Hi Guys,
So now that im into one of my project cars, i thought id post up a few pictures and plans for you to have a look at.
A bit of background first. As a yougster i used to drive a Datsun Stanza. 2 Litre, worked engine, big stereo, all the bells and whilstes. At the same time, my brother in law used to drive a worked RS2000. And the bottom line is I ALWAYS liked his car better than mine. It went harder, looked better, sounded better...everything.
So, a while back i decided "Bugger it. Im going to buy myself a project to work on and enjoy driving". A 4 door RS2000 came up on this forum, being sold as a rolling shell. All parts included. It just needed the body to be finished and then all put back together.
I bought it for a few thousand bucks, and when i got it home, I started gathering all the parts i needed for it. That project slowed down considerably once i got to the body stage. I didnt have the expertise or time to do the body work myself.
Then about 3 weeks ago, this 2 Door came up for sale on gumtree. One owner, white, and pretty much unmolested. So, one thing led to another and low and behold a few days later i was on the Sunshine Coast (i live in Victoria) buying the car. I then drove it home to Melbourne.
All in all its in really good condition. It has some rust in some of the usual spots which I am actually using to teach myself welding etc.
Whilst the plan for the 4 door is to over time do it up (with the end result being something not really original), the plan for the 2 door is for it to remain pretty much stock, with a few mod cons.
First order of service is to remove the rust. It has rust in the common areas being the drivers foot well, the passenger foot well, the heater plenum, and the spare wheel well in the boot. Other than that its not too bad at all. The firewall and door jams are fine, and the C pillars are fine.
I'd never welded before, so i decided to bite the bullet and give it a crack. I repaired the rust in the drivers foot well before tending to interior upgrades.
After the foot well repairs, i decided to move to starting the interior. I do still have to fix up the plenum, but im building up the courage and motivation for that one!. I pulled out all the carpet, and cleaned up the floor. I then laid down Dynamat all over, followed by a layer of underfelt. The new carper will then go over this.
I cant go all the way up the firewall with the carpet / dynamat / underlay yet, as i still have to weld in a new panel for the plenum repair.
The car still has the original scheel seats, still in beta cloth, but they are ripped and sagged unfortunately. As luck would have it, in my garage I already had a set of Scheels that i retrimmed myself using premade "recovers" i bought from Aldridge in the UK. I reckon they came up a treat. I know some people are hesitant about using this style of retrimming, but the budget worked well for me, and to be honest my opinion is that they came up great.
I also bought new bolster foams, and new base elastics to help keep my bum off the floor!.
The dash has been modified to LED, giving it a new lease on life (some of you may have been following my "dash nighttime lights" thread.
The interior light is being modifed to LED (ive ordered a 12 LED panel for it), which i will put in in the next few days when it arrives.
I have a N.O.S switch panel, with top condition switches, and a mint center console which will all be going in once the carpet is in.
I have purcahsed all new door rubbers and bailey channel rubbers which I have been gradually doing up.
I have also just today got new tyred fitted to some 15X6 superlite rims which will go on as well...........just to give it a little more attitude :)
The engine is stock, but feels a little tired, so ill freshen that up after i get it registered.
Ill keep updating this from time to time as things change.
Comments and suggestions welcome :)
Dave
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