1033 replies to this topic

[RIM-010]

This is a bit of a diary of how my LJ came to be.

Mum bought me my LJ for $600 just before my 15th. It was completely stock, with a great interior, but the panel and paint was, well...




You see what I mean.

To start, i gave it a quick cut and polish. Its AMAZING what half a tin of polish and a couple of litres of elbow grease can do.




Anyway. It just so happened that just before I acquired the LJ, I was shipped up to boarding school in Adelaide. This meant a couple of things, one of them being; I would only be able to see the LJ every month or so!

But, we learn to live with these things.

I mentioned the immaculate interior, here it is.





I was pretty happy with it.

Now, a couple of weeks after my first look at the LJ, i came back home and decided that the stock speakers just wouldnt cut it. So i installed these babies.




Great improvement. Still running of the ol' AM radio, but she still cranks out some decent... err... ABC News...

I love eBay. A while after the mega sound system was installed, i found a GTR dash on eBay, Buy It Now for $150. A quick chat to dad and the new dash was bought.

It arrived after about a week, but i didnt see it for another 3 weeks. Bloody boarding school. Anyway. When i did finally see it, it was all hands on deck to get it installed. Not. We had to wait a further couple of weeks to get the right sender units etc.

When they finally arrived, we started to install the new dash. We got it halfway in, and then hey, guess what Tim, your plane leaves in just over an hour! So the final installation was postponed for ANOTHER 2 weeks. When i came home we got it all in and connected, to find that the tacho did'nt work.

This photo was taken about 5 minutes after the final installation, explainin the tools everywhere.



You can sorta see the GTR dash in there.

To Be Continued...

RIM

[DanWA]

very nice buy mate, remarkable condition

whats the plans?

[RIM-010]

Plans Include:

Engine - Extractors, Exhaust, Carby, Cam, Head. Stick with the 173. M20 Gearbox.

Interior - GTR Steering Wheel, JB Camira centre console.

Stereo - MP3 Head Unit, 6"s in kick panels, 6x9's in rear parcel shelf, Amp and Sub in boot (Hopefully)

Body - I have another rolling shell with good front end panels on it, they will be gettin swapped in the Christmas holidays. Full respray in the original 'Purr Pull'.

Wheels - 14's, not sure what as yet.

The eventual plan is to use this as a car until I get an LH/LX.

RIM

[RIM-010]

I found some pics of the GTR Dash installation...

We pulled the old dash out, which left this -


We modified the loom to make this -


We wired the dash up, screwed it in and it looked like this!


I also found a pic of the Engine. It has now had a pretty thorough clean, it looks alot better now.


RIM

[TerrA LX]

looks like you got your $600 worth. what an excellent start to a new project.
what color you going to paint it.

[RIM-010]

Its gunna be repainted in the original Purr Pull.

Keith, the sub might not happen but I'd like one. The exhaust probably wont be anything special anyway.

Cheers for the comments guys, I'll keep ya posted on progress.

RIM

[RIM-010]

The dash isnt going black...

Ill get some 6x9s to start, then see about the Sub etc... and ill need some speakers in the front and theyre not goin in the doors... so kick panels it probably is.

RIM

[RIM-010]

Alright. I've purchased Fusion 6x9 2-ways and Fusion 6"s, as a package for $130.

I don't have a Head Unit yet, and probably wont get one for a while, because i wont be driving the car until March next year. That way i will be able to get a good, up to date HU instead of getting one now and have it a year behind the times before i start to use the bloody thing.

RIM

[RIM-010]

Cheers RpM.

Yeah, i was very happy with $600. Already spent another $600 on it, and havent started the panel/paint yet...

RIM

[RIM-010]

My cousin gets Mates Rates at Repco... and he bought the same package, so they cut it down another $10 coz we bought in bulk...

RIM

[Loui]

How about donating that original radio to the 'Loui XU-1 rebuild fund'?

Cheers

Loui

[RIM-010]

hmm...

Ive got another original radio out of an HQ, not sure if it works or not...

I'll swap ya the radio for a ride in your XU-1...

RIM

[Loui]

the LJ one is slightly different to the HQ, the LJ has rounded corners and the HQ has the Square corners

Really after a LJ one

XU-1 wont be finished for a few months, aiming at Feb at the moment
But you will be welcome to come on a SMASA or HTC cruise if ya wish.

Cheers

Loui

[RIM-010]

Ahh...

It will be a couple of months before I'll take the radio out anyway...\

Anyhoo, back on topic -

After deciding that there is really nowhere i am going to fit my new 6.5" speakers, i went lookin around for a center console to mount them in.

I found one out of an old Nissan 4WD, and it fits pretty well. I will need to extend the back edge of it to make it look neat etc, but it looks like a pretty good start.

If anyone has any other ideas on what i can use, and get for next to nothing, I'm all ears.

Cheers, RIM

[lxsstorana]

Great car Rim, you're doing a great job. Love the interior and the colour. Your mates will be very jealous when you get the torry on the road. Regards Mick.

[RIM-010]

Thanks Mick.

I cant wait to get my P's so i can get it up to Boarding school and show the guys what a real car looks like. In a carpark full of white, black and silver Lexus', Jag's, Merc's and Beemer's, the old LJ should stand out pretty good.

Cheers, RIM

[RIM-010]

Just had a Brainwave.

My custom center console will have the HU mounted in the front, with a 6.5" 2 way speaker on each side. The heater will have pipes routing the hot air to the sides.

Anyhoo, i was thinkin about putting some green LED's inside the console, so when they are turned on, there is a green glow from within.

RIM

[RIM-010]

Gday, time for an update.

On the hols dad and I started to get stuck into drilling out spotwelds on the front panels of my LJ shell. What a bitch of a job. because I only really need the left hand guard and the left side of the nosecone, we were thinkin that we might be able to chop it straight down the center, so we didnt have to unpick so many spot welds...

What do you guys reckon?

Also, i was thinkin that because i need to cut a heap of rust out of the guards anyway, I might weld GTR Flutes in. Opinions would be great.

RIM