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Dirtbags dream car rebuild! HK monaro!


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#301 _Bomber Watson_

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Posted 21 June 2011 - 09:10 PM

But no moisture :D.

Cheers.

#302 _mick74lh_

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Posted 21 June 2011 - 09:48 PM

Oh yeah i guess it seals with a rubber seal. Some bogan at the wreckers ages ago was telling me his life story and he said that his mate has a fridge full of car parts

#303 rodomo

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Posted 21 June 2011 - 09:53 PM

my uncle used to have an old fridge with just a small light bulb in it to place things to prevent rust


I'm guessing here but maybe GML-31's uncle had trained the monkey that turns the light off when you shut the door to wipe the moisture off the items to prevent rust? :dontknow:

#304 _Quagmire_

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Posted 21 June 2011 - 10:32 PM

off topic
but could you use moth balls or that hippo stuff in the fridge to absourb the moisture?
even that silica stuff found in dried meat packs sometimes?

#305 _L32M20_

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Posted 22 June 2011 - 07:26 PM

lanox .buy australian.

#306 _dirtbag_

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Posted 22 June 2011 - 07:34 PM

Well all this fridge talk has been rivetting : )


I did a bit more on the old beast lately. Nothing major, but at least it's something.


I refitted the engine bay so I could fix this dent in the front.

Not only was the inner and outer skin on the front part bent, but the rear part was bowed in as well.


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I started by making a new top piece, then using it as a guide as to how much to cut off.


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It was too difficult to get into the panel to beat it out, and it's surprisingly thick steel, so I cut the lower part off as well.


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Here's how it was.


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And here it is after I cut it out, bashed it into shape on the bashing frame and welded it back in.


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Then I cut the captive nut out of the old top skin and welded it into the new one. I also drilled a row of holes to plug weld it back along the lip at the front.


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I'm sure there are panel beaters on this forum who know a million better ways to fix a dent like that, but I'm not a panel beater, and I don't have any fancy pullers or anything, plus doing it this way was more fun. Also, by cutting it open I was able to clean up inside a bit and cover it all in rust converter.


Next thing I wanted to do was fill all the holes in the engine bay. The owner doesn't want it all smoothed out or anything, but I don't know what any of these holes are for so I'll weld them up and I can easily drill in holes as they're needed when doing assembly. I just hate seeing a newly painted bay, smooth or not, full of unused holes.


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Weldie weldie : )

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Grindie grindie

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I also fixed the bit of rust in the radiator support.

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Then welded and ground all the holes on the other side.


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I also ground all the welds back on the underside too, just so it looked neater.


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I then backed the trusty Jeep underneath so I could drop the engine bay into the back.


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Then I tied it on and took it down to get blasted.


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I also picked up the new front and rear springs and Koni adjustable shocks.


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That's it for now. I've been knee deep in kombi utes!!!

#307 _jabba_

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Posted 22 June 2011 - 07:42 PM

Nice work as usual, your more than welcome to work on some of my rust buckets when you come grab that HQ ;). Stop spending so much time on those damn VW's, this one is much more interesting ;).

#308 wot179

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Posted 22 June 2011 - 08:13 PM

Some of those holes were for the fuel line clips and the windscreen washer pipe clips.

#309 _Viper_

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Posted 22 June 2011 - 08:22 PM

Ahh was interested on how ya were gonna fix that dent (as mentioned) good stuff..... Lesson learnt.... if you dont have access to panel beat a area... just cut stuff out the way untill you do then weld it back together :D

#310 _dirtbag_

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Posted 22 June 2011 - 08:29 PM

Ahh was interested on how ya were gonna fix that dent (as mentioned) good stuff..... Lesson learnt.... if you dont have access to panel beat a area... just cut stuff out the way untill you do then weld it back together :D


Yeah, works for me : )


Hey WOT. Thanks for the info regarding some of those holes. I just feel it will be easier to redrill the holes I need where I want them and not risk having extra holes with nothing in them. Well, in my mind it makes sense : ) hahahaha.

#311 fenz

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Posted 23 June 2011 - 08:34 AM

Looking the goods....should be back on its wheels again soon by the looks of it.

Welding the holes in the engine bay is no biggie unless you are trying to reproduce a 100% factory car.

I do like original restorations but some people can tend to go a bit loopy on small things.

#312 _dirtbag_

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Posted 23 June 2011 - 08:38 AM

^^^ Totally agree Aaron. Some resto nuts are so pedantic it's ridiculous, but if that's what they like then good for them : )

Some of the holes were obviously not factory, and my knowledge of these cars isn't good enough to know which ones were needed and which weren't, so I took the safe route and got rid of all of them : )

#313 GML-31

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Posted 23 June 2011 - 09:03 AM

the aim isn't for a totally factory restore anyhow, keep up the good work Tim.

#314 _sting_

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Posted 23 June 2011 - 09:31 AM

Hey dirtbag I must say you do some good work its nice to see somebody knows how to panel beat instead of just replace parts like all the new shops do,keep it up i look at your thread every day to see whats new . cheers sting

#315 _dirtbag_

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Posted 23 June 2011 - 08:12 PM

Thanks Brett.

Well today I decided I'd better get this rear guard welded on once and for all. I'd been putting it off as it takes a while and isn't exactly what you'd call exciting.

Anyway, it's all done now.

I used the mig though to do the bottom of the guard where it meets the spare wheel well. It was a lot easier and isn't likely to need panel beating there.


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I sanded it all down with a 36 grit sanding disc on the grinder. Gives a great key for the etch primer to hang on to.

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Next job was going to be to start on the other rear guard, as it has some issues too.


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But instead I thought I'd tackle the rear panel under the bumper.


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Have I mentioned lately how much I love my plasma cutter?

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Ta-da!!!!! More awesomeness hahahaha!!! Check out the huge half inch thick smear of fibreglass bog. Very tasty : )


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There is some rust in the panel behind as well, so this can all get fixed now.


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More stinking brass weld.


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It's not totally rusted all the way across, just bits and pieces.


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Before I cut the lower part of the inner panel off, I folded up a new piece to make sure it was the right shape. I can trim the top edge down as I go.


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Then I cut the old bits off.


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And here is what I have left so far.


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Between this and the kombi ute the day went pretty fast. This is all I got done on this today as the welding took a fair while. Panel held its shape really well though so it was worth taking my time.

Edited by dirtbag, 23 June 2011 - 08:14 PM.


#316 Bart

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Posted 23 June 2011 - 10:01 PM

^ Not as bad as the Camaro :sofa:

#317 _dirtbag_

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Posted 26 June 2011 - 10:28 AM

No it certainly isn't. As far as rust goes this is a pretty damn good shell for its age.


Well i got the engine bay back from the blasters yesterday.


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I wasn't 100% sure of what would show it's head after blasting, but luckily there were only two easily fixed rust spots that need replacing, just where the top of the bay meets the firewall. The rest is excellent.


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The owner dropped by yesterday and we decided a little bit of engine bay cleanup couldn't hurt, so before I primed it I removed the mount for the battery tray.


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I also removed the mounts for the mechanical accelerator shaft. I'll convert it to cable.


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The rear guard was also rust converted.


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Then I primed it all.


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Just so you know, the tarp isn't on the floor in the next pic because I'm worried about dirtying my floor, it's to stop dirt blowing up off the floor and onto the panel. It doesn't matter how well you sweep it, there's always dirt just waiting to get into paint!!!

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I also went and picked up a VT commodore brake booster and master cylinder for it. They look a lot neater, work better and it's already set up for 4 wheel discs. Bargain.


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#318 _shadowmaster_

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Posted 26 June 2011 - 03:52 PM

Do you have any issues putting on VT boosters on the earlier cars ? do you need to modify anything ?

By the way very well done Tim quality effort as usual

#319 _dirtbag_

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Posted 26 June 2011 - 05:56 PM

Thanks mate : )

Apart from having to modify the firewall, the bracket inside the firewall, and the rod coming out of the booster it just fits straight on : ) hahaha.

Sorry. The four bolt holes on the new booster need new holes, the large hole in the firewall where the booster fits through needs to be made bigger, and the rod coming out of the booster needs to me shortened. I used this same booster set up on my brothers hatch and liked it, so happy to fit it in here too.

#320 _toranatime_

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Posted 26 June 2011 - 06:56 PM

wow mate i can't get enough of your buildups, you have so much skill and must have alot of patience! i hope my torana resto comes up half as good.
i asked this question in another one of your threads but you mustn't have seen it yet.

i was just interested in how i would be able to fold up some window frame corners and similar repair pieces without using a shrinker/stretcher? i am going to make a panbrake which should be fine for bending straight lips, and it will get me out of trouble. but what i am asking is there another way i can bend the pieces of plate to match the corners radius once they have a lip folded on them? i don't really want to get a shrinker/stretcher just to make 1 or 2 repair pieces. also what do you cut panel sections out with? grinder, reciprocating saw, plasma or a combination of all of them? any help would be great, and sorry for posting in two build threads i was just hoping to get a fairly quick reply.

thanks and sorry for all the questions i'm new to restoration of cars, i just want to learn from someone who really knows what they are doing, so i can do it the right way the first time with the least ammount of headaches.
cheers mate

#321 Bart

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Posted 26 June 2011 - 07:51 PM

I cant help but think it should have a custom flat firewall. I think it would tidy it up more if the customer wants tidy

#322 _Liam_

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Posted 26 June 2011 - 08:43 PM

I think the owner want's a pretty close to stock look with flash paint and nice engine and wheel combo. The gist I get anyway. :dontknow:

#323 GML-31

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Posted 26 June 2011 - 10:38 PM

car will have standard hubcaps although slightly wider rims

#324 _Quagmire_

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Posted 27 June 2011 - 01:41 AM

car will have standard hubcaps although slightly wider rims


???? this one of yours?>
or you know the owner
comon fess up :)

#325 _dirtbag_

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Posted 05 July 2011 - 06:02 PM

I cant help but think it should have a custom flat firewall. I think it would tidy it up more if the customer wants tidy



hehehe.....


So, first step was sanding down the lips where the heater box used to sit. I have to leave as much of the original firewall in place for rego, so I'm just going to flatten/remove what I have to and leave the rest in place. I'll just weld the 1.6mm sheet over the top.


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Then I welded the front handbrake lever mount to the firewall, where the two bolts used to stick through.


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Then I removed the wiper motor lump and the centre section with the 3 ribs. That is all I'm removing.


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Here's the new piece. I've only cut the top to shape and tek screwed it on to mark out the rest of the shape.


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Starting to fit a little better now.


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I will stitch weld where the old and new pieces meet on the inside once it's fully welded on the outside.


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Then I had a bit of a weldathon : )


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It just wouldn't be one of my builds if it didn't get some rust converter : )


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Well next job will be to finish the rear panel I cut off earlier, I just wanted to get this done because I really enjoy doing smooth firewalls. I'll also do a bit of smoothing in the engine bay itself. Nothing drastic, just clean up some of the factory uglies.




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