Craig's Xe track Nova (pb fixed to page 10)

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Originally Posted by 8valve-craig

^ V-tec kicked in.

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Is this your management........











http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...VxQukU3zoZ4kqu






lol

Quality.

That was actually a rare track-day at castle combe where you run anti-clockwise. I was going the right way, it was everyone else who had spun out.

Lmfao, ahhh i see, you were h'actually winning and everyone else was failing, i likes it :d

Not much has happened since its last outing. It has simply sat in the shed with millions of flys stuck to the front of it.

I started making plans for the castle combe meeting on 8th sept this week though, and ordered the parts required to rose joint my gear linkage. Im wanting to do this, the rear oil seal and the Quaife box all in one hit, so hopefully the test drive will be like driving a different car.

Parts arrived today, but not happy with the quality of the M12's so sending them back for an upgrade

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Then thought i should really sort out some wet wheels to take just incase it pisses down, which it probably will.

Since i painted the comps they have sat in the corner of my living room like this. Which i thought was a perfectly safe way to store them....

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But apparently not, because the bottom 2 when pulled out today have a lovely flowery print on them, from the towel, that was ironically supposed to protect them.

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Could it get any worse? Yes. The two which had already had the laquer wet sanded were on the bottom and the two that needed doing on top, for obvious reasons. So I have been out in the shed at home this morning very carefully wet sanding them again, and praying that i dont burn through the laquer.

I couldnt get them as perfect as they were, because the actual paint underneath has been inprinted, so even know i can get the laquer flat agin there are still shadows under it.

So, a bit pissed off if im honest. At least it was my own fault though. http://www.migweb.co.uk/forums/images/smilies/lmao.gif

I did rush the laquer and in hindsight should have left them a lot longer to harden.

Whilst i was out there i sanded down and G3'd the last 2 wheels as well, so they are now well and truley finished. They probably arent as bad as im making out, so anyone who knows the car come and have a look if you see it anywhere and see if you can spot the flaws.

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I sourced 2 nearly new Yok Paradas not so long back so will probably buy 2 new ones to make a set and just use these as wet track wheels now. which is a bit of a shame.

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i love this car im not keen on big blocks but each to there own good work fella keep it up
rick

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on the Paradas in the wet on track. I have them on the Mini and the Nova and think they are terrible in wet conditions.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rickyb

i love this car im not keen on big blocks but each to there own good work fella keep it up
rick

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Thanks. On paper a big block in a nova is a bad idea, But it seems to work well in this. I think the Avo coilovers, LSD and some good tyres are what makes the difference.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SimonTW

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on the Paradas in the wet on track. I have them on the Mini and the Nova and think they are terrible in wet conditions.

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i have never used them so will let you know. They have to better than the 888's though thats for sure.

My wet track wheels have also got parada spec 2 tyres. Not used them yet, but got good reviews. I need a wheel upgrade though as they are tigra 5 spokes so pretty heavy.

Lightest OE wheels i have came across are the 6 spoke 15" cesaro's i think.

A bit too common for my liking though. These might be up for sale soon.....

Yeah I have got a set of mint powder coated cesaros for the road. I want to get another set to run slicks/track specific tyres on and a third set for wets.

If you have a set of cesaros to sell then let me know!

using parada spec 2 for wet days is suicidal lol

Uniroyal rainsport 2s all the way!

To be honest i have never used them. Never even bothered to read a review just noticed they had tread on and were £10 each.

Might have a look around tomorrow as a new set of decent wets would be a worthwhile purchase

Very nice nova you have, just wanted to know where u got the cafe from as I can only find 6point bolt in and am wanting a 10 point bolt in, cheers

It is a 6 point bolt in sparco cage, which i have welded to the A and B pillars with 3mm plates. You definately want 10 because the car used to flex on track when it was only 6. Since tagging it up it made a serious difference. The only difference for you is that you will be welding captive nuts to the pillars so you can bolt the cage to, instead of the more permanent job i did.

It came out of a rally car and is quite an old design, not available any more but there are plenty out there for sale.

Decided to take the afternoon off today and sort out the gear linkage. I took it home, along with a spare which i could use for reference whilst chopping the donor up.

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First off was to measure up and fab a horizontal link out of M10. Which was actually quite un-rewarding as it only took about 3 mins.

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Next was to sort out the gearbox end with M12, So lots of measuring and a little cutting was required.

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Here is where most people drill down the centre of the shaft and Tap a thread, however i am a little bit of a pikey so instead i just drilled down 5mm or so then tacked and welded an M12 thread in place

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That was this end more or less sorted,

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Next was to move across to the shifter end, which was pretty much the same story just with different measurements

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And all screwed together. It actually feels like a quality bit of kit. I have used the most expensive teflon lined joints so its well over engineered, but has a nice tight feel to it with absolutely zero play. I did at first order some cheap joints, but they were pretty shocking so never used them.

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I am actually completely shocked at how a 20yo Nova ever even finds a gear with the standard linkage in place. The play at every joint was massive, and going through the box was a lot like stiring soup, so hopefully it will be a lot more direct now.

Ok, So re-gained my composure a little after recently considering strpping it, and its not so bad anymore. Had quite a serious off in it on the way home from retro rides, but thankfully no real damage to me or the car, just a knackered bottom ball joint, and a wrecked strut top, which have now been replaced with decent used items. The bumper was ok in the end, just needed the brackets bolting back onto the wing as they had sheered off.

Around the other side i had the box off to do the main seal, which ironically didnt look like it needed doing anyway, but £30 from Vauxhall already spent, thought i might as well do it.

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Box drained ready to strip.

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Then doing the clutch took me AGES, as i couldnt find my allignment tool. No-where was open to go and buy one, so i ended up re-fitting the box to get it lined up. then just leaving the casing bolted up and taking out the old helical cut cluster.

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New cluster ready to go in.

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With a new gasket set (used sealent aswell though)

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That was enough for yesterday. Worked until 10pm and got home a broken man,

Today was a little better, Had some things to do work-wise in the morning, but cracked on with the Nova from 2pm - 7pm.

Fitted and set up the gear linkage..... Very happy with that.

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Changed over the ripped CV boots.

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Then had to swap over the crown-wheel, for my new 3.9 FD.

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Which attacked me.

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And finally got it all back in. Sitting on all its mounts now with everything engine / box-wise fitted. I used this alloy diff plate, as its been modified for quick oil check / change. It came on an engine i stripped, so was a nice freebie. Hope it doesnt leak.

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Just need to re-fit the shafts and knuckles now, re-fill the box and take it for a drive. Hopefully the tracking wont need doing, as nothing there has been touched.

Think i ought to clean it too.

Where did you find the GM box seals? Nice work, the drain plug will come in useful at some point and you'll be pleased you have it!

The gaskets were in a big bundle of parts i bought as a job lot. A guy wanted his garage cleared of engines etc, and when i looked through all the little bits these were in there.

I was going to make one of those plates until i found this one. Why Vauxhall didnt do it i will never know.

I usually use a long 1/2" extension to line clutch, works fine

I couldnt find anything that would work. Never thought of a 1/2" extension.... Good tip.

Well, Since the fix, oil continued to pour out, so as the sump had to come off to re-seal the rear main cap i thought i might as well fit the baffled sump Adam sorted for me.

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Got it fitted last night, and left it to seal overnight before re-filling.

Today was another long day. I decided the whole day would be devoted to the Nova in an attempt to get it ready 1 day early. So morning was re-fitting the sump and exhaust, then ran it up to temperature on stands which seemed fine. No more leaking.

Then i had to swap over the damaged throttle cable. The one i had delivered this week was not suitable, so a trip to the bike shop was in order. Fair play to them they sorted me out with everything i needed to replace BOTH cables and didnt even charge me!

I left the old outer cables in place and just replaced the inners.

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This is one of the cables i removed. Despite the fray at the carb end this second area of damage was about 6" from the pedal.

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Then despite no alt belt i took it for a test drive (Which was pretty epic), and pulled over around 5 miles down the road in an industrial estate to check for leaks

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All seemed well, so gave it some beans on the way home,
Got back and left it running, but put it on stands to inspect all or the usual leak prone areas

Just this little weep, which i think is now the front oil pump seal, But not an issue as it is tiny

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Moved on to the pulley, This is the one i had delivered this week, against the old damaged one

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That threw up a problem as the old belt was now too big, So a bit of string and a trip to Halfords later and that too was sorted

Got to love the Halfords Trade Card

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The only belt i could get was pulling the alt nearly as far forward as it could go, but again not an issue as the linkage just needed shortening

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And as a nice bonus the new pulley has got the belt away from the oil filter. Here is where it used to rub

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And now.... Loads of room.

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So, Im all done. It just needs a wash now and im ready to go. Never been finished a day early before.... Seems kind of strange.

Hopefully sights like this will be a thing of the past now

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Been a while since i updated the build on here, but its still very much alive. Quite a bit of progress recently and some big purchases so il get them posted up.

The action day at combe was Ok, but there were issues all day with the fuel supply so never properly enjoyed myself. Got it home and shut it away in the shed for a few weeks, whist considering the next move.

Very pleased with the box, so thats staying, and its the sole reason i wont just drop one of my c20lets in it.

In short, I decided to build a high comp throttle bodied xe, so stripped my best one to use its block, then found out the bores were only just in tolerance for my 86mm wossners.

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So binned that idea and stripped an 1800 - 8v with the idea of having it bored from 84.7mm to a fresh 86mm.

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With that in the machine shop and literally minutes away from being cut i managed to sequre a much better deal, so put it on hold and went to collect this lot

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So, whats here...

Fresh 87mm forged Omega block, lightened and fully balanced early crank, not run since proffesional build.

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Pistons Machined to work with the head.... which will follow.

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Big valve head. Fully ported, all valves +1mm with double springs and steel caps.

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Also got some tidy 285mm Wilwoods.

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A new Gripper LSD for f16 / f20

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And a load of other bits, like another set of Doubles, Verniers, Solid lifters, Unknown cams until i check them properly, Gates belt kit, ARP flywheel bolts, Bonded sump gasket, Multilayer head gasket etc etc.... Even got the engine stand thrown in.

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The price was fair, and im happy. I didnt really want it all, but taking the lot essentially made the bits i do want a lot cheaper.
This now means with a light skim on the head and an ARP stud kit im ready to go!

So one of the first things to do was to go down the unit and fetch one of the spare wheels to try the brakes in. And GOOD NEWS ! they fit.

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Not going to get any scene points for them though, as they wont be on show.

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Bit of squeeze regarding the weights, but theres a nice area for those on the outside of the rim, down in the squares so it will have to be function over looks.

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So with that lot stored up nice and safe i started hunting for an exhaust manifold. I did have a type c but it had a big dent in and i lost my temper with it trying to repair it so gave it away.

Picked this up last week. Simpson 4 - 2 - 1 stainless.

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Then tried the bodies on one of my spare heads, took some measurements and decided on a different route for those too, So instead of dcoe style the manifold will be replaced with a zero degree one.

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With that decided, and my love for the shell rapidly decreasing i thought it best to get stuck into something this week. Been getting a lot of motivation from other build threads on here which seem to be progressing well, and there were bits i wanted to do so first step was to strip it out.

Suprisingly it only actually took an hour or two.

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Iterior wise i plan to remove the bolt in rear harness bar and weld it into the cage, remove both diagonals, as you may have noticed they are a bodge of 1x bolt in and 1x weld in. Both will be replaced with welded in bars.

Remove the lower centre brace and fit a spreader on the tunnel, then run 2x diagonals from the door bar pickup points into the centre.

Fit rear facing diagonals from the door bar pickup points to the rear harness bar pickup points.

Remove the single bolt in door bars and weld in X bars, in preperation for the fiberglass doors.

Weld in a brace behind the dash, and triangulate the cage forward onto the turrets. So plently to be getting on with.......

Firstly.... Stripping out that horrible tar crap.

Heat gun and long crow bar were perfect

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Quite shocking what this stuff weighs! This is only half of it, but once all together i had about 6kg in a carrier bag.

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So thats about as far as i am now. Still plenty to do and lots of money to spend, but hopefully it will be back out for next season.

Also decided that my seats are being replaced now too. Its a big step cutting the rails out though, so i think il leave it a little while.

looks sweet if it doesnt have some kind of an oil leak then it wouldnt be an xe lol

Looks awesome loving the pile of nice parts. Always satisfying when resolving a bad oil leak isn't it! Who did the baffled sump?

Yeah it was unreal. I took it out for a drive, pulled into an industrial estate and peered underneath to a completely dry patch. Since then its started weeping a bit, but i dont mind as im not likely to get kicked out of a pitlane now until next year.

The pile of bits is growing, got my eye on one of QED's dry sump kits too.

The baffle was done by a lad called Adam Dewis. Its a really good job and i would reccomend him to anyone.

Not done a lot this week, apart from measure up for the cage, and sequre a quality welder to buzz around it. I have decided i will tack it in, but my skills with the mig only go so far and i wouldnt want my safety relying on my own welds. Especially after the last Off, which could have been a lot worse.
Bought some new seats, and was chuffed when they arrived.

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But i wasnt happy with them, They had been damaged in transit due to the negligence of the seller upon packaging, and with the money involved i was not happy atall so have sent them back

Not before seeing how well they fit though....

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Which actually i have no idea, because i still cant fit rails, and that gay floor brace is still in place. So next job is to remove it.... then buy some revolutions / evolutions

Recently been given a little motivation by a friend to keep chipping away at the car in order to get it out on track next year, So went down saturday morning and started removing the engine and box.

Sold the Carbs and Diff out of it, so i had it half stripped anyway, and the rest was simple, Only took about an hour tops.

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With that done i tidyed up the unit a bit, and intend to build some more racking and a big workbench in there this week, which will make it a nicer place to work, but in the meantime have been out buying parts.

Picked these up today, after quite a mission and walking away from one set of sparco circuits i didnt fit in too well, i called a guy selling these just down the road from the first set.

Got them for a fair price, complete with ally side mounts, and chuffed with the condition as they are very nearly new. Still in date for 4 / 9 years too.

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I had to drive past the unit on the way home so it would have been rude not to drop them off and try them for size.

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To be honest they are a tight fit in there, but i think they will go in ok, especially as the passenger will be lower and further back than the driver.

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Very pleased with them for now. Looking forward to doing the rails next and then hopefully re-jigging the cage around them.

Picking up more shiney bits this week too.

looking good

Thanks Matthew. Well pleased with the cluster by the way, Cant fault it so thankyou.

Been out buying bits again this week, so got my cams sorted (SBD 295's) and some new ARP head studs

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And then came home today to an unmistakable package.

Purchased after maybe a few too many glasses of wine. Looks to be in working order, other than needing a good grease. I had been considering the Quaife equivelent, but a complete linkage hasnt came up for sale in a while, so settled for this.

Its apparantly from one of the old works Astra mk2's, so hopefully i can mod it to fit.

Not quite sure how it will handle the syncro box, but its worth a try as im sure i can get my money back on it if need be.

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Some proper parts going on here; good to see.

What I would say with the linkage is get it high up & far back THEN make it connect.

You're going to be in the 240+ club with that engine ;o

Straight to turret shifter will be nice.

Cheers Ben, It needs a grease, and hopefully it will work with the syncro box. Will be a while before its fitted though.

Got home to a nice package today. Really pleased as a neighbour took it in, meaning no drive across town....

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Like an early Christmas present, despite the fact they were bought by me...... for me.

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Got them all in 52mm Electrical.

Oil pressure
Oil temperature
Battery voltage
Water temperature
Programmable Fuel gauge

Which mean as soon as the Rev counter is ordered i can start on my dash.

stack gauges, mmmmmmm

Yeah, nice, but they will have a knock on effect, as il most likely need to fabricate a dash and loom to suit, Not to mention the Stack Tacho to match them.

Just ordered 2x Cobra Evolution Pro's from Merlin, and a floor mounted bias pedal box, So hopefully i can be in the area to collect tomorrow.

Had a trip to Merlin Motorsport today to pick up my latest purchase.

Cant reccommend those guys enough, brilliant place to deal, and very flexible on the advertised prices lol

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2x Cobra Evolution Pro's. In GRP, standard width. Very happy with them. :)

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Decided i didnt like the Corbeau's, so hopefully i can move them on for a good price.

Worked on the cage today between around 10am - 5pm, and got a good chunk done. Stripped out the vehicles wiring loom, and then cut the cage out.

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Layed it on the floor and cut out all the bits i didnt want.

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Turns out they were additions made from near 4mm scaffold bars, and weighed a ton!

Then had a load of the bracketry to remove, which took a while

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Actually managed to also remove around 2kg, in the bolts, washers and cage feet, as it will now be fully welded

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Got the rear half back in, and with a little ratchet strapping got it into a better position than it was before. The 4 rear feet now tacked in place and solid.

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Front half temporarily re-fitted, but will be coming out again a few times yet.

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Will be collecting 14m of 2.6mm CDS this week, all cut roughly to size, so should have quite an impressive cage tacked in soon.

Full welding has been contracted to a proffesional who's a friend, as my welding skills are not up to scratch for anything safety orientated

What's the benefit of cutting the feet off opposed to just welding the feet to the spreader plates inside the car?

Not a lot really, but the way it was fitted before made it tighter on the o/s B pillar than it was on the n/s. the only way to get it level was to either chop the n/s centre and rear feet off, and remove 5mm then re-weld them on, or chop the rest off too.

Also the feet werent quite mating with the spreaders all the way around on the rear arches, so cutting them off and dropping it down made better sense.

Agreeably i have probably lost 10mm of the height, but for a couple of kilo's and a cleaner installation im quite happy.

Got tons of holes to weld up in the floor from all the spot welds, so the 16 new ones from the cage feet are just a drop in the ocean anyway

This week i had an idea what might work well as a cut down dash, So when i had a moment i took a mk1 dash out at the scrappy, and have today been chipping away at it.

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Im not a fan of the cut down dash's which just sit in front of the driver, so instead have marked it up for a horizontal chop, doing away with all the bits i dont need, and hopefully still looking tidy.

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The idea is, to keep the area over to the right of the steering wheel, to mount the standard fuse box, and then keep the headlight / foglight switch's and relocate the hazard switch to that side, which should keep it road legal, and tidy.

The old choke cable mount will now be used for the Life-Line fire extinguisher pull cord.

Not bothered about, heater, glove box, ash tray or clock, so that lot can be chopped off.

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/a...1.jpg~original

Once i had made the cuts i went around tidying up all the rough bits with the Dremmel and some rough paper. and cut off any brackets that would be visible from the front.

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/a...2.jpg~original

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/a...3.jpg~original

And the finished shape.

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/a...4.jpg~original

All edges smoothed off.

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/a...5.jpg~original

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/a...6.jpg~original

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/a...7.jpg~original

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/a...8.jpg~original

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/a...9.jpg~original

And thats done, for now. Will be getting a set of base model clocks to cannibilise this week, as i want to make a removable panel to mount some gauges in the original position, and then another over in the old radio slot for 3 more.

Really got lucky with these two mounts, as i can now use them to hold a bent piece of steel, for extra switches and warning lights if need be.

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/a...1.jpg~original

And finally what was removed

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/a...2.jpg~original

Not a lot, i know, but will make a load of difference to the interior. I was considering making my own dash, but to be honest this is just ideal. I am chuffed to bits with how it has turned out so far, and even better is that it will still bolt up to all but one of the original mounts, so shouldnt rattle.

Once the cage is finished il get it trial fitted, do some more cuts to accomodate it, then send it off for flocking.