Vince's ongoing DS23...

Vincenzo said:
Yogurt pottles, small tin cans, empty spray bottles - they are all fair game. It has taken 2 years to train my wife in the art of asking herself "Can this be used at the shed?" before throwing anything away..
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Yes - my wife is on board with that too :) Any moderately sized cardboard box gets saved for me - just in case. We have even opened preliminary negotiations on the cost of a respray. it pays to plan ahead!

we are also eating a lot more ice cream than we used to as i get through a large number of those plastic tubs with lids......
 
Don't forget that every dollar you spend on your D will be at least a 1:1 (possibly 1:2 ratio) on something for her. My resto is costing me a kitchen..
 
Mine cost a house move (I got a double garage and workshop out of the deal) AND it's costing me an over-garage extension. Actually not complaining. House move was a no-brainer and the kids love playing in a bigger garden. Happy family = happy Budge
 
The journey continues. After a bit of testing of products and techniques I realised that I either have to spend a bit of money (that quite frankly I'd rather spend on a repaint or new reverse lights etc etc) on fancy cleaning hireage or just knuckle down and get with the program. Yes, I am degreasing the underbelly.. The original coating appears to be broken through on one small spot. There are a few battle scars but nowhere near as many as I thought there would be.

Video is 1min 20secs

At the rate I'm working this will likely be a 5 day job.. Getting some other small stuff done as well when I take breaks from the scrubbing.
 
It has been a long time since updating this thread and I apologise for that - I know how all of you are hanging to see the progress... Quite a bit has gone on with the essential help of Jeremy Adams, without who I would have not just been totally stuck but also nowhere near as far along.

My photos are still very disorganised but I do have a mock-up installation of my new upholstery which I'm very pleased with. The Pallas seat covers were supplied by Citronpieces and the fitting by Waikumete Car Upholsterers. I intended to do it myself.. but wisdom prevailed as I want the fabric lines to be straight and fitting well. My guy also reinforced the drivers seat foam with some modern material and it now feels like new! Damn I can't get the page to load photos at the moment. Standby please callers..

Ten minutes of trying to make the photo attach hasn't worked. I'll again later. Damn shame 'cos they are really nice..
 
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Vincenzo you are going about loading photos the wrong way - I expect that only you can see the attachments - I think because they are still on your computer.

When using 'Quick reply' to post (just below the most recent post), look above the white box where you type and you will find a row of icons. Click 3rd from the3 right (Insert Image) - this opens the 'Insert Image' box. Click 'From Computer' then click 'Select Files'. Now select the photos you want (hold down the CTRL key if selecting more than one) then click 'Open' button. This brings you back to the 'Insert Image ' Dialog box. Now click 'Upload Files' and Bob's your father's (or mother's) brother!
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Now double-click on one image - this opens the 'Image settings' box. From here you can choose the size and alignment of your uploaded photo.

If you are posting from the 'Go Advanced' page, then it's a bit different...

Cheers

Alec
 
Thanks for that Alec - I was doing what you suggest but having more trouble than I expected. I'll give it another crack.
 
Hopefully this has worked now.. the headrests are actually very similar to the seat fabric. I think the drivers side copped the full trick of the flash light and it appears way paler than it should.

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Bonjour Gentle Men and Woman of Frog persuasion. I'm back with another semi-annual update on the progress of my car. I'll be as brief as I can.

It became obvious to me that progress had stalled - I was still going out to 'the chicken shed' and farting around but the main Mentor was having issues with health and family and was essentially absent for quite some time. The original mentor bailed from helping me with the project 2 years earlier. So over lockdown I bit the bullet and hired a wiz to finish things off.

The car and associated bits was moved to a rented workshop much closer to my domicile which was very nice for me. I can pop in to the new shed in 8 minutes, not the previous 45, and spend an hour doing things. The hired gun, whilst not a trade mechanic, completely restored his own car 2 years ago and it is exactly the same model as mine!! Even down to the colour. He is also an accomplished boat builder which means there isn't a lot he can't actually do.

Progress in the 6 weeks has been fantastic. The car has gone from a sad looking, slowly rotting carcass in a shitty dark chicken shed - to nearly a running rolling chassis with a new roof, dashboard and some carpets.

Unfortunately for me it appears that a considerable number of items were pilfered from my bay in the shared shed. There is no other explanation for the breadth and variety of missing pieces. The car was dismantled in the chicken shed so most of the parts should have still been there. Bugger. Still finding bits that are mysteriously absent - down to the more rare specialise nuts and conical washers etc.

I've ordered a few parcels of special presents from overseas vendors which has cost at least 2 arms and 4 toes and have more to order to tidy up a few areas. E.g. a terraced nut and new suction lines...

Due to my ability to pretend to work from home during the day, I have been able to run around after The Hired Gun doing errands - tube of gunk here, can of lithium grease there and a handful of grommets, sort of thing. Really specialised stuff that needs an expert [to tell me what and send me packing].

All up if I can keep up this momentum she should be back on the road by November - which would be awfully nice.

Now I'm going attempt the photo uploads - I don't have a great history of success with this but we shall see how it goes. Damnit - I'm going to have to resize the photos to smaller. Ah, that was easy!

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Gearbox had to come off for some fettling.

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The foil-backed bitumen soundproofing insulation has been reinforced with a Wurth product like a thick foamy malleable blanket of deaf..

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A purchased parcel shelf cover turned out to be rubbish so The Hired Gun made one in a hour, using material purchased from a local upholsterer.


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Test fitting of the newly covered roof.


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Details that no-one needs to see.


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Protected headlining - if anyone is going to get a greasy thumbprint on the headlining it will be me. Best to sort that shit out right now!


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My chosen upholster did a pretty good job of recreating the existing vinyl cover. A couple of little quibbles but this was never intended to be a concours car so what-the-hell.

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What a mission to get this all on. There are hours of frustration in this simple photo of a gutter and its seal. The gutters were replaced by my 'beater - but were 1mm too tall to get the stainless trim to click over and into the seal. Part of the gutter didn't have the correct slopey angle and needed some gentle persuasion. Many measurements later the dreaded angle grinder came out and a process rehearsed for trimming the edge of the gutter to size. Once trimmed... Voila!

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Worked like a charm!

It seems I have hit an image limit... how many of the thousands of pictures available would you like to see? I can do more....

Cheers for putting up with my ramblings - the project has been an interesting journey in commitment and persistence and I would do things differently if there is a next time.
 
I suspect the image limit is limit per post, I would be surprised if you cant post more images in subsequent posts, just split them into smaller lots.

Good work, I enjoy the photos and the story.
 
I'll get more photos up when I get a moment. I just don't want to bore anyone shirtless. Like I do at work - people who haven't been seen for a while are warned beforehand by my colleagues not to ask me "How's the car coming?". The question that scares me though is the one that hasn't been asked by my wife. "How much is this costing?".
 
Here is the engine starting for the first time since 2015. I was hoping to do a small video review walkaround so you could all see what is happening. I ran out of energy so here is a link to my youtube. I'm very pleased with the final result.

 
That's a massive milestone done, you must be thrilled. Looks like you're already well onto bleeding the hydraulics as well.
 
Thanks guys - yes I am rather pleased. My main man Andrew has saved this project. The 123 ignition seemed to be a puzzler until it became clear that the instructions were half incorrect, and then cylinders 2 & 3 didn't have valves that were set correctly. Once all clearances were checked and adjusted she started and run. For brevities sake I didn't include the additional 3 minutes of idling after the video ended.

The LHM tank was filled and all leaks have now been sorted and brakes bled. I was at work during that time so no video or photos to be had but I did saw the aftermath of the surgeries! Damn, respect to that man. I guess that 2400psi will exploit any weakness.. It has now run for an estimated 90 minutes and starts reliably and idles consistently. That is a good thing I think.
 
Hi Vincenzo
Nice to see it all coming together. there's nothing like that first test run to put a grin on your face, is there?
What bit of the 123 instructions were wrong please. I've bought a set - yet to be fitted, so any learning ahead of that would be welcomed.

Budge
 
Budge said:
What bit of the 123 instructions were wrong please. I've bought a set - yet to be fitted, so any learning ahead of that would be welcomed.
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Hi Budge, I will have to check with the local wizard. My main man The Mikkel, was getting pissed off with the setup of it (possibly not helped by my astute suggestions - 'tongue needs to poke a little more" etc) and another mechanic passed by and spoke to him. All I heard was 'no no the booklet is wrong you gotta do it like this'. I will ask what the issue was.
 
I thank you all for your patience. Evidently the car was not ready by November, or December 25th, which would have been nice. But every week we are a few steps closer, backing up a step to redo something and then stepping forward again.

To answer Budges enquiry - it seems that I didn't have quite the right understanding of what was said at the coalface when the 123 ignition was put in and actually everything was fine in the instruction booklet. You see, I am the living embodiment of the proverbial warning of 'just enough knowledge to be dangerous'.

I have a wee video to present. It is 3mins 20 secs long with a few self-explanatory actions for the cognoscenti. The engine and its entourage of finger shredding spinning belts, regulators, pumps, pulleys and fans have been installed. The brakes steering and suspension are working though needing some adjustments but... yesterday was a glorious sunny day after weeks of so-so and I could not resist. The car has seen the tarmac! In the best tradition of Kiwi and Aussie do-it-yourself car construction, it was tested entirely illegally though responsibly brief. If you wade through the video (or skip forward past the boring bits) you will see what I mean.

The take up of the clutch got better with a couple of uses but still needs proper adjustment. Please enjoy - I got a real kick out of it and finally feel that the new year has started.

 
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