Leo's Rebuild.....

[Devilrod]

So it has been quite a while since I posted anything resembling an update on the forum not to mention it’s painfully slow using photobucket. So without rambling too much. Not alot has happened. My roadster is playing the high maintenance card on me (also could just be its worn out..) and time has not been my greatest friend. But I have been chipping away really really slowly.

Therefore picking up where we left off, Leo rolled outside for a bit of a rinse off.



Some minor repairs to the radiator support panel where the trans cooler lines ran after a hastily added cooler. I will be running the lines through either holes or a bulkhead fitting when it all goes back in.



Beginnings of pulling the driveline.



And out... One slightly used and abused 161 and trimatic.



Back outside for a bit more of a clean up.



So with that out of the way I could see more issues... I am yet to find a column that doesn’t crack through here.



So time to unleash my very average welding skills...



While at it I pulled the dash cluster out and the heater.



Pretty sure this isn’t a good sign. Hopefully I can get the core repaired. It doesn’t look too bad other than a small leak.



Speaking of leaks for those playing along at home I found where all the brake fluid went...



Seeing as I'm going dual circuit this isn't such an issue. Onto the next bit....

[Devilrod]

Now as you know I’m planning some subtle changes in the engine bay. One being what looks like an oil bath filter.

Before.


So I could run it looking like it has an oil bath filter and me being me decided to fit an element instead. Little less maintenance (read I’m lazy and its quicker to fit an element than clean out the oil bath) so with some persuasion no more oil bath.



Next step was to find an element and make it work.



Pretty easy really, big paper element and some minor mods to the top of the oil bath lid. Done!



With that done I’ve begun prepping it for paint.







While this was happening I’d had a grey breather in a small tub of molasses doing its thing. Came up a treat. And its ready to go all I need to do is the other piece of the puzzle.





Looks like new!



Now for the not so fun bits....

[Devilrod]

Rust.... So I’ve started on the good side. When I first built the car it had a few very small bubbles which we decided at the time to bog over as they were minimal. Not so minimal now. The rear quarters and passenger side guard lip/dogleg are the only rusty bits left. So without further ado.





Nasty what you find hidden..



Now time for my piss-poor welding to shine... And to be honest this is part of why it has taken me so long to get to here. I’ve been trying to get some practice in so I don’t just blow holes everywhere. I’m far from good but that hasn’t stopped me yet.
Pretty happy with what I did so far, its solid and all my own handiwork this time. A lot of questions to mates and some great tips and guidance from them resulted in steel where it was rust.





Then the fun task of making the rust repair panel work. I’ve been pretty disappointed with the fit as I had to add a 10mm strip to the edge where it forms the guard lip and down under the sill along the wheel well and first half of the lower quarter as it looked like it was cut from the end of a sheet and was short!



So with some reshaping and some tweaking this is where I’m up to now. The quarter is ready to be whole again.



The next step scares me a bit as I don’t want to warp the hell out of the quarter but I have some confidence in the way I’m going to tackle it and if all else fails I have someone close who will come and give me first hand tips or heckle, one or the other not sure what that will be yet.

So there you have it the very slow but also long time coming update and where I'm upto as of Monday.

[Errol62]

I like the air filter dr. With the column have you considered fitting a brace to the box and inner guard. They are fairly common available on eBay. Improves the steering feel by reducing twist as well so I'm told.
Cheers
Clay


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[thebrotherj]

I like the air filter dr. With the column have you considered fitting a brace to the box and inner guard. They are fairly common available on eBay. Improves the steering feel by reducing twist as well so I'm told.
Cheers
Clay


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome back Leo! Great to see.
I also wanna throw a word in for the steering box brace, I'm in the throes of installing one to my ute Leroy currently. I've used em on HRs in the past and even made my own to sure up dad's HK after watching the steering box twist as dad loaded up the steering wheel.
I'll post a pic in the coming days

[Devilrod]

I like the air filter dr. With the column have you considered fitting a brace to the box and inner guard. They are fairly common available on eBay. Improves the steering feel by reducing twist as well so I'm told.
Cheers
Clay


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome back Leo! Great to see.
I also wanna throw a word in for the steering box brace, I'm in the throes of installing one to my ute Leroy currently. I've used em on HRs in the past and even made my own to sure up dad's HK after watching the steering box twist as dad loaded up the steering wheel.
I'll post a pic in the coming days

Thanks guys, I will look into the brace. Seems like it would stop the cracking.

[NoMAD]

man i must have missed this whole thread... good to see you getting it all fixed up man

Cheers
Nathan

[thebrotherj]

[/quote]

Thanks guys, I will look into the brace. Seems like it would stop the cracking.
[/quote]

On Ebay, the seller is mtwlet

They don't have FB-EK listed currently, but just email them and ask. They'll make it and send to you for $60-70... or you could have a go at making your own.

This is the link to the EJ-EH bracket which is almost identical to look at:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/EJ-EH-HOLDEN ... 2542593234

[Devilrod]

Thanks for the link Brotherj. Reckon I could make one for less. Add it to the list....

[EK283]

Hi Mr Devilrod,

Welding is not so hard if you have a gas mig.

I use the spot method, so spot after spot and overlap each spot if that makes sense on the butt joint. I practice on a old piece of sheet first to make sure there is penetration on the underside (adjust your amps and wire speed to get the desired result).
Firstly spot weld the panel in place every inch or so then grind the welds back with a flap disc.Then start from either end doing 3 to 4 spots max and cool it down with compressed air, then go to the other side and work your way back and forth toward the middle. This will eliminate the heat buckle. If you get the heat settings right the spots will be flatish and have good penetration. All you need to do then is grind and hopefully some small dolly work will get it quite flat. It does take practice but you will get better each time and have a feel for the settings. The mig should also sound like loud sizzling bacon (that's the only way I can describe it), so slow and steady and cool down that's the secret.
Forgot to say the metal needs to be clean with no rust or paint present !

Your car still looks good even after the mishap !!!!

Regards Greg

[Devilrod]

Thanks Greg, all good and similar tips I've gotten of mates. Plus you have pretty much described exactly how I plan to do it. The only difference will be instead of a flap disc to start with I'll be using a grinding disc to knock all the spot/tacks down. Then once completely welded run the flap disc over it all.

[Trev]

Great progress in 2 years but seriously its good to see you get stuck in mate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rusty EK]

Good to see some progress DR , keep at it and keep the pics coming

[Devilrod]

Great progress in 2 years but seriously its good to see you get stuck in mate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

its woeful!

Gotta stop breaking the roadster or maybe driving it so it won't break and find a new place then things will start moving a bit quicker.

[NoMAD]

i'll be looking forward to seeing it in WA next year

Cheers
Nathan