Leigh's 1974 Vauxhall Magnum

[leigh]

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:

[leigh]

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

[leigh]

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:

[leigh]

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

[leigh]

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

[leigh]

Ok i was out with the sandpaper and polishing mops again yesterday and i did this:

Sanding:

Then started with a mop and compound to get this:

I'm spraying the centres gold (not metaflake though, just straight gold) so only three more to do now......i've no fingerprints and down to the bone on one finger as it is