter is one of my options and there are a few around down here.  My painter is only a young guy just starting out on his own and is a very very good painter / repairer / etc.  He probably just can't afford all the really top line equipment just yet...  He is as frustrated as I am at the moment, despite his best efforts, our local suppliers are letting him down.

I used Allard Paints Distributors in Canberra. They were recommended by other local paint suppliers (true) as being the best & only one to go to for spot on matching locally.
They use a scanner also sometimes to obtain a basis to work from, & then match it by eye. The shop is so full fumes I don't know how they stand it all day, but maybe that's the secret - find someone who's been as high as kite on paint fumes for years.

lol DJ - high as a kite on fumes.  that could describe the whole industry 15 years ago before good ovens, fans etc.

Has anyone tried this place yet???

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/171156890556?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Yes, a spray painter told me once that 2 beers on top of the high octane all day was all he needed to be off his face.
Bad news sucking those toxic fumes. Good to see OH&S regs in place these days.

Have seen similar a Repco. No idea how close the stock is to what you need or if it can be mixed to match well. I think you would have to be very lucky with either place.

JOX515 has been out tarting again, this time at carsncoffee ballarat this morning...


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Looks like this will be a monthly event......

JOX has turned out to be a real tart - seen enjoying himself yet again at the Sandown Historic Races and even get friendly with a couple of late model cars (an ek and an fb)  ;D

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and he even got time for do a couple of laps of the track  ;D ;D ;D


(http://s17.postimg.org/5d0fzgih7/SAM_0177.jpg) ($2) (http://s8.postimg.org/yem8oyggx/SAM_0182.jpg) ($2) (http://s27.postimg.org/dj86ldgfz/SAM_0175.jpg) ($2)
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Many many thanks to all the members who made us feel very welcome - this has got to be the best car club in existence.

Cheers, Graeme

That looks like a good event to be part of.

Was a great day DJ, am looking forward to the historic racing at phillip island in March

Jox was getting along at a fair clip on the track too, I was struggling to get close enough to get a picture. Apparently you can apply filters to your pictures. I didn't know that I wasn't looking at the phone.


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Yeah I must admit I enjoyed pushing JOX a bit on the track  :) I will grow some balls next time and give it a real work out.........

Thanks for posting the picks, they came out much better than mine.

Cheers, Graeme

Hey jox I'm not sure if you know Paul curry from Darby paints in ballarat but he looks after me and my panel shop in warracknabeal and to date has not let me down on a colour match, tell him Frankie sent you cheers.

G'day Frankie,

Yeah I had taken a panel to Darby's but due to them being busy, staffing problems, etc, etc after a week and half they hadn't attempted the colour match, so I took the panel home again.

A mate from work has now taken the panel to an old school painter who is missing up a match for me.....

Cheers, Graeme

Am really getting worried about JOX now - he is hanging with late model cars far too often.....  :)

On the way back from Drysdale yesterday and stopped for a drinks break at Inverleigh


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Need a thumbs up symbol!  ;D

(http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk227/Pedrosme/images%202.jpg) ($2)

Looks great Jox the grey colour scheme really goes well on a wagon.

G'day Pedro, great to hear from you again and really great to hear that life is all good again for you.  You will love the trip to pommy land, my daughter can't wait to go back.  And a wedding too, congratulations mate.  Thanks for your comments on my car, I can't stop driving the bloody thing.  Really glad I went with the RB30 - no problems at all with it.  Hope to catch up with you at the Toowoomba Nats.  Cheers, Graeme

Another great trip with the boys and girls from the Vic club to Philip Island........


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Thanks once again to Derrick, Tony, Joe, Shuffles, Jayne and the list goes on for a great weekend of racing and fun.

JOX won a prize  ;D


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I think JOX was the only entrant in that class tho..............  ;)

Good for you Graeme. Congratulations.

Awesome well done..

Awesome Graeme ..  Your wagon is a beauty and does well deserve a prize.  ;D

What class!!!??

All class!

Best Pre 70's vehicle Marc  :)

Engineering went well today, have a list of 15 things to do, mostly small easy fix, maintenance items.

The major ones:
- Will have to do a trip to Hoppers to get a smaller brake booster (clearance issue) and master with outlets facing the inner guard instead of the engine and redo the
  front brake lines (clearance issue),
- Fit seatbelts to the rear - retractable lap sash left and right and lap belt for the middle (could be a biggish job),
- Raise the front (or lower the stabilizer bar) as the stabilizer bar too close to harmonic balancer (clearance issue) - anyone got any lowered springs for sale???

Once done, get a RWC and take it back for sign off  :)

Good solution

Regards

Wayne b

Good news Graeme.

Great news Graeme,  Just hope this is not a step closure to you selling the car..... :(

So do I.....