435 replies to this topic

[derrin71]

Did some work on the hatch itself today.
Stripped the paint off the outside.

Found a little rust where the glass rubber goes on, so i fixed this and rust converted the whole area where the glass rubber sits.

I also flipped the hatch over and rubbed back and primered the underside.

Next days off i will fix a small dent in the hatch and test fit it to the body.

[derrin71]

Update of my accomplishments these days off.
I stripped the roof and repaired a heap of hail stone dints. Strange as the top of the hatch didn't have any hail dints? Pretty sure the hatch itself is the original one. We will see when i strip the bonnet

Dad came around and left me with a heap more work to do!!
He is a qualified panel beater and spray painter with about 45 years experience, he will be painting the car. But i have to do the panel work. If he isn't happy with my prep he won't paint it.
We fitted the hatch to see how it looks.

We ran into a little trouble, when i replaced the rear drivers side corner corner of the hatch opening the rear corner of the quarter panel must of pulled in about 5mm, this meant absolutely no gap between hatch and quarter panel. To fix it we had to slice the quarter away from the rear panel and use a block of wood and gentle persuasion with 2lb hammer. The gap is right now. Just need to weld up the gap again and tidy it up. This is an example of why it is important to test fit all panels before paint.

The gap along the passengers side of the hatch is also a little out due to the not-quite-right repair panel. A little fiddling will be required here as well.

Dad also straightened a large area of the passengers quarter with his flipper and body file which had waves like the ocean. I wasn't quite game to tackle this bit.
Back to work tomorrow.

[derrin71]

An update,
Spent a fair bit of time getting the gaps around the hatch right.
And a lot of time mucking around with the tail light appertures to get them looking right. This took a fair bit of time because of all of the rebuilding work around the lights.
It would have been quicker keeping the chrome trim which would have hidden the ugly gaps. But that's not the look i want.

[derrin71]

Here's my latest.
Started on the passengers quarter.
There was a fair bit of damage and filler around the front of the quarter panel. The passengers door has been replaced at some stage.
I had to replace a section of the sill near the bottom corner of the door. There was bog 1" thick in there and it was almost impossible to get it back into shape without cutting a section out and replacing it.




I had to refit the door to get an idea what i had to do to get the gap right again, the front of the rear quarter had been pushed back a fair way.



Hopefully more fun tomorrow.

[Tyre biter]

Great thread - those tail light openings are a bugger hey? I am still chasing the right shape/size with mine and glad to see you have yours sorted - gives me hope!

I'll keep your thread on my watch list together with other threads for a few the hatches underway currently - seems a number of us are in around-a-bout the same place give or take a couple of steps and for me threads like yours serve as motivation together with a fantastic source of ideas towards the what, how and when. Keep the posts up please

Finally, the brake kit you bought - what is it/who'd you get it from?

Cheers, TB

[derrin71]

Thanks for the comments Craig, it's times like these when i wish i had done a panel beaters apprenticeship. (Dad wouldn't let me)

The brake kit is from UPC. I bought it off EBay for around $800 from memory, they alway have kits on there, some with a buy it now price of about $1200 (i think). I picked mine up on an auction. I believe they use similar stuff to hoppers kits.

The only thing i did't like was the rubber hoses they supply. I have since had a set of braided stainless ones made up that are one piece from the calipers to the master. They will be easier to thread through the chasis rails and look a lot neater.

[derrin71]

Thanks for all of the praise fellas.
Today i continued with the passengers quarter. While i was at it i rolled the guard lips. What a PITA! The lip is near impossible to hammer up. I had to resort to spliting the lip in a few places to be able to move it. Has anyone else had the same issues with hatch guard lips?




I spent a few hours filling and sanding!



Then primered the panel.



While waiting for filler to cure i stripped the passengers door of it's parts and started stripping paint.
Found some more of the dreaded tinworm which some fool had filled with bog.





Just a question someone may be able to answer. Did LX hatches come with intrusion bars in the doors or was it a UC thing? The doors on my car are not the original ones and have intrusion bars.

[Statler]

They should have intrusion bars.

[rodomo]

Ooooooooo? Dunno? I'm pretty sure I've read on here that they were introduced during LX.

EDIT: Ol' Fred http://www.gmh-toran...intrusion-bars/

Edited by rodomo, 13 July 2011 - 06:57 PM.

[derrin71]

Thanks for the door info fellas, i guess it will remain a mystery.

[derrin71]

Only thought i had a small piece about as big as a 20c piece. The person responsible was a real craftsman with the bog tin!

There is also some at the base of the window frame which i never noticed before. I hadn't looked at the doors for about 5 years since i pulled them off the car.

[308mate]

My hatch is 10/76. the doors have not got intrusion bars. I have a set of uc doors - they have intrusion bars.

cheers \m/

[Neils LX]

Early 1976 hatchs have no intrusion beams, all hatchs early 77 onwards and inc UCs have them for ADRs.

[derrin71]

No real update on the car this time although i do have a shed update. I had an electrician finally connect power to my shed and fit it out!!! This probably should go in the shed thread but i'm pretty excited. No more dragging extension cords across the yard, no more power boards and i can finally do some work at night!
I spared no expense and got heaps of lights fitted, nothing worse than straining your eyes trying to work at night.



I also had heaps of outlets installed, 7 in total.



I spent the weekend in Sydney and went to Motorex with my brother. Heaps of Toranas there i will post some photos in a new thread.

[derrin71]

Did a bit of work on the passengers door today, fixed all of the rust. With real steel not BOG!.













Tomorrow i might smooth out the outside of the door and hang it on the car for a look.

[derrin71]

Well smoothing out theLHS door and hanging it on took a little longer than planned,
Dad came around and had a look at the quarter panel and wasn't happy with it. So he stripped all of the work i took about 8 hours to do and re-did it again in about 2 hours. Maybe he should all of the body work to save the re-work!!!
I asked him that but he wasn't too keen.
Anyway here is what i've been up to.
I stripped the paint off the door jamb.



Found a little rust in the piece at the base of the A-pillar, so i had to repair and rust convert it.



Painted the door jamb.



Hung the door on and sat the front guard in place to check all of the gaps. The gap along the rear of the door still needs a little work.



And then i started to strip the paint off the front guard.

Edited by derrin71, 28 August 2011 - 02:31 PM.

[UCANG]

looking good buddy