We must be about due for an update on your project Paulie! How's that coming along?

And Sean, I had a hair cut about a month ago, so I'm not due for at least another 2.

Ultimately I'd like to run quad throttle bodies, but I have a pair of 45mm Dellortos here so I'll see what happens closer to the time - guess I still have a few years to decide.... I will probably end up cutting the mounts off the cross member and mounting the engine directly off the chassis rails. The plan is to sit the whole lot back a few inches if I can.

Here's a piccie of today's efforts....

4 link axle brackets




I also became the proud new owner of this lovely "rustic" automobile last night....



1975 RN20 Toyota Hilux. So it's out with the diff and prop (hence the new diff tunnel), and the rest is off to the tip. Thankfully the owner offered to remove them for me and deliver them to Melbourne from Ballarat for a small fee, so that saved me a lot of hassle.

Here's a couple of photos for comparative purposes for anyone who is interested. Hilux, Mk2 English and Mk1 diffs. The Hilux diff just looks like a Mk2 diff on steroids!

And look Simon, the previous owner's already started to remove weight from the ute, along the sills and front guards[:o)]Must have had the same idea as you with your project, just not the tooling![:p]
Anthony.

quote:

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Originally posted by Simon Piper
[br]And Sean, I had a hair cut about a month ago, so I'm not due for at least another 2.

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Years? [:o)]

Simon,

So it was you that won the auction......

Had my eye on it earlier in the day at around $160, but stupidly forgot to bid higher.. oh well... nice find..

Shaun.

Yep, 'twas I Shaun. Sorry mate.







Actually, no I'm not.... [:x)]

Once again it has been a looooooong time since I posted anything here. Much to my neighbour's disgust (it would seem they don't like angle grinders) I finally managed to spend a bit of time working on the Mk1.

Firstly, I started seam welding the shell a couple of weeks back...




Removed the battery tray, welded in my gusset plates and welded up all unwanted holes...







Took the doors off for easier access and so I could remove the driver's side front guard (passenger side was already off). Finally got to use that spot weld remover bit you gave me Paulie!







Screwed on my new rear arches...







And finally, I know it would be foolish to assume that the heater bubble on an Escort is not going to need some sort of attention, particularly when it looks like a fairly dodgey repair was been made previously. But damn it, I found cardboard!!! [:u]







And then the horror...







Thankfully I had always intended to rework this area to sit the motor back a bit, so the fact that it's so bad makes it that much easier to cut into the shell. Still not pretty though.

The plan is to modify the whole area so I can push the engine back, but to also keep most of the bubble so it looks fairly standard. Still need to get it past an engineer at some point.

That's all for now!

Its coming along well Simon, nice to see the start of the bubble arching on the rear

Well, well, well - this post has been stagnent for nearly as long as my project Simon

Great to see that tool has finally been used in anger - good to see some progress and hopfully you'll have something to show next time we're over.

Keep up the momentum.....

Nice work Simon, although I think you should have left the heater dome alone... that looked like good quality cardboard [:o)]

Are you still aloud to play with the firewall under the new regs?

Shaun

Looking good, can't wait to see all your goodies on the one car..