Picked it up from blasting and it looks unbelievable. I haven't been able to get any good full car pics as its been shitty weather and its in my carport with bad lights, but hot damn its beautiful.
Garbage old iphone pic for posterity:
Not wanting to waste any time as the car's in primer and will rust through very quickly if it gets wet, I employed my father in law to do some bodywork as I don't trust myself enough.
Radiator support was quickly deleted
As it was bent from when the previous owner crashed it. Not bent very badly but when the rest of the car should be a 9.5/10, made no sense to keep it.
You can see the crease on the bottom section in the middle, as well as where the mounting brackets are on either side, they looked shitty and were very bent.
Enter the shiny new OEM support that my mrs bought me as a present:
We mocked it up and the car's good and straight so that's very nice.
Reason for not fitting a removable support is that I don't like the look and it's not a race car. Couldn't be fucked making the new OEM one bolt in, and I also didn't really want to cut up a very expensive piece of metal. Also it's only getting a 4cyl and it'll be fitted by lowering the car onto the subframe so ease of installation is not a factor.
While the front was off I started seam sealing the bay back together. It's a twofold reason for me, first to protect against corrosion, secondly to smooth out some of the lines. I'm not doing a full shaved bay but to at least smooth them is nice.
Note it was my first ever time using it and there is a large learning curve to make it look really nice. I'll likely have to try cut it back to make it smoother and have another go, but such is life.
It also takes several days to fully cure so I'll be waiting for that.
I also decided on doing the engine cases in silver, so hit them with some heat resistant gloss silver. Turned out pretty good, weather's too shitty to do any more this weekend though.
I finally found a head gasket too that I didn't have to get shipped from America so that was nice. No pics as it's just a head gasket.
I think that's it for the moment? Parts are arriving often, and progress continues. As soon as the bodywork is done I'll throw some paint on to seal it all in, then it's test fit time.
It feels so indescribably good to be making forward movements on the car, it's been sitting for so long with not much being done. It's bleeding me dry financially but it isss what it isss.
Have a good day friends and stay positive
Garbage old iphone pic for posterity:
Not wanting to waste any time as the car's in primer and will rust through very quickly if it gets wet, I employed my father in law to do some bodywork as I don't trust myself enough.
Radiator support was quickly deleted
As it was bent from when the previous owner crashed it. Not bent very badly but when the rest of the car should be a 9.5/10, made no sense to keep it.
You can see the crease on the bottom section in the middle, as well as where the mounting brackets are on either side, they looked shitty and were very bent.
Enter the shiny new OEM support that my mrs bought me as a present:
We mocked it up and the car's good and straight so that's very nice.
Reason for not fitting a removable support is that I don't like the look and it's not a race car. Couldn't be fucked making the new OEM one bolt in, and I also didn't really want to cut up a very expensive piece of metal. Also it's only getting a 4cyl and it'll be fitted by lowering the car onto the subframe so ease of installation is not a factor.
While the front was off I started seam sealing the bay back together. It's a twofold reason for me, first to protect against corrosion, secondly to smooth out some of the lines. I'm not doing a full shaved bay but to at least smooth them is nice.
Note it was my first ever time using it and there is a large learning curve to make it look really nice. I'll likely have to try cut it back to make it smoother and have another go, but such is life.
It also takes several days to fully cure so I'll be waiting for that.
I also decided on doing the engine cases in silver, so hit them with some heat resistant gloss silver. Turned out pretty good, weather's too shitty to do any more this weekend though.
I finally found a head gasket too that I didn't have to get shipped from America so that was nice. No pics as it's just a head gasket.
I think that's it for the moment? Parts are arriving often, and progress continues. As soon as the bodywork is done I'll throw some paint on to seal it all in, then it's test fit time.
It feels so indescribably good to be making forward movements on the car, it's been sitting for so long with not much being done. It's bleeding me dry financially but it isss what it isss.
Have a good day friends and stay positive
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