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Had been looking for a kit that someone had not started for years. Found this on Trademe late one night and rung and done the deal next morning. My little girl Shelby and I picked it up the following night. It came as body/chassis/front A arms and the Le Mans fuel cap. Unloading early in 2008.A trip to Wilfs junkyard got me some headlights, Mirage steering column and Torana rack. fannied the lights up a tad.Won a dual quad manifold on ebay so the engine was decide on at that point, a 428 FE Ford.More ebay goodies.Header tank.Trademe came up with a pair of seats.428 Fe turned up from the States. Cobra Jet heads.Hardened seats fitted and skimmed.N.O.S isky cam kit from ebay.More ebay, big bellhousing for 12" clutch, Mcleod Flywheel, starter and clutch fork.The rest of the Mcleod clutch setup from ebay.And last of the bunch, an Edelbrock alloy water pump. I have other projects,mortgage, kids etc so things will happen eventually.

Painted the wheels, fitted the tyres and to be fair it looks awful. Fronts too wide, tyres too small, ride too high. Nothing looks right about it at all. IMG_6858 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_6848 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_6838 by Richard Opie, on Flickr

Decided to just paint the bumpers with the gloss paint and see how they come out. It seems to look alright. So it can stay like that. Fender mirrors make it look so much better too.

unsure how much sense this pic will make to most... but the brackets to hold the IRS are in, as well as the irs arms, as well as the irs gear box, as well as a chassis brace (axels are still to be added) this pic is a bit more self evident..

The last appearance tonight of my van on Westside Ep. 5 below, the Sundowner is the armoured cash van in this episode, and Jackson's yellow Mk2 is the getaway van. Dougal tries to blow the doors off the back of the van to get the cash inside, and unfortunately has also manages to blow his head off But happily no Transits were harmed in the making of this production Click this link to watch the programme: http://www.tv3.co.nz/WESTSIDE-Season-1-Ep5/tabid/3692/articleID/115944/MCat/4513/Default.aspx

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It lives

Pulled front suspension parts out and have cleaned up then resprayed have also painted the front of the chassis.

It's at ride height I want it - the LCA and steering arm angles are pretty much cock on for where they need to be, and it has plenty of useable travel for max real world hoonage at all opportunities. The issues at hand: - with the outer wheel weights positioned behind the spokes, I get some interference with the calipers. So I yanked these off (20g) and bolted wheel on. - dialled in some camber, now things fit pretty much bang on width wise. I think if I swap to some 175/60/13 tyres, which are the same diameter as the 165/65 I have on the A3A it'll look the part. 14's aren't an option though!

How low is it at the mo? Guard gap is like getting a boner at work, everyone will see it, some might not mind it, others will find it funny and the rest will think it's yuck. Have been working through work boner guard gap issues myself.

the yellow one that's been on TM? Looks really good. I would buy it if it were a panel van and not a camper. I bought a camper early this year so don't need another one, it is also a Ford, but a wee bit bigger than a Transit

Dont forget i got loads of shelves here dude. Meybe uprights but definatey heaps of shelves.

Got busy in the engine bay on Sunday and primed it this evening. First time doing an engine bay, couple of runs, not really bothered at this stage. Was tighter then your mum in there. Picture before i pulled it apart for engine spray. Most complete its looked for a long time.

Trying to get this junk ready for next weekend. Put new springs in, 200-100-20lbs. sits a bit high still, but seems to work good otherwise. maybe shocks are a little hard. built new exhaust. put on trail gear transfer case e brake, which was a big heap of shit tbh. still need to get cable shortened or get later model cable. mounted recovery point. then got bored and drove over shit

Also, a big thank you to Kempy! During the shed tour, he will be firing up one of his many sweet old Coffee machines and providing a fresh roast for those attending. Top bloke

Ok so over the week, the stubs received the tick from the NDT guys (recommend X-Ray Laboratories on Leonard Rd, Penrose for this kind of work if you need it, very fast turnaround and a good price) and then I ambled across to Clint and received a frowny cert-man approval for them after examination and photos. So, then they got painted in gloss black and reunited with their shocks. I didn't take any pictures of that finished article because I was pretty excited and impatient to put them in the car. So here's this. IMG_3138 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_3160 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_3170 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Oh and the Streets are now polished and with Levi for a dab of paint between the spokes and on the inner barrels. Plenty of room in a single piece 13" wheel vs the 3 piece for the brakes too. IMG_3205 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_3218 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Cheers for having a nosy, if you want to discuss anything the link is below!

I bought another one of these damn things last week, told myself I wouldn't buy any more, but this one was too good to pass up (ever said that to yourself before?) Anyway, short story is, previous owner bought it in 1976 from DB Breweries who were the first owners. At this point it still had the 2.0 V4. Shortly after he purchased a written off XA Fairmont, and took the running gear out, as well as a lot of other parts. Over the next 8 years (!) he fitted the engine, trans, nine inch disc braked LSD (from a Lincoln Continental) into the van . The job was completed in 1985. He then used it as a service vehicle for his Gp.4 Escort rally car. It was parked up in 2006 and not driven again. I first spied it a couple of years ago, and he had made noises about selling it, and I have been in his ear ever since. Spoke to a friend of mine last week, and he said he was over at the Transit helping the owner get it started, and to come over, to which I replied " I know how this is going to end!" Anyway, we got it running on 8 year old fuel(!) and by the next day a deal had been done and I owned it I went to his place yesterday, fitted a new battery, poured in some fresh 2014 fuel, and fired her up. I drove it up the road to make sure it had brakes etc, seemed near enough so drove it to my storage unit about 25 minutes away without incident. Something that occurred just after purchasing it was; Mk1 Transit SWB, flat front, with a 5 litre V8. Sound familiar? To me I instantly thought of this, the iconic Transit Supervan 1: So after collectimg the van yesterday I swung past a friends place and picked up a set of wheels off his Pantera, thats 15x10 fronts with 285/40x15 tyres and 15x13 rears with 345/35x15 tyres. It is just so happens by pure luck that the Pantera has the same Ford 5 stud bolt pattern as the Falcon running gear that has been fitted to this van, so on they went: followed by a set of works Escort arches: So the plan at this stage is to get the van roadworthy, nothing major, new front brake discs and pads, sort the intermittent starting issue, get both sides repainted, good groom and use and enjoy it over summer. Then will start on the Supervan conversion next year sometime Happy days. Conrad //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?app=forums&module=post&section=post&do=new_post&f=11

Discuss : //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/49000-stylez-gx61-mkii-hardtop-couch-spec-disc/?p=1544979 Righto. So I sold the Wolseley, as we have our first wee one on the way in about a month! This will be a second err... Family? Car. Gx61 mk2 hardtop Couch spec. Factory Manual. Oh, and I had some change for these Work Equip 01s. Flying up to Chch Sunday and driving home. Stoked. Discuss : //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/49000-stylez-gx61-mkii-hardtop-couch-spec-disc/?p=1544979

This has been my dream car since the early 1970,s.

Or if you are going old school and won't be traveling with the Internet just buy a map.

I just edited my post lol. Yes, but just get a sim, how often will you be out of coverage where you need hard core turn by turn? About zero times?

Farrrk those chain steering wheels scare the shit out of me. I can just see your pinky getting caught in one and bam the pinky is gone.

Yeah they are man! Was way to busy, forgot, got busy again, got injured from rugby..... Now ive got a good savings for the escort its time to get my A into G

Royce Clive have one of mine at the moment. Will post pics when I get it back

Had rims repaired by Elite Wheels they did a good job and wasnt to expensive from memory

mates 180b about to get some rust work done

can you fit bigger rca's? agree it's not going to happen on those tyres. unless you don't want to drive it. bit more tyre, rca and low should work

http://www.roycecliveengineering.co.nz/

I see all my pics are dead above. Damn it. This turned up the other night:

I have done nothing with this bike for months. I was thinking about selling it even and started cleaning it up last week. Shot home for lunch today and the sun was shining so I pulled the cover off and to my surprise it fired straight up. Ran like an absolute dog for a while but when I got onto the motorway it cleared and went really well all the way to work. A few people at work have commented on how awesome it is. Perhaps I shouldn't sell Perhaps it just needs more awesome. Like rearsets. Better brakes. And a WOF, I'd prob ride it heaps more if it had one of those haha

Of course. Will send you the details tonight. Please regale us with your tales of the Orient peet.

Pick us up g

After much pressure from neal. Ie " bro come to the shed tour thing" I can confirm i have noted this date with the powers that be. May even roll in the escort

So I couldn't help myself and got into doing some mods. Chucked a new smaller tail light on and put the forks off the 50 on it cause my mate stacked it into a van and bent the ones on it. massive fail but shit happens. here's the result of the modifying shenanigans Shit quality iphone photo's cause that's all I have to take some snaps with lol.

Gotta have it ready for a monthly meet, make it a winter one.

Yep, Berry chassis, Almac body. FE,s look best in these eh ?

More work tonight, used the front of the APC sills and the rest of the zinc coated ones i had folded up. The fit a the rear isnt perfect, but i think it will pull into shape ok. Ordered a spot weld kit from Eastwood for my Tig welder, and some rustproofing paint and such so i can paint the insides before welding the sills on. I have to make the bottom of the A pillars still as well, not to scarey, then ive got the whole process to do on the other side. Vents under dash will be a big job, not a massive amount of rust, but some funny shapes to deal with under there.

He will have my 245!!

Struts back from silver paz and have been de-embrittled Cant buy off the shelf du-bushes so had to machine the O.D of these very tricky as it kept catching the split on the bush then self destroying. Made a mandrel and had a hose clamp around the bush and took small cuts until I finally had 4 bushes. Bushes in bilstein shocks in , 300lb 2.25" 9" long springs Next to make are top hats and get some hubs. Also might need keeper springs to get nice and low

Awesome progress guys! Looks sweet. Kinda reminds me of this;

Roughly threw on fuel tank (Stu my good friend says hes gonna make me a sweet ali one... ) and some other bits together, so could test a few things. Seems to be working well apart from a few drama's. Brakes don't work, need bigger master cylinder im thinking. and the spring situation. some soft 10" springs should fix that. Droped the clutch with a few rev's, and the ass didn't jump up in the air or squat from what i could see. so the 4 link angles must be pretty close! Extra light weight version. / Show us your 4age

Done heaps on this, but not a lot exciting update wise. All the suspension pickup points are welded on properly, diff is finished. Added limit straps and another cross brace. brakes. Having a bit of mare with springs. tried to cheap out and use some i had hanging around, but didnt go to plan. still gotta get more springs andchange it around, but how it is below should be ok for a test run

I think they are releasing it on DVD once the series has shown, so I will grab a copy. Originally they wanted 5x Mk1 Transit vans, the story was they would steal a new van every time they did a burglary. I laughed when they told me this, I said they would not find 5 of these old things that were left running, at least not in Auckland In the end they used the silver Mk1 twice, and put stripes and changed the wheels to make it look different. And we used 3x Mk2 Transits, which we will see more of in the remaininig shows.

Ok ok. I'll attend the tour. I shall check if a tour of the workshop is all sweet and get back to you.

Thought I'd asist the pedals with this.

Some more pictures

powder coating of cooling tin and induction bits done

so in a little more detail... currently has screamer pipe, might be legal this far back? also has muffler, but I also have a dump pipe to replace this with when going to the track has fuel pressure reg and guage in the crappiest place ever - but kind of works has a wide drop sump, total oil capacity is about 6l now, also provides a handy return point for post turbo oil also has a proper oil filter, first time I have had one of these on a vw it also has one of these bolted underneath...

This video will better demonstrate why

got motivated after yesterday so i lowered it to the height i would like it at. cannot wait for the new wheels to arrive! Before After. Can still turn in full lock. Rear doesnt need any work, Front i am getting some coil overs made up so this is the mock height for that.