June has been another productive month in the factory and we have knuckled down and made good progress on our long term projects.
Geoff’s BMW 2002 restomod now has the exhaust system finished, we opted for an oval tube running down the centre of the car to allow us to run the car as low as possible but still make it usable. We have recessed the entire exhaust system into the floorpan of the car so the floor is the lowest point of the car. Bruce has also remade the rear lower corners and the lower rear panel of the car including a central panel which the twin exhaust tips protrude out of. Next up was the cooling system and instead of going down the usual route of silicon joiners and aluminium pipes, we decided to make a bit of a bold feature of them and make them out of polished stainless steel. I think they look great and a bit different to what you are used to seeing in a custom engine bay.
Alun has decided to have his AC cobra repainted and we are doing a bit of work in the engine bay to complete the vision we have had for this car for a while now. A few months ago we converted the engine over to fuel injection and really aimed to make it look as classic as possible while retaining all the modern features that make it user friendly. As this car is built on a Toyota Crown chassis, we are making an effort to hide as much of this as possible in the engine bay and also hide things like the electric radiator fan. Bruce has fabricated a large radiator shroud to hide everything under and the aim is to make it look like a one piece pressed steel panel. We are also getting rid of the chrome brackets and modern looking hoses and fittings. Once we have the engine bay the way we want, it is off to the painters and then back to us for reassembly.
We have made a huge push on Martin’s 1989 Ford F150 over the last month. The wiring is now 90% finished and all the engine brackets are off being powder coated. We have designed some really cool sheet metal air boxes, battery box and fan shroud which will make the engine bay look fantastic. We have just received a Dakota Digital dash pod which we will be grafting into the original dash to modernise the interior and keep an eye on the 408ci monster under the hood. Ben is currently making up the exhaust system for it and we should see good progress on this car over the coming months.
It’s great to see Bill’s Fraser in the shop again for a bit of maintenance and to raise the right height slightly. Such a cool car and Bill is always a pleasure to deal with.
Three or four years ago we got involved with Jack’s Mercedes G500 replica. This is a jacked up G wagon with portal hubs, big brakes and lots of fruit! The project was shelved for a while but we are now about to start work on it again. One of the main issues was that someone had welded to cast components on the rear diff which is a big no no in the eyes of the law. We now have a new diff on our workshop floor ready to fit and then we can get back to work sorting out the build to get it road legal.
Gary’s Caterham is going through the process required to make it road legal in NZ. We have done a lot of these now and although they are all a bit different, the general jobs required are the same and we can pretty much rinse and repeat nowadays. Give it a few more months and we will have it back up and running with a licence plate fitted.
Got a dream build or a project needing a little extra love?
Whether it’s getting your classic road legal, modernising the guts while keeping the charm, or fabricating the bits no one else can – we’re into it. If this month’s workshop rundown has sparked an idea (or reminded you of something sitting under a cover in the garage), get in touch. Let’s chat about how we can help bring it to life.
Contact us – or better yet, make a time to pop in.
