Tiger Tamer

A bit more progress with a fillet piece welded in and the sheet metal replaced covering over the fish plates etc. I have also replaced the section I had to remove in the rear seat for the top trailing arm on the drivers side.

Some more boring old shock mount photo's. It's been a while as I ran out of gas and time but finally found the time and bought some gas so I was back into it. I did make up another top piece, so it didn't have the added middle section. I drilled lots of holes and used bolts mainly and some clamps to sandwich it all together. Welded up the plug holes and then the bolt holes. I will weld around the edge as well both underneath and the top piece but I will only weld it in about 25mm sections 50mm apart should do. I certainly think it is better being one piece going the width of the car. Certainly easier to get both sides the same.

It's a good feeling when you get them road legal after all that work and time. Time to enjoy some miles and smiles on the road.

I agree that you probably need an etching primer first. Alloy doesn’t like paint without prep. Though I did use por15 on an alternator over ten years ago and it still looks great now. I used their cleaner etc . You can brush it on as it is self levelling.

I always did get a reminder but hadn't had any for a while. I tried to check on what the cars statis was. You have to fill in the online form, but it rejects my driver's license number which has always been ok before. I have contacted them about it, but they failed to give me a reason why. I have asked again.

The old man had a Gold HQ Kingswood wagon back in approx 1978. I had White with a gold roof Belmont 202 ex Taxi probably about 1981 . I still like the body style. The unashamedly plastic dash was probably a bit much plastic but I could live with it. The 202 engine wasn't that bad really. They were the same design as the other red motors. I think there was a problem with the top compression ring being too close to the top of the piston which caused problems when the milage got up (though I may be wrong as it was a while ago). I had to have some engine work done on mine but being a x taxi it was fairly high milage. Cool Car and you don't see many anymore and looks cool with the old school mags. Your wife looks very happy.

Nice to know you have two years begore it gets deregistered. I have three cars on hold and two have gone past the on-hold date. I used to always get a reminder of when I needed to update the cars, but it seems they have stopped that now.

So I decided to make it one piece which I should have done the first time. It makes it much easier to get both sides the same. Pretty much the same design apart from that, with the boots sheet metal sandwiched between the two pieces. All just being tacked together for now until I am sure it is right. Shouldn't need an additional brace between the two sides now.

Anyway. Slight F*#%$ up. I should have just tacked it in place and wrestled the diff back up in place and CHECKED the F*&%$#g thing. When I went to fit the shock in place it was in the wrong place. The diff must have moved on me when I was originally setting it up so what I thought was the correct place to weld it in was to far out to leave. It wasn't as bad to remove as I thought it would be.

Don't laugh but I cut both ends out of a baked bean can, slit it down the side and with the help of some hose clamps, made a sleeve and clamped over both pipes. Should be ok for a while. Have done the same back in my early car Mod days when all I had was an arc welder to use. Though i didn't look at it at the time as a tempory solution. Though it always was when it decided to part company.

I still haven't sorted the fuel system delivery. I had a look on K powers web site to see what they were recommending for there K power swaps. They recommended this pump a Walbro 255L perhr pump for $255 US. Walbro 255lph HP Fuel Pump – KPower Industries I did a google search on the pump and found I could buy the pump here in NZ for half the price in NZ dollars from this company. MSEL and the pump price TI Automotive GSS342 255L/hr Intank High Pressure Fuel Pump Kit - Motorsport Electronics Limited (msel.co.nz) Half the price in NZ dollars , I think I will be checking out K Powers recommended fuel pressure regulator as well.

I managed to get the driver side welded in. Man, that took some time. By the time I clamped it in place (the easy bit) then put the 4 bolts in to hold it to the boots sheet metal. Then used some metal screws in between the bolts to hold the sheet metal to the shock mount. Then welded the bracket to the boot floor and the chassis fish plate. Once that was welded in I had to fit and weld the top plate which sandwiches the boot floor between the two. I made the top plate a little smaller in size so when I welded it, I was welding to the weld and bottom plate so I could use a bit more heat. Same procedure with bolts and screws and then welded it in. Welding went well really (well I think), though not that easy being folded in two inside the boot for some of it. Should have taken the pic before I sprayed on the weld through.

I thought I better get myself some new shocks. Looks like the use by date is up for the original ones. They did give me the ability to work out what I needed to do and also gave me the top mounting bracket. I didn't want to carry on with the shock mounts until I new they were going to mount the same way. Most replacement shocks for the Avenger are just the usual pin type mount. Gaz have made them as original, Cool. So now I know they mount the same I made up the passenger side mount. Still needs to be test fitted and trimmed a little. The drivers side I have ready to weld in once the weld through primer dries. Well tomorrow really as all this cutty grindy weldy stuff makes you thirsty.

I was told underseal can contain asbestos ( which google confirms). I have always used heat to soften it and scrap it off. Then used petrol to clean the residue off. I have been told Kerosine is better.

It’s the real fine dust that is harmful. The dust you see hanging in the air or the dust you can’t see. The filter will tell you if it is suitable for silica. That one doesn’t mention it so it would be best to get the correct filter. Google Silica dust health problems.