435 replies to this topic

[derrin71]

Made the exhaust up to the diff today.
2 1/2" pipes in stainless.
The cats are Magnaflow.
The mufflers are Dynomax VT. They have a flapper valve in them so at low throttle they are nice and quiet and whey you give it a bootfull they open up and really roar.
They work similar to the variable mufflers fitted to HSV GTS's although they are electronically controlled on the HSV's.
I will do the tailpipes when i get the final ride height sorted. After that i will pull the whole system off and paint it.

[Mort]

Derrin, did you make the exhaust yourself or have it made.

[derrin71]

Made the exhaust myself. I used to work at an exhaust shop in the early 90's.
I bought the parts online from best mufflers.com.au, good prices.

[derrin71]

Sorted out my front end ride height. Turns out the front springs weren't seated in the k-frame properly. So after a lot of mucking around making spring compressors etc. i solved the issue.



Looks better than this!



Should settle down with some more weight in the car.
Have been knocking off a few of the annoying little jobs like bleeding the brakes properly, bleeding the clutch, small water leaks and prepping some parts to be painted when we do the stripes etc.

[derrin71]

Fitted the bonnet today. Or should i say Dad fitted it and i helped!!!
They are a nightmare to line up properly.





Also fitted the small covers i made for the back of the headlights which hide all of the wiring and junk.



My interior started to arrive today as well. Boomfunk is doing it for me and i am rapt with the stuff i have received so far.



I also got the carpets, hood lining and door and pillar vinyls so i can start on the interior as soon as the paint is complete.
Dad wants to rub the green down with wet 1200 sandpaper, put the stripes on then clear over the whole lot.

Edited by derrin71, 18 June 2012 - 06:32 PM.

[derrin71]

Thanks mate, really happy with how it's coming along.
The car was originally mint julep with chamois interior so at least something on it will be original.

[Rob2408]

Any updates for us Derrin?

[derrin71]

Nothing worthy of a photo to update.
I have been knocking over a heap of the fiddly jobs while waiting for the paint to be finished.
Dad has been sick the last couple of weeks. Should right for this weekend.-

[Tyre biter]

Looking good Derrin.
Those covers of the headlight buckets are really clever esp. given the clean bay.
When are the stripes going on? Hanging out for your reveal on that front.
Cheers, TB

[derrin71]

Working on prepping for the stripes today.
Hopefully have them done soon.

[derrin71]

More paint progress.
Yesterday we wet rubbed the green with 1200 which is why the colour looks a little flat in the photo.
Then this morning we masked up for the stripes (an painfull and tedious job!!)
And then painted the stripes!



I know i'm not the first one to put SLR style stripes on a hatchback but i've done something a little different by doing them the same gunmetal colour as the wheels.
We also painted some other parts which had to be gunmetal as well.




We need to clear over the whole car now as the silver stripes are COB (clear over base) so we thought we would clear the whole thing which looks really nice when you can't feel the edge of the stripes.
Should get that done next Saturday.
In the meantime i have installed the stereo and shifter boot to stop mud and crud comming through the hole in the floor and i have started to install the dash.

[Tyre biter]

That's a new look Derrin - bloody well done - looks great.
It is a heart in mouth moment rubbing down the fresh paint isn't it?
No worry, the clear coat brings it back even better and like you said, the edge between the strip and body paint almost disappears.
And I hear you on the tedious job of masking up for the stripes/blackouts - took the painter and I nigh-on 3.5hrs to get it 'right', and even then I stuffed up the width of the blackout on the side of the rear quarters going past the tail lights!
Getting that curve right through the front fenders was the really tricky part - your's looks to be perfect.
Are you happy with the end result, and has it come out like you had in your mind?
Cheers, TB

[derrin71]

Thanks mate.
Really happy with the result so far. Can't wait to see it with the clear on so i get a real appreciation of how it will finish up.
You don't realise how much the body lines curve until you have too tape along one.
Thanks to the Torana Tough book on pg 174 (i think?) there is a picture of original LH SLR stripes along with the critical measurements.
The distance between stripes is 1/4" so we laid down 1/4" thick tape first then did the rest from there.
I really wanted to do something different with the car but still keep it a period look. When i got the wheels i came up with the ideas of doing blackouts or SLR stripes in the wheel's colour.
Not black like most other toranas.

[derrin71]

Because of the major rust repairs in that area the joins got welded up and smoothed over.
If you look at a lot of hatches now they have had the same thing done.,

[Tyre biter]

Because of the major rust repairs in that area the joins got welded up and smoothed over.
If you look at a lot of hatches now they have had the same thing done.,

So true Derrin - same on mine but then we got busy with a grinder and re-groved the line. Needed a bit of Dolphin filler to tidy up the grove, and so I am praying the filler won't crack as I've been told this is a 'flex-point' in the shell...

Any more progress - pics?

Cheers, TB