leigh

Just read this thread - the quad lights really suit the car and its much better now its hit puberty and dropped its balls. The mustang inspired stripe would be well cool too, seen this recently thought it rocked:

Got some tyres on the slots today but had to play around with sizes - profiles looked a bit weird to be honest. See what you think:

185x60 on rear, 185x50 (i think) on front:

Thought there is too much space around the front wheel - it just doesnt sit in the arch right. I think this profile would be ok on a 15 but looks lost on the 13's. So then I decided to swap the rears up to the front and I might possibly leave some old school 70 profiles hangin out the back:

Eh, got a bit carried away at that stage and stuck my cousin's 19's on:

Never thought i'd hear myself say this but - they're TOO big

Went playing with some metalflake today and did this with my slotmags:

Had another blip of it at standstill as my clutch has got the better of me and wont play the game so i cant drive the feckin thing still

Excels for the win, slam it and drive it like you're late for mass

That's such a cool little car. Been reading the whole thread there. I found an old fella at home on Friday past who has an X1/9 - he imported it from the States to Ireland - i reckon i could twist his arm for it. Although im after his Opel GT to be honest. The man also has some crazy old fibreglass bodied Saab Coupe thing with a V4 engine. I was telling him that you are changing the bumpers from the ridiculous picnic tables to cool little ones and he was well intrigued. As a matter of interest, what are you gonna fill in the resulting gap in the front valance with now the BIG bumper's gone?

Bro, this thing rules. Looks bangin' with those mesh wheels. Really cool that its got a fiat twin cam in it. Would never have though of doing that to a british car... Mean

Nice one buddy, i'm lovin the look of the compos myself. Gotta get it going again so i can enjoy the thing!

And also.... I just put 2 and 2 together and realised you're one and the same leigh from RR.

McFly!!!

Nice to hear from you Snoozin!

found some mid 90s Barina (Opel Corsa) springs for the rear which barely dropped it from the height of original springs, but they have less coils and the first few coils are small so they will be better to get compressed.

Need to find some shorter shocks for the front as my springs aren't captive at all - how do yours stay captive?

Fuel, I got my springs made by a guy in England and shipped them back to Ireland. He makes up the springs exactly as you want them so he just made me stiffer shorter versions with the same ends as the originals. They just sit into the original mounting points although on the front the little rubber damper piece on the top doesnt know whats goin on when the car is jacked up as it falls about!!

That's a cool black Firenza but to be honest, the red one really does something for me. Just the stance of it, superb

That Citroen is pure:

Ok, thought i'd throw up another few pics. New brake calipers with braided hoses and EBC Greenstuff pads: (how can i make these images smaller????)

And the original headlights vs BMW units - they fit into the original trims rings too!

Some retro stereos i have lined up:

You might be able to make out the weird throttle pedal in the bottom righthand corner:

My latest wheels before and after stripping:

Centre console and door panel design:

Porsche seats:

and my front valance:

The twincam has reasonable support down here, but probably better support in the UK if you know where to go. You can buy all the bits over there you just have to know which supplier to goto. If you have specific engine questions try forums.turbo124.com or http://www.guy-croft.com

guy is a guru of the twin cam but he has his way of doing things and thats it to some extent. It makes sense more or less, but e.g. dont go there and ask him about slapping a turbo on the standard motor. I dont know if his prices for stuff are reasonable or not though since UK money/economy is different etc.

Thanks Testament, i've actually spoken with Guy about the TwinCam years ago and he was very helpful. Commands massive money but he's well worth it if you've got it apparently!

Been putting lists together for what has to be done on the car and its the stupid little things that are wrecking my head!I've a few bits and pieces i wanna do with the car - im sure you all have dreams too. At the minute, as i've said elsewhere, i've to fix up the clutch cable as the current one is too long. I also have to sort out the throttle cable as it was held together originally with a piece of a wire coat hanger. I'd love a set of twin webers for it but cant afford them at the moment. Other than that its good to go engine wise.

The electrics need sorting out as i had a numpty "fix" them and all he seems to have done was to cable tie them together!! I've just started putting in a set of BMW E30 headlamps (with the projector jobbies) and they will need connecting to the main loom and subsequent relays or whatever (im a total 'tard when it comes to electrics).

The brakes need completing - i've replaced the calipers with new items and i need to sort the master cylinder/servo out now. Then its bleeding them and trying it out.

Inside i've a pair of Porsche 944 turbo front (tombstone style) seats that i'm gonna get recovered in black vinyl with perforated centres. Im keeping the original rear but doing it to match. I've got that 7dial dash to fit once i work out how to connect it all up plus i have to make a panel to house the switches and warning lights. My brother is an excellent carpenter and has already made me an Ash panel to replace the current glovebox door and he doesnt know yet but he'll be making a center panel to replace the ashtray, an Ash surround for the 7-dial dash (instead of the current plastic/vinyl one) and also a centre console so i've somewhere to put a stereo. Now i found an original 8-track player and i'm gonna 'use' that in the console but have a modern unit hidden for the real sounds. Using hidden speakers where possible or at least putting them in unobtrusive places. I've got a design for pedals and i've also incorporated an old kick-drum pedal for a throttle! There's a new set of carpets,underlay and sound/heatproofing going in too.

Plenty to keep me going for a while before i get back to the bodywork, its ok for getting an MOT on it but will need attention in the future when the funds allow. I really just want to get the car on the road!!!

Thanks for the welcome. Firenzas are cool but i could never afford one so i'd say it would be the viva coupe route for me too. I like my 4door to be honest but there is something really cool about the 2 door saloon body. Fuel, what about your one - did you get the ride height sorted? Last time i seen it on retro-rides it was on its arse with no springs! Looked mean as though!

Irish automotive security :

Took that more as an eye opener pic than anything else

Ha my dad used that same method for years - quite the deterrent!

Im glad you enjoyed your driving over here but i feel i should point out that Ireland is the only country in the world where you can fail your driving test and then legally continue to drive on your own!!

Fishtailfred, you wrote that many are too rough to drive really fast on regardless of what your chosen set of wheels are.......well i beg to differ, its all about steering from the rear and being used to muck driving conditions:

Excuse the music in these by the way, especially this one!

Doh Didnt realise you were in Dublin

Yea we got the Magnum (I know of one sitting on some dudes driveway for the last 5+ years, doesnt want to sell, doesnt drive it either) , also Im pretty sure we got the firenza's too...

Cheers,Chris

No worries Chris, thanks for the comments on my car too. There are very few Magnum's left over here and the few Firenzas left command ridiculous money. A buddy of mine has a Viva coupe that he modified to Firenza status with an Opel Manta engine and its very clean. I found the discussion thread you started for me thanks!

Leigh

Thanks guys - as Hellraiser said im in Ireland so i've no idea about potage to NZ. The car goes great with the Twincam only thing is its the 1600cc - it was in the car when i bought it but obviously i'd have prefered the 2litre. I only get working on the car a day or two here and there as i store it at my folks house 3hours away. Its all the little things that seem to take forever though. I've just got the brakes put back together and i've to reconnect the clutch cable and set up a throttle return linkage then we'll see how it goes again! I'll try to get some progress pics on Thursday when i get home again.

I've a few articles in magazines of flying Fiats down your side of the world, the twincam seems to be pretty well supported there, am i right?

Ha! Very good! Well i'm glad you like it. I have three sets of wheels for the car. The original Rostyle steels, Wolfrace Slotmags and then the Compomotive CX's - got the Compos on eBay for £40 if i remember correctly (13"x6J and 14"x6.5J's.) The idea is to polish the rim and spray the centre gold like i've done with the Slotmags. This was a quick splash of gold on the centres:

Gotta get the car back on the road though, its depressing sitting inside making screeching and engine noises. I've two other old school cars but i gotta sell them as cash is at a minimum.

Got this Triumph GT6:

And a VW Scirocco:

Nice one, road surface is terrible but at least we make roads worth driving on! Not a MKII Escort in sight though - very strange!

Discussion thread here : //oldschool.co.nz/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=13883

Hey, i found this site through Fuel when he put up pics of his super low green Viva on Retro-Rides. So I know you guys got the Viva but did you get the Magnum or Firenza variants of the model? I posted my car up in the build section here: http://www.oldschool.co.nz/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=13876, is this where i'm supposed to put a discussion thread?

Hey, been looking here for a while and thought i'd throw some pics up of the Magnum.

I bought it waaaaay back in 2000 and been trying to get it done since. Basically its a 1974 Vauxhall Magnum 1800 4-door Saloon. When i bought it (off a guy who was using it as a parts hauler!) the guy had already fitted a Fiat engine. Its a 1600 Twin Cam from a 131 Mirafiori.

Since i've had it i've been cleaning it up and fixing years of cowboy repairs - generally trying to make it into a car. I started with this sorry mess:

After a respray in black and a few very slow years i had the body kinda sorted out with some round indicator/sidelights and removal of badges and boot lock. Had loads of trouble getting brake parts until last year, plus a few other projects and life in general. Anyway, by last February it looked like this:

Been collecting parts for ages, things such as this 7-dial dash from a Firenza and some Wolfrace Slotmags:

Then i yanked this mess out and duly cleaned it and polished the life out of it. It has standard internals and the weber carb still (trying to afford a set of twin 40s/45's and manifold). So before and afters:

After some polishing and painting of the slotmags i mocked one up to get this:

I then lowered it and got a few bits such as Porsche 944turbo seats, cherrybomb muffler, period stereo (plus hidden modern stuff for real sound), new brake calipers, braided brake hoses, a front lower valance and more wheels and i now have this:

(Sorry for size of last pics - dunno how to make them smaller)

And here's a video of the engine starting after ages and running on 3year old fuel:

My uncle has one - its got GT6 running gear. Stripped it down last year and was back on the road in about 2 months. Its got the wider triumph wheels on it but they help the look a bit. - only got a few pictures of it in progress:

Name : Leigh

Location: Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Cars you own: 1974 Vauxhall Magnum, 1972 Triumph GT6 and 1993 VW Scirocco

Mods to them : Magnum has a Fiat 131 Twincam 1600cc engine and 5-speed from same plus a few other mods, GT6 has lowered suspension (not much though as not much room to do it in the frst place!) and Scirocco has none bar the stereo

How you found out about oldschool: through retro-rides.com

I'll put up a thread about the cars soon