Project car - 1989 75 3.0 V6 [Updated 12 November 2021]

[Cool Jesus]

Heat gun, hmmm... Got meself on of those. Are these your first callipers using this method? Curious to know if the multi coats using your method will stand up to normal calliper use once installed.

Craig, yeah plenty of users have installed these decals with positive results. So they must be up to the task.  As shiny will attest, surface prep is the key to any successful and long lasting paint or decal job.

[Craig_m67]

Your preaching surface prep to the converted.
I've painted my bonnet four times and it's still not right (to me!)

[shiny_car]

Are these your first callipers using this method? Curious to know if the multi coats using your method will stand up to normal calliper use once installed.

Yes, first time refurbing calipers like this. I have previously clear coated the rear calipers on my GT, but that was on-car, and not over bare metal; and have waxed those calipers before too, to help prevent fade and make it easy to wipe off brake dust.

I don't foresee any issues (like paint cracking off or peeling). Time will tell.

[Cool Jesus]

Ok, they look great. Looks like you're still a little ways off from putting th 75 on the road so the coats should of had plenty time to cure. Keep the photos coming mate.

[Nate Dog]

And just bought a set of decals

damn you for throwing up that link Shiny

damn you

Another job ill now have to do on the gtv i had no intention of doing. sigh.

i mean thanks for the link!
and merry christmas you bastard.

Damn predictive text...

[shiny_car]

Bahahaa!   

[shiny_car]

Hi again.

Despite being a busy month, I managed to spend some days on the car. One very frustrating hiccup was finding a front wheel nut jammed onto its stud. I recall finding the nut tighter to fit than the others, so I'm suspecting a faulty thread. On trying to remove, it simply bit into the wheel stud, and could not be removed beyond halfway, trying with my longest wrench, and the air impact wrench. 

Forced to remove the wheel and steering knuckle assembly from the car.



From the rear, the damage caused by the rotating wheel stud was evident. Probably would have been ok with the original steel disc, but not the softer aluminium hat.



I cut the nut, I cut the wheel, and it nearly beat me! In the end, bought a blow torch to heat it up. Didn't quite finish how I intended, with the hardened steel stud twisting and breaking. *sigh*





With the nut free, wheel was removed, then hub + disc brake removed, and broken stud removed. A couple of the gouges in the hat were from vicegrips during earlier attempts to prevent the head rotating.



JB Weld to the rescue. Filled the defects in the hat, then ground smooth with the Dremel after setting hard. Area was sprayed satin black. Whilst not perfect, it is fine for this area which will not be visible.









A member here kindly supplied a couple replacement wheel studs (THANK YOU, you know who you are  ), one of which was pressed into the hat. I have a set of wobbly lock nuts to fit in the future too, so losing a standard one is no big deal.





With the suspension dismantled, I sprayed the steering tie rod gloss black and secured the rubber steering rack boot with new cable ties.





Finally, the steering knuckle and hub/disc were reassembled.





These are the front wheel arch liners. The left side had two large cracks; given the 'A75' written in white, I suspect this was a replacement liner anyway.









Gave both a good scrub.



To hold the cracked edges together, I used Dynamat Xtreme sound deadener. I use this product extensively in my car audio installations. It is an elastomeric butyl sheeting, with aluminium fronting; easy to cut, malleable, heat and moisture tolerant, and once stuck, stays stuck. Worked perfectly for this purpose.



New, generic trim clips to secure the liners.



Right and left liners fitted, which concludes the front suspension work at this stage until I fund a new antiroll bar and coilover suspension.





Last month I also cut a gasket for the join between exhaust manifolds and front pipes. Left side done, other side to do; tedious and messy job.

I bought a generic gasket sheet, 1.4mm thick, and began by drilling an 8mm hole for one of the bolts.



An oversize rectangle was cut with tin snips. To mark the positions of the other two bolt holes, I threaded bolts from behind, making them protrude a millimetre.



After securing the piece via the first hole, a hammer gently 'tapped' over the other protruding bolts, creating position marks, then drilled accordingly.







I pondered how to cut the exhaust pipe holes. The initial attempt - cutting 'to the edge' radially with the Dremel - was too crude. Ditched that idea, and moved onto making a cardboard template.







With template and gasket together, the holes were marked. Then the Dremel was used to cut circumferentially. After fettling, the holes were cut nicely.





With the gasket bolted to the manifold again, the reverse side was masked to outline the shape of the manifold flange. The final cuts were made around the edge to complete the piece.







Another year done! I've made a start on removing the propeller shaft, which I will show next month. See you then!

[Nate Dog]

Ahhh Shiny,
you never stop inspiring me to go work on the car.
Amazing, as always. Most impressed at the determination to press through the setbacks, hard enough going forwards as is on a classic, well done bud.

[ARQ164 Shane]

G'day mate,
The car coming a long nicey ,Nice save on the wheel stud .Mite pay to locktight your wheel stub.

[shiny_car]

Thanks guys.

Yeah, bit of thread lock wouldn't go astray.

[jazig.k]

Gaskets from CSC area bit hit and miss I think I remember reading. Not sure what they made them from. There was a reason I didn't buy them anyway. Coper with sealant was successful with someone on the BB.
What I did - Draw file the surfaces flat with a rough file. Then I used a hard drying exhaust sealant. I did use soft sealant, 2 or 3 times, just seemed to start leaking after a month or 2. Hard sealant has worked for over 12mths without a leak.

[shiny_car]

OK, might need some sealant too.

My CSC's did not come with gaskets. When I was inspecting them, the join didn't seem perfect, and I'd read about people having leaks. So, adding a gasket makes sense.

[jazig.k]

Gaskets are optional from CSC, about $45 from memory?  Pretty stupid because they should be included IMO, particularly once you see just how warped the surfaces are if you draw file them...

[shiny_car]

Gaskets are optional from CSC, about $45 from memory?

Ah, now it makes sense. I didn't know they offered them.

[bteoh]

Where can I get a set of gaskets? I bought my headers off Vin Sharp many years ago but I seem to have lost the gaskets whilst in storage.
I just tried EBspares and they say none are available and just put exhaust cement face to face. I think I prefer some form of gasket to seal them properly.