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Rust removed and new lip welded in.

Then i assembled it all together in the dash, although the speedo needs rebuilding everything else can stay. Now onto the centre console....

Bit more progress on this, Did some more panel beating of the front end, it had been chinned quite badly on the passenger side especially, and had a sharp bend just below the round bumper mount holes. Now its pretty even and roundedish, way better than before. Once the front bumper is on it will be hidden anyway. Again very finding very little rust holes, there is some, obviously, as well as surface rust, and there are a couple of tears as well, but its held up very well considering. Removed the handbrake mechanism so i could tidy up the handle, and the lower mechanism

Then this happened !

My son bought his first car. A 1981 Mk5 Cortina. He is 15 and we are going to restore it together. In other words I’ll be doing up a car.

Big thanks to @MaxPower for helping out with a spare manifold from one of his vans. I checked online and for some reason you can buy a supercharger manifold for your Corvette or Mustang but there is no off the shelf option for your 1982 Mitsi Sigma. I will have to make one, what could possibly go wrong? I will post more pictures as the manifold comes together

I'm willing to ignore the fact that an XR100 doesn't tang, and that it got ran over after Arnie saves John Connor on his potato bike (the ultimate shame)

Templating the Valance. This is going to be hard! Might take a few goes I think.

Sanded back to nearly metal and etch primed.

The blue fork boots on the 185 had disintegrated after being ridden for the first time in 20 odd years. IMG_20210426_140223_1 by John Bell, on Flickr AliExpress to the rescue, they're not quite long enough but will do for now. IMG_20210501_131214 by John Bell, on Flickr Annoyingly the rear shocks that I had rebuilt at somewhat of an expense don't seem to dampen very well again, no oil lost so I'm guessing the gas has left. Might have to look to AliExpress for this also. Would like to keep the blue springs though. Have only travelled about 400km on this since reviving

So its been awhile still in WA australia and sold both my escorts, bought a house with a good sized shed thats empty... thought you know what goes in here well. Junk. So I ended up getting this 1970 Hillman Hunter Royal HE of this guy up in perth thats had it for 20 years collecting bits and pieces but got cancer and needed it to move on to someone who will do it up. Its a matt black spray can jobber someones slapped a wing on it for god knows what reason. Came with all new doors, front end, bonnet, boot lid, engine, transmission, and boxes full of unused an

Big mission today to get old motor out and get the new motor/box/clutch/etc assembled. I was thinking it would likely be best/easiest to drop the motor out the bottom, like I've done with MR2 in the past. However once the axles are out it's pretty easy to turn the motor 90 deg and pull it straight out the front. Ended up spending about an hour and a half playing Dentist, when the new motor and new box both had the same alignment dowel stuck in them. Took a lot of heat and CRC and filing some flats into it before the bloody thing eventually came loose. Once that was sorted I

That rust killer from SCA is awesome.

Also the sweet sweet number plate HUNTER HE So where all things start... seeing what doesnt work and what parts I have Bloke seems to think it was something to do with the dizzy and points so I have like 4 new ones to try out from his stockpile Also about 6-7 stromburg carbys aswell as being able to install two so who knows we will see how things pan out My partner doesn't want to keep the engine bay art either... she thinks her parents might not approve

Aaannd bought a rough XR100 because reasons. Has had a hard life. Will attempt to tidy up without exceeding the limits of financial sensibility. And probably just use it for very light farm duties or as a loaner to beginners. IMG_20210424_115304 by John Bell, on Flickr Got vaguely correct tank graphics from.... AliExpress! Looks ok but are very thin, and have bubbled something chronic in days prior. Oh well. $$ IMG_20210425_170715 by John Bell, on Flickr Waiting on parts currently.

Guess I’ll be needing this.

They say the two happiest days of Birtish car ownership are the day you get the car and the day it leaves your life. Well the other day it left my life (at least for now). My dad is taking it on a long road trip. He is taking it to Auckland, via the bottom of the South Island. They're staying at Lake Hawea tonight. I think their trip will be complete by around about the 15th. Hitting the road: Somewhere in Mt Somers I believe: Lindis pass (actually surprised it still ran up there): He insisted on taking the roof rack with it. I bet it u

Getting there now.

Thought I would put up a build of my Ariel, have been lurking on here for a while and have really enjoyed reading the builds posted, both cars and bikes. I've always been interested in motor bikes and had a few in my earlier years, mostly Yamahas, and had always wanted an older bike. Many moons ago where I worked in Ch-Ch there were quite a few guys in the VCC. A couple of them went to Wellington and bought up a heap of bikes from an estate (Brook or Brock Motorcycles?) One guy got a bunch of AJS/Matchless stuff, and the other guy a bunch of Ariels. I had a look through the Ariels and

Thanks, I had a look on some EPC sites but couldnt find a diagram like that. I'll call the wrecker and see if they've got the rest of the car there still. What's the bet that sensing my desperation this part now costs $600 haha.

If modern cars are anything like my old crap, the p/s steering column may be a different length to allow for all the hydralic bits

I found this pic from a while ago when i got the fibreglass dash parts and offered them up to see what it was going to look like... Lots of hours have gone into them since that pic was taken...

I painted it black and offered up all the gauges and lamps to make sure the layout was correct and was going to work in the dash surround. Very happy with the result , then i just had to finalise the wording i wanted and get it cut out in laminate. Happy days!

The first step was to cut out the centre as i only need the outer shell.

Thanks mate, I’ve been getting heat from my mates about buying safer first cars, but surely you can’t beat something special like this for a first car.

So bought a very rough CRF50 near the start of 2020. As is tradition, threw a bunch of AliExpress parts at it, and badly painted rusty bits. It probably wasn't safe sitting around here as I was riding it round the lawn at every opportunity. Have lent it to my nephews until my boy is big enough or they get sick of it. IMG_20200213_183639 by John Bell, on Flickr IMG_20200426_151544 by John Bell, on Flickr

Front Valance is a mess too. Buckled and rusted. Bonnet is straight as are all the lines on the body, but for the valance.

So much hate in here, I can't even tune a carb, let alone tune an engine with EFI that wasn't setup for it. Go work on your cars, the lot of ya.

I'd fill the sump with CRC 556 if I was you.

I bought a ToolShed linisher/belt grinder/sander thingo a while back. It had mediocre performance and it was easy to stall the belt. It came with a 1HP 1400rpm motor. Boooo! There! I've fixed it! YAAAAAY! Three times the power and double the speed should do it. The belt guard is off here. It's a bit shit and rattles and vibrates. It's almost as if they forgot to add fasteners to that lower bracket. I'm gonna sort that out. Should be able to flatten my exhaust manifold flange now.

Just won a trademe auction for this. Not collected yet, so not fully mine or in my possession, but i'm quietly fizzing. Its been sold and resold on trademe and on Facebook about 4 times in the last 5 years, I was the second highest bidder a couple of times, moving pretty steadily south, starting off in Ashburton, then Christchurch (a fellow Fiat botherer went and had a look and sent me lots of detailed pics and declared it was savable), then i think Timaru , and now, back of Milton. At least 5 people messaged me directly to share the link, and the key difference is this ti

https://www.amayama.com/en/part/toyota/4529752020 Maybe an option. Partsouq for that matter is showing 1x of the supersession 4529752070 available too.

Right. I've been slack as shit on updating this. Where to start? Hilux diff has been sold. I have front and rear mx5 subframes siting in the garage, Mx5 d2 adjusties, steering rack etc. The gearbox tunnel has been finished. Engine has had a rattle can rebuild. Am going to start notching the rear chassis and floor to fit the IRS rear end. Car is going to get 50mm flares all around to fit the wider subframes. Have decided to keep the rota in it.

I’d save them all if I could, there are so many on trademe being pulled to bits.

Currently trying to decide if going turbo would be worth doing in scheme of things i could have a manifold and turbo on for $1200 bucks. Would simplify the exhaust for me.... I would really struggle to talk myself out of taking the blower off though. Why not both? Thats what i keep telling myself. Then i remember my Transmission has been labeled the box of neutrals by the internet which brings me back to reality.

Gave it a bit of bog and a sand, then hit it with some primer to see the over all shape. So far I'm really happy with it. Still a bunch more sanding required, but I think it's going to look pretty good.

hmm yeh the usual not everything as it seems. The dyno sheet has a 1.20 tcf. which im pretty sure is the correction factor they have added. so the 290kw is more like engine power, not wheel power. but 1.2 is pretty generous for drive line loss. heres about what it would look like in kw at wheels. I overlayed a run from my turbo setup at 16psi. which shows how yuck the power curve is also

Have had a few really dodgy ones over the years, a "mitsubishi lancer 1500cc" that had "been converted to a makkinen evo replica" And a "V6 commodore with a LS swap" that had really low kms and lots of weird rust almost like it had been hidden in a damp shed for 10 years and you could see where the SS stickers on the doors were and the engine number had been attacked with a chisel and the date tag on the belts didnt match the year on the rego and the vin tag under the glass had heaps of weird scratches on it Or the VE commodore that had a different vin on the bit under the c

Brief spec on the car before the rebuild was 1600cc Xflow, Kent 244 cam, big valve head with double springs and steel rocker posts and solid spacers. Datsun pistons and twin 45mm Webers. 4 speed Straight cut , close ratio Tran-x gear kit. English axle with a steel plate type LSD 4.9:1 Ratio. Two link rear end. 4 wheel vented discs and bilstein shocks all round. Quick rack and a world cup cross member. All pretty normal for a rally car of that era. Plans for the rebuild are making it look more like a period works escort of the 70's, ie. Satin black interior with correct works twin cowl

Before i put any electrical things back in i gotta take care of some shit. Fucking rats man. This is the main engine loom (alternator and starter control plus main power feed) as well as the drivers front lights loom. Only wire not chewed to the point of separation was the horn power supply. Interesting horn wiring sidesharn, the other horn wire (from the button, that earths out the circuit) actually travels the length of the hollow! steering column and exits the bottom of the steering box!?! Because of where the break was,right in a really tight shitty spot

Never mind, I used my neighbours press. Thanks guys.