Flash

That Aussie one looks the business. The front reminds me a bit of the Firenza Can Ams that we had back in Africa. They were GM's answer to the Ford Capri Peranas that were also a South African developed car. Sadly most of those Can Ams are long gone now.

As an Old School virgin, was great to put some names and faces to the handles (even if I've forgotten most of them already   ).

 

Some sweet rides.  A bit more motivation to get the Marina back on the road...

Hey Bryan, it was really good chatting to you last night. We are looking forward to catching up with you again next month. Hopefully we get to see the Marina in the flesh pretty soon too. If you aren't doing anything next Sunday please come along to Caffeine & Classics at Smales Farm. That will really inspire you.

6500 not including assembly

Jeez, I paid less than that for a brand new 350 crate engine including all of the bolt on bits and pieces. I'm glad you got sorted with a replacement unit.

No worries Shaneo, I'll catch up with you another time.

Shaneo, I spent a bit of time perving over your van at last month's burger night, but sadly didn't get a chance to chat to you. I sure hope you are bringing it along tonight. I love those original side panels.

Its great to see something really different. I'm looking forward to reading your updates.

Anyone else vanning tonight ?

Don't want yella feeling lonely.

Epic build Westy, thanks for sharing.

Wednesday night.

Its going to be cool watching the finished show. You bringing one of the vans to this week's burger night browndog ?

I've got a strange feeling that your van and my van are going to be starring in the same mini series. Mine is being used by the baddies though.

That is dedication!

More like desperation.

Awesome work browndog, looks like I've met my match. Good on you, can't wait to see how this turns out.

Yep, the bugger with a 911 is that when the clutch goes you can select as many gears as you want, but the car ain't moving. Money was already flowing onto the wreck repairs, so we were on the bones of our arse. No other option but to bite the bullet. We must be the only folk who ever paid off a 911 clutch and pressure plate over six months on a credit card.

i read the whole thing

 

is choice

 

edit : is more than choice, it felt like I was was there, Mrs Flash also sounds choice too, keep her!

Mrs Flash says cheers Joker. Its not really relevant to the build thread but she ended up both National and Regional Champion in her racing class that year using my road car to finish the second half of the season. There were some additional adventures along the way including a blown clutch on my road car at the same track where the accident took place with Mrs Flash undertaking a 700 km tow rope trip home behind the 924 which we still owned at the time. She is a gutsy lady but can be pretty high maintenance in the garage department. When our next door neighbor first saw the wreck and heard the story he said "Thank God my missus loves sewing"

Very inspiring!

I was interested to read about the cold working of the chassis over DAYS on the straightener..that's something iv never heard of before!

Yeah, John is a really good guy. He was more interested in getting the car right than in making any money on the job. I didn't mention it in the build thread but once the measurements had been confirmed he got his team to seam weld the entire front section.

Hey Snoozin, it was all self inflicted pain I can assure you. We still had about 2 years worth of payments to make on the car when it got wrecked, so there wasn't much of a choice for us.

RUF yellow bird, now that is a machine of note !!

And the final reveal.

With the assembly almost complete and the car back on its wheels, it was time to fire it up and get it out of the shed.

The side skirts still needed to go on at this stage.

I also did a quick tidy up of the engine bay before re installing the engine and gearbox.

The original interior was a lovely combination of light and dark brown. The plan was to change eveything to black. We would be deleting the back seat for a lightweight black contoured carpet similar to what the original RS came out with. The heavy front door panels with storage pockets would make way for lightweight RS replic panels with original RS door pulls. We had also sourced a set of period correct Recaro sport seats with the extra side bolsters that were a factory option at the time. The dash, rear side panels and back parcel shelf cover were redyed and a lightweight fabric roof lining was installed.

With the suspension coming together nicely my focus moved to the motor and gearbox which were looking decidedly tatty.

I stripped off all of the ancillaries and gave the whole thing a tidy up.

Half of the original fender mounted oil cooler was still embedded in the pit wall, so we ordered a high capacity aftermarket replacement, unit, fabricated up some brackets and mounted that puppy in place.