Doogs

Love your plans, this will be a sweet litttle KE20 :)

Sweet ! Gonna be hauling some arse in the not to distant future :)

Thanks guys, I'm starting to feel like I'm getting somewhere again ! Johno don't get downhearted about it, I have also had the same problems with motivation and felt a bit daunted by what faces me. Here is what I've been working on; The drivers rear 1/4 is much improved, and I'm quite happy that the filler is generally quite thin and in some areas translucent. I'm going away for a long weekend with rovers this weekend so won't be back at it untill next wednesday. I aim on getting the doorskins and rear 1/4s in highfill ready for more guidecoat. Then I will take the doors off and do the rear of them, the frames, and also send the hinges to get sandblasted.

That's it Johno, bit by bit :D

Looking really good, tidy as. :D

LOL yes I should have worded that better :D Still I hardly consider a quick glimpse out the corner of my eye a good look.

Sweet. Yeah you seemed to behaving yourself lol, I must see your car in the flesh soon.

Great to hear Johno ! Be good to see this take shape.

I think I spotted you round 6ish tonight Matt, heading north on Springvale rd in Forrest Hill? I only saw it breifly but the colour and mags seemed right... (Unless this was the above spoken imposter!)

That's one sweet Crown. I'd happily drive round in that. :S

Gotta love some nice warm weather! Today I had a mate round and we beat out the large dents in the rear 1/4, and reshaped the bodyline with hammer and dollies before skimming the lot with filler. This area still has some work left in it but is much improved. Will put up a few pics when it is done, the shots in baremetal struggle to show the contours.

That's no good Johno, although I can understand your frustration in wanting something driveable/finished. Maybe once you have dropped the engine into another seca, then you might become enthusiastic again ?

Looks great man, you sure know your way around a welder and an angle grinder. Cute hoist lol, bet you it didn't set you back a couple of grand either !

G'day Jason, looks like a sweet project mate and you got it at a good price. A mate of mine painted his LH Torana in Ford "Breeze" and it came up pretty trick, here is a pic of it. Good luck with the build, Dougal

Thanks mate, that's the plan ! I have definitely learnt a heap in the process and will do things a little differently next time. I think planning ahead is really important as well and being very patient, you really can't rush things. I constantly get smartarse comments from neighbours regarding when it will be finished etc, but I hope that when I get there the results will speak for themselves. When I next respray a car I will completely strip it to begin with and most likely start from baremetal. Then you really know what you are dealing with and can start from a fresh base, hopefully this also keeps the rust away for a little longer. The weather looks great for this week so hopefully it will be a big week of progress ;) Cheers, Doogs

Today I spent more time working on small areas on the doors and then tore out a large amount of bog from a previous accident. Whilst I am learning on this car and honing my skills I have been suprised and frustrated at what some people call a "professional" job. Unfortunately these pictures do not really show the pits, but I reckon there was about half a small tin there ! I plan on borrowing a mates welder and spending time getting it a bit better with a slide hammer before any bog goes near it. Cheers, Dougal

Hey guys, here is a bit of an update. My front seats and door trims have been at the trimmers now for a few weeks and I expect them back soon. We are using a vinyl that is as close to the original shade as we could find, and hopefully it will suit the style nicely. The seat frames are badly broken internally and also quite twisted, so there was a fair bit of work there before he even gets near them with fresh vinyl. The door trims were also a little worn and somewhat waterlogged so I am getting two fresh cards made. I have also requested that he bolster up the sides a bit so they have a bit more lateral retention (more like a sports/race seat). I am looking forward to having them returned soon, becuase I have been impressed with some of his previous work. Before; Thankfully pulling out the carpet and rear seats did not reveal any nasty suprises. All I found was a dirty old comb and some saftey glass shards lol. The seats and carpet are now stored away and the carpet will get a good clean before re-installation.

Paint looks good mate, well done. Keep us up to date as you progress.

Sweet. :) We all dream of finding a genuine grandma-owned original, great find.

Great wagon mate, pity about the dis-honest seller. I will be glad to see you patch up all that rust and make a nice cruiser out of it.

Thanks for the advice Cameron. I have been thinking for a while now that I would spend the $ and get some larger valves with ports to suit. (This engine is likely to be in the car for a few years so I am happy to spend a few grand on it.) I am glad to have had my suspicions about valves confirmed. I understand the rocker change is not really critical for a good power increase but mused that it might be worth it, (at a reasonable price). Cheers, Dougal

Lol, not the cheapest upgrade for a k motor ! They are not really what I am after, especially at that price. In good time I will look at different rocker dimensions (without going for rollers) and see what is possible. If it's not possible then so be it, but at least I will have looked into it. I understand a great amount will be in cam choice and headwork, but that does not stop me wanting to investigate options that others have seldom done or bothered investigating. Thanks for letting me know Cam, I think your response is somewhat more productive than simply telling me "get a cam grind", because funnily enough I might have also thought of that ! lol Cheers, Dougal

I'm currently reading Bell's book and I must agree with you. I still plan on considering options such as a higher rocker ratio, but yes roller rockers are a bit beyond the scope of the build. In hindsight, I really did not express myself well to start with. I still plan on building a mildish 5k, the main aim being to have a killer midrange and useable powerband. The engine will be in for a few years so I plan on spending a bit of time and money getting it right. I will look into various options more, as I want to end up with a well suited engine to my needs that has a nice amount of punch where I need it.

Don't see the point of power steering in a KE10/20, I like a bit of feel in my steering.... Rack and pinion would be worth it but thats about as far as I would go.

Everyone makes hydro lifters out to be a horrible thing, unless you are chasing large revs on a regular basis they are fine. Should you want high revs, anti-pump hydro lifters are also an option. If you are keeping things mild and on a budget I would say hydros are fine. Cam, headwork, exhaust and a reasonable carb setup should be plenty.