Claytopia's XB GT Coupe restoration - Page 5

Claytopia · 15-03-2017, 01:24 PM

So I am super keen to keep move forward with the restoration this year.
I've managed to get more time out in the workshop to keep stuff moving forward.
I did a massive clean out so now I actually have space to work again.
I'm in the middle of finalizing the details for my engine build.
I'm going to do a post every month this year... and its March.

****

Oh well, anyway, Seat belts. As you may know the XB's have two styles of seat belts.
The early ones have the really nice steel ones. Similar to what they have in the XY's.
The later ones are the plastic ones and quite frankly they look like ****.

So I tracked down a set of Early XB steel ones and had them restored and re-webbed.
Now there are two ways to go about re-webbing.
You can go with a very close to concours colour webbing (when you car has brown webbing that is) but the webbing and the stitching are not ADR compliant.
Yeah sure they have tested it and it maybe fine, but as I have to have my car re-licenced fine just won't cut it.
So I got them done with ADR compliant webbing and stitching which means the colour is not a close as it could be (and no the guy with the compliant stitching machine wouldn't use the other webbing unless I paid for it to be tested and lets just say that was a little out of the budget)
On the plus side the brown is a bit lighter which matches the brown dash etc and parchment interior a lot better IMHO and so here they are, My seat belts

Claytopia · 22-03-2017, 11:24 PM

Hold onto your hats people... Two posts this month!!!

Now I don't know if any of you have seen Tropic Thunder even if you haven't you may well be aware of the Robert Downy Jnr quote where he says that you should "Never go full retarded" Well Robert; I care not for your opinion.

So in line with my 'keep it looking stock even though it isn't' theme I present to you my latest effort...

It's a Pavtek billet mechanical fuel pump. Basically they get the base from a Holley Ultra HP mechanical fuel pump and make a billet top for it so that it can be bolted up to a cleveland block (Holley no longer make one for a cleveland themselves you see)

Its an awesome looking piece, a nice billet top and a chrome base. Unfortunately it looks nothing like the old stock Carter fuel pumps.

So I pulled it apart (well as much as I could) then I taped the top of it up. Then I filed, ground and dremeled all of the machining marks out of the billet housing. I even removed the PAVTEK in the top. Then I sandblasted the sucker so that it looked like a cast piece.

I really wanted to get the base gold zinc plated to replicate the finish of the Carter fuel pumps but due to the fact that it was die cast and has the one way valves knurled in place it meant that plating wasn't an option. Undeterred
I got the oldest garnet I had and played with pressure settings until i was able to sandblast an aluminum can without damaging it. Using these settings I keyed the surface of the base ready for paint.

Now my Mum has been painting fine china for over 50 years so she has a bit of an eye for colour. So the next time she was visiting I explained what I wanted to replicate gold zinc with spray cans. She gave me that look that says I can't believe I gave birth to this and then I dragged her to the local auto shop where we bought a bunch of high temperature spray cans.

Next we did about 20 test sprays. I could bore you with the details about our tests where we painted some using a primer v's not. Or about how we experimented with different colours over and under the anodizing effect base or how we experimented with dusting the reds, greens, golds and silvers over the silver/gold base or even how we tried different clear coats but I won't (I guess I just did to a degree

)

In the end I got something that I am happy with. No it's not a gold zinc finish but it's the best I could do. Unfortunately the full effect seems to be a bit lost in a photo but here it is.

A stock pump

The Pavtek one

After painting

Reassembled. Unfortunately the pictures really show up the red and bury the green.

Tex Scrotum · 23-03-2017, 07:05 AM

BRILLIANT!!!

I hate "bling"...this is fantastic and could be applied to so many performance pieces that are just waaaay to shiny for my tastes.

Well done

Claytopia · 15-03-2018, 12:16 AM

"What's happening with this post?
It's a thread baby.
What's happening with this thread?
This thread's dead baby, This thread's dead."

With the photobucket crap (and the fact I missed the window to fix it) and a few other things. I won't be updating here anymore.

The build is still ongoing.

In fact the shell is with a new panel beater and is moving forward.
The engine has been built and is waiting to be dyno'd and installed.
The rest of the driveline (gearbox, diff etc) is complete.
The suspension is ready.
The wiring harness is ready.
The stainless trims have been refurbished.
Replacement glass (old and new) has been sourced.
The door trims and parcel shelf are ready.
The seat covers are waiting in a box with the head lining and carpets.

There is still a lot to do but the pile of stuff done is well and truly larger than the stuff yet to do.

Anyways, keep on keeping on. Thanks for your interest. All the best with your own cars/projects.

Ansimp · 15-03-2018, 08:23 AM

I know how you feel with the whole Photobucket issue. I hardly post anymore as I can’t be bothered with all the hassle. I wish that this site had a gallery that was efficient to use and that way no third party can rob the threads of their images..

**Beastie** · 15-03-2018, 08:45 AM

We can help you get your photos back.

**Captain Stubing** · 15-03-2018, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claytopia

"What's happening with this post?
It's a thread baby.
What's happening with this thread?
This thread's dead baby, This thread's dead."

With the photobucket crap (and the fact I missed the window to fix it) and a few other things. I won't be updating here anymore.

The build is still ongoing.

In fact the shell is with a new panel beater and is moving forward.
The engine has been built and is waiting to be dyno'd and installed.
The rest of the driveline (gearbox, diff etc) is complete.
The suspension is ready.
The wiring harness is ready.
The stainless trims have been refurbished.
Replacement glass (old and new) has been sourced.
The door trims and parcel shelf are ready.
The seat covers are waiting in a box with the head lining and carpets.

There is still a lot to do but the pile of stuff done is well and truly larger than the stuff yet to do.

Anyways, keep on keeping on. Thanks for your interest. All the best with your own cars/projects.

If you download your images from Photobucket, upload them to another site, such as Flickr or Imgur, send myself or Beastie the link to your new account and we can change the links for you. Hate to see all your hard work go down the gurgler!

Tex Scrotum · 16-03-2018, 10:36 AM

C'mon man...put some pics up... I'm still interested in your build regardless of the lost pics fiasco.
But I do understand why you would be totally bummed out... I was lucky for some reason and didn't lose any, but if I had, I would've been like you I suppose.

Cheers

Claytopia · 03-06-2021, 05:05 PM

The panel work got finished this week.

It's booked to be painted in October.

Claytopia · 18-09-2023, 06:04 PM

So it took a year longer than it was meant to but it's been painted.

https://fb.watch/n7Lwm7ZX5A/

zoesgift · 21-09-2023, 06:50 PM

stunning!!!!!

rare ss · 22-09-2023, 09:06 AM

wow!.. awesome job