Ticking over. . .

 There's always something ticking over with Corey's wagon and it's starting to look good with all the panels back on. . .

 This is actual ride height on rear end and front end still has to come down a couple of inches. .

Have a look at the ride height from the arse end, this is one wild ride. . .

Finishing the panel work. . .

Geez, it's been a while since we've seen the wagon with all panels and doors on. Dylan's lining up the gaps ans fnishing the obvious weld/rust work and then it will be turned upside down for an inspection by Michael to check on progress and then, back into it. . .

Fit together for gap clearance. . .

 Dylan's having to work for the next couple of Fridays because it's school holidays and there's no trade school. Bugger he says, not to worry, he now has to fit the doors to Corey's EH and set the gaps and then fix any rust which I'm sure he will be able to find a little bit somewhere?

Car is now into a well advanced stage and next job is to fit the air-con and then into the engine bay to finish off the part placement out there. . .

Beaver Panel upgrade. . .

This is the old section of the beavel panel where the exhaust used to exit, seeing the exhaust is no longer going to be seen here it was decided to cut the old section out and replace it with some new 'tin'. Once again Dylan showed his remarkable skills, remembering that he is a first year apprentice, and hand made a new section and welded it in place and gave it a bit of work with the flapper disc and you wouldn't know that it had been replaced. . .

Quarter Panel Reairs. . .

 Dylan has just cut in a new rust repair section and is certainly the easiest way to do a major rust repair to one of the rusty 'hotspots' on most cars.

This is, or was, the old cut out for the trailer plug that is always a messy result when DIY tradesmen get out the holesaw and cut a bloody great hole on the beaver panel of their pride and joy. . .

Underbelly Tidings. . .

Not many exciting pics to show at the moment but the wagon is at that stage where all the underbelly tack/piece welds now have to be completed so that the underside of the car can be signed off by the engineer. This has been a full re-floor and substantial suspension and transmission upgrades so there a ship-load of welding to be done to finalise things. Any exciting pics and I'm sure to keep you posted. Yesterday Dave spent most of the day removing the exhaust system so that it could be fully welded and the ground down with the flapper discs so that it was a nice even mirror finish and then off to the platers so that heat exchange is kept to a minimum inside the transmission tunnel. . .

Quarter Panels. . .

All EH's rust, especially in the quarter panels. Dylan has fixed this side and ordered a half panel cut-out for the other side. . .

Thirsty? I need a drink. . .

 This being the hinge for the tail-light assembly so that it can swing out of the way for access to the hidden fuel cap. Basically the same sort of assembly as the old Chevs around the '55-57 era.

Andrew has made up a small mount to secure to the tail-light assembly that fixes to the wagon and will be released as per usual from the driver's seat. Nothing new but very tidy and discreet. . .

Unbelievable. . .

This is why you do a thorough search and engage the best fabricator that you can find. The rear beaver-tail on the wagon was absolutely cactus with rust and nearly made the rear of the wagon a throw away, but Hodgey just cut out the offending bits and fabricated a new insert. She's now ready for another 60yrs. Unbelievable craftsmanship, thanks mate. . .

Roof line. . .

 Dylan's certainly been seen swinging that hammer and cutting out wierd little shapes with the tin-snips to fill in all the rust holes that keep popping up. These doglegs had to be repaired anyway after Dave had to cut entry wounds into the metalwork to install the seat belt mounts. . .

Up into the roof channels and more good work from Dylan. These are really hard areas to carry out repairs and can't be got at from the inside. . .

Rust repairs. . .

 As is usual when buying a 'golden oldie' that has been running around the traps for approx 60years
it's gotta be a case of buyer beware or Carpe Diem to others. Extensive rust repairs can be seriously expensive so all prospective purchases should be carefully checked so you know exactly what you are getting yourself into. . .

Dylan has been working carefully through all the rusty spots and is turning in stellar results as can be seen in these two before and after pics. . . good onya D.

Start Pedalling. . .

Dave's still working flat out on Corey's wagon and today he managed to get the pedal bracketry made up and installed. The VE 'fly by wire' accelerator is a brilliant system and easily installed. . .

Fiddly Bits. . .

 Windscreen cowlings, scuttle plates, call them what you like, they are all the same and they all collect rust like it's going out of fashion. Enter one enterprising young apprentice who goes by the 'nom de plume', The Penetrator or Dylan to his mum and voila. . .

It might have taken him a while to fix it all up but the results speak for themselves. Fantastic work 'D' we're all proud of your progress mate. .

Final Stages. . .

Andrew's had a huge day today with metal fabrication. First port of call was to finish Corey's console up to the stage of readiness for the shifter. It's going to be a crime to let the trimmers cover this unit, should be polished up and left for all to see the exceptional workmanship. . .

Centre Console. . .

 Hodgey having a trial fit of the partially finished console. . .

 Rear view looking forward and console shape is faithful to the original only extended to the rear for the airconditioning ducts. . .

Driver's side view with seats in place and the console looks great. It clearly divides the car into seperate capsules like a small sports car and is high enough to be used as an arm rest. Very comfy and still very roomy. . .

Seat Belt Mounts. . .

 After Michael's  (Engineer) visit on Monday, Dave has started on the seatbelt mounting points for the wagon. This pic shows where the cutout point is for the 'B' pillar. . .

 This next pick shows the actual cutout for fitment of 3mm bracket with captured locking nut assembly. . .

This final pic shows the 3mm brackets with the captured locking nuts. . .

Michael's Visit. . .

Cant' let the day go by without a pic from the big fella. Here he's adding the finishing touches to the top panel of the centre console. Yeah I know, he didn't do much, but he was swinging the whip keeping the other two with their heads down. . .
Michael has made an interim inspection and is pleased with the results thus far. Today he signed off on the steering, exhaust, trans tunnel, rear seating and front seats as well as the front seat brackets which are required to follow a very strict mounting protocol. He has given permission to start on mounting all the seat belts and will be sending through strict instructions for their mounting requirements. It is sooo much easier working with an engineer and then there are no mistakes. . .Michael is also a fantastic guy who becomes enthusiastically involved with the project. . .

Premier Console. . .

Measure thrice and cut twice?? Nah, none of that bullshit here, the masters of their trade cut out wooden ply templates and make sure they fit before turning their meaty big mitts on the metalwork, and it shows. Here the original style EH Premier heater console is getting stretched into the back seat to house the air-conditioning outlets for the rear occupants. . .

Finishing touches. . .

Andrew has added the fnishing touches to the metalwork around the firewall and tunnel. Looks really good and a lot neater, next step is a visit from the engineer to catch up on all the interior and underneath mods and also outlay the future plans for a verbal approval to continue. Michael is to visit next Monday in the pm, so will look forward to his opinion of the work so far. . .

Hodgeys turn on the tunnel. . .

 Rear seat is back in position, although the rear upright still needs to be fitted around the wheel tubs. . .

 Moving up front we can see that Hodgey has stated on the bottom of the transmission tunnel. .

 Top section of the transmission tunnel in place and spot welded to the lower sections. . .

Middle sections back in place and voila, tunnel complete. . .

Dave the Awsomenator. . .

 Daves at it again and the work is flying along the 'Fast Lane'. Rear section of the tunnel has been fully welded in and ready for the rear seat. .

 Rear seat has been scalloped out in front section to allow for the raised tunnel and still allow five occupants to cruise. . .

It always helps to have an overseer on every job.

Tunneling Away. . .

First look at the boys work with the tunnel to cover all that lovely exhaust work. It will also house the air-conditioning to the rear occupants.
Gee, I hope the boys remembered that they have to fit in the air-conditioning?

Finished product. . .

Sorry for the phone image but this is the exhaust system removed for painting This si complete to the diff and muffler sits immediately after diff and then single pipe to the rear. . .

More twists and turns. . .

 There's more twists and turns in this exhaust than there is in the bloody road to 'Summer Bay'.
Andrew has finalised the connectins in the steering with a Borgeson uni to run the arm down to the rack. Seriously tight in there but still 'plenty' of room for full movemen of all reciprocating parts. . .

As said, the exhaust twists and turns all the way down the transmission tunnel to the rear end.
Funnily enough, there was only one muffler available for selection that would fit into the required space. Dave is seriously scratching what remains of his furrowed brow on this job. He has now moved onto the trans tunnel and this will require some deliveries from BHP to cover the new systems running through the wagon. . .

Exhaust system grows. . .

false fooring panel has been put in place so that none of the exhaust sits lower than the floor line.
Cats are now located in place, up in the transmission tunnel. . .

Dave has been carefully measuring and tacking pipe and bends into place and the system gradually grows towards the rear. . .

Pic from the rear of the car shows how neat this whole set-up is going to be. By the time that you read this the system should nearly be complete through to diff. . .

Custom made extractors. . .

after being quoted $3500 for an exhaust system for the EH it was decided that the system would be made 'in-house'. A box of CNC cut flange plates and a couple of collctors and a dozen or so  bends, all up $300 to the front door and the rest is history. Dave has cut the bends and tacked them into place and also left pleny of room for the steering shaft which was going to be a "huge problem" for the exhaust manufacturer. . .

Extractors removed ready for welding ad plating. These new extractors also mount straight up to the original cats from the donor car. With only 1800km's through them, they are nearly brand new. . .

Re-fit the Steering. . .

 This pic leaves off from the other day when Dave fitted the seats and made up the hat for the diff and it can be seen in lower front of pic.
Looking through to the front of the car and you can see the width of the huge trans tunnel and the steering column back in place after modification.

 Close-up of the steering column and you can see how older columns have to be drilled so that they become 'collapseable' for the latest car standards.
New bushings for placement through firewall also new and hand-made. . .

This is the angle that is left from the original colum position to the new VR Holden Rack and Pinion set-up that is NOT supplied with the V6 Conversions front-end but has to be purchased seperately. . .

Still Playing Tunnel Ball. . .

 Dave has been busy with the grinder again, cutting back the metalwork around the tail-shaft to make plenty of room for the twin system that needs to ride up inside the tunnel as well. . .

 This is the top of the diff poking its head through the floor and having a look around in the rear of the wagon. Dave has to make up and install a special 'hat' to keep this nosey bugger outside where it belongs. . .

This is where we left off yesterday and Dave was applying the finishing touches to the rear transmission mount. It's hard to get good detail with the camera in and around these tight spots, but as usual, Daves work is spot on and now the transmission can be dropped at the rear with the special three piece mount . . .