No way to treat a lady.

[Gazz]

She's looking rather undignified in this position on the rotisserie.
Engine bay shot shows some of the strengthening welds around the firewall, the strut towers, and one of the chassis to firewall brackets. This will have to be drilled for the brake lines. The welds will be ground flat in the visually obvious places and other welds will be tidied up. Unfortunately the roof was a bit of a mess due to a poorly welded in sunroof. By a miracle I managed to find a roof, ( even more amazingly from a CSL wreck ), which will replace the heat warped old roof. Otherwise the shell is in pretty good condition after sandblasting.
Final shot is the sunset outside my place tonight on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Stand up paddler is not me, just some random guy who happened into the shot. Ho Hum, just another day in Paradise.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Undignified yet beautiful, I know a few - I think we're all envious of all the shots- how great it is to start out with such a clean shell! Can't wait to see the progress! Please!!!!

 

[bdigel]

I can't think of a better way to treat it!

 

[rudeuk2]

Thanks for the last pic. I wore two damp coats today to keep warm! Looking good, got any before pics?

 

[deQuincey]

so poetic, so beautiful, both !
cheers

 

[Gazz]

If I show you before shots you'll feel even worse about your weather. Winter daytime average here is around 20C and summer around 28C. A really cold morning is 4C but it's warm by 8.30am and a really hot day will get to 33C with high humidity around 90%. The stretch of water I live on that you can see in the pic provides a natural air conditioning effect with the prevailing South Easterly sea breeze passing over the water reducing the humidity in summer. My place is about a quarter in from the right in the pic.

Can you warm England up for me Rude? I'll be in blighty next week for a month long driving tour through the UK, up to Edinburgh and around Ireland.

Thanks for the last pic. I wore two damp coats today to keep warm! Looking good, got any before pics?

 

[Aussiecsi]

If I show you before shots you'll feel even worse about your weather. Winter daytime average here is around 20C and summer around 28C. A really cold morning is 4C but it's warm by 8.30am and a really hot day will get to 33C with high humidity around 90%. The stretch of water I live on that you can see in the pic provides a natural air conditioning effect with the prevailing South Easterly sea breeze passing over the water reducing the humidity in summer. My place is about a quarter in from the right in the pic.

Can you warm England up for me Rude? I'll be in blighty next week for a month long driving tour through the UK, up to Edinburgh and around Ireland.

...might have to leave the white shoes and gold chains at home Gazz

 

[Gazz]

...might have to leave the white shoes and gold chains at home Gazz

Ahh yes. Thank you for reminding me of that somewhat less than paradisical aspect of the Gold Coast Aussie. Perhaps, the less our foreign friends know about that the better, hmm?

Would this be a good time to mention Alan Bond?

 

[Aussiecsi]

Ahh yes. Thank you for reminding me of that somewhat less than paradisical aspect of the Gold Coast Aussie. Perhaps, the less our foreign friends know about that the better, hmm?

Would this be a good time to mention Alan Bond?

...I'll see your Alan Bond and raise you a Clive Palmer !
Cheers, Simon

 

[Aussiecsi]

...I'll see your Alan Bond and raise you a Clive Palmer !
Cheers, Simon

....oh, and how is Christopher Skase these days Gazz ?:lol:

Yes, fellow E9'ers , we have our fair share of "entrepreneurs" here too !

 

[Gazz]

Those who are squeamish - look away. Those with the fortitude of a vivisectionist - look.
After a year in the body shop the coupe is looking close to finalising a stage of the project.
I have over a hundred shots of the process some of which I could not bring myself to show here. Suffice to say that, gentlemen, and gentleladies, we have a rust free E9.

By and large the body wasn't too bad, certainly not bad enough to walk away from after finding the bad bits. I have yet to see the bill from a year's work, I've been afraid to ask.

Next is to spray the engine bay, interior and boot. The underside has been done.

I have had sample panels sprayed with Verona and Fjord.
These colours have an almost polarising effect on the character of the car. Verona is an in your face bold statement and very much the sportier choice whereas Fjord is much more elegant, though, to my eye, not necessarily less striking. What I do like about Fjord is the way it changes in hue quite dramatically in differing light and perhaps, hopefully not upsetting any Verona owners out there by stating this, is more sympathetic to the elegant coupe lines.
I was set to go with Verona having seen one in the U.K. but now that I have seen Fjord I think I've been swayed.
The outer panels will remain unpainted until the mechanicals and interior saddle leather trim are done.

In line with the effect of colour on the car's character my engine choices are - Verona with the S38B36 or Fjord with the M30B35. Wild or mild?

 

[MyFemurHurts]

Impressive! I'm going to be proud when I get all four windows working on mine, much less when I can honestly claim mine is rust free. Your car is looking great!

I'm a sucker for the S38. I don't think I'd own one with my money, but since I get to advise you on what to do with your money, I say go S38 with Fjord. When I do to mine what you did to yours, mine is coming back a subdued Malaga with an M30B35, but if I get to tell others what to do, I'll say crazy engine with a subdued color.

 

[Gazz]

Latest shots. She's looking a lot more glamorous in her Glasurit clothes now that she's not upside down and naked. This is the result of 400+ hours. Don't ask about $$.
I'll post more shots after the final buffing.
And for those bjored with Fjord I have yet to see or even hear of one here in Australia. Fjord is the choice after a lot of thought poring over Google images and reading colour discussions. It was a close race with Verona.
Now I have to find the right saddle colour for the interior.
Still thinking over the engine choice and I'm swinging more to a 3.8 M30 with the ITBs from the S38 I bought from Paul Cain.

Sharp eyes will note the extra air snorkel on the front left of the engine bay for the ITB air box. Battery to be boot ( trunk ) sited.

 

[vince]

Beautiful work! I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.

I'll never be bjored with Fjord. It's still my favorite color for our cars (Tiaga comes in as a close second). I'm restoring a Fjord '02 right now and can't wait to see the it and it's matching big brother next to each other in the garage.

 

[deQuincey]

very nice work
peace of mind knowing where you are, an absolute rust free
400 hours are ten weeks ?
are you going to reassemble the car by yourself
like the extra snorkel, looks nice and symmetrical
not a fan of fjord colour

 

[Gazz]

Thanks guys.

I'll do some of the assembly myself though I'm no where as proficient or knowledgeable as say a deQ. I tend to learn as I go which is where this forum has been invaluable.
The snorkels aren't really for symmetry. I retained the original hole in case a future owner wants to revert the car to its original state as I have all the original parts including the matching number engine, seats, trim etc.

Question - at the moment I'm polishing the belt line trim - is it coated ( if it is I'm pretty sure it's not chromed ) or if it is just polished aluminium? ( note correct nomenclature using IUM ). The rear of the strips seem to show uneven plating though I have been able to quite easily wet/dry sand scratches and pitting from the surface of the face and polish it to a full shine.
If I have removed any coating then I have incurred a cosmetic maintenance chore where I'll have to mask the adjacent paint and periodically polish/seal the strips.

At the risk of reiterating - when I had a sample board sprayed in Verona and saw how bold it is it struck me that this colour would dominate my view of the car and as much as I like red the big reason for my interest in the E9 is its elegant beauty, which to me should be the dominant aspect.

Pamela Anderson vs Katie Holmes.

 

[deQuincey]

it is anodized aluminium, a strong transparent electrolitic coat yes, if you remove it you will polish the piece but it will oxidize and turn grey soon

 

[inovermyhead]

Having made the mistake of powder coating my prepared trim with clear and being really disappointed with the result a clear finish gave, thick looking, dull and with air pockets due to the fact that the strips are cast and release gas when heated that shows as air bubbles trapped in the clear coat, don't opt for that option.
I have sourced a clear 2 pac designed for polished aluminium, but have yet to use it so cannot say if it's good or not...

Made by Mipa CA Clear

I got mine thru Mipa Granville Sydney 02 9760 0030

Good luck. John

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Gazz, beautiful! shots from above are always impressive. I think you could have painted that car "pimp-my-ride-pink" and it still would look great! Question, was the 400 hours body and paint or prep and paint alone?

As usual, I am humbled by the forum

 

[Gazz]

Gazz, beautiful! shots from above are always impressive. I think you could have painted that car "pimp-my-ride-pink" and it still would look great! Question, was the 400 hours body and paint or prep and paint alone?

As usual, I am humbled by the forum

400+ on body and paint prep. Paint is extra. I waited until the guy I wanted was able to do the body and he has done a superb job. A true old school craftsman. The spraying was done by the artist who painted the Calder replica shown. That one was 250 hours on the paint alone. When you run your fingers over it you cannot detect any variation in the surface from one colour to the next - amazing.