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Re: HB estate

PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 1:58 am
by yoeddynz
Lovely colour. Keen to see how this comes out!

Re: HB estate

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2018 11:12 pm
by Colin
Superb, high quality workmanship John. It's going to be brilliant! :respekt:

Re: HB estate

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 1:48 pm
by Johnboy HB
some more pics
took these a while back but couldn't find them to post, magically they have re-appeared :? , turned out well except for some more reaction in different places :? going to leave the paint for the time being & have been re fitting the running gear, I'm making some changes along the way to hopefully make it more useable, a later 1256 with accuspark ignition, pre-engaged starter, alternator & electric fan for starters & anything else I can think of as I go on

Re: HB estate

PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 8:04 pm
by hbr341
Hi John
Iam doing the same as you at the moment you are a bit further on than me ive got a 1968 HB SL all stripped to bare metal new sills all welding done one side and doors boot lid and bonnet in apoxy primer the filling and block sanding is taking ages I was lucky as mine has a very good shell next job will be to roll it on its side and remove the thick layer of under seal that Vauxhall applied 50 years ago ive found the best way to do this is a wood chisel and a small hammer comes off in big bits when I did the same job on my GT I used hot air gun lay under the car not a nice job.

Regards Chris.

Re: HB estate

PostPosted: Tue Mar 05, 2019 12:32 am
by Johnboy HB
Not the best job removing underseal, the previous owner plastered it everywhere, used a hot air gun like yourself but its a messy job, Rebuilt the front suspension
was in quite good order so only replaced what needed changing, balljoints were ok so only changed the boots & re-greased, top arm bushes & tie rod bushes were replaced with superflex, new shocks & track rod ends
& renewed the pipework, cylinders & shoes for the brakes

Re: HB estate

PostPosted: Tue Mar 05, 2019 12:46 am
by Johnboy HB
Moving to the back, removed the shocks to find the nearside turret rusted through
although the drivers side is ok
was thinking of raising the ride height a bit but i'll look into that sometime in the future

Re: HB estate

PostPosted: Tue Mar 05, 2019 7:38 pm
by 1972nail
You can raise the ride height at the rear quite easily. There are various length Audi TT / VW Golf springs which can be fitted. If you go for variable rate ones then you can have a subtle ride like standard with extra load carrying capacity when needed. A bit of research will throw up suitable choices.

Re: HB estate

PostPosted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 11:22 am
by Johnboy HB
I have some Astra rear springs that I'm going to try out, & I think you've mentioned before about using BMW rear springs but it's the front springs I'm not sure of, thought of using ohc springs as with less weight to carry, they should lift the front up enough but maybe at the expense of a hard ride

Re: HB estate

PostPosted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 5:33 pm
by 1972nail
You're right, I did mention BMW springs before and you did mention that you were trying Astra springs. Apologies, I'd forgotten. I've since found that the Audi TT / VW Golf have quite a wide range of spring lengths, wire diameters and their springs are available in single or variable rates.

The Magnum front springs will raise it far too high and also give too much positive camber as well as a hard ride. Better to get a set of Snoot (HPF) specification springs made by South Yorkshire springs. They are export HC OHV spec and will give about an 1" higher without too much increase in stiffness.

Re: HB estate

PostPosted: Thu Mar 07, 2019 2:28 pm
by Johnboy HB
That sounds just the ticket, thanks for the advice David