Shellby - 83 gti ABF on carbs

Any idea how that inner wing ended up being to short? I'm guessing it's been repaired before at some point, either that or your wing was too long

Nice work though, Matt. Looking good mate

Been nearly three months since I did an update. Been beavering away, cleaning components up and painting them. Finally have enough photos to warrant a post.

Car is almost ready to begin paint.

Near side being finished. Plus the wing is on, this wouldn't fit earlier because the front inner wing was too short. Had to split it to get the bolt holes for the wing in the correct positions.



The split  





Laid a strip on the outside and welded it on, then can fill the inside with weld and grind it flush.



Horrible bird poo welds, but it's fused together nicely and can make it lovely and smooth again with a grinder  





Vertical split welded, now onto the horizontal bit, then grinder time.

Also made some head way with my wheel adapters. Honda wheels to vw hubs is a nightmare.

Got a machine shop to make me some adaptor plates








These are drilled and tapped 5no M12 x 114.3 pcd to suit the honda wheels and 3 of the 4 M12 x 100 pcd on the vw hub. Can only use 3 of the vw holes as one always clashes with one of the honda holes. I will then open up the holes on the hub to 12.5mm diameter, pass 2no studs through the front of the hub and 1no setscrew from the back to clamp it in place. Hope that makes sense!! Honda accord type R discs, 300 x 28





And the wheel centre in position





And finally Fiat turbo Brembo calipers



Need to make a bracket to mount the calipers to the hub, then mock it all up to make sure the wheels fit, fingers crossed!!

So long as I can finish the welding and grinding of the inner wing, then painting should start in two weeks, cannot wait to see her all in one colour, getting excited!!

Cheers for looking, any comments more than welcome.

Matt

WOW, I love that set up Matt, nice work mate!!

Melteddrummer said

Any idea how that inner wing ended up being to short? I'm guessing it's been repaired before at some point, either that or your wing was too long

Nice work though, Matt. Looking good mate

It's definitely been repaired before, numerous welds here and there, must have had new metal put in, but not aligned it properly  

Wish it had been a too long wing, that would have been easy to fix!  

Hopefully the hub set up will work nicely, taken a long time figuring out what components to use, always wanted the brembo calipers, then looked at Porsche discs, BMW discs, then a lightbulb finally went on in my head, check out honda discs as I have honda wheels, and it turns out there almost identical to the fiat turbo ones, a massive stroke of luck  

Nice work Pazwaa, Sounds like you've had a massive stroke of luck

smudger said

Nice work Pazwaa, Sounds like you've had a massive stroke of luck

Cheers smudger! Think the lesson is do some research into the wheels you want rather than buying on impulse  

Got a few hours to work on her today.

4 hours of welding and grinding and the horrible gap has nearly gone.





Just the far right hand end to do, not sure how I'll get a grinder in there?   Also got some plates made to fabricate some top mounts



That's all for today, hopefully more progress on Tuesday.

If you can get a piece of copper, form it to the right shape and weld it from the outside, should be easier to dress off from the outside, then put a skim of filler on the inside, maybe?

Melteddrummer said

If you can get a piece of copper, form it to the right shape and weld it from the outside, should be easier to dress off from the outside, then put a skim of filler on the inside, maybe?

Good thinking batman, cheers. Will give a try on Tuesday.  

An important day for my project today, after 16 months I have finally finished the fabrication stage of the shell   Last of the gap in the engine bay has been welded up and ground flush.

Car has been prepped, ready for  primer







If all goes to plan she will be all one colour on Tuesday   

Great stuff Matt, bet your pleased it's nearly over, well this side of things is anyway. Look forward it seeing it in paint

Melteddrummer said

Great stuff Matt, bet your pleased it's nearly over, well this side of things is anyway. Look forward it seeing it in paint

Thanks andy   yeah, glad there'll be no more sparks down my neck and red hot wire landing on my arm     I did enjoy getting into welding again, never managed to get any of my welds to look like yours, lucky I'm quite good with a grinder  

Now just watch as she transforms into something beautiful. Then the rebuild………  

Don't be putting your work down Matt, you've got skills man and got yourself a quality car there mate, you should be proud of what you have achieved!!

The rebuild worries me too mate

Melteddrummer said

Don't be putting your work down Matt, you've got skills man and got yourself a quality car there mate, you should be proud of what you have achieved!!

The rebuild worries me too mate

Cheers andy, means a lot coming from you.    I've enjoyed doing the shell, blown a thousand holes, but filled them all again.  

Yeah, rebuild……….      I'm good with nuts and bolts, but engines, transmitions, fuel lines, carbs….  Let the fun begin   

Just checked in with your thread, What big plans have you got?

Don't wan't to say too much in case it falls through, I'm relying on one of my mates going halvies.

Melteddrummer said

Don't wan't to say too much in case it falls through, I'm relying on one of my mates going halvies.

Intriguing!! A vw garage?? Look forward to news  

Well tonight has been a massive anti-climax.   Was supposed to start painting today, but my friend brought the wrong nozzle for his gun ( ) so he couldn't make a start. So he did a bit more body prep.

So onto other things. I got some adjustable top mounts of eBay, from a Toyota starlet, advertised as fitting a mk1 golf too.



The thread at the top of my coilovers is M14, whereas these take an M12. Soooo, I bored the nut out, bought an M14 tap off eBay and…..

…..snapped it in seconds



Managed to get the tap out and managed to use what was left of the tap to cut the new thread, never easy these projects  Then added the holes for mounting the base plates for my strut extension to the turret top.



That's it for this week, big disappointment, but painting will begin next week, with the right nozzle, so hopefully a big update shortly.

All comments/questions/suggestions very welcome  Matt

Painting should start tomorrow, very excited! Hopefully have a good update tomorrow night.   

Hopefully!!

Today it finally happened!!! My shell is finally one colour    Pictures













I cannot begin to describe the smile on my face after seeing her for the first time, massive  For anyone in the fabrication stage and feeling under motivated, keep at it! Every spark down your back, burn from a weld, slashed hand and trip to casualty is all worth it when you see it in paint    After staring at her for over an hour, grinning like a Cheshire Cat, I finally got some work done. Tonight's mission - mount the radiator

Scrap piece of steel



Cut to size, cap piece drilled and tapped, bolt fitted and welded on



Then welded in position in the engine bay with a little brace for a bit more strength.









And the beast fitted, from a Sierra cosworth, should keep things cool  



Hope you like, hopefully more updates soon!

Cheers
Matt

Nice 1 Matt, happy day's. She's looking good dude