d.p.n.s

1 tub completely done and 1 to go

 

made a start on the rear tub..(its only a mini tub just as far as the chassis rails)..started on the drivers side.

so im wanting to run a 9" rear wheel (10" all up ) not greedy. and i do have a banded 13" steel that is 9"........handy ay...it does fit but under any form of suspension travel it will rub

so i cut the rear half of the guard out and left the front half in place

i removed the old lip and clean it up as well as the steel that was left over all the way to the chassis rial.

i welded it back in and added a strip of metal

so now i have 12" gap........huge 

re fit the rim

heaps of room now.

just need to weld the supports to the tub and make 2 small filler panels and then do the other side.....but very happy with the room now..well worth it.

 

small update but another thing ticked of the huge list.

battary box.

i just fitted a new battery to the mk5 so i just took measurements from that and made a box.

the good old mk3 has a different chassis rail on the right to the left...the right has more room as the filler hole /neck was there....and the box will fit so i made a hole

the box will hard up against the the side wall so i thought i would clean it up and POR15 the area first

sank it in and welded up.

made a top

still heaps of room for mufflers on each side.

 

 

now that the mk3 is back on the rotisserie i thought i would start .

the valance is pretty rusty (have seen worse ) in and out and pretty hard to get hold of here in nz ...and ive been thinking of changing it up anyway.

i wanted to cut  the valance back up about 3" higher and make end caps and little recesses for the exhaust tips.(twin exhaust from motor).

so i marked out where i wanted cut back to and cut everything out.

it wasnt the best in there so i pulled it out side ...cleaned the area...metal prepped it and gave it 2 coats of POR15 in there

there was a bit more rust at one end so i did that next and plug welded the panel back down

then i started boxing it all back up...starting with the middle section

then i had to figure out where i could get a muffler in on each side and where i wanted the exhaust tips to sit...the exhaust will twin 2.25" from motor so i made cut outs   out of 3"

next was making caps to box the inside with

 and then last was boxing it all in

..next on the list might have to be mini tubs......thats a 9" rim so 10" over all and i really like the size.

 

so as you know if you have read this topic this year i swapped the original motor out (because it was starting smoke real BAD!!)

i put the one that came in the parts car i bought in after swapping all the shit from mine onto it......and all was good with the world...it started ,ran well,and didn't smoke..... this one

and then one day on my way home from work it started rattling ....and it didn't go away.....and it started bleeding oil all over everywhere i parked.....(at this point i knew J-W-G was selling his 2.0 out of his mk3)

so thought i would try and fix/fuck mine

https://youtu.be/BaPxkhkxBoE

2 things happened  that night ...1 i didnt fix/fuck it....2 it sounded better and the rattling when a away........................................for 9 hours.

so i bought J-W-Gs motor and he kindly dropped it off for me on the Saturday....i didn't do anything with it till the flowing Monday...  Drove the old girl to work and it was getting worse so came home and pulled the motor out swapped the flywheel ,p-plate,clutch ,inlet and carb onto the motor(3rd this year) i got from Jesseas i know they worked well on past 2 motors  (and against my better judgment not the water pump or thermostat) ....put it all back together and it ran like a dream fried straight up and didn't sound like  a diesel...after a couple of days it did pick up a slight knocking sound (that when away when the clutch pedal is even lightly pushed (so wasn't to bothered )..and had a massive hesitation when you put your foot down.(found that to be coil to dizzy HT lead........the hard way......heeeelll of a jolt).

then this monday i left to go to work and got a few ks from home and temp was well over half way(normally the fan is just kicking in as i get to work )...it was a hot ass morning tho.

got it back home and it was very low on water.....so i bit the bullet and pulled the motor back out ....replaced the water pump and thermostat from mine......i know....i know.

found the knocking to be a stone jammed in the sandwich plate ......before you ask ...fuck knows.

i also decided to give it a blast and quick paint...and water  last the engine bay and put it back together.....

and give the old girl a wash......shes happy as now and back to being 100%.

cheers all

 

 

so start of a new year (even tho its February now lol).thought i would clean the garage out and that met putting the mk3 back on the rotisserie and also making casters for it so i can move it out side....ive got some metal prep to do before POR15 and that en voles being able to hose it down..and dint want to do that in the garage..

bit of a bloody mess

all cleaned and ready to go

 

started seeing if i can get the interior in and see what broken and what goes where.(they will need a good upholster to sort it all out...has been painted black and lots of rips.)

started with the back seat.

the bottom clips in the car that hold the bottom of the seat have broken off so i drilled hols and riv-nutted them.

the back seat frame will need to be straightened after sitting around with crap on them for years.

as for the base and as most of you know the base is held in with these little thin tabs.

and screws into these small hole with what is basically a PK screw

so i cut up some 3mm thick box section and welded them on and cut the old ones off

drilled new holes and used rivnuts

back seat all bolted in.

 

i bolted the front seats in and realized im in a situation ive never been in before.(i have moved seats,bolted in other seats,,,)

but im not a small person and normally everything isn't where it should be for me...like controls .gauges facing me ect ect.

but im still yet to weld the dash and everything in place ....so i could make things better for me while im at it..

i bolted the EPSC in place (still fits as same pedal box as facelift) and put gear stick in gearbox and sat the center console in as well.

now i can start putting dash all in to suit me....still need to make it all fit around the wiper motor and heater i made to fit the facelift dash.

on a side not ...1st time i have ever had seats in this car .........of cause i sat in it slamming it threw the gears making engine sounds.............i am human

 

 

 

got the dash support painted and put the rest of the dash together......very happy with it ...

pre face lift GT dash

now bog standard face lift.

car has a new owner as well....i have my mk2 stored at a mates and he dropped the other mk3 seats off for me today and couldn't  take his eye off it (it is a bloody good body)

so we struck a deal and hes going to put it in storage until he has all the bits to put it back on the road.......its a good day...dash lloks mint....cars going to a good home

 

 

 

 

well i havnt build the new motor yet .....because i have other shit to play with.....but the old pinhoe has been getting worse......blows shit loads of smoke and sounds like a diesel...

the mk3 parts car i bought had a mighty pinthoe in it... so i pulled it out pulled the clutch ,flywheel,pressure plate,inlet and carb , thermostat and water pump of mine and slapped it on to the other one.... reason being mine ran and i had done them last year.

some new plugs and oil.....and man it starts first pop.....no smoke.....and so quiet .

old pinthoe

other old pinthoe

blooody good

when i bought this it was a shell and i was missing heaps of parts but the shell was the starting point for me.

i did buy some seats and door cards as well as the rectangle lights and a few grills  (i like the look of then and the 1st ones to come along)from a mate but still needed lights and lots of other stuff..so i all ways thought that one day ill stumble across a parts car..

being a face lift 76 it has the same dash as the mk4/5 and i dint hate it but lately ive been thing about after market gauges and maybe subaru b4 seats front and back or maybe bucket seats in the back as well.

then a mate rings me on Friday morning  and tells me he will around soon with a trailer......and later that day i had a parts car...........oh what a parts car.

its got everything that makes a GT a GT in it.

so i stripped it out on Saturday and got a pile of GT goodness.

the seats are pretty bad and will need an expert but they are all there.

the only part i dont need is the steering wheel and i have no idea how much they go for so i put it on trademe at $1 reserve..

the body of the parts car is pretty bloody good and has live plates and tags..so the plan is to take all the stuff i want and put all the stuff i no longer have a need for back on and sell it on to someone whos after a project.....far to good to just cut up...theres rust in the rear panel and i think thats it.

the big job is the dash steel back part....the face lift and pre facelift are totally different as you know so they need to be removed and welded back in ..in the other cars.

so i have removed the facelift from my car today

i will fully weld up all the areas with it out now and clean and POR15 what i can before i remove the other one from the parts car and weld it in.

cheers

 

 

made some panels to covers... the firewall recess