Suspension stuff

I was hesitant to add a new entry, seeing that I dont have any new interesting pics of the build to post up. I've basically spent what time I had to work on the car the last two weekends to continue prepping for paint. All welding is now done(I found some more welding to do last weekend), all bare metal surfaces coated in etch primer. I just have to rub back the interior surfaces and shoot it off to get some paint!

But, watching the Aussie dollar slowly drop against the US over the last couple of weeks prompted me to get my arse into gear and purchase some suspension components from the states whilst the conversion rate is still reasonable! So today I ordered:

• Ground Control weld on coilover sleeve kit
• T3 Adjustable camber plates
• T3 Rear traction brackets

All this thanks to Techno Toy Tuning(T3) in the US. There were plenty of other options around for these components but T3 worked out best value vs quality. Still to get suspension wise are the damper inserts. At this stage I'm thinking Koni 8611 race dampers, second choice being Tokico HTS102's. Here are some pics of the gear I purchased from the T3 website, just to give ya's something to look at!

Paint prep....

Melbourne sucks this time of year! Cold, wet and miserable. I like the heat - give me 30°C+ anyday! Seeing that my garage is full of my EH Holden, I'm having to build this car under my carport exposed to the elements! But, I sucked it up over the weekend and managed to make a start on the engine bay and interior paint prep. I hit all the bare metal areas that I welded up the last couple of weekends with the trusty U-POL etch primer, I also got half the cage coated before running out of primer. I also decided I better fix a few small rust spots before it gets painted - I then ran out of MIG gas -again!! I'm definitely heading down to BOC to enquire about hiring a bottle and reg. - these disposable things are a rip at $30 a pop, they dont last long at all!!

Having run out of gas and paint, on a sunday with nothing open, I decided to start rubbing back the painted surfaces on interior and engine bay. Next weekend, if I get both days to work on the car, I hope to have it ready for paint!
I didnt take any pics, nothing exciting to look at really that hasnt been seen already!

More front end stiffening

Spent the weekend finishing off the seam welding. I also added a couple of strengthening gussets between the firewall and the shock towers(see pics) using some metal I had lying around(this is "HalfArsed" Racing remember!). These should help with some strengthening of the front end as my cage does not extend forward to the shock towers.

A couple of things I've found whilst doing this job:
1. trying to weld a join with seam sealer or paint in it sucks! I cleaned as much of the seam sealer out that I could using a fine screw driver tip to scrape it out, and also going over them with a wire wheel attachment to my 100mm angle grinder. It was virtually impossible to get it all.
2. My little 150amp hobby MIG is probably not the best unit for the job. Dont get me wrong its capable of doing a decent job - just fiddly to get the settings right using the 3 rocker switches, and the little disposable canister of sheilding gas does not last very long at all. I went through 3 canisters @ ~$30 a pop! I perservered and managed an acceptable job of it I think - but I dont think I'll win any beauty contests with my welding!

Next I have to hit all the exposed bare metal surfaces in the engine bay and interior(ie. cage) with etch primer and then sand back the painted surfaces in prep for getting the interior and engine bay painted.