Calibra Progress *!= 56k*

[Steve A]

Where can i see the Pics ??

Nice thread

[fraggie]

right well more has been done today.

earlier in the week a couple of jolly nice blokes came around and agreed to do the kit and spraying so that should be done late feb - early march

anyway, i thought id start off by getting rid of the bump strips at the side.

the indent will be filled before spraying, therefore because of this the kit needs modifying to get rid of the part that allows for the bump as follows...

this will be done next week.

anyway off with the bumpstrips...


this was done both sides then I cleaned it down as it was filthy...
after this i got the old sideskirts off below...


these are now ready for the new skirts

it then started snowing quite heavily so im glad that ive got my garage..



back to work

i now got the rear bumper off to remove the old bump strips and found that it had never been removed before (certain bolts hadn't been left off like usual.. so it was nice to find that the car is unmolested underneath.

broken bump strip..


and once id got them off..




nice and clean

the rear numberplate light holders however were not!


so after a soak and a toothpaste clean...


good stuff!

next i got the mirrors off ready for thier spraying..





and in getting them off i noticed my drivers side door card has bubbled (im on the lookout for another if anybody has one )


next off were the roofrails ready for a spraying...




and finally the door handles (a pain in the ass of a job!)



so thats where im at currently.

next weekend some welding will take place aswell as the kit modification and some paint prep work for the mirrors, handles roofrails and bump strips.

if anybody has any rear bump strips with no dents in them or a drivers side door card in black then please let me know.

Cheers

Bill

[Howard]

I'm going to have to be honest I'm afraid. The best thing you can do with this car is to remove the awful wheels, exhaust, mirrors and other stick-on tat, return it to standard, and keep it looking that way, and looking smart. A body kit will only help towards a deserving post on www.barryboys.co.uk. Spend your money on engine modifications, and/or save the rest towards a better car in the future.

Sorry.

[ionicle]

i'm the opersite to the guy above
i'm rather liking the progress on this, and what it will turn out like, someone's gotta keep the old cars on the road, like i am with my L reg 306

keep it up!

[fraggie]

I'm going to have to be honest I'm afraid. The best thing you can do with this car is to remove the awful wheels, exhaust, mirrors and other stick-on tat, return it to standard, and keep it looking that way, and looking smart. A body kit will only help towards a deserving post on www.barryboys.co.uk. Spend your money on engine modifications, and/or save the rest towards a better car in the future.

Sorry.

well the awful wheels will be coming off anyway, exhaust is almost the same looking as standard so not cutting it there, and the rest is because i want it to look similar to the dtm car, ie hence the rest of the project. the engine has been modded as much as possible without a supercharger (meaning bigger block, low comp pistons etc).

i feel that bodykit wise the wide arches suits the calibra so thanks for the input but ill stick to my plan thanks

Im doing this project as a show car and then get a Jag XKR or similar for a runaround.

[schmunk]

I'm going to have to be honest I'm afraid. The best thing you can do with this car is to remove the awful wheels, exhaust, mirrors and other stick-on tat, return it to standard, and keep it looking that way, and looking smart. A body kit will only help towards a deserving post on www.barryboys.co.uk. Spend your money on engine modifications, and/or save the rest towards a better car in the future.

Sorry.

Amen.

Also sorry.

[fraggie]

dont be sorry everybody is entitled to being wrong

some love it some will hate it but I will love it so thats what matters to me

[[GSV]Trig]

Question is will you finish before I do

[strike-down]

If you're enjoying it, then thats what counts Keep up the good work dude

[fraggie]

well had a half good day half bad day...

ive had problems with the ignition barrel but thats in another thread

Finally got my new heater matrix through which will be going in tomorrow


Two holes that need filling in...


Ground down to the paint...


Weld one nail to the metal...


This allows us to hold the metal from the inside of the front arch so that one done all it will need is a small skim of filler...



Tada Done on both sides.

All the knubs have been ground off too..


Holes primered with white primer just to stave off the rust


Thats it for today... Anybody wishing to help with the barrel please get in contact

More tomorrow

Cheers

[joshwa]

Thanks for posting your progress - it's given me some ideas on how to fill awkward holes on my mini! Keep up the good work - I'm looking forward to this. And I think tastefully modifying it into an official track car design should look good

Re the nails - do you remove the nail after filling the hole or or do you remove both the nail and the metal? And if you leave the metal, is the filler glue-like enough to hold it there?

[fraggie]

the nail is there so that one person can pull the metal flush to the inside of the wing whilst the other person welds it in place. It is then welded all the way around to the arch so the metal doesn't move.

Once all held in place the nail and excess weld is ground off with a grinder. Once ground down the filler will fill any holes left.

In effect the filler wont be holding anything. The point of the weld was to allow for a very thin skim of filler so it wont crack.

Update coming up...

[fraggie]

more progress today and finally some good news

Got the new heater matrix in and bolted up...


All the centre console back in (nicely rewired now for easy removal in the future )


Unfortunately with the barrel in the state it was there wasn't much chance to test the matrix so i set about the barrel with me newly aquired chisel and punches

Many people have told me that id need a whole new centre aluminium section but i have proved the doubters wrong I finally got the barrel out after removing the final tumbler, getting the key in and then managing to turn the barrel so i could get it out in the normal way

Airbag off


Barrel out


Holey holey


Just need the new one in now and ill be sorted

It looks nice and simple but that took me 2 hours to get out! Never again!

Now i can get on with doing stuff that matters to the car!

Hopefully some new bits will be arriving next week so I will update as and when

Cheers

Bill

[fraggie]

right well today i couldn't go to work due to (other) car issues but in the time gap of getting that sorted I thought I may aswell get a little bit done on the cally

started off by bleeding the coolant system and left that to cool down once done (not tested the matrix yet).

Seeing as my current carpet was in a right state on the drivers side the plan was to get it out and replaced. My replacement arrived the other day so i thought i may aswell get the old one out.

Trim off the drivers seat and pretensioner fork in...


4 bolts later...


This is what greeted me


This is the state of the current carpet...


Out she comes...


This is the "underlay" below the top carpet. It was soaking wet from the old heater matrix leaking and needs to be dried out so I have prised it up. I may have to take out the entire undercarpet to get it back into the warm. Does anyone know if it goes all the way through to the passenger side? I may end up taking that side out too



Looking at the drivers seat I found out why the seat heater wasn't working...


The other end of the wire was very tight and I had barely any room to work in!


One connection made...


And the second all taped up...


Seatbelt reconnected and trim reattached...


A little hoovering up....


A little more work to do with the the carpet etc but should be mint when done

Bill

[fraggie]

only a little bit more done today...

recieved my new carpet (very happy with it!)


seeing as the drivers side was so wet i decided to check on the passenger side so out with the passenger seat...


bit of a mess


the passenger side was actually dry so i put the carpet back and just gave it a damned good clean...


i think tomorrow will be spent removing the drivers side underlay so it can properly dry off

Bill

[ionicle]

looking rather good