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as i said in my previous post that i bought a trailer and i would have to sell my red gte, the gte should be being picked up this week by its new owner. hopefully he will look after it like it should be and preseved in its natural guise. that said, i went and bought a new car so i can tow this one to track days and so on.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/DSCN7344.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/DSCN7346.jpg
its a vectra sri with the exterior pack 2, which contains a vxr front bumper(with different lower lip), vxr skirts, rear apron, spoiler, steering wheel and gear knob. plus the 18inch delta wheels.
as i cant help myself with modifying cars i have a few plans for it such as a re-map, coilovers, de-cat etc. for now i bought a towbar to fit so i can use my trailer, heres a small how to...
start off with one towbar kit, i bought a towsure detachable. i wanted a detachable so the looks of the car arnt affected too much.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/DSCN7347.jpg
first off was to drill out the dimples in the boot floor to fit the spacers..
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/DSCN7348.jpg
once done you can place the spreader plates on top and attach both side support braces underneigth..
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/DSCN7349.jpg
fit the centre cross bracing and tighten it all up and you should be left with this..
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/DSCN7350.jpg
and with out the ball..
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...8/DSCN7351.jpg
just got the wring to sort out.
thanks for looking
bruce
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update
its been a long time again since an update, think ive done enough now to warrent one so here i go....
the engine had a slight tapping noise coming from the cambelt cover so presumed the belt was touching it somehow. i removed the cover and inspected it, i came to the conclusion that the cambelt cover spacers wertn doing there job as it had movement in it prior to me sorting it. i bought some new spacers with the rubbers from vauxhall and fitted them, i didnt get the rubber washer for the outside of the cover so had to make something up,
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psa28bafeb.jpg
had a couple valves about so cut the bottom off.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps1997533b.jpg
one solved problem, the inner rubbers were expensive from vaux for what they were so glad i found an easy solution for the outers.
the 5mm spacers i fitted to the rear wheels to avoid the coilovers now made the tyre hit the arch. with strategic calculations i went for 3mm spacers, fortunately now i have space between the arch and the coilover. painted them red so they didnt miss match from the drum
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psa702e5f8.jpg
another small detail, painted the bonnet latch and fitted a stainless cap head bolt
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psdf7ad97b.jpg
with looking at doing track days ive opted to buy a few bits to make it more oriented to that, kind of having a trailer queen guise and a track look. i had been waiting for a cheap set of cesaros to turn up that i didnt have to travel miles for. a set came up 15miles from me which was a result.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps53ae7b56.jpg
all nice and straight and minimal face damage, with them being track wheels i wanted a vibrant colour to stand out a bit on track. with the decision made to paint them a similar colour to the cage and other minor red items i set about giving them a bit of a refurb.
i used TFR to remove all stuck on dirt, they came up well.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps72a46151.jpg
i wanted the insides black as brake dust makes wheels look horrible and was cheaper that painting them all red.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps6d7b607a.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psf492544d.jpg
prepped the outsides and masked off the insides.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psfb13d0b3.jpg
all finished.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psb7ba62ce.jpg
next track derived part, was a different bonnet. i cut out some funky vents to the one side, there more for looks than function. having a second bonnet will help stop my blue bonnet getting damged on track. i may buy another one as this one is dented pretty much all over and would need shed loads of filler in it.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps2e11ba02.jpg
the last item was to make an air scoop headlight. as i got a few spare headlights i thought i may aswell put them to good use. the way im doing it is going to be similar to mk2 cav was featured in total vauxhall some years ago, i liked how the trumpet was sat on the glass of the light.
im still in the process of buying somthing to cut the glass but i do have the ducting, should be straight forward once the holes in it.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psaabd462c.jpg
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i managed to source a an ex rally open face helmet off ebay, only £7.86. what a bargain.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psc86462df.jpg
i do plan to paint it, the peak black but unsure on the rest. unsure if blue would be over kill?
with wanting to film any track time i do i browsed the net for camera mounts, i stumbled across some american that made his own. as money is i tight i gave it ago, he used some sort of clamp (that i couldnt find) and a mini tripod. i used a 't' bolt clamp and a mini tripod, to make one it goes little like this...
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psb18b1900.jpg
drilled a hole in the clamp..
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psf51bc85f.jpg
i unscrewed the small screw to remove the legs of tripod.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...pse417f42d.jpg
the small section now has to mount onto the clamp, the screw that came out was too short. i found a longer one in my box of tricks and mated them together. i cut a length of tractor tube to use as the grippy bit between the clamp and the cage. once trial mounted it came out like this...
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psb506e55a.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psb02d35c8.jpg
the view...
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps657908b0.jpg
i did test run it today and it vibrates a bit, the camera is a bit too heavy for the mount so a compact wouldnt vibrate as much. i think ill see how i get on before i alter it.
the spare softstar i have in the boot was a bit damaged so i rubbed it down, filled any minor marks and painted it.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps1222715b.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps3a0b5d15.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psa649fe85.jpg
other items i spruced up were the bonnet stuts, painted in the same grey as the other grey items
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psc66eb437.jpg
the bonnet mesh and scuttle mesh thingys
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps1800aebc.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps9700050a.jpg
the ecu cover
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps82c63601.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psea431ecd.jpg
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dug out my twin reverse cluster, i did used to run with the 2 reverse lights but to save me swapping it over for mot time i bought a led bulb that shines red.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps08222a97.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psd91fa0b5.jpg
when i had my red gte i had started to make a scuttle cover for it, it didnt ever come out correct so i gave up, i needed one for this one so had another go. this time using hardboard, i had to make it fit so it missed the wiper linkage i have fitted, only way to do this was cut a section out for the sweep of it.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps231f093c.jpg
and covered in the same material as the interior panels.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psb45d26e1.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps5a311fca.jpg
as i was taking more pics of the car at a distance i realised it needed the mudflaps back on it. the ones i used before had the red vauxhall badge on which ive gone off, i will be getting identicle ones but completely blank. i couldnt remove the badge off these ones.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps75ea75f9.jpg
reading through other members WIP threads they often throw up something that gets over looked in your own project, benn had broken his inner CV joint and came to the conclusion the angle the passenger shaft sat at was quite high. i checked mine out and noticed it was angled upwards and pointed to the back of the car. id rather not have my joint break when i least expect it and as my engine sat a little low on the passenger side i wanted to alter my mount.
i unbolted the mount and moved it up as much as i dared to have the engine sit more level, in jacking the motor up it moved backwards too. marked where new holes had to go and drilled it out, for a bit more strength i welded on some thick washes.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psbab7f2cb.jpg
the holes have moved about 1.5cm up and 0.5cm back, any gain is good gain.
a mate of mine has done a few track days already so had some older r888s about, he had 2 spare so gave them to me which i got fitted.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps45fd1ae4.jpg
with much anticipation of if they would ever go under my arches i got cracking to fit them. the rear one misses the arch but feels like its touching the coilover, after a test drive i couldnt here any noises off them rubbing, i may have to space them out a little but i wont be able to lower it much more.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps6e317b03.jpg
last thing, i bought a hybrid turbo as my one was smoking a bit from cold and as i was running phase 2 i wanted the turbo last a bit longer.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps3129a4e3.jpg
gave me the chance to finally fit the oil restrictor bolt to it.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...psda218f58.jpg
seems to be running ok at the mo, still need to sort out the exterior paint work and the front bumper.
with the arrival of a little one immenant, im unsure when ill update again but hopefully wont be long.
thanks for looking.
bruce
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Engine bay looks epic
Where did you get your rear bolt in brace from?
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This is looking awesome nice work!
What bulb did you get for the fog? And is it brighter than the standard rear bulb?
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Nice work mate well done.
stu
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