Hey. I'm up to some weird $hit : )

[dirtbag]

The next job to be done was to mount the brake assembly under the dash.

The plenum chamber was too big to allow the brake set up to fit under there, so I have to chop it a bit.

I started by unpicking and cutting the top plenum cover off.





I then cut out the space I needed to fit the brakes.





The engineer says the firewall can't be responsible for supporting the brake pedal, so I used some 25mm thick wall RHS tube to make a frame to mount the brake pedal. The frame attaches to each A pillar and is also attached to the firewall.










With that mounted it was time to make a new inner plenum.





I cleaned the whole inner plenum and rust converted it, then etch primed it before the outer skin went back on.





While the outer skin was off I flipped it and cleaned and treated the underside.





Then I welded it back on : )








You can see the new inner plenum through the holes, but once the inside is painted black and the vent covers go on you'll never see it.





Next job was to replace the panel under the rear window. It's just a rare spares piece so will be easy enough.





I had to fix a bit of rust inside, but nothing too serious.











With the inner repairs done I cleaned the channel out, rust converted it then sprayed it with single pack etch. It didn't seem worth mixing up 2 pac for such a small area, plus the factory didn't even paint in there so it's an improvement : )





Then I welded the new skin on.







That's pretty much brought the monaro up to date for now.

[HKPremier]

Hey dirtbag,

Once again excellent work mate I love these updates.
Keep them coming.

One question how will you top up the brake fluid?

Cheers
Ben

[dirtbag]

Hiya. That's a fair question. It doesn't look it but there is actually quite a lot of room above the master cylinder in there. To fill or check the brake fluid you'll just have to pop the glovebox insert out and fill from there. There's enough room to just tip the fluid from a small bottle.

[dirtbag]

I've also done a little bit on this orange UC torrie.

It's come in for some rust removal, an engine bay smooth out and a tail light change.

The owners father in law had already had a go at the engine bay, so it's taken me a long time to fix what was already done before I could even do what I wanted to do.







Here's some of what I've had to fix.







There's lots more, but you get the picture. Not pretty!


So I had to cut all that out, then weld in new metal to give the chassis it's strength back before reskinning it to make it smooth.





Here's the rail all welded back together, the inner guard reshaped and a new section welded into the upper side where the bodgy patches used to be.
I also rewelded along the chassis rail where the lip has been cut off.




With that done I could finally start to smooth it out. I used 1.2mm zinc to reskin the chassis.







The other rail was no better.





I left the chassis for now, as it's pretty annoying with all the bodgy work done previously, and turned my attention to the firewall. It's going to be totally flat with nothing but an accelerator cable coming out of it.


Choppy choppy : )





Some reinforcing for the inner plenum.





I made the new firewall so the top of it lined up with the line in the inner guards.





I'm going to do something a little different and extend the inner guard right back to the firewall.




I'm also adding some metal in to round out where the wheel well meets the chassis, so it's more blended.
You can see how the new top piece rolls onto the chassis creating a gap underneath. I'll continue this all the way along.







Again I felt I needed to move to something else for a while so I turned to the bonnet. The owner wants the underside tidied up, but not just with a flat sheet. He wants all the frame work visible but without all the holes. Goodie : )





I just made lots of little filler pieces and welded them in.





After lots of welding, sanding and some rust converter it looks like this.





With that exciting job finished I thought I'd attack the tail lights.





Looking better already!






Trial fit of the modified 1968 Pontiac Firebird tail light panel.





After some mucking about with it's shape I started to like how it was fitting.





I even managed to get the fuel filler to line up with the new panel. Bargain : )





I trimmed the corners out of the UC quarters as the seam had rust in it. Plus I need to make new corners anyway to integrate the new tail light panel.





Shaping up the new corner.







Trial fit with the bumper. I'm going to cut 2 inches out of the bumpers width and pull it forward an inch, so there's only a small gap between it and the body.





The metal work for the tail lights is now done. I still have to shorten the bumper and pull it closer, and there is some rust in the panel under the bumper. I like how it looks. It's different. The narrow bumper will make a big difference.





And that's where this one is up to for now.

[SK11TS]

thats an interesting style mod for the uc !

[SK11TS]

Hows the workshop looking mate much on?

[dirtbag]

Hiya. Yeah the shed is chockers at the moment which is good. I'd love a holiday though but I cant see that happening any time soon hahaha.







I'll try and post some pics up of some of the work when I get a chance if anyone wants to see it. Hell even if you don't I'll still post it when I can : )

[SK11TS]

certainly looks like youve got a bit on mate

[Low350]

Hey Mate Awesome work!! I'm just starting to restore a HK Monaro and I can tell you you're making it look too easy! haha Keep the pics coming, it's a massive inspiration! :D

[FarHKed]

Mate, love your work. Pics are great, keep em coming please.

Cheers