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Coupe in Sydney Australia

60K views 422 replies 33 participants last post by  John Dol 
#1 ·
Well my first post for this thread, but its authentic.. :) I needed to make room under the house to extend the existing garage. Lucky I have some engineering and building experience, although the diggers are going to cost no matter what.. :)
 

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#333 · (Edited)
Thanks gents... not heard of that, sounds like a great solution for all the curves and shapes as well as weight.. checked it out on youtube. Basically make some of the defined shapes with ply, cover in a felt then impregnate with resin, prime and paint.. :) Could overlay with fibreglass cloth for a stronger smooth finish.. :)

Pics to follow if it works out.. :)

Appreciate the lead.. :)

Chris
 
#334 ·
Update.. not forgotten or abandoned, but am having to take a bit of time out to settle the inflammation in my lower back which has required AI's for the past couple of months to be able to sleep at all. I stopped exercising regularly when I started the build, and its unfortunately showing in more ways than one.

Have the felt and resin for the inner doors as well as a few pieces to tack in place.. will look forward to picking it up and closing this part of the build out, then finish the dash shell before sending it to the trimmer.. :)

Cheers

Chris
 
#338 ·
thanks gents.. :)
 
#339 ·
Update from the injury ward... the anti inflammation drugs I was taking for my back were masking a tear in the rear deltoid and rotator cuff on the RHS and a 30% tear in the medial ligament in my right knee.

Knee is progressing (this one I knew about, and was putting off), am walking a straight line with little pain at the mo.. shoulder remains weak, but is steadily getting there.

I continue to talk to the Coupe most days and lay out parts and templates to start on progressively. I fear I will end up remaking the dash I have after lowering the floor some time ago now, it just sits too far into the eye line. But with Jim S' good work and generosity posting his updates, I am at least clearer on how I can get it done.

Enjoying watching the progress at you guys are making, some in leaps and bounds, constantly.. !! Look forward to getting over these little hurdles and finishing of the last 20%.. :).

Cheers

Chris
 
#340 ·
Best of luck with your recovery. Hopefully you'll be back soon and can finish up and drive your coupe.

-Matt
 
#341 ·
Chris,

I 2nd what Matt said " Best of luck on a speedy recovery", that's a real set back.

I just finished up the steel and lights in my paint booth so I'm getting ready to get back to the coupe.
 
#342 ·
Thanks guys, you are too kind... :) the list of joint failures is long but the progress is steady..(exercise must be over rated... all the athletes I know have no knees and or shoulders too.. !).

Started on some sheetmetal work over the weekend... as long as I limit the time I spend I can get a few things done.. :)
 
#343 · (Edited)
Finally made some progress.. shifted the gear lever back 2" with a simple bolt through section in 1/4" plate connected to the Hurst short shifter. Shortened the lever 1/2" as well as the extra leverage accentuates the angle of movement.

Used the felt and fiberglass resin technique suggested earlier to make a new hood for the instrument cluster. Used the same process with the help of a little spray adhesive over a wire mesh frame to take the first steps for an internal door skin..... after considerable procrastinating on this one.

Pics included.. have now impregnated the cloth with resin. If I can get this stable enough will lift the felt off the door then add a couple more layers of mat before seeing if I can figure a way to seal the front of the door around the hinge in a way that's removable and also makes a decent seal.

Best to all.. :)

Chris
 

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#344 ·
Chris,

Think you are on to something here. Shelby was a chicken farmer, your using chicken mesh.......
Looks good and nice to see your back at it. Must mean your feeling better.
Tell us more about the side pipes. Don’t remember seeing those yet.

John
 
#348 ·
thanks Gents.. yes, stabilised the shoulder somewhat... getting there... :) Am not a wreck.. just not jumping out of my skin.. :).

The side pipes.. found a pic or two for you John... custom headers to high volume cats and 4:1. Side pipes are 4" OD with 1/2" lining... my need to add a switchable or vac activated baffle or alternately increase the thickness of the lining, as it seems like it will exceed the track noise limit of 98db at 15 feet.

Door skin coated and set.. need to trim and smooth the issue I had near the front of the door, where the spray adhesive let go at just the wrong time, then cover in a couple of layers of glass over the weekend.. :).

Cheers

Chris
 

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#350 ·
Cheers Tom... ended up re-purposing the NACA duct for my sons open wheeler... :) used the ebay sourced hood to clear the air cleaner as well.. :)
 

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#351 ·
Question:

So who was silly enough to buy a complete running race car for their son AND think that it..

1. Wouldn't need any work and
2. That said purchaser could actually leave it alone..:nerd::nerd::nerd: give up... :iamwithstupid:

Answer... that would be ME.. :surprise:

Added a 32/26 carbie (up from a 24/28) to the 1.8L boxer engine, full flow fuel filter, 2:1 steering quickner (and learnt lots about alignment of rotating parts before getting a 3/4" DD uni), anti roll bars and repainted it... ummm again... :crying2: has been a 10 month detour overall.. but my boy is happy and keen to learn.. so thats priceless.. :)

Now the open wheeler is back on the car trailer (after scaring a limited number of small children during a test run) I have room to 'unpack' the rest of the garage and get back onto the door trims.. !!

Have fitted the inner door release handles, need to fashion a grab handle from foam and fibreglass matting then do a final trim. The rest of the dash is done, will do a final assembly and test before pulling it apart once more. The mech and elec systems have been commissioned and dyno tuned was done some months ago now.

Have had a heavy international schedule of travel.. which is not abating, making it hard to get a clear space to work on the Coupe. If I can find a trimmer to take it before Christmas then well and good.. if not will be a new year project.. then paint and the road worthy.. :)

Best to all.. :)

Chris
 
#352 · (Edited)
Well that was a surprise.. I thought someone may have chipped in to agree with me.. :)

So back onto the Coupe... am fitting the door skins and anchor points. While the glass was drying I went back through a few basics on the brakes, driveline and engine. Connected the battery and started her up. Sounds glorious.. !! >:)>:)>:)>:)>:)

Engaged first gear with the intent of cycling a little heat into the brakes and running through a couple of gears to exercise the transmission ever so gently..

As I released the clutch, RHS hub began to oscillate in a vertical path as the disc rotated.. !!

Disconnected the UCA and pushed the disk back and forth a couple of times to check if the drive shaft had dropped out when I removed the lower control arm to modify the fixing point for the QA1 shocks. It seemed to slide home and back out easily and was retained by the circlip on the axle stub inserted into the diff. Video loaded here https://youtu.be/OIF7C5FNn8E

Is it possible the wheel hub end of the drive shaft has fallen out..??

Look forward to some input please gents.

Cheers

Chris
 
#353 ·
I have three boys and din't by them a race car but when the second one got his drivers license I bought a 68 Bronco for them to share. They blew up the transmission once and the rear end twice. Never crashed the Bronco all three crashed my Nissan pickup at least once.

I watched the video...that does not look good. A little hard to see. Is it an independent rear end?
 
#354 · (Edited)
thanks CJ... I utterly trashed my mums prized Volvo, which was finally written off after a ram raid (stolen..!!) with Police in pursuit .. so kids will be kids for sure.. :)

Yes... its an independent rear end.. the diff retainer and shaft appear straight and ok.. the LHS is fine.. can only think that the shaft has dropped off the spline at the hub end.. causing the eccentricity.. about to undo the U and LCA bolts to see if there is anything there..

UPDATE...

Removed the control arm bolts and the brakes.. need to grab a socket to undo the centre nut on the drive shaft (seems to be 1 7/16").

Question.. is the process of removing the drive shaft from the diff to basically hammer the hub away from the centre line of the car to release the retaining circlip, or do you need to remove the rear diff casing and compress the clip from inside the diff housing..??

Cheers

Chris
 
#355 ·
Chris,

That’s quite the sacrifice on coupe time.
How about some pics of the race car?
Can’t help with your cobble stone rear end unfortunately as I have a 3 link, but that does not seem like it’s a good thing.
Hope you figure it out.

John
 
#356 · (Edited)
Thanks John... will upload a couple (before and after the rebuild).. its a very basic thing, a good learners car, has an 1800cc Subaru motor.. :)

Re the Coupe.. inspected the boot adjacent the wheel hub.. appears fine.. noticed that when I did so the diff end of the shaft was only being held in by the boot.

Will undo the SS ties and see whats happening there.. hopefully it just needs to be reinserted in some form.

Has anyone had to remove a half shaft.. any clarification on the process..??

Cheers

Chris

UPDATE... checked out the diff end of the shaft.. is fine... back to the wheel hub.. need to get a deep socket to separate the hub and half shaft... can only be something broken in the CV joint at the wheel..
 

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