Claytopia's XB GT Coupe restoration - Page 2

gossy · 04-09-2014, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claytopia

I find it funny in that the XB's had 3 Beige colours, antique, sandstone and mushroom.

Well it was the 70's

I remember having plenty of beige pants, shirts and jumpers back then.

Claytopia · 06-09-2014, 09:39 PM

So by this stage all the electrics have been stripped out of the car, all of the panels have been pulled off, the motor and gear box are out and I have pulled out the interior, so it’s a basic rolling shell and this is where I made the single most stupid decision of the restoration so far (apart from being dumb enough to start one that is) but I’ll get to that in a moment.

I spoke to a mate who organises the local car show about the panel and paint shops in town and he gave me 3 recommendations (don’t forget this was before those confusing out of order posts) So I spoke to a few other people in town about the different shops and I had a look at some of their work and made my mind up about who I was going to use. (Yeah right)

So while speaking to him about the job I asked what I could do to keep the costs down and he said without hesitation to strip the tar out of the interior and the underneath. So I got a few different quotes to get the car media blasted. To get the job done properly would mean shipping the car down to Perth and a price tag of around 3k.

3k I thought to myself… that’s a bit of money, I could strip the tar of the car and spend that coin on a stroker kit or a set of alloy heads or my rear end etc. etc. Bugger it, it can’t be that hard I will strip the tar off myself… And there you have it my dumbest idea to date. Yep that’s right I was dumb enough to manually strip all the tar.

Now the tar in the interior was up to 8mm thick in some places so armed with a hot air gun and a collection of scrapers I put on some disposable overalls and got into it. Just from the interior I removed at least three 20l buckets of the stuff but when it came to doing the underneath and boot area the tar is nowhere near as thick and couldn’t be scrapped off so for the boot and underneath it was the hot air gun (my second by now) and a cheap low speed driver drill fitted with brass brushes.

Doing the boot wasn’t too bad, I put the car up on blocks and just sat on a chair in the void where the fuel tank had been and got to it. When it came time to do the underneath ,I bolted the car to the rotisserie dropped the front and rear ends out of the car spun it up on its side and got to work. By this stage I had had a lot of practice and the tar just about flew off.

So after 6 months toiling, 2 hot air guns, two low speed drills, just about every size scraper that exists; including a few I ground into custom shapes and countless wire brushes, the tar was no more!

neptune blue · 06-09-2014, 10:01 PM

This is a job I'm not looking forward to
I'm only doing the under side bugger doing the interior
It hasn't been exposed to any elements so if its hard to get off it simply stays.

My hats off to you. That's one heck of an effort doing it by hand

Claytopia · 06-09-2014, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neptune blue

This is a job I'm not looking forward to
I'm only doing the under side bugger doing the interior
It hasn't been exposed to any elements so if its hard to get off it simply stays.

My hats off to you. That's one heck of an effort doing it by hand

Tell me about it, I said to my wife I wont be doing this on the next one.
She got as far as saying I don't blame you before she realised what I had said and whacked me!

XBCoupeNZ · 07-09-2014, 09:10 AM

The job a lot of us have done, and hated ... and swear never to do again.

I had to do my underneath, laying on my back for days. Covered in the stuff using heat gun, angle grinder with wire cup etc etc.

Well done mate.

Claytopia · 07-09-2014, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XBCoupeNZ

The job a lot of us have done, and hated ... and swear never to do again.

I had to do my underneath, laying on my back for days. Covered in the stuff using heat gun, angle grinder with wire cup etc etc.

Well done mate.

And I thought I had it tough. My hats off to you for doing on the ground.

neptune blue · 07-09-2014, 08:24 PM

The stuff in the rear wheel arches on my car is going to come off easy
If the stuff under the car is stuck on real good, I'm thinking of cleaning it then giving it a lick of paint
i too will have to do this on my back and the more i think about it the less i want to do it

Claytopia · 07-09-2014, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neptune blue

The stuff in the rear wheel arches on my car is going to come off easy
If the stuff under the car is stuck on real good, I'm thinking of cleaning it then giving it a lick of paint
i too will have to do this on my back and the more i think about it the less i want to do it

I found the floor pan to be the easiest but then again it was at the end of it all so I had lots of practice by then.

The tar gets a "damp" look to it when its warm enough to come off.

Sorry its hard to describe but basically heat it until it starts to look like its not fully cured, if you heat too it actually starts to melt and it becomes too sticky and hard to get off, so just soften it with the hot air gun and it will come off easily.

Also knock the sharp corners off your scrapers they leave all sorts of scratches on your panels until you get your technique down pat.

Scrapers for thick layers and use the wire brushs etc for the thinner spots.

And no dont even ask... I will not be doing it again.

JC · 07-09-2014, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claytopia

I found the floor pan to be the easiest but then again it was at the end of it all so I had lots of practice by then.

The tar gets a "damp" look to it when its warm enough to come off.

Sorry its hard to describe but basically heat it until it starts to look like its not fully cured, if you heat too it actually starts to melt and it becomes too sticky and hard to get off, so just soften it with the hot air gun and it will come off easily.

Also knock the sharp corners off your scrapers they leave all sorts of scratches on your panels until you get your technique down pat.

Scrapers for thick layers and use the wire brushs etc for the thinner spots.

And no dont even ask... I will not be doing it again.

This is the best thread in ages - not for what it's about, but in the way you write it. Gold, absolute gold! Keep it going......

El Tazo · 07-09-2014, 10:54 PM

You poor bugger... Howzat for perseverance!!!

XBCoupeNZ · 08-09-2014, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claytopia

And I thought I had it tough. My hats off to you for doing on the ground.

I lost count the amount of times the wire cup on the angle grinder would catch something and get ripped out of my hands.

Imagine laying in the tunnel area underneath with a going angle grinder jumping around the floor (my leg area) and trying to get out of it's way

LoL

You're doing a great job - really enjoying your thread.

darkside · 12-09-2014, 05:03 PM

yep not too many of us that havnt attempted to do this most pleasurable job ..and yet i have done this twice (dumb ar5e)about 20 yrs between the two times so i had forgotten just how bad it was but it all come screaming back to me about an hour into the second one

...doc

Claytopia · 30-09-2014, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brute 33

Clayton was this car owned by Lyn and Anthony K ....?

What a small world... One of the guys who will be handing the coupe panel and paint was out getting some XB parts, He came across a guy named Tony (Anthony) who after a bit of back and forth turns out he was the one who brought the car to W.A. from NSW

So yes it is.

Claytopia · 22-10-2014, 11:52 PM

Sorry people this is going to be a bit of a soap boxer.

Ok so when I first started stripping the car back in 2010 I already had a fair idea about the local panel and paint shops, there was one shop in particular that had been recommended to me. It was a fairly new shop run by a young guy (20’s is still young right?) but he had a great reputation. He was already doing panel and paint on cars while in high school, so you know, one of those guys - not only with the passion but the skill too.

So one day I was passing his shop and low and behold what did they have in the yard but a genuine XC cobra. So curiosity being what it is I pulled in to have a look. Now I assume when you own a smash shop with an XC cobra in the lot and some fellow just parks up and starts looking it over, its not something you let slide, so obviously the Shop owner came out and approached me to find out who the heck I was and what I was doing looking over this car in his yard.

Now as you can probably tell from my writing style I am not afraid to talk. Hell I’ve been a salesman for over 25 years and find talking easy. So I introduced myself and explained to him that I had an XB GT coupe that I was just about to start stripping -back blah blah. The conversation starts flowing and pretty soon I’m looking at pictures of his work and other cars in his shop and the quality of the work looks good. So I establish a bit of a rapport with the guy. He finds out where I work and it turns out he buys from the competition!… Remember. me the Salesman? - pretty soon I have a new customer and I am getting to know him better!!

Now I will make it clear I am in no hurry to finish my car. Heck when I first got my coupe I rang the GT club of WA and said “hey guess what fellas I just bought a GT. Can I join the club?”. Lord toffee nose on the other end replied “Was it an XW or an XY that you purchased as I am not aware of any that have changed hands recently.” I answered “nah mate she’s an XB Coupe” to which Lord Toffee hemmed and erred questioning “An XB - are you sure you want to join?” I thought to myself, with an attitude like that, “No” I said “Bye” and I hung up.

Realize that just cause I am in no hurry to finish doesn’t mean I am willing to sit on my hands and not actually start either. I like having a project on the go. So I took my time stripping the car, I got poached so I no longer worked at the same place but every now and then I would pop in to say hello. Now life is a funny thing, so by the time I was ready he had shut up shop to focus on the family business but was still doing cars on the side and he’s still happy to do my car etc. The week I finished stripping the car I gave him a call. The planets were aligned - he just finished a Morano, give him two weeks to clean up his workshop then he will call me and the jobs on.

So I waited 4 weeks but no phone call. I better call him I thought.. I rang and left a message and repeated the same ritual once a week for 2 months (yeah I know) finally I give up and start looking elsewhere, but he calls me out of the blue. He says “Listen I am really sorry I can’t take your car on, I’ve got to get out of my unit then find a new one. Besides that the business is really busy and I just can’t put any time into your car until maybe next year, oh and it will take me at least a year to finish.”

Now mind you this is nearly 4 months ago, so I am looking at 8 months until he starts then at least another 12 months to finish, hmmm 20 months. I know I’m not in a hurry but even that seems a bit too far out, so I tell him straight, “I don’t mind waiting that long but can you commit to that time frame?” Short answer No, so I told him I wanted it on the go sooner than that. “That’s fine” he says he understands and to go see they guys who took over his shop as they still do good work.

So I went back to the panel shop spoke to the old 2IC who is now the boss. “I thought you were going the get the old boss to do it” he says, so I bought him up to speed. “Ok if that’s what he says fine but just let me talk to him first” he ended. I thought it strange at the time but moved on, gave him a week and went back (after all they are mates and he was catching up with him that weekend) But at the next visit he says “Listen sorry I forgot to mention it, but he’s coming around to see me tonight I will talk to him about it then and then call you.” This time I gave him two weeks and popped back into the shop. When I asked “So did you talk to him?” he says “Yeah, he still really wants to do your car.” I remind him “Yes, but he can’t commit to a time frame and I want to get started.” To which he replied “Well I don’t want to upset him so; No.”

So off I went back to the drawing board. Ok the phone, onto my car show mate for more recommendations. He gave me two shops so off I went to the first shop. The boss was away so I spoke to the leading hand. Now the leadign hand loves working on cars, and was just about to finish a 66 mustang but the boss was jacked at him that he took that job on, so wants to know can I come back next week and talk to the boss. Sure no problem.

So the next week I am back and talking to the boss. I explain what I have and what I want done to it. He’s asking a few questions, so I am feeling thing are going well, and then out of the blue he goes to me, “You know mate a job like that could run up to 30K” to which I reply (poker faced) “well I have put aside 25 for it, I reckon its better than you think and won’t go that high but if that’s what it takes to get another 40 years out of the car so be it.”
He looks me dead in the eye and said “I’ll be honest mate your one of the few people who seems prepared to get the job done properly - I just don’t want to take it on at the moment.” “Ok” I say feeling kicked in the guts. “See ya then” I say as I turn and start to walk away. “Where are you going” he asked me. “Pardon” I replied. “Where are you going” he repeated. A bit a taken aback and a little confused as I thought the conversation had been over I remind him “I just asked you if you would paint my car.” Then the conversation got even stranger…
Him: “Yes”
Me: “You gave me an estimate mate”
Him: “Yes”
Me: “I said that’s fine but you said you weren’t interested”
Him: “Yes”
Me: “Well?!”
Him: “Well what?”
Me: “You’ve just said you won’t do it”
Him: “Yes”
Me: “Well then that’s it – see ya” and I turn to leave again…
Him: “Where are you going?”
I look him dead in the eye: “Bob I asked you to paint my car, you said no”
Him: “Yeah”
Me: “well then were done; good bye” and off I went.

Am I the only one who finds that conversation strange? Perhaps a bit too much time spent in the painting booth without a mask on!?

So back I went to the first shop said to him straight, “Mate I want you to paint my car will you do it?” He started to give me a wishy-washy answer but by this stage I had had a gutfull. “Mate yes or no, tell me straight, will you do it?” He started back on with the less than straight answer. Now I ask questions to get answers. If I wanted to indulge in a pointless collection of words that really don’t go anywhere I’ll read a Ben Elton book (sorry hun I had to draw that comparison) so I rudely cut him off and said “Im going to take that as a no”. He didn’t correct me so I wished him a good day and was on my way.

I wasn’t sure whether or not to write this instalment, you know small towns and all that, but I have mentioned no one by name and tried to be vague enough to cover for this fastidious lot, but in the end I thought I will share because as we all know building cars rarely goes smooth but it sure doesn’t have to be as hard as some people try to make it either!!

I’m off my soap box now, Sorry I just really needed to get that off my chest. Don't worry though this part of the story has a happy ending, I'll get to that next time...

King Neptune · 23-10-2014, 07:12 AM

Amazing!
Keep your ear to the ground and pick the brains of mates, and mates mates. Sooner or later you will make a conection with someone who has credibility and can show you quality results. Best of luck.
What a story.
Cheers Rob.

El Tazo · 23-10-2014, 07:55 AM

Wow mate - you're a bit of a story teller aren't you! Love your writing style! That's a pain in the ****, but I'm sure everyone on here has had a bit of experience trying to find a decent shop to do some sort of work. Keep us in the loop!

Claytopia · 23-10-2014, 11:19 AM

Don't worry this part of the story ends well.

Its almost like this was meant to happen.

I will explain more next time.

MDS69 · 23-10-2014, 12:58 PM

Your story in post #44 above scares me. I am hoping to paint my car in the next 12 months and I am getting a feeling your experience might be the norm. No one wants restoration work for reasonable money only insurance work

zoesgift · 23-10-2014, 05:30 PM

there is a high class restorer of anything x series ford in perth. pm me if you wish!

Bosko · 26-10-2014, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claytopia

Sorry people this is going to be a bit of a soap boxer.

Ok so when I first started stripping the car back in 2010 I already had a fair idea about the local panel and paint shops, there was one shop in particular that had been recommended to me. It was a fairly new shop run by a young guy (20’s is still young right?) but he had a great reputation. He was already doing panel and paint on cars while in high school, so you know, one of those guys - not only with the passion but the skill too.

So one day I was passing his shop and low and behold what did they have in the yard but a genuine XC cobra. So curiosity being what it is I pulled in to have a look. Now I assume when you own a smash shop with an XC cobra in the lot and some fellow just parks up and starts looking it over, its not something you let slide, so obviously the Shop owner came out and approached me to find out who the heck I was and what I was doing looking over this car in his yard.

Now as you can probably tell from my writing style I am not afraid to talk. Hell I’ve been a salesman for over 25 years and find talking easy. So I introduced myself and explained to him that I had an XB GT coupe that I was just about to start stripping -back blah blah. The conversation starts flowing and pretty soon I’m looking at pictures of his work and other cars in his shop and the quality of the work looks good. So I establish a bit of a rapport with the guy. He finds out where I work and it turns out he buys from the competition!… Remember. me the Salesman? - pretty soon I have a new customer and I am getting to know him better!!

Now I will make it clear I am in no hurry to finish my car. Heck when I first got my coupe I rang the GT club of WA and said “hey guess what fellas I just bought a GT. Can I join the club?”. Lord toffee nose on the other end replied “Was it an XW or an XY that you purchased as I am not aware of any that have changed hands recently.” I answered “nah mate she’s an XB Coupe” to which Lord Toffee hemmed and erred questioning “An XB - are you sure you want to join?” I thought to myself, with an attitude like that, “No” I said “Bye” and I hung up.

Realize that just cause I am in no hurry to finish doesn’t mean I am willing to sit on my hands and not actually start either. I like having a project on the go. So I took my time stripping the car, I got poached so I no longer worked at the same place but every now and then I would pop in to say hello. Now life is a funny thing, so by the time I was ready he had shut up shop to focus on the family business but was still doing cars on the side and he’s still happy to do my car etc. The week I finished stripping the car I gave him a call. The planets were aligned - he just finished a Morano, give him two weeks to clean up his workshop then he will call me and the jobs on.

So I waited 4 weeks but no phone call. I better call him I thought.. I rang and left a message and repeated the same ritual once a week for 2 months (yeah I know) finally I give up and start looking elsewhere, but he calls me out of the blue. He says “Listen I am really sorry I can’t take your car on, I’ve got to get out of my unit then find a new one. Besides that the business is really busy and I just can’t put any time into your car until maybe next year, oh and it will take me at least a year to finish.”

Now mind you this is nearly 4 months ago, so I am looking at 8 months until he starts then at least another 12 months to finish, hmmm 20 months. I know I’m not in a hurry but even that seems a bit too far out, so I tell him straight, “I don’t mind waiting that long but can you commit to that time frame?” Short answer No, so I told him I wanted it on the go sooner than that. “That’s fine” he says he understands and to go see they guys who took over his shop as they still do good work.

So I went back to the panel shop spoke to the old 2IC who is now the boss. “I thought you were going the get the old boss to do it” he says, so I bought him up to speed. “Ok if that’s what he says fine but just let me talk to him first” he ended. I thought it strange at the time but moved on, gave him a week and went back (after all they are mates and he was catching up with him that weekend) But at the next visit he says “Listen sorry I forgot to mention it, but he’s coming around to see me tonight I will talk to him about it then and then call you.” This time I gave him two weeks and popped back into the shop. When I asked “So did you talk to him?” he says “Yeah, he still really wants to do your car.” I remind him “Yes, but he can’t commit to a time frame and I want to get started.” To which he replied “Well I don’t want to upset him so; No.”

So off I went back to the drawing board. Ok the phone, onto my car show mate for more recommendations. He gave me two shops so off I went to the first shop. The boss was away so I spoke to the leading hand. Now the leadign hand loves working on cars, and was just about to finish a 66 mustang but the boss was jacked at him that he took that job on, so wants to know can I come back next week and talk to the boss. Sure no problem.

So the next week I am back and talking to the boss. I explain what I have and what I want done to it. He’s asking a few questions, so I am feeling thing are going well, and then out of the blue he goes to me, “You know mate a job like that could run up to 30K” to which I reply (poker faced) “well I have put aside 25 for it, I reckon its better than you think and won’t go that high but if that’s what it takes to get another 40 years out of the car so be it.”
He looks me dead in the eye and said “I’ll be honest mate your one of the few people who seems prepared to get the job done properly - I just don’t want to take it on at the moment.” “Ok” I say feeling kicked in the guts. “See ya then” I say as I turn and start to walk away. “Where are you going” he asked me. “Pardon” I replied. “Where are you going” he repeated. A bit a taken aback and a little confused as I thought the conversation had been over I remind him “I just asked you if you would paint my car.” Then the conversation got even stranger…
Him: “Yes”
Me: “You gave me an estimate mate”
Him: “Yes”
Me: “I said that’s fine but you said you weren’t interested”
Him: “Yes”
Me: “Well?!”
Him: “Well what?”
Me: “You’ve just said you won’t do it”
Him: “Yes”
Me: “Well then that’s it – see ya” and I turn to leave again…
Him: “Where are you going?”
I look him dead in the eye: “Bob I asked you to paint my car, you said no”
Him: “Yeah”
Me: “well then were done; good bye” and off I went.

Am I the only one who finds that conversation strange? Perhaps a bit too much time spent in the painting booth without a mask on!?

So back I went to the first shop said to him straight, “Mate I want you to paint my car will you do it?” He started to give me a wishy-washy answer but by this stage I had had a gutfull. “Mate yes or no, tell me straight, will you do it?” He started back on with the less than straight answer. Now I ask questions to get answers. If I wanted to indulge in a pointless collection of words that really don’t go anywhere I’ll read a Ben Elton book (sorry hun I had to draw that comparison) so I rudely cut him off and said “Im going to take that as a no”. He didn’t correct me so I wished him a good day and was on my way.

I wasn’t sure whether or not to write this instalment, you know small towns and all that, but I have mentioned no one by name and tried to be vague enough to cover for this fastidious lot, but in the end I thought I will share because as we all know building cars rarely goes smooth but it sure doesn’t have to be as hard as some people try to make it either!!

I’m off my soap box now, Sorry I just really needed to get that off my chest. Don't worry though this part of the story has a happy ending, I'll get to that next time...

Wow what a story, I had 2 cups of coffee while reading it😜. There are some really good guys from WA on Fairmont GT and XA GT sites, they might be able to point you in the right direction as far as a panel beater is concerned. As far as the cost just had my coupe painted and the cost will depend on the body condition and what type of paint? I would say approx $20,000 for paint and then bodywork $??????.
Best of luck!
Good to see another GT Coupe being rescued!😄😄😄

Claytopia · 06-11-2014, 03:00 PM

So by this stage my car has been sitting idle for a few months and its starting to bug me. So I started talking to a few more people, rang a few shops and chatted to a few guys, I even considered the option of just giving the car and all my parts to one of the GT restoration shops and saying “here give me it back when it’s done”. To be honest I had called them in the past and the sort of money they were talking about put me off, besides I pulled her apart and I want to put her back together!

And so I jumped on the phone and stated playing the game, you know the one, you call a panel shop and say “this is what I want to do” they go yes or no, if it’s a yes I ask how much, if they give a figure straight off I worry, When they ask a few questions and then give a price, I worry a bit less, when they say “listen who knows what well find but this is how we charge from what you have said it should go this but if it’s bad here, here and here as well you could be looking at A VERY LARGE AMOUNT”. Now if it was a phase 3, you can spend that sort of money on panel work as it’s still a lot less than its value, especially when it’s a unique combo, but the old XB doesn’t command those prices and in reality it’s just not worth it, well at least not to me.

And then it happened I had a PM response to my post 23 here, you know how it goes -I know a guy I’ll get him to have a look at your thread and get in touch with you – and that’s what happened!

The first time we spoke, I could tell he was the guy. Sure he wasn’t the cheapest but he sure wasn’t the dearest (seriously some of the hourly rates I was quoted blew my mind)but he seemed to know coupes like the back of his hand, in fact as were talking he tells me he likes to specialise in coupes! It seems he’s just like me in that the first time he saw one, he fell in love with the shape (just like us all. It turns out that not only was working on falcon coupes part of his job it was his passion.

So I sent him a few pics of the car and we talked in detail about the work that I wanted done, you see I know the car has had a few prangs in the past, in fact the front left hand side just behind the radiator support panel is a centimetre shorter than it should be, and while it doesn’t sound like much it really messes with those panel gaps. It was also obvious the left hand rear had had some work too.

If I wasn’t convinced yet that this guy was the guy for me, we had two more conversations that sealed it for me. He called me one day to see how I was going finding a donor car (having previously mentioned it being the cheapest long term alternative) and when I said “No I haven’t” he replied “don’t bother, I just found the perfect car for your needs, it’s a sedan but the engine bay and rear end parts you need are the same, even if you don’t want it I will use it for another car later on.” That’s pretty awesome I thought.

Then his next call (remember I hadn’t given him the go ahead yet). he tells me he has been out getting parts for another XB and came across a guy. Now you all know what we’re like, get a bunch of car nuts together and we’ll talk for hours, well in his conversation my car came up, and the other guy says “Oh yeah, I know it, I use to own that car”. He then went on to describe things about the car proved it, like the short left front. So he put us in touch with each other and after ringing the previous owner I found out he and his wife sold it to the guy that I eventually purchased it from. Talk about fate!!

Those two calls later and I said to my wife “I have found the guy (guy’s) that are going to do my panel work”. Now I believe the saying that “when one door closes another opens” I really feel that the local doors closing was just so I could find this new guy.

Now I know it has been a while with no pics but sorry, I just have to tell this and the next story and then more pics I promise.

gcg2503 · 06-11-2014, 03:35 PM

Go and have a look at his last coupe restoration at a minimum.

Claytopia · 06-11-2014, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gcg2503

Go and have a look at his last coupe restoration at a minimum.

Cheers, I got a heap of photos of his work, spoke to a few people who's cars he had done and looked at the cars in his workshop before I unloaded my car.

I probably should have said that in my story but despite all evidence to the contrary I try to keeps my posts brief... Honest.

Claytopia · 07-12-2014, 11:33 PM

Ok so as you know I had my car mounted on a rotisserie, well there’s a funny thing about putting a car on a rotisserie and that’s the fact that it makes it too long to load up onto a car trailer. With the arms and frame it made it 5600mm long from castor to castor and the longest car trailer that I could find was 4800mm!

Now originally I had planned to hire a tilt tray truck and move it the few km’s across town to the local panel shop which would only set me back about $200.00 (depending on loading and unloading time, how many other jobs he had booked that day, which day of the week, the angle of the sun, the phase of the moon and a whole other bunch of nonsense that came out the drivers mouth) but hey, that seemed reasonable so I didn’t mind.

But when you have to move a car on a tilt tray some 500 + km’s it’s a whole new ball game. The local bloke just told me flat out “nah mate, just not interested” so I rang a few mobs in Perth and they started to quote some absolutely ridiculous prices! One knob head quoted me $5.00 a km, each way, plus a two day hire fee of $500 a day plus an overnight accommodation expense of $250 plus loading and unloading time of $100 an hour and that was his week day rates!! Needless to say, I wrapped that conversation up pretty quick. I think the cheapest I was going to get it was around $2500, and it was about this stage that I dropped the idea and started looking at other options.

I even looked at hiring a tilt tray myself but with the two day hire rate, plus the penalty for the excess km’s I would be doing, plus the fuel costs I worked that out to be around $2000 as well.

So I looked around town at 6m trailers, I rang all the mates I could think of and I found one mate with an uncle with a 5200mm car trailer and I considered loading my car onto the trailer, then pulling the back of the rotisserie off and driving down that way, but the trailer was unregistered, needed 4 new tyres, the brakes needed overhauling and the wiring was, and I quote, “a bit dodgy”. Being short of options I ran some numbers and worked out that it was sort of feasible, then my mate told me he had looked at the trailer and it was well on its way to becoming a minor iron ore deposit; it was that rusted! Add in a new floor, springs, axles… basically if I was prepared to rebuild the whole trailer I would be allowed to use it… um… thanks… but no thanks.

One of the hire mobs (ok the only hire mob in town that does decent trailers) had a 6m trailer but I had to drive out to their out of town depot to go look at it because they couldn’t remember what it had or didn’t have. So I did and it was a 6m flat deck trailer with no sides but it did have tie off bars on all four sides, but the thing sat about 900mm off the ground and had no way of locking in a set of ramps to the deck, so I priced up some 75 and 100mm PFC for ramps and looked at welding some angle and spacers to lock the ramps onto the rear tie down bars so they finished level with the tray.

It was about this point that I call my Dad for a few ideas. Now he has a car trailer but again its only 4800mm but he had just bought a new trailer that was 5000mm and he reckoned with a bit of modification he could add the extra 600mm to the front; he also had the channel for the ramps just give him a few weeks and he would sort it. Wow I thought, What a Champ!

But fathers and sons being what they are, he decided he didn’t like my idea of ramps to get the car up and down off the trailer as he didn’t see how we could get it up on our own. “It’s not a problem” I told him “I’ll get a bunch of mates around to give us a hand”. How we would get it down on our own was his next concern. I had that covered too in the form of a knot that I learnt when I use to yacht race; sort of a modified truckies hitch that worked to tighten and release under load, but he had no faith in my idea and so had an idea of his own.

He had built a lifting frame that he used to replace the two timber beams in his patio with a steel UB so he could get rid of a pillar and open up some space. Basically his idea was to lift the car and rotisserie up into the air, back the trailer underneath, drop it down, lash it down and away we would go.

Now I wasn’t crazy about the idea so after a few “discussions” where we expressed our “respect” for each other’s ideas I caved knowing that it was my best shot of getting the car down to Matt for less than a grand (hey I like to pretend I have a budget after all) and so after giving him some measurements (the width of the rotisserie, the track of the castors, the height of my shed) he set to work.

True to his work he rocked up at my place on a Friday afternoon two weeks later with the loaded trailer in tow. Now I don’t know if she planned it this way but my lovely wife and fantastic kids just happened to be away for that week and so when Dad arrived I fed him a steak dinner and we retired early for the night ready to make an early start.

So we unloaded the trailer and started to set up what I will now call the pendulum of DOOOOOOM. The first problem was the posts for the pendulum of DOOOOOOM (called the POD from now on) were 4000mm and unable to fit inside my 3600mm high shed and yes, that is one of the measurements I gave him! So out came the cut off saw and a few minutes later they were of a suitable height, the next issue with the POD was that the cross supports were wide enough to clear the rotisserie but not the trailer, that was a minor issue as we just spread things out past the reinforced section and the trailer was able to fit through… just. Next issue was some of the bases for the posts couldn’t fit in the space between the car and the shed wall, so we had to turn them around 180° but now the trailer would have to run over them while the car was up in the air (can you guess where name came from yet) and as much as I didn’t like the idea I was stuck with it.

So the frame was erected, the block and tackles put in place and slowly the car on the rotisserie was lifted into the air. Now even though I have backed into this shed nearly every day for the last 7 years (yeah I am a reverse park sort of guy, slower in but quick to escape you see) and I have my semi licence; Dad felt he would be better suited for the task and so Dad lined up the trailer and started to back in.

Eyes and age being what they are at one point he yelled out the window “you better guide me cause I can’t see anything in the shed now”, so after numerous calls of left hand down, right hand down, straighten up etc. etc. we hit that critical moment, the moment that he had to drive over the first post base. And of course it moved back, twisting the frame and causing the car to swing back at least 300mm, back and forth. So there was my car, nearly a meter up in the air swinging like a bugger and each time it swung the frame would move just a little causing it to swing just a little more, so I rushed forward and stabilized it by hand, my heart in my throat the whole time, and that is where the name the pendulum of DOOOOOOM came from.

Not being one to make the same mistake twice, I quickly attacked a few guide ropes to the rotisserie in preparation for the next base being run over but this one went a lot smoother (thanks to the ropes) and there it finally was, suspended above the trailer. Next we dropped it down. I had scabbed a set of old 4x4 tyres and I wound the car down on the rotisserie so that rather than being supported by the front and rear bumper connections the whole way to Perth, the tyres and rotisserie were sharing the load. Then we strapped it down. With that done, we loaded up the rest of the panels, which I had wrapped with a bunch of old blankest that I had scabbed and bought from the local 2nd hand shops to avoid damage to the panels on the trip. And so ended day one!

The next day we were up early and set off. Now I made sure to never drive my car in the rain and to be honest I can’t think of a single time it has been wet since I’ve owned it, apart from washing it of course. So with the inside, boot and underneath all taken back to bare metal I could have cried (but I wouldn’t because I am totally manly and would never cry) when as soon as we pulled out of the garage it started to rain and it proceeded to rain most of the way down to Perth. Not heavy rain, just that constant drizzle that give you they shytes and wouldn’t you know it, the skies dried up about half an hour away from Matts workshop. Bloody typical!

We did have a few interesting things happen on the car trip down. Just out of town my rear spoiler, which I had just sat in the back of the car and forgotten to tie down took flight. Well it tried to, the air running through the car got under it and lifted it up so that it got wedged in the back window but each time we slowed down it would drop down again, so as soon as we noticed it we stopped and strapped it down. Thankfully it did no damage but how’s that for aerodynamics.

Then as we didn’t put any stabiliser bars on the trailer and with the wet roads and wind (speed had nothing to do with it or so I was told quite firmly by the man who wouldn’t let me drive) the trailer tried to push the car around on a few of the sharper corners. It was at this point that I merely stated that we had the whole day and why not enjoy the ride, i.e. slow down and drive to suit the load and conditions and fortunatley it was all good after that. Though my nerves took a battering and I’m pretty sure it cost me a few precious square cm’s of hair from my already balding head.

Then we got to Matts workshop in Rockingham. I got to have a closer look at some of his work and was very impressed with the quality and finish so with my final inspection over, in front of a very interested crowd, we set up the POD once again! This time we had a lot more space so the trailer didn’t have to run over the bases (thank god). Up she went, no problems, forward the trailer went and after a few quick pics she was lowered back down to terra firma without a hitch. Whew!!

It was then that I lamented to Matt about the rain, but being the top bloke he is he put a positive spin on it for me telling me that he would treat it straight away and that the small degree of pitting it had caused would only help to give the primer a better surface to stick to, Cheers for that Matt.

Matt asked me why I had wrapped all my panels and packed them in with old foam mattresses etc. which struck me as strange. That’s when I told him, “no offence mate, I want to pay you the least amount possible to get the best possible job so the last thing I wanted was for you to have to repair a bunch of dents and scratches put in because I just threw everything in a trailer.” He seemed to appreciate it and told me most people just throw them in figuring that he will be doing the panel and paint anyway, so why bother. Saving money is why I bothered, I think I spent $20 and got nearly a dozen blankets/donah covers etc., money well spent/saved in my book.

Then after rolling the car into his workshop and the usual car banter Dad and I set off back to his house as after all, we had already been on the road for over 6 hours and I needed a drink! So after a quick pic of Matt with my car and I’m not ashamed to admit it, a hug goodbye to my girl (I keep telling you honey don’t ask me to choose) we left her.

King Neptune · 08-12-2014, 07:59 AM

Holly $#!+. I can see why you would call it "The POD". I bet the was huge relief once it was back on the ground at the destination. Thats a farmers ingenuity, make do with what you've got, and she'll be right mate!
Great story. I love it.
Cheers Rob.

El Tazo · 08-12-2014, 12:27 PM

Great story, as usual!

gcg2503 · 08-12-2014, 12:41 PM

A sense of humour is a mandatory prerequisite for coupe/hardtop/two door/tudor/sportsroof restoration!

Loved the update post ...as always.

Buckly23 · 04-01-2015, 10:43 AM

G'day everyone

Just wanted to let you know that my dad has an xb gt coupe in antique biege with saddle interior. The car is currently under restoration as someone parked it under a tree and left it. The backed end of the car is very rusty but the front end has minimal rust but in the past the left hand side has been torn out of the front and poorly repaired. The car at it present state has been mostly stripped down except for the dash and wiring

gcg2503 · 04-01-2015, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buckly23

G'day everyone

Just wanted to let you know that my dad has an xb gt coupe in antique biege with saddle interior. The car is currently under restoration as someone parked it under a tree and left it. The backed end of the car is very rusty but the front end has minimal rust but in the past the left hand side has been torn out of the front and poorly repaired. The car at it present state has been mostly stripped down except for the dash and wiring

Welcome to the forum

Start up a build thread about it

The amount of help/advice offered by fellow forum members will blow your mind!

Claytopia · 04-01-2015, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buckly23

G'day everyone

Just wanted to let you know that my dad has an xb gt coupe in antique biege with saddle interior. The car is currently under restoration as someone parked it under a tree and left it. The backed end of the car is very rusty but the front end has minimal rust but in the past the left hand side has been torn out of the front and poorly repaired. The car at it present state has been mostly stripped down except for the dash and wiring

Awesome, its not Tbar auto with powersteering and 12 slotters by any chance?