CarolsHusband

Ooh, update ? Nah, clickbait. Was tidying stuff out at my dads & found an aerial I had on loads of cars back in London. I probably bought it in about 86 as it was on my Imps. It also lived on two Granadas, the Consul, at least two Cortinas and ultimately, for that period of my life, the Marina I used as a getaway car when I headed for Wales. That got scrapped coz I had to crash that car, it but I kept the twig 'safe'in a damp box in a rat infested shed. Spent time messing about with it today and now it lives again on the Hilux. /Circle of life /pic Catch ya on the flip-flop.

/pics

Funnily enough, my mate who built a Discovery tipper offered to do the same for me. TBH I think that picture is about the angle where my chassis would snap in half. Light duties from now on.

Maybe.....

Well, that's me being a big fat liar. Next few months, my foot. Got one on me over the past couple of days & decided to go full Waltons spec. Pleased. Also,we may have a new contender for the paint. Bit struck by this from Chevy's 1972 range. /Would look mint with the slot mags.

It had crossed my mind to cut the pins off, but don't tell Michael.... To be honest it's probably never going to see any rain. Me from 30 years ago would disapprove but it's actually worth something and as you said, they can rust given any excuse. It's done really well at not doing so over the years. There is every chance I'm going to paint it at some point, the current colour is pretty odd and it's got quite a bit of micro blistering. If I fit the badge properly it won't come off in one piece, if I butcher it & fit it with badge tape I can remove it. * First world problems....

They actually don't. I thought they had them, on first inspection, "tang washers" is it ? They're just rubber/silicon o-rings to seal against the panel. The mounting is by the arrow-head type thingys much beloved of Japanese manufacturers. So I'm kind of on a guesstimate of what size hole to drill. Maybe I should work my way up or do trial fits on plasticard. So much responsibility. I thought raising a family & moving house was a worry......

......

Hack-oss-ka-nundrum. As we know, KY had an overwhelming fit of Good Cuntary and sorted me a new boot badge from Japan after I gorilla'd mine. To be fair, it was epoxied on so I didn't really stand a chance. First thing I noticed was that the new one had four mounting pins where as the old one was held on with double sided tape & glue. I assumed it was just an old badge that had got damaged so cleaned the old glue,etc off the boot to find the holes. No holes.... I had a check from behind, as well as i could through the holes in the frame and there is sign that they've been welded up or anything. All very strange. It looks like it's an earlier boot lid, but even then most of them seem to have a badge, even the 4 cylinder cars. Never mind, guess I just bite the bullet and drill holes in it. The badge just clicks in blind ( if I get the drill size right) which maybe explains why the original one got broken in the past as I can't see how you'd not break it trying to get it off. Better get me some brave pills and a decent ruler. Gulp.

Righto, this might be the last update for the moment as it's about as finished as it's going to be for a while. Try and stifle your relief. The tub is sold. Got 400 quid for it which is better than a kick in the nuts. Better make the thing roadworthy again. Because of virus I can't get Steve to do the welding so nuts & bolts it is... Sanded the chassis & got a bit of paint on. Shiny. Chopped the ends off the box section, Painted & bolted down, mocked up the bed frame Run out of excuses to do the electrics so gave it a bash. I don't really get it but how hard can it be ? This was about the time I went in and had some food before I lost the plot & ruined it. One of Carol's pizza's & an ice cream later and I finished the job... They don't all come on at the same time normally, I'm not that useless. Liberated a pile of 1" roofing boards from my Dads barn, pretty fucked but did the first layer side to side & the top layer front to back. It's good & sturdy. Gonna add some tie down rings at some point. Good enough for the moment, would like a hoop, etc, but we're moving soon so I'm going to have to learn proper welding before that happens. Hopefully have a bit more in a few months. Chur.

Yeah, that's what I thought. Seems like a good fix. Saw some fabbed out of steel too, but it doesn't need any more rustable parts.

Or I could buy these.... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Saco-Billet-Aluminum-Ball-Joint-Frame-To-King-And-Link-Pin-Axle-Beam-Adapters-/283478593188

Thanks man Was planning to give it a bit of stick off road, not much point in living at the beach and not using your beach buggy. Sooo..... Looks like I'll be getting my current pan shortened, or starting a new plan.

Dub advice needed from dubbers plz, paging @63Ragtop & @64valiant maybe ? My shortened floorpan that I'm using for the Beach Buggy is originally a ball joint front end, my donor beam is a link pin type. In my innocence I assumed that I could just swap the beams but a mate has put a doubt in my mind. I can't find an answer on that internet (though I may not be using it correctly). Anybody know facts ? If they are a different fitting is it possible to adapt ? Chur

Pesky meeces. You may remember that my centre console lid got molested by vermin while I was neglecting my car. I've been pondering various solutions to avoid the obvious option of buying a new one. Lightbulb moment.... ( googles "Does VHT wrinkle finish work on plastic ?"). Youtube says "yes". Though I'd give it a bash and if it melts then I'll just go for plans B, C & D; namely cover it, make one out of wood or cast one in clear resin with Sakura in it. Anyway, it went like this... Fire up the P38 Bit of sanding First coat to see if I got it all I didn't. So more filler. Sorted. I've no idea if it's going to last, I'm gonna bake it in the sun for a few days and seal it with some satin lacquer if it seems unstable. Tightened the front wheel bearings as well, no pics though. /coz it's just wheel bearings.

Not even in Wales. Maybe in Scotland but it probably wouldn't have a roof. *edit* Yep, it hasn't got a roof... https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75876194.html

You could buy a house for that, etc.

Just looking on carsensor. 2000 GT sedans similar spec to mine but mostly with the correct single carb and I assume as rust free as mine, are around the 3.5 to 4.8 million Yen mark. There's a stock GT-X coupe for 14 million. Kenmeri, you say ? https://www.carsensor.net/usedcar/detail/CU8951213963/index.html?TRCD=200002

You ask him, I'm looking at the ridiculous price of these things now in Japan. Maybe I should sell it back to them. no one's going to pay that money for them now, surely ?

When I bought mine, you didn't have to be rich. Now you'd definitely be poor once you'd bought one. But yes, if Morris were still making badges in metal then, what were Nissan thinking ?

Yeah Nah Looks like I'm way too tight to own a nice car. Maybe I'll look into it when I paint it. /still surprised it's not metal to be honest.

Thanks man, I knew you'd know. Bit sad they're not metal but hey-ho. 75 quid though... Really ? Theirs are metal though, right ? Guess that's why mine was bodged together. Think I'm playing with the big boys now. / I've always liked a shaved bootlid.

Bonsoir. Kind of faffed around doing a pre house-move list in the garage earlier & avoiding cutting steel for the Hilux bed. Went to get some mower fuel in the Skyline and noticed the boot lid badge is pretty mank So I thought I'd clean it up a bit. It's badly painted and a bit damaged. Gently does it, bit of heat, *snap*.... Oh, it's made of plastic then. Oops. So that's fucked. Are they all plastic or is it just a horrible replica ? I bet @kyteler, font of all things Skyline, knows. Still its death wasn't all in vain, it managed to bugger the paint up too..... Oh well, better go off to the other end and see if I can mess that up as well. I've fancied doing the centre pair of headlights yellow for a while. When I was a kid French cars had yellow lamps and it was quite exotic seeing them driving around. Japanese tuners seem to feel this way too, though ironically it seems to now be seen as JDM around the world. Anyway, I did them and it looks mint. To me, at least. Also did the twin filament bulbs (side/indicator) to hopefully avoid the close shaves I have because flashing white lights confuse Poms, apparently. pics. Next installment will hopefully include a rear exhaust box & a parcel shelf. Thank you for reading.

Small update... Been trying to resist the temptation to just bolt the proper bed back on and be done with all this messing about, especially as we're moving house soon & I'm making the truck less useful. Never mind, I resisted. Added some lights and stuff. Cut some steel up for the crosspieces, going to make a perimeter frame out of 2" angle and fill it with scaff boards. This width will keep it legal (just) with the 33 x 12.5's, but I may still chop a bit off as the front ones stick out anyway. Also, was watching a "Columbo" earlier from 1991. / fancy SR5 for fred. That's your lot, I'm off to bed.

Steady fullah, this is a peaceful thread.