'27 Willy's Salt Racer. . .

Today is all about Dylan and the hinges on the Salt Racer. I shouldn't call it the Salt Racer because it's not going to be used for 'Salt Racing' it is only based on the original style of the 'Salt Racers' of the 'Period'. Now that we have found the correct hat for the car to wear, you can see that D' has been hard at work cutting in the hand forged hinges. And if you think that the new rules aren't sooo bad, have a look at the side intrusion bars now required. There's enough there to stop Johnny on his fucking great trike from getting through to you!

Now this is a classic picture of how the new hand fabbed door now swings freely on the hand fabbed hinges that have been cut-in by 'D' using his Hands. . . .What else would he be using you stupid morons? BTW, I think that's a piece of my 'all-thread' that they're using as a hinge pin at the moment and there will be some knacker kicking tomorrow if it is?

Now this is the final pic in the sequence and it shows how the door can swing all the way closed and look how well the swage lines line up together, rather a marvellous piece of fabrication, I think. Just to let you know, the doors were a pair of absolute fucking pieces of shit to get to follow the lines of the body as there are three different curves that had to be followed. No wonder Hodgey is bald and Dylan is in the corner playing with the ants. . .

'27 Willy's Salt Racer . . .

'D' is methodically working away at the new door surrounds, cleaning up the edges of the frame so that a new internal 'skin' can be added. The new sking will be made from alloy for lightness but also to promote structural integrity.

I honestly believed that the was no way in hell that this pile of crumpled old metal would ever hit the road let alone even look like a car, but 'D' has stuck to his task and diligently turned that 'crumpled pile of old metal' into a really great looking car that anyone would be proud to drive around. Good on'ya 'D', a job bloody well done.

'55/56 Chevy Pick-up . . .

It's rare to get a motor to fit into a foreign engine bay as well as this LS3 has dropped into the old Chevy Pick-up. The engine mounts aresitting exactly above the old Jaguar front end mounts and alll that's necessary is for a small square block to be added to the new oil-filled LS mounts. . .

Volksrod HiBoy Pick-up . . .

This one has been sitting around for a while and the boys have done a fair bit of work in the past but only just recently has it been pulled out and finished off. . .

I don't know about the 'Pick-up' title because when you look in the back of this very small truck, all you see is motor and radiator. The motor is straight out of a Subaru hence the need for a water cooled system. Lightweight body and a tough Subi motor and this thing should turn the dirt . . .

'55/56 Chevy Pick-up . . .

This is the donor motor from the VE ute. Six litres of LS donk. . .

Everything is being used, the motor, auto, exhaust 9as much as possible for sensors) and the computer system is going to be re-mapped for a bit of extra grunt . . .

HJ Prem . . .

 Haven't seen much of the HJ lately because it has spent 24 weeks, not kidding, 24 weeks at two different auto electricians. First one did nothing and then fucked off back to WA and the second one did enough damage that most of the car has to be re-wired. Apart from all that, it's good to have my baby back in the shed where I can keep work ticking along slowly . . .

You can see why I have been asking questions about bonnet scoops, the current set-up just pokes its nose through the tin lid and makes it hard to convince the engineers that it doesn't really need to be covered . . .

'55/56 Chevy Pick-up . . .

Dave had the new chassis rails all ground up and etch primed in no time flat. . .

Not a bad looking set of rims and you can see from this angle just how much axle travel the rear end now has. . .

Talk about pulling your finger out, in no time flat the boys have got the front end mounted back in place and made up new rails for the bench seat. Someone must have spiked their drinks ?

Don't forget the arse end either, another 15minutes and the boys have hoisted it back into place also. Rear end seems to be running a bit low but it hasn't got a motor yet and a little bird tells me that there's gonna be a donor vehicle in the guise of a fucked up VE ute being dropped off tomorrow and it's kindly donated its vital organs, that being an LS3 donk and auto and it's throwing in a two piece tail-shaft just to be neighbourly. . .

'27 Willy's Salt Racer . . .

Boys are working hard today. 'D' is doing the finally touch up grinds about the edges of the side steps and you can see the fuel cell wedged into plce to check for final fitment before it is finish ground and fittings fitted. . .

I told you the boys were hard at it. 'D' has hand fabricated the transmission tunnel and welded it into place, it looks just like a bought one and he has made up a small but very intricate panel that fits neatly around the floor pedals. . .

'55/56 Chevy Pick-up Part 1 . . .

Dave working hard down the back on the notched chassis rails. Actual size of the new opening is only the width of the old rail, nothing radical about this ride, just giving her a mean stance. . .

New rail in place but a long way from finished. By the time that you read this, Dave will have fully welded and ground down the welds on the first rail and be very close to finish grinding of the second rail. No mucking around down this end of the shed. . .

Hodgey working on the front end of the Pick-up in a tandem effort to get it finished and out for paint. Andrew is putting the finishing touches to welding in the top mount for the front shockers. The Jag front end is far from a straight forward fit when it comes to being shoehorned into an early Chevy Pick-up. . .

This is the passenger's side all welded up. Andrew is waiting for the welds to cool down before giving them a tidy up with the grinder and then fitting the shockers in place. As you can see, there has been a hell of a lot of fabrication work around the chassis and the actual mounting of the Jag front end. Poor choice of parts but a marvellous job of making them work together. . .

'55/56 Chevy Pick-up Part 2. . .

Let's just say from the start that this looks shithouse, but you can't do much when you grind through black paint to the steel work and then use a flash when you take the pics. so it's all my fault that the pics look like shit but fuck you, you come and show me how to do better. Now you can see that 'D' and Hodgey have swapped the cabin over to right hand drive. Glove box is in place and 'D; did a great job by extending the door upwards to fill in the gap of the dash. . .

Speedo and other controls, wipers etc., now in place and this was a particularly hard fit to get to work because the dash was sloping down into the corner and the guage cluster was actually rising up in the opposite direction. Hodgey stepped in and made this all work and it looks like it's from the factory, even the ash-tray works. . .

A lot of hard work in there folks and a quick lick of etch prime and you won't know that it's been fucked with . . .

'27 Willy's Salt Racer . . .

Dylan has been putting some of his time to good use by folding up this fuel cell for the '27 Willy's. It's going to sit behind the seat and there ain't much room behind the driver for anything because of that bloody great diff sitting where the boot normally is. . .

Back inside the cabin and 'D' is spot welding the new floor onto the subframe. With about 150 holes that have to be welded and then ground it's enough to give anyone the shits, anyone EXCEPT Hodgey that is, coz nothing can give him the shits!

'55/56 Chevy Pick-up Part 1. . .

All hands on deck out the front. There's some serious modifications necessary to fit this Jag front end in between the chassis rails and behind the original cross-member. Those tree trunks on the right belong to Johnny and he's got his big arse kickin' boots on, so it better be measure twice cut once otherwise someone's arse is gonna get a kickin'. . .

Jag front end is back out and Dave is having a careful look at where the cutting and grinding has to happen. Any mistakes here and as you can see those tree trunks are keeping a real close eye on proceedings. The boys have cleaned the front end right up with a hot steam bath and plenty of soap and degreaser, it looks a hell of a lot better now. . .

As I said, measure twice and cut once, you can see where Dave has been slicing away great chunks of the old front cross-member. The chalk line that you can see on the closest rail is going to run straight down through the center of the front rotor. . .

Geez, no wonder these things way a bloody ton, Dave has cut away huge chunks of metal and the bloody thing is still massive. Dave is finall up to cutting away the little pices that are just enough to get in the way and anoy you, so they have to go!

"55/56 Chevy Pick-up Part 2 . . .

Geez, didn't this thing get some tool-time today, all hands on deck, all day. Here the big fella is welding in the instrument panel, prick of a job coz it doesn't run straight and has to be moulded in to a downward running dash top. Fucking hate halogen work lights too, they make that terrible yellow color in the pics and when it's only in part of the pic, it's nearly impossible to get the shitty color out. . .

Heres the dash converted to right hand drive. That blue rail is only there to square things up and will be removed shortly. 'D' is away making up an extension for the glovebox. . .

As I said,'D' has tack welded a new strip along the top of the glove-box to take the lid further up into the dash opening. Looks great since the pic as 'd' has ground off the bumpy tack welds and fitted the glove-box into the dash. . .

Between the two of them, Hodgey and 'D' have turned a great looking conversion. You can see the hand made panel that 'D' fabbed up to fit in the gap at the bottom of the guage cluster and shit, the ash tray even works. I should say the spare change/parking meter money box lid works, coz no dirty bastard smokes anymore, not in our custom rides anyway!

Bob's Hamburger Cart . . .

Bobby's Hamburger Rod on its way out to Trev's place for splash of color 'with the lot'. Trev is building a solid reputation as one of the 'go-to' blokes for the current trend of pantina painting. ..

'55/56 Chevy Pick-up . . .

This is the Jag front end that's going to be grafted onto the front end of the Chevy Pick-up, however the overhaul and complete reconditioning of the current unit might prove more costly than it's worth. IMHO . . .

'D' has started the right hand conversion with the 'cosmetic' work in the cabin which involves a hell of a lot of cutting and refitting of the dash. Far from a simple cross-over with all the moulded panels far from matching up . . .

This is the glove box and it's already marked out for the cut-off wheel and grinder making way for the speedo and guage cluster to be fitted . . .

'55/56 Chevy Pick-up . . .

 I must apologise on this one fellas/gals, when the boy's bought it in from the car-park I helped them load the front and rear ends onto trolleys and put them into storage before I remembered to take some pics. Dave is busily welding in support plates to finish the boxing-in of the front chassis rails for the extra strength required foe the big new front end and extra horse power motor. This one is also getting a right hand drive conversion, so there's a bit of panel work in the cabin for 'D' as well. . .

Not quite finished but you can see what Dave is up to. He has to finish all the welds and then grind/buff the rails so that they look like new and more importantly, they will supply the strength that should have been there from the original factory. New front end is factory Jaguar and will mount in behind the current crossmember . . .

Rear end, things couldn't be any better. Absolutely no rust in the chassis rails what-so -ever. . . 

Hodgey has cut out a template to show how much the rear rails are to be notched. The pick-up is going to be a daily driver so there is no point in taking the body waaay down into the weeds. Handling is an important requirement for the owner . . .

'27 Willy's . . .

Here's a pic that I forgot to add in the other day. Now that Hodgey has all the rear suspension hanging, he has been able to bolt on the wheels for a quick check of ride height. These wheels are super tall but you have to remember that the car is being styled after one of the early 'Salt Racers' . . .

More nasty surprises . . .

You might want to be careful where you park your car, or sneak out for a quick leak, there are nasties everywhere you look these days, but these boy's days are numbered. BTW, the Red-back found solace under a #4 Engineer's hammer. It's a dog eat dog world out there!

Nasty surprises. . .

It pays to keep an eye out when you start climbing in and around customer's cars when they first drop them off. Quite often there are some unexpected visitors hitching a ride and just because most of the vehicles have been imported from America doesn't mean the stow-aways are Mexicans. . .

Serious size and serious bite, the Aussie Red-backed spider can be found basically anywhere and with 'D' totally freaking out at the mere mention of the word spider, something as large as this can have him sprinting down the driveway in total hysteria. It usually takes about 2hours to find out where he's hiding before we can drag him back to work. . .

'27 Willy's . . .

Andrew made up a template of the floor of the Willy's for Dylan to use so there would be no unecessary loss of expensive sheet-metal . . .

Quick check to see that all bases are covered. . .

And it's of to the guillotene and then a session with the grinderand some cutt-off wheels then all that's left is to weld the new floor into place. Sounds simple but there's a few hours work involved and just a little bit of experience helps too!. . .

While I was busy with 'Grand-daughter Wednesday' the boys fitted out the rear space with a new sheetmetal boot space. Not much room left after fitting the new disc brake rear end and then a 4inch body drop . . .