Another R17 owner planning to upgrade

Really nice work!
Found it easier to drill all spot welds while it was atttached. The two hinge support sections that come apart will be easier this time.
The sill has the rust and will replace this like the last but only about 200mm. You can see the rubbish on the top of the sill after removing the a pillar.
Modify the section where wide wheels could easily touch! 25mm clearnce. And the front guards later.
Again after removing the A pillar, you can see the evidence of the third inner support steel has been cut to match it up to the hinge holes.
This steel inner support is mean't to be fixed in all the way up to the windscreen seam as extra strength. Useless.

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Right.jpg

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It’s really interesting seeing the pressed pieces coming together / apart in seeing the construction :)
 
Coming along nicely John, surprising how much you can get done in an hour. Keep up the good work. (y)
Thanks COL.
Good thing you are doing this! I imagine I have bits of R8 that look the same inside.....
Seams are where it starts John. Lets dirt/sand in and when driving it's like sandpaper on the metal. The R17 have a terrible problem with the wheel arches as they are so open it lets the dirt build up in and around the guard and A pillar. I aim to sort this.
 
I met a guy who only works on Falcon GT bodyshells. Nothing else.
He sends them out to be chemically stripped, acid dipped and then
completely un - spotwelds every single pressing.
Most bits of tin are chucked into the recycling bin. Some are sandblasted,
some are new replacements if available, and the rest he makes.
He then proofcoats each piece and reconstructs the shell.
Has several jigs to get it perfect. Many $$$$.
I suppose GT's are worth many $$$ , so justifiable.

He was impressed with my 50 year old plastic fantastic at the Renault Roundup.
But I doubt he is ready for a career change. Has a huge waiting list.
 
In the mid 80's I was vice president of the XR to XY car club of Tassie. We started with the mustang car club All Fords Day in TAS. We also met someone who was already capitalizing on XY - GT & GT HO parts. His house was full of collected bits and made a lot of coin. I sold him a perfect dash pad that came from a wrecked ZH fairlane which is identical to the XY pad for $300 _ back then!

This was my ride for over ten years. Ex wedding car from new, mums shopping trolley and then a hoons car...blockies around hobart.
 
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In the mid 80's I was vice president of the XR to XY car club of Tassie. We started with the mustang car club All Fords Day in TAS. We also met someone who was already capitalizing on XY - GT & GT HO parts. His house was full of collected bits and made a lot of coin. I sold him a perfect dash pad that came from a wrecked ZH fairlane which is identical to the XY pad for $300 _ back then!

This was my ride for over ten years. Ex wedding car from new, mums shopping trolley and then a hoons car...blockies around hobart.
Would have been fun. Those Fairlanes weren't bad cars if you wanted something that size. I'd have thought more "lollopping along" than "Blockies" but at 18-20..................... :)
 
John it was a very nice ride but very quick too! Handling like a big ship on the high seas, no control really. Buy my standard XY auto at Baskerville on a track hire day got third best time against mustangs of the same era. Ha
Enough story time and back to work :giggle:
 
Little more done this arvo. I was given a Dremel and it does a good job to remove small spots of dimple rust before treatment again.
You can still seesmall spots of rust that get highlighted when I drown the panel in Ranex. Will give the spots another go with the dremel maybe tomorrow.

Grinding again.jpg

Rust treat with Ranex.jpg
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I have fettled the sill to give more clearance for the front guards. This is where they fill up with mud and sh#t.
It's ready to attached. Check the guard fitment this arvo.
The hole on the old sill right where the guard sits over from factory was a big mistake for this model.
More this arvo....

Mud clearance.jpg
 
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