bigmal 225 Report post Posted July 18, 2017 Ends of Day 31. What a pearler. Beautiful weather and no wind. Perfect for painting enamel. No matter mow much I cover things up it gets everywhere. What a great feeling to have this done. Tomorrow to paint inside and some of the bibs and bobs. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ash 145 Report post Posted July 18, 2017 That must feel like a massive step forward. Good stuff. 1 bigmal reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAC390 327 Report post Posted July 18, 2017 Great work , real progress. 1 bigmal reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigmal 225 Report post Posted July 19, 2017 End of day 32. Painted the interior and began filling the dash panel where I grafted it together. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAC390 327 Report post Posted July 19, 2017 Well done, light at the end of the tunnel. How soon before the dash goes in? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ash 145 Report post Posted July 19, 2017 Great stuff. Good thing you got the engine bay sprayed yesterday when it was warm. It's bloody freezing today. 1 bigmal reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigmal 225 Report post Posted July 19, 2017 47 minutes ago, MAC390 said: Well done, light at the end of the tunnel. How soon before the dash goes in? Ii will try to get the dash painted tomorrow but the wrinkle finish needs 3 days to harden so it will be Sunday or Monday before I put it in. Plenty of other things to keep me occupied. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigmal 225 Report post Posted July 21, 2017 End of day 33. Installed the 'Tru-Fit' sound deadener and the final installation of the aircond. Now it's starting to come together! Also started on the front suspension while waiting for paint to dry. These cold mornings are testing me. Trackies, Beeny, jumper and overalls. Still bloody cold. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JET 445 43 Report post Posted July 21, 2017 If you have not welded the top of the cowl yet it is a good idea to glue a piece of stainless steel mesh over the air intake of your air conditioning, this will keep rubbish out of the fan and also keep mice out of the car, those little critters love to get in and chew up your interior. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigmal 225 Report post Posted July 22, 2017 17 hours ago, JET 445 said: If you have not welded the top of the cowl yet it is a good idea to glue a piece of stainless steel mesh over the air intake of your air conditioning, this will keep rubbish out of the fan and also keep mice out of the car, those little critters love to get in and chew up your interior. Great advice. Will do. thanks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigmal 225 Report post Posted July 23, 2017 End of day 34. Painted the dash in wrinkle finish. Didn't turn out very well. Uneven wrinkles. Probably my fault but I don't think it would look that great now I've seen it. Stripped and sanded again. Under primer to paint tomorrow. This time I will try gloss black. Hopefully this will look okay. Started sprucing up the engine and fitted the wiper motor and closed up the cowl. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
unilec 57 Report post Posted July 23, 2017 If the paint on the dash doesn't work out you can recover with textured vinyl over the dash not to hard to do if you have a heat gun. 1 bigmal reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigmal 225 Report post Posted July 24, 2017 19 hours ago, unilec said: If the paint on the dash doesn't work out you can recover with textured vinyl over the dash not to hard to do if you have a heat gun. Thanks for that. I will keep that in mind. I painted it in semi-gloss black today and it looks pretty good. Once everything is back together I will get a better picture of what it will look like. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigmal 225 Report post Posted July 24, 2017 End of day 35. Painted the dash in semi-gloss black it it looks pretty good. Did some more tidying up of the engine. I like the wrinkle black rockers. Fitted the steering rack and a 1 1/8 sway bar. Looking good to have it driving on the weekend. Optimistic I know but if I have to do a few all nighters I will. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted July 24, 2017 Top shelf quality work! 1 bigmal reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAC390 327 Report post Posted July 24, 2017 Nice work there. 1 bigmal reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ash 145 Report post Posted July 24, 2017 The dash looks good. I like it more so than the wrinkle. Nice work. 1 bigmal reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigmal 225 Report post Posted July 25, 2017 End of day 36. Fitted the steering uni and set up the column and tie rods. Fitted the park brake, dash, pedels and started on the heater ducting. Had to order some new duct. Fitted the power booster. Started on the wiring. I have modified my LED tail lights so the blinkers are separate to the brakes. In Australia you can't have flashing brake lights. Some convert the reverse lights to blinkers but I thought this method was better and surprsingly easy. Sorting the wiring is a bit difficult as it is so old and I have no reference for colour coding. All in all a very good day. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ash 145 Report post Posted July 25, 2017 Looking more and more like a car again, Mal. Your goal is becoming very close to completion. Just to let you know, flashing red tail lights are fine. Mine are and I have full NSW rego. If I were driving in Sydney like yourself though, I would change them too. To many people on those roads with no common sense. 1 bigmal reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JET 445 43 Report post Posted July 25, 2017 Looking good, you sure do work fast, I've been doing mine for 7 years and I'm still not finished!!. By the way you will probably have to drop the rack down a couple of inches if you want to install the engine and trans in one unit, the bellhousing will catch on the rack. 1 bigmal reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAC390 327 Report post Posted July 25, 2017 Great progress, as like Ash says about the lights my Charger is on full NSW rego with flashing red tail lights. Column position looks good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigmal 225 Report post Posted July 25, 2017 2 minutes ago, MAC390 said: Great progress, as like Ash says about the lights my Charger is on full NSW rego with flashing red tail lights. Column position looks good. Thanks Wally and Ash. I have full NSW rego ands it was not questioned but on the Australian MOCA forum there was discussion on the legality of having brake lights that flash as blinkers. They don't have to be amber. Apparently it is something that some enforce. Just thought I would take care of it while I am rewiring. I will also be installing a third brake light cut into the underside of the spoiler. I have a Lancer spoiler as a donor. Probably won't be for a few months yet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigmal 225 Report post Posted July 25, 2017 35 minutes ago, JET 445 said: Looking good, you sure do work fast, I've been doing mine for 7 years and I'm still not finished!!. By the way you will probably have to drop the rack down a couple of inches if you want to install the engine and trans in one unit, the bellhousing will catch on the rack. Thanks for that. I did come across this when I test fitted the rack and engine before. It just misses out. But good to be reminded. Hopefully the engine goes in on Friday. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigmal 225 Report post Posted July 28, 2017 End of days 37, 38 and 39. Finished rewiring the boot and interior. Most of the vent ducting sorted. Had to order some ducting to finish it. Brakes plumbed and bled. Finished welding the sump. My TIG work is improving. Spent a lot of time making the motor look nice. A big change to when it came out. Engine is ready to go back in but my back hurts too much and it's getting cold again. I had hoped to have it drivable this weekend but decided to have the two days off so it will slow down to Sunday's only. I suspect the finishing will take quite a few days with all the fidily bits. Quote Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAC390 327 Report post Posted July 28, 2017 Mal, the engine looks really neat and clean. I have slowed down a bit also and cold does me no favors. 1 bigmal reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
