NickMorgan wrote:Mark,
That looks great. What a fantastic job. I hadn't realised that the repair was free of charge. That makes it even better! Can't wait to see the finished paint job.
Completely agree...
Wonder what it'd cost to have mine shipped there and back...
Wow! What a place, what a paint job. Look at that weather - blue skies and palm trees. You lucky man! How can I convince my wife that there are warmer places to live than Scotland?!
The photo of the garage was taken back in July on a normal Sydney WINTER DAY!!
Finally after nearly 8 months the race car was picked up today, all nice and straight and freshly painted.
I am very happy with the quality of the repair and paint. I believe that all the work was carried out by 2nd and 3rd year apprentices. I paid for "consumables" and a donation to the teachers Christmas party fund. The TAFE also supplied some extra paint for the engine bay and boot area, and have also said if I need more to contact them. All the teachers and student involved have done a great job.
The car is now sitting in its new home at the new house. Unfortunately I still have a lot of work to do to on the new house which will mean that I won't be starting the rebuild/reassembly for a while.
The main hoop of the roll cage was severely damaged in the accident, so a new hoop is currently being made for the car. The first jobs on the car will be paint the engine bay and boot area as well as the cabin. Wiring harness to be fitted and then plumbing for fuel line and brakes, that should keep be busy for an hour or 2.
It has been a long time since I have updated info on this project, the main reason being total lack of progress. I really don't know where Mart and Mary get the time to complete their restorations so quickly, I think that they need to get outside some more and stop us all looking so bad.
For me it has been a struggle getting any time to progress with the rebuild. The body shell was picked from the repairers the week we moved house, and since then there has been much time spent doing work on the home and keeping the other race car (red one) going. This has involved from the start of the 2011 season the motor was removed and rebuilt due to oil starvation, the cylinder head rebuilt/replaced twice, first time due to broken rocker finger and then cam bucket broke and dropped a valve. Unfortunately this all takes time and that is lost to other projects.
There has finally now been some progress. A few months ago I managed to paint the engine bay and boot area. Now the floor of the interior and under guards are paint and I have started to bolt parts back onto the body. Now the 2011 race season is over I am going to attempt to push on as much as time allows so that hopefully the car will be ready for racing some time in 2012. When there is enough of a change I will update with some photos.
I Am so happy to be able to ready the last few updates of yours.
The Car looks excellent but will look even better ripping around a race track again.
Look forward to more updates!
xvivalve wrote:An incredible resurrection ...and that is what i call a garage!!
You must have a very understanding wife!
The garage unfortunately still is not big enough. The first bay has my Jaguar XJR (tow car for race cars) and the next 2 bays have my 2 race cars and the 4th bay has Philip's Dolomite race car in storage (which is for sale). The last bay is the workshop area with benches, lathe, drill press etc and loads of crap. Th road cars sit outside (including the wife's car), and even though the wife is VERY understanding she is not impressed with my idea of doubling the depth of the garage, ie 2 cars deep, seems a good idea to me.
Finally some progress on the rebuild, wiring loom in, dash board, pedals, brake pipes, etc. Currently doing some wiring change/upgrades and will update photos when completed the dash area.
Finally made some progress on the reassembly of the car over the last few weeks.
What I must remember with this rebuild/repair is that the car is not to be update or modernized. The category that the the car will compete in is a "Historic Class" for original Australian Group "C" Touring Cars (from 1973 to 1984). The cars must be the the real McCoy, not a replica or reproduction. The vehicle must appear in its originally livery, and you must nominate a race meeting that the car competed at in that livery (many cars which have competed for several seasons changed hands and livery numerous times).
My car was built in 1977 but did not do its first race until the Bathurst 1000 in 1979. It competed in Group "C" races until the end of 1984 and then raced in 1985 as an International Group "A" Touring Car. For a car like mine with a very long history I must pick a time (race meeting) that will not heavily impact on what specifications of the car can be modified to as the rules regularly changed each year, usually along with more freedom (read improvements) for most cars. At this stage I am considering using Bathurst 1000 1981 as my nominated meeting as it is one of the few meetings that I have photos from, but this will be confirmed later.
The wiring loom, dash etc are finally in and finished. The original loom was in poor condition (been modified to many times) so a standard loom was fitted along with new wiring for electric fuel pump, OD wiring, cooling fan, tacho, etc. The heater must remain in the car, (not connected) so the switch/circuit breaker panel fits over the controls. The car used the original ignition switch, but over the years we have found them very unreliable, so it is bypassed and a separate ignition "on" and push button starter is now mounted under the switch panel, which looks the part. A Smiths tacho will be fitted on top of the steering column shroud.
The alloy foam filled tank (100 litre capacity) , Holley fuel pump, pressure regulator now fitted. I have a Dry break refueling valve for the car (and fuel churn) but it is a pain in the a**e to use, so a screw cap was fitted 20 years ago to make it easier if filling from a drum or bowser.
Rear shocks and springs fitted.
Engine bay build up progressing. After sitting for 4 years, brake and clutch M/C overhauled and clutch slave replaced.
Next major job will be repair all the cracks in the subframe. Roll cage is a bolt in item and and will be left out for a while as it makes working on the interior very difficult when fitted.
Lovely job being done on the car.
Oh, for a garage like that!
And love the irony of the "Premier Panel Beating" decal, shown to good effect in picture 3 on page 1.
Car was built by Ron Missen, for the Ron Hodgson Leyland Dealer Team. It was entered for 1977 Bathurst 1000 (I believe that Andy Rouse was going to drive the car) but it never competed due to an argument over piston legality.
The car finally competed in the 1979 race with Martin Power (now owner) and Paul Klueber, and the 1981 race with Martin Power and Brian Winsall.
Thought you might like this massive thread dig, more than 10 years since an update.
Keeping it simple my RHLDT Group C Touring Car is finally going to the track for the first time in more than 14 years. Tomorrow I will running it at a club Supersprint at Sydney Motorsport Park as test come shakedown run to see what does and does not work.
Over the next few weeks can bring everyone up to speed on why thus has taken so long.
Mark.
PS. Hope you are all surviving the Australian summer that you are currently having.
Attachments
Dollyand Holden.JPG (513.99 KiB) Viewed 6198 times
Car #42. Broadspeed Built 1974 BTCC Sprint and Austrailan Group C Touring Car.
Car #43. RHLDT Built Australian Group C Touring Car.
