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May 19, 2022 12:55:00 GMT
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Starting to go in the right direction as I am done dismantling and now into remantleing some of the inner panels on to the tub. What you see might look installed, but the nature or fitting panels on these cars is that everything needs to be loose and adjustable until all of the shrouds and outer panels are installed and aligned. Clecos and sheetmetal screws will be in play for a long time before the welder gets to do its job.
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May 18, 2022 12:59:35 GMT
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Got a bunch of dismantelation done on the PS of the Healey. The angle bracing is holding a bracket steady in 3D space so that it can be used as a datum for the new wheel-tub. The replacement wheel tub is not perfect and will require some alteration to make fit, but not bad compared to other panels from this vendor. That is a good thing because the shape could make it hard to modify if the arch or shape did not fit in the space where the original was.
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The Healey is coming along. The footwells and frame are fettled and moved on to the rear bulkhead and torque boxes, The torque boxes did not fit worth a darn, so extra fettling was required. The steel bar acts as a jig to make sure the torque boxes are the same side-side and will later serve as a datum point when I replace the entire wheeltub on each side. To say that the torque box panels were not accurate reproductions would be an understatement. The bolt hole had to be moved quite a bit on both parts.
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Last Edit: May 4, 2022 2:51:16 GMT by bjornagn
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Today was a long time coming. The car-show world shut down two years ago and this winter did not want to let go. But tonight was the first car show of the season for me. Next to the Molvo is a friend's 740 with a Ford Cobra modular engine. We were the only Volvos in attendance.
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Apr 22, 2022 19:18:11 GMT
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love the laugh at the end!
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Apr 21, 2022 14:49:52 GMT
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Awesome that this is driving. Can you not post the vid on YouTube and paste the link here?
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Apr 18, 2022 16:48:39 GMT
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Last Edit: Apr 18, 2022 16:55:19 GMT by bjornagn
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Apr 12, 2022 22:06:44 GMT
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Sorry to hear that it has not gone faster.
My shop has become a refuge for projects like yours that never seem to get done even when the owners are paying or willing to pay for the work. They all come with stories of some kind from when the project was started. In my case, it works because I am not a business and I only work on one project at a time. I get to work on interesting cars and don't have to pay for it. When the cars are done they go away and I get something different to play with.
Pete
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Apr 12, 2022 15:07:28 GMT
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It's a curse word when you find patches like that with thick welds - so much more difficult to cut out and clean up than the (rusty) original . . . Not to worry. Every piece of tin behind the seats is getting replaces except for the rear "seat back". While I do have a bias against non-original tin, and try for preservation when possible, it would undermine the finished value of the project if I tried to fix all of the existing scars. With Healeys, it is all about final panel fitment, and what was good enough for the factory back in the day is no longer good enough for today's crowd. So that is going to be a fun task for future-me.
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Apr 12, 2022 13:18:13 GMT
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Just spent a while reading the whole story, the end result is a great looking car that conceals it's sleeper mode so well. Much admire your skills and perseverance, end result is really something Thanks you. It really is a never ending journey with these project cars. Hopefully the world will settle down a bit this year and we can all get back to driving. In the meantime, the shop seems to keep busy with fun cars and characters that find their way into the place. Kind of like the real-life version of this forum! Pete
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Apr 11, 2022 23:42:56 GMT
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So I cut out a bunch of tin from the floors in order to expose the outriggers. They most certainly needed replacement. Dare say the original outrigger had seen better days, All 4 outriggers replaces. Even went so far as to weld the outboard bits to the sills; something the previous restoration expert did not bother doing. Notice also how the rear outrigger has the spring mount incorporated. It of course needed to be modified to accept the spring eye, being a pattern part. Next step will be to do some repairs on the top of the frame.
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Last Edit: Apr 11, 2022 23:51:38 GMT by bjornagn
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Well, since I seem to be too lazy to start a build thread for everything that comes for a visit, I will just keep dumping stuff here since it is all part of the never-ending story of the shop. This charming fellow has come for a visit. Looks nice at a glance fresh out of the sandblast shop and coated in black epoxy primer. It is funny what can get get exposed when a car is blasted. Stuff that looked solid turns to lace and what was buried under seam sealer, paint and undercoat come out in plain view. I think we will call this one "Patches"
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Last Edit: Apr 2, 2022 23:34:07 GMT by bjornagn
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Mar 11, 2022 18:39:14 GMT
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Well, as often happens, plans change and in this case I think it is for the better. The Old School BBC 427 is not going to happen. The owner realized that at $20/gallon for race fuel, it wont be much fun to drive a 5 mpg Hot Rod. So cookie-cutter LS 5.3 it is going to be. I myself think it will be a win-win situation. Have never done an LS swap and with a Mockup engine in place it seemed like a good place to get stuck-in. That looks like a full bowl of colored spaghetti!
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i don't think about what could be... at the end i like to drive and have fun with. Its hard enough here to find someone from TÜV willing to work with something not that normal, and its so easy for them to say "NO" to risk nothing. Thats why i work 100% on the legal side, don't want to fight a year to get my car legal. Maybe this limits the way to get the 100% perfect shape, but I'm still happy with that little sexy thing. Not meant to be anything negative about your this project, Meant as a compliment to your talents and would like to see them unleashed on a clean sheet of paper. Pete
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Feb 25, 2022 22:46:31 GMT
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I would have loved to see what you could have done with less rigid regulations regarding the original panels.
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Feb 24, 2022 14:57:08 GMT
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Very impressed with what you have done.
Pete
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Feb 12, 2022 21:01:30 GMT
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Normally it's annoying when you can't find the lid for the Tupperware, but that looks alright without it! What's the plan? Take it apart down to the frame and get it on the road before the end of 2022. Find out if it will do burnouts. Destroy rear tires if it will. I first met this car around 35 years ago. The date stamp on the tires are 1987 so that tells you how long it has been a project.( tires need to be replaced even though zero miles) There is a looooonnnnggg story in there, but the car eventually landed in my friend's shop. Said friend was actually the person who originally built the chassis for the project and completed most of the metal fabrication. Also the owner/driver of the Chevy II in the picture. As the car was not getting worked on at my friends place. I volunteered to help put it together with him in my shop and squirt a bit of paint on the plastic. Being fiberglass and having had some $$$$ spend in a body shop, the glass is pretty smooth so not a lot of prep work needed to paint. The drivetrain will be from the car in the picture below. Shown here on the way to a 9 sec ET way back when my hair was long and not gray. 427 Chevy big block hooked to a powerglide with a trans brake . Combo is way too wild for the street, but not my call. Cause in Canada you can get away with that kind of thing. The drivetrain was hauled out of a 30 + year slumber and gone through in anticipation.
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Feb 10, 2022 22:56:01 GMT
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Back with a vengeance AND a Video.
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what a fascinating garden you have.
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Engine cleaned up nice. Due for a visit to get an in person update.
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