Well, this has been a long time in coming, but my 5 year old intention to leave the oldest known HA completely stock have finally crumbled.....
Decided a while ago that I was starting to get very bored poodleing about in UAS874. But the purest in me decided that mucking about with it along the lines of my black V6 would be out of order considering the cars historical significance. So, what can you change on a scruffy HA to make it more interesting, but do it in a way that leaves the option to go back to completely factory stock should the need arrise ?
Unfortunately for the purest, the clutch failed completely leaving my Misses stranded, but the seeds were sown, and now the opportunity had arrisen.
So, what to do to pep up the old girl and make the daily commute a bit more entertaining ??? Whats lying around in the garage ?? my old tuned up 1256 motor, looking very sorry for its self stuck under a bench covered in crud and dust..... not any more.... you get where this is going ? Good. And that wonderful thought has lead to some serious work ! Far more than my scheme counted on, and theres still a shed load to do later. But for now, heres where the old girl is:
Build mock up of replacement engine:
So, me thinks, rebuild the motor and swap it out for the complete lump and box in the car...... HAHHAHHAH The god of terminal rust soon put pay to that simple concept. I have to admit that whilst finding such bad rust was a real pain, part of me is happy about it as I'm about to drop in a motor with about twice the original power, and the chassis was not going to appreciate it...... For those who don't like tin worm, look away !
As you can see, there was not a lot of useful metal left, so it was out with the welder big time. Both front suspension mountings were rotted out, both chassis rails had to be replaced all the way back to the jacking points, floor plan plates, and seriously nasty sill repairs (in side inner wing area)
So anyway, a full weeks leave that was supposed to get the ol girl up and running ended up with me spending 7 out of 9 days welding...... what fun!
But, I did manage to get it all together and on the last day, the subframe and engine/box was pushed underneath and the boddy re-attached. New bolts were need for the subframe as two sheared off and the two that did come out were about 50% rusted away...... not funny
The ol girl runs now, the carb needs a lot of fine tuning, but so goes (pretty well!) and stops and all those things a car is supposed to do.
More to follow !
Tony (HA21)
