My never ending search for lows.

[ELLeon]

Looking good, cant wait to see the finished product.

[clown_dog]

More stuff to add, didn’t really make progress but getting the research out of the way.

After destroying the Nissan guard, I decided to try a different shape..

This time I found a Honda CF6 wagon.



Took the other guard to see if it had similar width..



Bought them both…
Started chopping



I found that this guard shape, although it was wider it didn’t have a nice shape to it from side on.



While thinking about what to do, I cleaned up the passenger side.

It wasn’t cut as high as the Drivers side, so I measured it up and re cut it to make it even.

I was all out of gas so had to use flux core, which wasn’t ideal. But I’m happy with the results.





I do like how these look from the front.






I even tack welded one on to see if the shape would change much.



It just confirmed for me that I want something with a nicer line.

I’ve been looking at Audi guards, Just trying to find out which models use Steel vs Aluminium. As I won’t be able to use the aluminium guards.


Anyway, I have my new favourite photo. Love this car even if it’s totally mushed together.

[clown_dog]

This thread got real awesome real quick.
Love all the documentation. Keep at it bro!

thanks bro... Not sure it's awesome yet. Making a lot of mistakes haha


------



Well I made a lot more mistakes yesterday, Might have to start again…

I was pulling the fender,



Got it pretty close too..



But I didn’t tack weld between the door frame and the flare… So I warped the panel out of shape.

:/





So now I need to either start again. By cutting this off or making this one somehow work...

Thoughts and Ideas appreciated. Havn't started on the other guard yet...

[foxster]

This thread got real awesome real quick.
Love all the documentation. Keep at it bro!

[clown_dog]

fiat panda ftw

i like your fender idea

Haha I love my Fiat Panda, It's my daily. It's a lot of fun!

------

So I’ll start with my mistake.



I folded the edges up but in doing so I also bent and warped the shape of the panel.

I also welded it…

After realising my mistake, we ground off the welds. then separated the panels again.



Tried a different approach.

Instead of folding them up, I just welded them on the ends.

Next guard I’ll make sure I have more lower panel steel so I have less room for error.

I ground it down and painted it.



Nothing pretty, but it’ll be hidden.

Then we fitted the guard.

I ended up tack welding this on rather than running a bead as It was a lot easier for this thin gauge steel.



We welded it onto the door as well.

Then cut through.

[P78]

fiat panda ftw

i like your fender idea

[clown_dog]

Well my mate came over this morning and helped me chop guards.

Here’s what we got up to.



Separated the two metals.



Cut the guard to shape too.



Test fitted.





I still think the larger rear wheel is going to poke a bit. So might have to do a pull on the guard once I’ve welded it on.

But time to go get some argo shield as I ran out of gas!

[clown_dog]

Time for an update!

I finally got a welder. 180c Lincoln Mig.

It’s a lot of fun. But there’s a lot of learning to do.

I have two weeks off work so I could learn to weld and work on my car.

First week I went to a local scrap yard and went hunting for fenders.

My mate came to help and he suggested these, from a Nissan Maxima 1994.

They seem like a good option due to being the same width as my current Sentia rear fenders.



Posed them over the work wheels that’ll be going on the back.



Cut the fenders a bit so they were easier to mock up.




Then taped them temporally on



I like how the rear lines of the body match up to the fender.





Next problem I had.

The tyres that came with the wheels when I got them from japan, were super stretched.


I legally can’t have a 225/40R18 on a 10.5” wheel.
The smallest we are allowed is a 255.

I didn’t want to do a whole bunch of guard work without getting the correct tyres first.

So my mate at his tyre shop hooked me up with some cheap second hand tyres.

A lot more meaty!


But still some stretch.

Now I need to cut the fenders.

First thing I did. Was take a pencil and copy the fuel cap so I can put it in the same position on the other side.





Then I started drawing lines and debating where to cut.





Trying various line shapes. I’ll need to cut more than what I’ve drawn, but it’s better to cut small first.

I’ll do some cutting tomorrow after I’ve had a think about it over night.

I liked this shot.

[clown_dog]

So I got the reverse lights working correctly last weekend.

Started off by plugging the auto trans electric shifter thing in.


moved it around and had a look on the dash what the signal was for each, i.e. p d 1 2 3 R

Noted where reverse was. Left it on that setting then unplugged the electric shifter and used a multimeter on pairs of terminals till I got a result.


Got a signal for the top two left pins shown in this pic. (so they are reverse)



From memory the top right hand side was Neutral. But I didn’t need it.


Then I went under the car (should have done this before putting gearbox in)

I found the reverse signal from the gearbox came out from this module located on the left side of the car.



I tested it again with a multimeter by putting it into various gears to see if reverse gave a different result to the rest. It did.

As you can see I got a pair of wires and added female bullet connectors.

I don’t believe it matters which way around they go as all it does is close a circuit.

Then ran the pair of wires up to the engine bay where I started.

I cut the plug away from the automatic gearbox selector.
I soldered the Black and Brown wires together, this enables the starter motor.
Then soldered one from each of the reverse terminals to the pair of wires I brought up from the module on the gearbox. Sorry forgot the wire colors but pretty damn obvious what to do.


Lastly, I re-connected the plugs for that factory feel.


Tidied up with some electrical tape.

Whoop. All worked. Even the Reverse light on the dash shows up. As well as the annoying reverse beeping sound.

Feels good.

[clown_dog]

So I finally got the clutch to bleed properly.

Was having problems due to the clutch master and push rod not being long enough to properly bleed.

But jimmied up something and it works!


Click to go to video


Which in turn lead to this (click to go to video)




Almost like factory




Put my smaller wheels back on so I didn’t have any rubbing issues.




Anyway I am super stoked I can drive it now.

Best part was the Speedo worked and I didn’t have to hook anything up!

So now I just need to adjust where the pedal comes down. (too far to the left) and possibly lengthen the driveshaft as I think I could be another 10mm’s longer.

[clown_dog]

Well my original transmission mounts have broken, so I ended up installing some new BMW mounts made by a company called "Swag".

Seem to work alright for now..

[clown_dog]

Well, Finally getting some more of this done.

I got a local Engineering shop to make up the rear crossmember from the two different parts.

Turned out pretty well considering I gave minimal instruction.



Fitted.



Finally bought a rotary tool to cut out the hole for the shifter.





Then had to cut out a spare insert to enable all gears are easily shifted.

That’s it for now.

[clown_dog]

holy shit, i clicked the second pg to see the latest, and i thought this was an e38. looks really good btw. love the wheels color with the body color.

Haha, I suppose it does look kinda like an e38, it seems to be a mixture of a lot of cars, lexus and jag etc.

Will be painting it black eventually but will keep the wheel color.

[NeezeBeeze]

Haha, I just bought it because I liked the front and it was RWD. Pitty it's not a platform car you can buy heaps of parts for.

Everything needs to be custom or 'one off' which makes it so expensive.

Here's a side shot.

Not low yet as was just a wheel test fit.

Front's are 9.5" ET-12

holy shit, i clicked the second pg to see the latest, and i thought this was an e38. looks really good btw. love the wheels color with the body color.

[clown_dog]

so glad you're still working on this! maybe get a regular shifter, take to welder, and have him cut and fabricate a new shaft with clearance?

Yeah I think I'll have to get a dogleg one fabbed up.

Last night felt quite productive.

Fitted the original automatic driveshaft.



Fit real nice.

Only thing is it could be lengthened by a few centimetres..



So will probably have to do that.

Next up a shot showing the 5speed gearbox crossmember. No way it’s going to fit… the holes don’t line up either….




Pulled off the unit. and put the auto one up



Of course the holes line up but it’s not connected to the gearbox .. yet.



So taking the crossmember gearbox mount and separating it you get this.



Which I reckon would work well with the auto one.




a Bit of fab will be needed. But almost looks like they were made for each other..