Art's FC build

[DJ]

Great photos, they bring up the detail brilliantly.
Sad shot of the rust; enough to make anyone feel depressed initially.
Not local to you so can't take you up on the offer to visit, beer & look/talk.
It's a good plan and you'll find locals here with plenty of experience to lift the spirits.
Will keep watching to see which way you go from here.

[Longman]

Time for an update. I've been mad at it stripping paint, rust and filler. My budget is a bit prohibitive and precludes getting the thing blasted unfortunately. All I can say is I envy those of you who could afford it. It's laborious and dirty work, but that said, it is quite cathartic and relaxing. So far, firewall, dash, and all the drivers side and rear panel below the boot are done. Thank goodness for Smith & Arrow poly strip disks is all I can say, makes the job a whole lot easier.

[Longman]

Rear quarter. First pic shows the pool of filler.



This shot is underneath. Given how good the drivers sill was compared to the passenger, looking at this damage, and the poor repairs on the B pillar, I'm guessing this car was t-boned at some stage.

[Longman]

She's slowly coming clean and giving up her secrets.

[Longman]

As usual, the cowl vent area is cactus. I intend on removing the vent anyway so not too concerned.

[Longman]

Rear valance area is surprisingly rust free. That said, it's about as straight as Liberace. 8mm bog in some areas, will make good use of my hammer and dolly kit here.



Anyone got any ideas on what made these crimp marks?  They were just bogged over.

[Longman]

Whilst awaiting arrival of a new batch of poly disks, I got stuck into the front crossmember, came up nice. From the looks, it has original 308 mounts from a HQ or Torana, and has front mounted Torana R&P steering. I plan on a test fit eventually before deciding whether or not I go with this setup or not. I got the front end in a trade, came with HQ dropped stubs and disk brakes. I have new stubs for VS brakes to go on it.  Getting the ball joints out was a fun job (NOT), ruined my right elbow for days from all the hammering! You might also notice in the background an early Commodore 10-bolt diff, got it in the same trade, already shortened and ready to go. Was a good trade, included a chassis kit as well.

[Old_Mt_Isa_Boy]

Good stuff Art. Might be slower by hand but I think a better result.

Regards

Wayne b

[Longman]

I didn't bank on so much bog, it took me the entire day yesterday cleaning the dust off everything in the garage! Lots of tarps from now on.

[mcl1959]

I think the marks at the back are from a body jig. Probably used to straighten the car after the T bone

Ken

[FireKraka]

Hi Longman
Not sure what you must of traded mate but I'd say you came out of it pretty well.
Regards
Neil H

[NES304]

Good stuff mate. Moving along now

[hsv-001]

Looks like your going real well with this build . Do you mind if I give you a few ideas . I don't get too involved with this anymore ,but it looks like you know what your doing so ,here goes . When I was doing front mounted racks ,I would gusset and squash the outrigger [pie cut up either side ] .This allows the rack to be placed over the outrigger .It needs about 60mm . Then I would make  slotted brackets to hold the mounting bolts by the heads .This means the rack now moves up or down for alignment .  Then I would remount the sway bar and link rods forward . This means turning the sway bar to sub frame mounting brackets around . It means filling that ugly cut out in the outrigger before you start but the outcome is well worth the extra effort . Yeah , what I am talking about is the old Rods Racks and Suspension front end . If you P.M. me I can run you through the details .Haydn

[Longman]

Thanks Haydn, PM sent.

[Longman]

The work progresses slowly, but surely.

[Longman]

Finally had a chance to finish the front rotisserie mounts. Gotta do the back now.

[Longman]

Hi Longman
Not sure what you must of traded mate but I'd say you came out of it pretty well.
Regards
Neil H

Hi Neil, was a fair trade in my opinion. I swapped a HR front with red motor mounts and Torana disk brakes and a 3.36 Banjo LSD drum brake rear.

[FireKraka]

Hi Longman
like I said mate I think you came out in front, having your diff already narrowed will save you time and money when you get around to that point.

Can I ask, what is the primer you are using after you have stripped the paint?

Regards
Neil H

[Longman]

Hi Longman
like I said mate I think you came out in front, having your diff already narrowed will save you time and money when you get around to that point.

Can I ask, what is the primer you are using after you have stripped the paint?

Regards
Neil H

Hi Neil. An old skool panelbeater put me onto Dy-Mark rust reformer. $10.95 for a spray can from Bunnings. Excellent coverage. It has rust converter built in so it chemically converts any leftover rust and stops new rust forming. It can be primed over, painted over or left as is. I'm very happy with it. Once stripping is done, I will spray the shell in epoxy primer.

[Longman]

Update time. I finally got the rotisserie mounts done and the shell mounted. A good mate combined welding lessons for me with the mounts as a project. It may not be pretty, but its solid and spins/wheels very easily. I'm stoked with the results of my first real stress welds.





Now, can anyone spot the difference in this pic