mantamike Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 flamin 'eck, thats top quality fabrication going on there bit like watching mark evans with his latest show: an ascona 400R is born Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cact1972 Posted June 14, 2010 Share Posted June 14, 2010 Wahey ! No more panels to order...... A big step forward now that welding is done .Great work. Did you have to go to A+E to have the mig torch removed Nat????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Power Posted June 17, 2010 Author Share Posted June 17, 2010 Right, on to the link boxes! Did a quick model in AutoCAD to check the geometry with different link lenghts. From what I can see there seems to be a lot of variations on the rear suspension of 400's. Most have quite short upper links (as per the Commodore - 265mm iirc) but most of the rally cars I've seen have longer links, which is preferable. My mock-up showed a singificant tilt on the diff nose with that link length, so we upped it to 425mm - bearing in mind we are keeping a back seat (albeit hollowed out a bit!) this was the longest we could go whilst keeping a sensible link seperation (vertical distance between link mounting points). We are using the original lower link mounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cact1972 Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 As always Great Work! Had a tweet from Retro earlier ( you can follow whats happening in the workshop through Twitter! join conversation via their website!) Its in the bodyshop as of next week!!!! Its Cal's time to shine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Power Posted June 20, 2010 Author Share Posted June 20, 2010 LOL it'll be nice one day when "in the bodyshop" means in a different room or building! I (and Cal) look forward to the day we can afford a prep room/building. Would be lovely to have the paintbooth in a different building altogether as well, get through intake filters a lot less!!! ON that kind of subject, hopefully later this year, if we can rope in some slave labour, we'll be taking over another bit of the building for our office and a "clean" room for engine building etc, will hopefully then rejig the booth intake to draw from there too giving the filters cleaner air to work on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cact1972 Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Haha ! Thought it sounded better saying bodyshop ! Think the tweet worded it as bodywork 'department' !! At least we both know what we mean lol! I'm sure you guys will get the so called in time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gte 2.0 Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 Amazing job you are doing there . Looking forward to seeing this finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilsen Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 Great work guys! Looking forward to see updates in the future! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opel2000 Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 Ay up mate, looks as though I may be popping over a bit more than I thought, as Schlegel still refusing to pay. Damn good seeing the work on the Scone and other projects at first hand, top work mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Power Posted July 1, 2010 Author Share Posted July 1, 2010 Right moving on, cleaned any remaining paint off, did a couple of repairs to the front wings and bare-metal'd these as well. Pulled a few distorted areas out of the rear quarters and hot-shrunk a couple of 'ping-pongs' out. Now she's ready to move on to 'kit fitting and bodywork Initial filling and smoothing of the basic shell complete. Engine bay smoothed etc etc. Shell now back on the spit, in the booth, and will get an all-over coat of Max Meyer Ecophos anit-corrosion etch-primer, then it's seam sealing, and getting the rear arches fitted. Shell all in etch primer now and seams sealed :D:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith1200 Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Looking good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cact1972 Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 (edited) Well had an awesome weekend at Billing . Here are a few pics of the ascona on the Retropower stand. Just want to say thanks for all the positive comments we recieved, certainly gave me a good buzz and I'm sure Cal and Nat can say the same. Edited July 14, 2010 by cact1972 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heg123 Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 waht a class job. fairplay. how much to do my opel GT lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Power Posted July 16, 2010 Author Share Posted July 16, 2010 (edited) waht a class job. fairplay. how much to do my opel GT lol. cheers Your GT..... would love to do one Labour rate is £20 per hour. Bookings currently being taken from March 2011 onwards. Edited July 16, 2010 by Retro Power Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 I was having a good wee poke around the ascona at billing, wondering if anyone would have noticed if I slipped it under my shirt and legged it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Abbott Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 (edited) Great to see you at billing, the quality of the metal work on the ascona was astounding and the engineering on the other cars was awe-inspiring, certainly gave me a huge kick up the arse to get a car on the road or down to you lads to complete for me Quality mate, highly recommended ( no i don't work for them, only met them at billing this year ) Can't remember the conversation with Curt on friday night but i'm sure we will have the same next year! Cheers Kev Edit, fell onto my face Edited July 16, 2010 by Kevin Abbott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Power Posted July 17, 2010 Author Share Posted July 17, 2010 Thanks Kev!!! That Jag's going nowhere so the diff is there when you need it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cact1972 Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 I was having a good wee poke around the ascona at billing, wondering if anyone would have noticed if I slipped it under my shirt and legged it Ha Ha! You wouldn't have got far my eyes were on it all the time apart from fri night when the beer googles were in place!! Can't remember the conversation with Curt on friday night but i'm sure we will have the same next year! Cheers Kev Edit, fell onto my face Really good to meet you Kev and thanks for good feedback.:thumbupYep your probably right, same conversation next year but the ascona will have wheels on!! I fell into our tent , well not in more on it ! Much to the entertainment of all on the pitch! DOH! No war wounds like you were wearing for the rest of the weekend tho! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Power Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 LOL Curt you were rolling around on yer back on top of what as your tent:lol::lol: I REALLY enjoyed the show, and it would not have been half as much fun if we hadn't had yours and Jase's help setting up and taking down!! PS 10/10 to VBOA as well, lots of hard work going on there with little thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cact1972 Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 (edited) Right then I thought it would be a good idea to get you all up to date with Scona after being asked ,What was happening by a friend who was watching on here (hope you don't mind Cal and Nat I'm pinching all your pics etc and I know you guys a really busy) This is gonna take a while believe me and please bear with me ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Engine & 'box dummy fitted to check clearances, and also allow us to make up the stainless manifold with clearance for the Omega 'box. (engine & subframe are not the actual ones to be used, just ones that were close to hand!) C Cut out the valance for the bumper intakes, and got the kit offered up, aligned and temporarily screwed into place. Manta skirts cut down and offered up. I'm pretty happy, it needs a lot of work, but is a better fit than I expected. Most of the work is smoothing the actual kit, and sorting the arch-to-bumper joint, but the actual fit of the arch flanges to the car are good except for the very bottom of the offside rear arch, which will need tweaking, but it's a good start Still plenty more pics to come OK, on to fitting the arches properly. Thought I'd just run through how I do this. Of course, different people do things different ways, but it can't hurt to share a bit of advice. I am going to bond the arches on, but we do want to keep the mounting lip for that hardcore 80's rally look. Because of this I want to get the fit to the body perfect before bonding them on. The same would apply to a Manta 400 kit. Firstly, I've already offered the arches and got them positioned correctly as above. I've just used self-tappers to hold them in place. Next, remove them again and sand of any rough areas or raised areas from the back of the lip. I there are any bits that are way-off, then obviously they need addressing at this stage. Do one arch at a time. Cover the area of the car where the arch fits in cling film, and tape it in place. Try not to have too many wrinkles in it. Next, get your arch and put 2" masking tape around the lip on the outside, so it overlaps by a good amount. Mix up some fibreglass filler, and spread it around the inside edge of the lip, making sure there is a bit of thickness on the very edge, and a fair amount overlapping onto the tape. Take your arch and screw it back to the car taking care to get it in the right place to start with, so you don't risk ripping the film. Squeeze around the tape so the filler is well into the corner between arch and car. Once it's set, remove the arch & clingfilm. Run a slitting disk in a grinder through the excess filler, as close as you dare edge of the original arch. Then use a DA with something like 80/120 grit disc to sand the edge back to it's original position. Edited November 21, 2010 by cact1972 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cact1972 Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 (edited) There you have it, perfectly fitting arch ready to be bonded in place front wings primered, fitted and arches now bonded in place The next job was to make up a couple of stainless brackets to support the side sections of the bumper Then a laser-level was used to mark out vertical lines each side, at the point I'm going to split it And it was then cut at these points The side sections were then given the same treatment as the arches (and the wing flange was extended at this stage) and bonded in place Edited November 21, 2010 by cact1972 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cact1972 Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 The bumper-to-arch join was then filled before removing the wings and reinforcing the whole lot from behind with Fibreglass Meanwhile, removed the old front bumper iron, cut it down, blasted and repainted, and bonded it to the bumper centre section Right time for primer Stonechipped and painted underside.... My god this a marathon posting session....... Old doors were shot, so got good Manta doors and transferred the frames.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary6303 Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 great work,wish i had the funds for you guys to build my manta gte the way i would like it built ie modded also wandered what an ascona 400 kit would look like on a manta gte coupe,just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 (edited) I am so impressed with the work going on here. I can see the hours of work and the quality of the work and I don't post much here now but I had to give praise where it is very obviously due. I hope this car is at Billing when it is done. Good work fellas. Edited November 21, 2010 by paulmanta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cact1972 Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Stonechipped and Painted inside.... Dropped the shell off the spit, so work could begin on the bumper. Widened the centre section to reduce the join 'gaps'. cut and adjusted the bottom to minimise the usual Ascona 'wave' along the bottom of the bumper. A lot of shaping and smoothing, and a good coat of primer. Fitted headlamps and grille to check alignment. Looking good Will be altering the scoop to get rid of the ugly 'cutout' in it. Well there you go, I'm well impressed with the progress the Retro crew has done up to now . Not too far away now til we see it in paint...........Can't wait I am so impressed with the work going on here. I can see the hours of work and the quality of the work and I don't post much here now but I had to give praise where it is very obviously due. I hope this car is at Billing when it is done. Good work fellas. Yep Deffo will be seen at Billing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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