57 replies to this topic

[Torananut]

Hi everyone,

                     Late last year I asked for some feedback on whether people would be interested in LH and LX tail-light buckets as they seem to be an area that always rusts and is very difficult to get to and try and repair, not to mention some UC owners wanting to swap to LX rear lights. So I have made a series of prototypes of them and have slowly worked through the minor teething problems to get them to resemble the factory made item. Luckily I have a new old stock original to use as a guide but for a relatively small item they are a bit of a bugger to make, which is why not too many others have tried. Looking through old posts today and someone from the Gold Coast (Paul maybe?) hand made a few years ago but it sounds like he got busy with work and hasn't posted on the forum for a while.

 

                     Well here are a few pics of what I have come up with so far, so let me know your thoughts and where I might be able to make improvements. If people are interested I am looking at selling them for about $120 each but only when I am happy that they are as close to the N.O.S. one as possible.

 

                     If anyone would like any further info on them either send me a pm or give me a call on 0478 732274.

 

Cheers,        Grant

 

 

Attached Files

•  Taillight buckets 1.1.jpg   218.34K   42 downloads
•  Taillight buckets 2.1.jpg   219.68K   32 downloads
•  Taillight buckets 3.1.jpg   217.47K   32 downloads
•  Taillight buckets 4.1.jpg   217.29K   31 downloads

[slar]

Geez very nice work....they look very good indeed....$120 is very reasonable for a part thats impossible to get....i would buy for sure if i needed them...excellent

Cheers
Al

[308 Sunbird]

Geez very nice work....they look very good indeed....$120 is very reasonable for a part thats impossible to get....i would buy for sure if i needed them...excellent
Cheers
Al

agree, well done.

[purrlx]

Well done they look good may need some in about 12 months when rebuild starts.

[royalplumss]

Yes

very nice!

Not worth trying to fix an old rusty one at that price.

[dattoman]

They look pretty good to me

 

I don't need any... but will take a set if you need the numbers for a production run

[eyepeeler]

Nice work Grant, that is fantastic. Agreed with Datto, not in need of some for anything I am doing now but would buy a couple of sets off you.

[Toranamat69]

I would grab a pair, just because I like to have every spare for my Torana.

[Covert]

I recently purchased a pair of these from Grant and they look great

[Shiney005]

Two pairs for me too.

[AbsynthHatch]

I will take 2 as well, expect a PM shortly.

[dattoman]

He's holding out on me... wheres mine !!

[009pk]

Great work grant keep us posted when you have them available at least 1 set

[mandytory]

I would definitely take one pair possibly two.

[crackers]

Grant, received mine the other day. Excellent work!! Keep me posted on the tail light panel.

[Heath]

Looks like a great quality product judging from the photos, and perfect for rust repairs.

 

My question is if you are doing a UC-LX conversion, just having the 'bucket' piece doesn't completely get you out of trouble. I imagine you'd still have to be a bit of a skilled sheety to construct a nice 'turn' on your sheet metal to meet the bucket, wouldn't you?

 

Then again, Holden didn't exactly raise the bar high with that piece of workmanship lol.

[Torananut]

Hi Heath,

 

Your right, the tail light bucket is only part of the job to convert a UC to a LX. The bucket sits up against the inner part of the rear panel while the edge of the rear panel is folded in to form a flange and that overlap is spot welded (see the photo below). The hard part is making the opening in the quarter panel for the side of the blinker. At the moment I am trying to make a new rear panel as per a NOS one I have, but whatever method you go with it is a lot of work.

 

From the pictures you have posted it looks like you are doing a great job, and I can only imagine the hours you have spent measuring, cutting, welding and grinding so far. Keep up the good work and I'm sure it will look terrific when completed. 

 

  

Attached Files

•  Tail light bucket 1.jpg   153.04K   18 downloads
•  Tail light bucket 2.jpg   127.14K   16 downloads
•  Rear panel 1.jpg   133.1K   23 downloads
•  Rear panel 2.jpg   141.85K   21 downloads

[Heath]

Cheers mate. Yeah I think the hardest part would be doing a hot stretch in the corners.

 

Outside of my capabilities but some could pull it off and I reckon you could get a better result than Holden ever did.

[Bart]

Are the rear panels for hatch different to sedan?

Hi Heath,
 
Your right, the tail light bucket is only part of the job to convert a UC to a LX. The bucket sits up against the inner part of the rear panel while the edge of the rear panel is folded in to form a flange and that overlap is spot welded (see the photo below). The hard part is making the opening in the quarter panel for the side of the blinker. At the moment I am trying to make a new rear panel as per a NOS one I have, but whatever method you go with it is a lot of work.
 
From the pictures you have posted it looks like you are doing a great job, and I can only imagine the hours you have spent measuring, cutting, welding and grinding so far. Keep up the good work and I'm sure it will look terrific when completed.

[Torananut]

Yes the rear panels are slightly different in the upper top corners. The sedan rear panel fits up inside the inner part of the quarter panel where as the hatchback has a separate corner piece just above the tail light. The opening for the hatchback is also wider that the bootlid on a sedan. The NOS rear panel I have is to suit a sedan.

[Bart]

Cool mate.

I have one for a hatch that im about to copy. And hatch lid, and another part.

I think eventually all together we will have a whole car

Edited by Bart, 15 May 2015 - 10:52 AM.

[Bart]

And the great thing is Aussie made not in China

[Centurian]

This is interesting reading. I see some good work here. I happen to have been doing a similar thing myself, bucket and panel fabrication, though it's not really my thing.

Here are some panel bits and buckets I have done to date.  

 

 

Edited by Centurian, 16 May 2015 - 09:27 PM.

[Bart]

^ NICE