Firstly I finally got hold of some second hand 225/50R15 tyres to use for test fitting so I could make sure everything clears. One pair are old and hard but the other pair was donated from a friend Mike and they are Yokohama Advans with a bit of tread left on them. It would be great if I can get this thing going soon enough to get some use out of them but if not I plan to buy a fresh set once it's ready to race.
Using the front pair of wheels/tyres and some spacers on the rear I was able to decide I'd need the most negative offset wheel I could buy off the shelf for the rear. I ended up getting Rota Grid 15*9 et-15 from the US as the Australian seller only had et-10. I'm currently running 25mm bolt on spacers to fill the flares but the diff I plan to put in it later is 50mm wider so it will give me the same wheel position without the spacers once done.
- v1s with tyres.JPG (151.39 KiB) Viewed 49 times
The rears are the Rotas, both are "bronze" but clearly quite different colors.
- rota grid tyres.jpg (182.6 KiB) Viewed 49 times
I also fitted my R32 skyline brake rotors and found I had to cut the dust shields off to get it to fit. I was going to keep as much as I could but the R32 rotor sits further inwards than the S13 rotor and rubs on the back of the shield, not just around the outer rim so I just left enough to help protect the bearing a bit. Painted with heat proof paint. I also painted the hubs with rust converter just because I had it sitting there for another job and thought I'd see how it would go. Looks better than rusty cast iron.
- painted hubs.JPG (209.27 KiB) Viewed 49 times
With the tyres fitted I did a final trim of the front wheel arches and sanded all the surface rust off the panels, masked up all the bits I didn't want paint on and painted. Also had a rust repair on the lower section on the drivers side. Trying to keep as mush of the original exterior paint is proving painful but hopefully will be worthwhile in the end.
- guard rust1.JPG (122.37 KiB) Viewed 49 times
- guard rust patch.JPG (124.23 KiB) Viewed 49 times
- guard masked primed.JPG (165.05 KiB) Viewed 49 times
Same treatment for the bonnet, cleaned the underside, sanded and treated surface rust and primed/painted. As you can see the white doesn't match that well but that's how it's gunna be. After this photo was taken I ended up having to cut more of the bonnet frame out to clear the radiator top mounts.
- bonnet painted.JPG (123.53 KiB) Viewed 49 times
Not happy with the original bumper mounts I made these ones and half way thru decided on a better/lighter way using some 2mm aluminum sheet but I don't have the right material so these are it for now. The rails are different from side to side so they are different lengths. They also slide inside the filler panel under the grille and help to keep that located and sturdy. They are a funny shape because the bumper rests on the top of them, but the bolts go thru the underside of the bumper where you can't see the them. This way the whole weight of the bumper isn't hanging off the two bolts that go thru from underneath.
- bumper mounts.JPG (200.51 KiB) Viewed 49 times
So guards and bonnet painted I was able to fit all the front panels, gap them up and fit my wheels and roll it out of the shed for a photo and to have a big clean up before starting on the next part which will the cutting the rear wheel arches, fitting the drivers bucket and then start thinking about the engine. It's staring to look better but I'd like to paint the bumper and flares the same color black as the side decals to try and make it all look more cohesive.
- IMG_0354.jpg (137.27 KiB) Viewed 49 times
- IMG_0357.jpg (152.95 KiB) Viewed 49 times
looking good