1095 replies to this topic

[Potta]

Nice work mate.

Might have to borrow your door removal tool one day :-)

[kiwi-lilj]

Two hands on the grinder thanks Marty

[A9X]

hahaha

nice one

[sibhs]

Two hands on the grinder thanks Marty

I quickly found out what can happen.
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Started stripping the paint to find the hidden damage. The car has had a second hand purple LH guard and nose cone and lower beaver section fitted. The RH side of the headlight had been dinged, would like to fix this up but not sure how, due to no access behind. May have to cut it out and fix it and weld back in or fit from doner, any one got this part of a guard lying around.
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Cut away the lower fender to check the damage, not too scary, hope to fabricate these parts myself.
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Potta "Might have to borrow your door removal tool one day :-)" You're welcome to use my super duper door pin remover.

[Potta]

Have you trademarked that name yet?

Nice progress but now is where the real work begins :-)

So far nothing too bad though!

Keep it up mate :-)

[Ice]

Some nasty cancer there marty go for it mate

[sibhs]

"Sunburst73-XU1
It's great to see you having a go your self, keep at and you'll be driving it before you know it."

Cheers Sunburst, I'm still doing the easy stuff as Potta said, sooner or later I've got to do the hard bits. Always willing to have-a-go and learn.



The last week has been about trying different methods of paint stripping. No matter what method I used I couldn't get the original etch to come off and had to resort to the grinder and paint remover pad.
I honestly found no benefit by covering with plastic, this just may be my paint or conditions but the results were the same when it wasn't used. I think scoring the paint first helped but on the panels that were from another car two coats of stripper were required.
Here's a quick video of me doing the roof, this was scored, covered and left for around 20 mins and the result is average but better than sanding off the whole lot. I did get a bit of stripper on the shirt and had to do a quick change as it started to dissolve my flesh. "Todays shirt is tomorrows rag"

The bonnet was also off another car, maybe a Plum dinger, and took two goes of stripper.
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Heres the question, What's going on here? It appears on both sides below the rear windows. There is a kink in the body line. No sign of repair or damage and looks like factory made.
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Cheers
Marty

[wot179]

I would steer clear of scoring the paint,you can score the metal as well which can cause sinking problems with the paint later.

[Potta]

I like the bits where you're standing there watching and waiting, That doesn't strike me as something that comes natural to you.

You are really getting into this now, once you start stripping paint there is no turning back mate.

[sibhs]

that is factory and if you run your hand from there along the rare about 150 there is a indent that is also part of that factory press, even know i have seen lots of these bogged up over the years.

to paint stripping with paint stripper, sit in sun under dark plastic for 35 to 45 mins then it will come of alot easier.
stripper wheels on the buff are the best thing for original red oxide primer.

cheers gong

Thanks Gong, might leave them there for that unmolestered look.

I would steer clear of scoring the paint,you can score the metal as well which can cause sinking problems with the paint later.

. Cheers wot179, by scoring I really just roughed it up with some 36 grit.

Not much progress on the car this week, the weathers been great and have been out on the in-laws boat twice. It's a tough life here in the west. Best of luck to all the flood victims over east.
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When I did get in the cocoon it was all about testing things. The sandblaster needs tweaking and I'm going to have to get a bigger compressor, mine will drive me mad at how slow it is.
Have been looking for an anvil for bashing my steel on but these are rarer than a 2 door LJ and costing almost as much. One guy wants $3000 for his. Most are between $300-$500 so I decieded to use an old block and welded an old vice to it. Works really well and has been super handy and free.
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Made the front bracket for the rotisserie attachment.
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Built a press brake for bending steel.
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Sorted out my airline into the cocoon.
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Marked out the cut lines for the flutes.
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Stripped the steering column down and removed the 3 speed linkages.
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If anyone notices that I'm doing something the wrong way please let me know. This is all new to me and self taught by you guys and you-tube.

Cheers
Marty

[71xu1]

Looking good Marty be ultra careful when welding those flutes in. Really take your time.

Cheers Dave

[Ice]

And make sure you get the angle right otherwise they will pick the shit out of them on here you know how they are on here

[S pack]

And make sure you get the angle right otherwise they will pick the shit out of them on here you know how they are on here

hehe, if he claims it to be a genuine original unrestored GTR or XU1 then f#%K yeah I'll pick the shit out of it.

[Ice]

hehe, if he claims it to be a genuine original unrestored GTR or XU1 then f#%K yeah I'll pick the shit out of it.

See i told ya

[Potta]

Only thing I can see that you're doing wrong is going much too fast!!

Putting the rest of us to shame.

Seriously though, she's looking great mate, as do the boats in the bay

And nice work on all the tools you are making, saved yourself quite a few dollars so far.

[sibhs]

G'Day all,

A bit more progress,
Started preping and painting a few parts so I can put them away. Applied a rust converter, then etch primer and then a hi fill 2 pack primer. There is a bit of pitting in the booster I want to hide. These parts i'll do in 2 pack black satin.

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Had a real tough time on the bolts that connect the K Frame to the chassis under the car, they were rusted solid and had to be cut.
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Finally the moment I have been waiting for...

Lift-off

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First real look at the underneath of the car and no hidden dramas.
Found out the rotisserie was too short so I had to ad a section to the conection system. Unusual cause the Torana's a small car? Must be ment for a mini, still happy for $630.

Cheers
Marty

[Potta]

I can't believe it was too short. What is supposed to fit on it??

You're doing a great job mate, keep it up.

[sibhs]

Thanks Craig and Mark,

I've used 50mm square tube along the back and packed out the ends with washers, then a piece or 50mm angle bolted to the boot lid retainer.
Next I just joined the two together with bits of scrap.

Cut the rotisserie mounts to size and notched them to fit around square tube.
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Got to see a stripped GTR and now have the measurements and size of the 4 speed hole.  IMG_2150.jpg   52.95K   48 downloads

[Potta]

That's interesting that there isn't a hole there already.

This was talked about on another thread, and it seems a lot of cars came with the D shaped hole even if they were column shift, eg my LC.

Maybe the LJ's did not?

Anyway, good to see you're still enthusiastic after all that you've done, I was starting to get worried when your post frequency dropped off but I can see now its cause you were busy

[sibhs]

Today was wire wheel day and how to turn black in 5 mins.

I started to wire everything but soon found the bitumen coat in the wheel arches to be a real prick. Played around a bit and tried an old wood chisel (sharp) to be the best for scraping 90% of it off then hit it with the wire, much easier, quicker and cleaner.

After chisel action
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Then wire wheel
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Playing with the panorama function on my iphone

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[sibhs]

That's interesting that there isn't a hole there already.

This was talked about on another thread, and it seems a lot of cars came with the D shaped hole even if they were column shift, eg my LC.

Maybe the LJ's did not?

I heard they stopped putting the holes in and blanking plates in 72?