8 replies to this topic

[tuxedo123]

Hey everyone, 

 

I joined the forum a year or so ago and was a previous member, but I figured it would be a good time to start a build thread.

 

My dad and I picked this car up about 8-9 years ago and it looked pretty straight, it had an Ecotec 3.8 with a borg warner and a 5speed in it. We quickly removed the Ecotec as it should be a V8. We then stripped it back, found the usual rust and bog and poor repair jobs, no fault to the previous owner. It was a father son project for them, and I don't believe he was a panel beater so possibly out of his depth.

 

My dad is a panel beater by trade, although retired now he still has the knowledge and skills that he can pass on to me and teach me as well.

 

We completed the rust repairs such as window sections, battery tray, radiator support and other rusted bits. We have the plenum to tackle as well but dad managed to find a complete rust repair section for the dashboard and plenum so I'm in the process of picking spot welds to remove it and swap it out.

 

I moved to Melbourne a while ago and so it has sat idle for a while but now, I have the space and a shed so I will be bringing it back down here so that I can start to make some progress on it. I will be working on the car myself with the help of dad coming down to visit and getting it to a point where I can hand it to a panel shop to paint it.

 

My plans are to stick and LS1/2/3 with a tremec TKX, 9" diff and have some more modern features such as air con and speed hut gauges. Hoping to smooth out the engine bay a little bit and neaten it up in there. Colour will be something along the lines of a metallic blue with blackout and an A9X scoop on it. I have a pretty good idea of how I would like it to turn out, just a matter of bringing my vision to reality now.

 

At the moment, the front guards, bonnet, nosecone and scuttle panel are in primer to keep the metal protected. We completed the panel beating on those and we are happy with the condition we have got them to in terms of straightness

 

I'll post up some pictures shortly of where it was at when I moved to Melbourne and then hopefully keep the updates coming as I work on it. I'm sure I will have lots of questions as well for those who have done it before, but this is forum is a great resource so I know that any question I have will be answered.

 

Looking forward to sharing with you all!

 

 

[tuxedo123]

I figured I better put up some photos of how I left it when I moved to Melbourne.

Sitting nice and dry under some car covers, the doors we have completely re-skun them all.

Some photos of the work we did on the guards before priming them. We wanted to minimise bog, so we metal filed and panel beated them back in to shape. The bonnet has the smallest skim of bog right at the front where the bonnet meets the nose cone, and I remember the guards have two tenths of bugger all in there.


A very good rust cut for the plenum, not sure how dad got on to this, but he has done an awesome job chasing up bits and pieces for it while I have lived in Melbourne. We have almost 2 of everything now.

 

In my spare time, I would go into my tiny shed in the inner north house i live in and pick spot welds to relax. A bit of a maniacal way to relax but it worked.

Door frames were very good for rust other than the usual spots in the corners.



Once I get the car down to Melbourne and sort it out in the shed, I’ll chuck up some more photos of how it is and keep adding as the works progress.

Edited by tuxedo123, 09 September 2025 - 04:07 PM.

[Shiney005]

It looks like your father knows his stuff Dan. Those guards look mint.   Am I right in thinking that grey primer isn't waterproof?  Every time I see a car that has been driving around in primer there always seems to be rust showing through.

[SmacT]

Excellent, always good to see a new build thread kick off. Bodywork is the hardest bit, I reckon, looks like you are well covered there. Look forward to seeing it go!

[tuxedo123]

Yeah he definitely does, he’s a bit of a perfectionist too so must be where I got it from. Correct that grey primer is not waterproof, but before final paint it will be stripped and that will happen from bare metal.
This was done back when I was right in to it and moving along at a decent pace.
From reading others build threads, I will prep the panels and rust converter or deoxidine the panels to keep rust away and give it to a paint shop as a bare shell in future.

Excellent, always good to see a new build thread kick off. Bodywork is the hardest bit, I reckon, looks like you are well covered there. Look forward to seeing it go!

Yeah bodywork is a tedious job but if I take my time now the benefits will show once it’s painted.

Hopefully it ends up half as good as quality as your build! I e read your thread from start to finish and it’s definitely inspiring to say the least! Great job!

[SmacT]

Yeah he definitely does, he’s a bit of a perfectionist too so must be where I got it from. Correct that grey primer is not waterproof, but before final paint it will be stripped and that will happen from bare metal.
This was done back when I was right in to it and moving along at a decent pace.
From reading others build threads, I will prep the panels and rust converter or deoxidine the panels to keep rust away and give it to a paint shop as a bare shell in future.


Yeah bodywork is a tedious job but if I take my time now the benefits will show once it’s painted.

Hopefully it ends up half as good as quality as your build! I e read your thread from start to finish and it’s definitely inspiring to say the least! Great job!

 

Thanks mate, I did a lot of things twice... Many great builds on this Forum, people have done it every which way. I handed my car to the painters (third painter I tried, mind you...) in Epotec to keep her rust-free, 'cos you just don't know how long it will sit with a painter, no matter what they promise. I personally would do the same again, except using the black Epotec 408 as it doesn't show if there's  small scratch. Anyway, you and your Dad know what to do. 

[neglectedtorana]

Well done Dan, looks great so far.

Doing it all within the father son project will be such a great rewarding experience, enjoy and happy restoring!

[tuxedo123]

Well since my last update I have moved house and managed to sort out my shed/workshop. I don’t have the car with me yet so it’s a bit of a boring update.

Currently just drilling out spot welds on the plenum section rust cut I have.



Drilled through a few but nothing a touch up with a mug can’t fix. I’ll also make sure it sits nice and flush on the car.

I’m unsure whether I’ll try and drill it all on on the actual car, may cut this up and try and match it on the car to suit. Obviously be better to use the whole piece if I can but I want to keep the welding and drilling minimal if I can on the car.



Removed some of the paint to make sure I had a nice clean panel once fully cleaned up.


I will have an LX dash rust cut as well if anyone needs it for their own project.

Hopefully get the car next weekend or the one after and start work on plenum and engine bay.


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[hawk]

You're very lucky to have found that plenum. Just, pick away at it as you go and you'll get through it.

If the whole new plenum is good and the old one is cactus you'll find it easier to replace the whole thing than patch it.

You really won't know until the top comes off. I've found theu are generally worse inside than they look from the outside.