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Re: HB SL 4 door RNJ 835G

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:03 pm
by lord13
so...update time....Ihave been trying to build a GT style center console, here are my efforts :)

First I cut , bent and shaped a bit of scrap ally into a rough idea of what I wanted, after much shaping and cursing with numerous trips out to the car then back to the shed whilst trying to get a goo fit I ended up with this . . .

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Then i cut out the gear lever hole . . .

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which will nicely take the original gear lever surround . . .

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more cutting of holes for the switches . . .

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I then chopped up some MDF . . .

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Covered the whole thing in 'tasteful' black vinyl, added some bits for the sides and other such stuff ( i took no pictures for all of that as it was a bit of a nightmare, and it still isn't right, more fettling to do) and stuck my dials in and voila ! center console . . .

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and fitted . . .

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It has to come out again for a bit more 'fine tuning' but it does the job I think :)


And as promised in a previous post, I have ruined it with a dirty great stripe down the side :D

Actually i toyed around with the coach line...I didn't want to do GT stripes...it's not a GT and I don't actually like them ( the stripes not the actual GT)...and I cant paint a straight line even with masking it all off. So I tried a thin white line, looked rubbish. I tried a thicker matt black line....looked rubbish. So I went for a massive white line...still looked a bit rubbish but I like it :D

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Reminds me of a 'mexico' stripe ( and a bit 'starsky and hutch') so it's time to get out the cardboard boxes and get some 'action shots' in :D

It has since been 'straightened out' in areas and made neater in others, and all the messy bits where i've gone over the masking tape removed, and all rubbed down to give it that 'worn/aged' look, but I like it...badges next , a good old polish and hopefully a MOT, I know it won't need one soon, but I think I want to get one last ticket on it :D

Re: HB SL 4 door RNJ 835G

PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:45 pm
by jpsmit
looking good!

Re: HB SL 4 door RNJ 835G

PostPosted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 9:52 am
by Kraken
Should've given it the full Starsky and Hutch!!

Re: HB SL 4 door RNJ 835G

PostPosted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 11:50 am
by rizzo
I quite like the large stripe its a bit different from the norm :goodideasign:

Re: HB SL 4 door RNJ 835G

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2018 8:45 am
by lord13
Hey thanks for the positive comments guys :)

Did anyone spot my mistake with the rev counter? I bought it off ebay on a whim, only cost me a quid plus postage, so I didn't really pay it much attention. I fitted it, wired it up and started the car... then i noticed two things, firstly it reads as ticking over at 2500rpm which it definitely isn't, that's also when i noticed the revcounter only goes up to 4000rpm ! whooops, wrong type then. :oops: :oops: :oops:

So i'm in the market for a nice 70mm diameter rev counter that's for a 4 pot. . . I really should pay more attention when i'm hunting out a 'bargain' :oops: :oops: :oops:

Re: HB SL 4 door RNJ 835G

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 10:40 pm
by psl
Having seen, smelt and heard your more door start and even run, much Vivaing emotion stirred within, alas not enough room at my stable to buy one lol. Good to see your making positive progress sir................keep up the good work

Re: HB SL 4 door RNJ 835G

PostPosted: Thu Apr 26, 2018 7:12 am
by lord13
They all have that smell don't they, I saw the memories flooding back and the tear it brought to your eye :D

One will come your way soon sir I am sure, remove that Swedish beast from your drive and use the resulting folding green to purchase one of Vauxhall's finest and you can inhale to your hearts content :)

Anyway . . .not long now and you can have a go in the old girl :D

Re: HB SL 4 door RNJ 835G

PostPosted: Sat May 05, 2018 8:11 am
by lord13
Not much to report, except various wiring problems that resulted in going through a few fuses, there was a short on the wiring going into the fuse box, and a burnt out wiper motor, both now sorted.

Wing badges now fitted, I forgot to take a 'close-up' but if you can see from the pic, the badges are now predominantly black, with just the raised edges shiny chrome, I think they stand out a bit more. Also a nice set of Rostyles fitted, and with in keeping with the 'worn' look I rubbed them down to bare metal, not completely, i left some areas with a touch of paint on, just for effect you know, not at all because i got bored and wanted them on the car ;) anyway, to preserve the shiny exposed steel i sprayed them with a liberal coat of lacquer :)

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Oh, I also remodeled the office ;) the lack of extra clocks all adds to the 'not quite a GT' look i'm after

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It's getting there . . . :D

Re: HB SL 4 door RNJ 835G

PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 10:29 am
by lord13
I wrote a massive write up about my trip to the A47 show on monday, about how fraught and stressful it was etc etc and then i clicked 'preview' and as it had been so long in the writing it asked me to log in again...which I did , and it lost all that I had written!!! damn stupid auto log out thingy!

so here's the quick version...

Took car to show....it broke down on the way back...damn car!

ok ok...i guess i'll add a bit more, the viva runs like a bag of proverbial, fine on acceleration, fine on no throttle, cruising along on part throttle...total pants, cough splutter , missing ...just awful.

I changed points and condenser at the show, and as I left it died, totally died, but that was another issue...solenoid busted, so i bumped it into life and continued on. The stuttering and loss of power got worse so i changed back to the old condenser and it improved slightly.

Still runs like *Bleep*...anyway here are some pictures of the old girl at the show...
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The other write up was better, funnier, and it far more detail, but to be fair I was probably wasting my breath as no one reads my *Bleep* anyway judging by the tumbleweeds that frequent my thread ..seemingly ever since I painted a white stripe down the side ...funny that eh? If anyone cares i have removed the torana dash and home made center console and put it back to standard, it looks better .
The GT bonnet is staying though, mainly because i don't have a standard one as the car came with the GT bonnet, but I don't appreciate it being pointed out IN THAT TONE everytime I post a picture on the internet, I know it's not a GT. I am not trying to make it into a GT. (4 doors should make that painfully obvious) At least I haven't altered an extremely rare GT from standard. . . which is FINE if you want to do that, it is your car after all....and this one is mine ok? To be honest, I'm in half a mind to cut the GT vents out and weld flat sheet over the holes, it's getting me down all this rivet counting :(

Re: HB SL 4 door RNJ 835G

PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 10:31 am
by lord13
Bad morning ok :(