ADES GARAGE V2! **now with pics! **

Friday 22/02/2008
Took the day off work so I could crack on with my bumper. before I started I decided to order the OPC honeycombed panel that slots into the big mouth section of the Astra H's bumper. Will mod to fit mine so will be uniform from Grill to Bumper.

I started by thinking about the above changes to the fog light sections and came up with a design that's a combination of mine and Jacks idea - uses my height but with the wrap around raised section brings the entire area to the same height as Jacks idea. This reflects the Astra H's raised bit above it's fog lamps and will flow back into the bumper.

I started by drawing a template -

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...erfogs0005.jpg

One of the existing Punto headlight surrounds will sit in the middle (this is taken from my rear lights build) -

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...erfogs0007.jpg

I then transferred this to the bumper -

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...erfogs0002.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...erfogs0003.jpg

I then did some chopping, cutting and sanding and it came out like this -

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...erfogs0011.jpg

A bit more sanding and shaping as well as some sanding and shaping to add a curve to the lower section of the sides flowing to the front refined it further -

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00017.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00015.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00021.jpg

I'll take the honeycombe design from these panels into the backing that will sit behind the fog lights. The Punto light will fit into the middle of the centre bar and be angled to reflect the lights.

I also trimmed a small bit off the bottom section in the middle so the sides stand out more.

Saturday 22/02/2008
Was at a dinner dance last night with friends - all done up in my kilt and the wife had on a posh frock. Didnt get in till 3am and after eating what at the time was a lush chicken and mushroom pizza on the way home my ar$e feels like something climbed up it in the wee hours and died! God I feel like sh1te!

So today was a little slow...didnt get up till 12pm!

I decided to have a crack at the sections either side of the grill. Whatever I did would be temporary because I need to wait until my new OPC grill arrived. however I wanted to see what the bumper would look like with them in place...these are a wip...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00022.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00020.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00023.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00024.jpg

They dont look too bad but I think theyre a little fat/wide. The good news is the new grill has a frame around it (which I need to fettle to fit slightly!) so all I have to do is add a simple line between the bumper and bonnet which I'm hoping will be straiht forward.

My head started to calm down a bit by mid afternoon (amazing what fresh coffee can do for the soul!) so as I'd taken my bumper as far as I could until the new grill arrived I had a garage clean up. Moved most of the left side of the garage into my neighbours for storage (theyre away until June!) because I wanted to start on the next section of my build...

My side skirts!

Saturday 22/02/2008 continued...
My side skirts are based on the Monaro's side skirts and are fairly straight forward. The hardest part was getting the profile right and ensuring the depth of the skirt was level with the bumper. The bottom of the skirt will be flush with the lip on the bottom of the arch which makes the skirts 10cm deep.

I started by making a profile template to reflect the undeside of the sills in card. Although these bits won't end up on the finished item I wanted to ensure I could offer up the foam parts to the sills without any problems and they would sit flat on underside of the sills.

the skirts themselves are 166cm long. Once the template was correct I cut the foam I needed and removed the excess using my bandsaw. The assembled bases were offered up to the car to ensure they fitted -

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00026.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00028.jpg

I need to add a little more foam to the back so they sit against the sill lip correctly but they fit very well.

I then drew the design onto the face of the skirt (this is very rough and a bit small )-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00030.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00029.jpg


The design will be cut from foam and bonded to the front. The main lower section is curved and sticks out slightly towards the back. this will be carved into the face and additional foam added.

Here's a few ref pics -

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/mon4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/mon2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/mon5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/mon1.jpg

and if ever I get arrested in Oz I wouldnt mind sitting in the back of this one -

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/mon3.jpg

looking good mate. loving the front bumper btw

Excellent work Ade.... as always.
This surely must be worthy of a TV feature.

That Monaro GTS gave me a thought... how about painting the front bumper like this?

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2.../Cars/ade2.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Razorjack

That Monaro GTS gave me a thought... how about painting the front bumper like this?

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2.../Cars/ade2.jpg

---

i like that think it looks really smart

yeah - thats the plan - the fog light bars will also be anthracite.

mate you are a very talented fella ...

the work involved really is very impressive ...well done :)

Wow, been read whole thread and it took me about 4-5 hours!, Keep it up :)