The Grey Warrior is down for the count.....

[zappy65]

Hey all, firstly i want to apolagise for crashing (literally) everyone's day yesterday, I kinda lost my temper for a second there and it didnt make anything better, must have been that ounce of NZ crazy blood...bahahahahaha, anyway, Brooke, Matty and I are all ok and i must say that dangerous driving course helped heaps!!! The wheels didnt lock up untill i hit the Give Way painted line and thats when i swurved and kept trying to tap the brake...it was either straight up into Dave or risk being hit by the 4x4... Brooke and I both went to work last night and got the 90 degree wind deflector that was a bonnet, off. The bumper was a pain because bolts that used to be there where next to the radiator..bahahahaah. The left hand guard is off and from what i can see the damage is superficial, I havent been able to take the radiator out as yet because it needs to come from the front and the mangled light is in the way...basically like bourbs said, take out a couple of spot welds, undo a couple of bolts (or maybe a thou!!!) and check...Hopefully Bourbs can get me a Nose Cone front for the little beast or ill have to drive a Hyundai around :(.... I have the paint ready so i just need the time off work to make it all happen, Im taking the day off today to inspect the damage with a fine tooth comb and ill see what i can unbend....
I would like to say a quick thanks to a couple of peopele: Firstly Dave for being far more cool headed then me...thanks mate....Gary (The dude with the trailer) for free delivery to Browns Plains no Q's asked....Wendy (The farmer) for towing the car with a tractor!!!! My Dad and V (my stepmum) for as usual giving a helping hand....The gang that was present at the scene...Shane and Adam for looking after Brooke when i couldnt handle myself...Thanks heaps...
As usual in my situation, the cop didnt help much...he got off his bike and strolled over, asked if the grey car was mine and asked if i wanted to charge anyone, i said im not going to charge my mates, and he replied, no i mean you!!!..i laughed as i thought he was a wanka.... and said no thanks, he got on his bike and rod off, Thank god my Tax money is going to good use...anyway ill post up pics of the damage later...

I wanted to clean up the thread so the pics werent spread out so much, i have included the build pics to:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/20080316_carcrash_0006.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/20080317_carcrash_0002.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/front.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/fixed.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/P1010016-3.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/P1010017-2.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/P1010018-3.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/p1010019-2.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/p1010020-2.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/P1010023.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/P1010024.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/_MG_7878-1.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/_MG_7877-1.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/_MG_7876-1.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/zappy65/_MG_7880-1.jpg

The paint hasnt been cut yet as the Acrylic Lacquer needs time to cure and get rid of the chemicals in the paint, otherwise i could get nasty blemishes and heat cracks!...so it should be full complete in about a montha nd a half..then ill take some wicked pics. Peace Out

[project.r.racing]

yeah i read this in the other thread. that's a big pile of poo me thinkz. if you require some help one sunday when i am free. i am only a phone call away. keep smiling dude. the grey warrior will be running and attacking corners soon again.

ryan

[Astina Andy]

Hey John.

You did good choosing to rear end Davo rather than having a head on with the 4WD. It would have been much worse if you had a bull bar through the front of your car. I gotta get myself on one of those Defensive Driving courses ASAP.

And considering what had just happened and the shock of it all, I think you handled it really well. You may have got a little mad but thats perfectly understandable considering!

Anyway, thanks for making me first cruise an intresting one and I hope your back on the road soon.

Good luck getting ya car up and running, and hopefully it will look even better than before.

Andy.

[marcs_sp20]

Its good to hear that you are all ok, and damn u dont muck around when dismantling it do ya! As said previously in the other thread, give us a ring if you need the hand :).

[Putonyourshoes]

that sucks to hear that mate.. i must say.. i have never seen astinagt pull together like this..
if you want any graphics or design mate send me apm and ill do stuff for free for you mate (hahaha sorry i cant do something actually useful)
take it easy, good luck with the fixing and glad to hear everyone is alright

[zappy65]

F%$K...plz forgive my ignorance, I give a big thanx to Tash and Marc in the Blue Bullet...they lift to my dads was a great pressy, thanks guys...

[RedLineResident]

glad to hear everyone is ok.

its one of those things that is unfortunate and happens regarldess of everyones efforts to stop it. Sometimes things just happen, sad fact of life.

Ive been on two different cruises where ive seen a written off 2002 civic and a 2000 prelude. Messy messy looking things, luckily everyone was perfectly ok, which at the end of the day, like in this case is the most important.

I must say, it is good to see the AGT family pull together like this. The circumstances are unfortunate but the support appears to be strong.

Hope all works out well in the end.

[bourbon]

well weve basically got the front end off...just needs rest of spot welds to be unspoted...and its done...then straightening up the rail a lil bit and the well on the left hand side :D

[FEM]

yeah i am glad to hear everyone is ok.

little bingles liek this really suck, the main thing is that it is the car that need new parts, not brooke or john, or anyone for that matter. it is really devastating when people take the toll. just remember that cars are desposbale and people arnt, so take it easy on the roads!!!

(i was not really one to see that until a few months back i was first on the scene when someone was sprayed over the road just near the gateway)

good luck zappystar, i know youll glide over this speed bump, no worries.

[zappy65]

hey people this is Brooke, zappy/jons girlfriend, have to say like jon a big thankyou to you all for helping and being good sports about it all. here are some photos from the crash yesterday and from tonight while bourbs was here giving us a hand pulling the crap off, thanks mate. Also a big thanks to everyone for helping me calm down, i really was shaken and freaked out about it and if you guys weren't there giving the hugs, jokes and comfort then i probably would still be running around in circles out there lol jks.
bye all and i hope u like the pics, Brooke/bubby/beautiful however you know me from Jon jon. P.S...the pics are being sh!ts so ill upload them later...

[bourbon]

there are no pics :p
learn to upload bubby
haha

[marcs_sp20]

F%$K...plz forgive my ignorance, I give a big thanx to Tash and Marc in the Blue Bullet...they lift to my dads was a great pressy, thanks guys...

Hahaha thats ok mate, I was just doing my part, sorry I was driving a little slow, Just that the accident brought back memories of my own crash and I always seem to drive 5-10kms under the limit, which is good in a way...

Your Dads place is absolutely gorgeous!!!!, once we past the pub after leaving, we say a sign saying gold coast and ended up going thru Pacific Pines house estate and then eventually came out just before wet'n'wild...

PM me ya address, we might come and have a looksie on friday night if thats alright??

Marc

[bourbon]

all the front end has just been picked up...

[marcs_sp20]

so when do ya's think all the front-end will be fixed, minus painting?

[bourbon]

i reckon on the weekend it will all be back on...hes finishing pulling the radiator support off tonight...and then gotta straighten up the rail a little bit...and then its ready to weld on :D

[zappy65]

Anyone have a mig welder i can borrow or rent...would be an awesome help...maybe even teach me how to use it...

[zappy65]

I have a mate who is a boilermaker...he says that a stick welder would be better becasue you cant run a mig off a 240v power supply....////but a stick welder is like a portable mig but with different welding sticks...who knows about this stuff?...

[DavoAust]

i've seen stick welding done, didn't look easy though.

btw, new muffler and tip are on, new tip is frickin huge, like 50% bigger than old one, the muffler is a light truck one :). end result is a really deep note, no droning. it also vibrates EVERYTHING behind the car, mum could feel it when she driving behind me, but somehow its not loud (until 3500, then it rips). gonna stick the dB meter at work on it, see how loud it is.

[zappy65]

Well the rad support is half welded on....the rest will be done 2morrow...so far everything is going to plan...everything lines up and the welds are quite easy to do (I have a boiler maker friend here to help)...The wiring is all done and i even saved my HID kit (every wire on the LH side was cut from the ballast to the globe and harness) Ive gotten most of the dents out of the bonnet and guard i got from Bourbs (Thanks again mate) Ive also saved my pod filter enclosure but the radiator shroud has seen better days so i think ill make and paint another one down the track...according to my mate the welds that we are making are meant to be 100 times stronger then the OEM press welds so that is also good. Ive also takin the extra bit of time and spot welded all around the engine bay to add a bit of stiffness to the equation (I am paying for the welder so why not!!!)...I have heaps of pics but for some reason photobucket doesnt want to upload the 20kb images...lol....so when its fixed ill try again....Dav, hows your white mustang goin....?...have you got the bumper and the sheet metal back altogther?...giv us a bell if you need a hand....if you want ill pay for a Magnaflow muffler to be put on, there $150 from CES installed...for me anyway...

[rodhog]

A full mig - yes you realy need 3 phase power

the arc type your are reffering too or Stick is common and can do a number of home jobs.

You can also do Tig - at home iwth the right equipment but it's the Gas bottle for btoh Tig and MIg that cause people not to do it at home.

I've done it all.

Stick is well kind of the easy one but finish and small welds are hard.

Mig is the best alround but it takes time and skill- practice to get it right

Tig is psosibley the best allround in some cases in my opinion the best it's like soldering for metal. Especially Alloys or alluminum.

For home jobs you stick to a simple Arc welders using the right grade sticks and two things one make sure both surfaces are as clean or paint and rust etc and then soon as your done - etch primer.
Reduces the risk of rust resurfacing.

When oyu for- example say do - old school panel beat and you pull a panel out with tac's oon ot the metal and slide hammer etc this is where most - bubble rust comes from due to the welding and the fact it takes time it oxidies right away and it takes good paint prep to stop it ouccruing again.

[zappy65]

Well im using an elec mig atm...its kinda easy once you do about 20 or so welds and just practice the technique, we have a 20 amp powerpoint where i am so i dont have to worry about triggering off fuses every second weld...once im done im going to angle grind them smooth and spray em with etch primer...followed by some black paint....atm im just worried about all the panels lining up....the painting and preping is second nature for me...

[rodhog]

all bolt on panels can be realigned.

as long as you just etch primer it it's fine for a week.

Good clamps are your friends in this case.
I'm one of those welders that either does it quick and snappy or takes forever to align it and set it. before I even tac it up.

I always find taking it back before welding it all up is always best in fact sometiems I got to about 90% reassembled first - depends on what it is.

Take your time and it should come out okay. it's when oyur doing full body panels 3/4 panels - roof etc when you really get picky. Stuff you will never see join's you just need it lined up right. Car's are very very very flexable so it's not like you can expect it to be square to the 0.0? mmm. lucky to be 0.5mm off the showroom floor.
I know the panel size on the plastics can be anythign from 0.02 to a normal 0.3mm and with ABS 0.5mm out.

[DavoAust]

hey mate, cars coming along good :)

the new muffler and tip are sweet, i started respraying the bumper today, a dodgy job till i have some time to really do it. sheet metal was fixed in 10min with a hammer and block. aiming to put a white coat on the bumper and stick it back on for work this arvo (yes, this arvo, its almost 2am :))

[FEM]

Good to hear the cars are coming along well. Shame little bingles like this happen but it's the way we all pull together to get it all done that counts!

Good work girls and boys.

[zappy65]

Today me and Brooke finally got the grey warrior back together, the panels are misalligned and miscoloured but hey, Im fixing that in about 4 weeks...Ive got all the paint ready for the spray and hopefully everything will go like clock work...

Finally, A big thanks 2:
Brooke: Even though previously she hated me working on the car, she really did dig deep and helped with alot of things, she stripped the whole nose cut in under 3 hours, now for someone with no previous spanner time, thats a feat in itself, it has certainly built up our relationship...She helped me throughout the 9 days with drilling spot welds, bolting and unbolting, welding and lining up panels...you should have seen her go...
Bourbon: Now this guy was my hope, every time i said lets just sell it up for parts he laughed and said "Shutup and get that panel off" He not only supplied most of the parts i needed but helped rip them apart and install them...
The Panle House: For supplying the parts at cost price..Thanks to Mark and the team...
Dav (89sp): This guy supplied me with lights...lol...he also helped a bit with the pulling and pushing of panels and spot welds
Gary: On his day off he went to his work, grabbed a hire trailer, drove it to the crash site and all the way back to Browns Plains...FREE!!!!....
Dean & V: My dad and stepmum for being (or trying to be) funny about the whole situation....they also helped grab the car, they even knew Wendy the lady with the tractor...
Wendy: The lady who helped me tow the car off the road and onto her property...was a great help, even when it was raining...
Marc & Tash: For supplying Me, Brooke and Matty with a way back to dads without sayng a word....
Davo: For being a great sport and not serving me with a charge offense...Bahahahahaha, na seriously, thanks mate for being a GOOD SPORT WHILE I FLIPPED OUT!!!...
Adrian: my boilermaker mate for not only saving me money with the welder but doing an awesome job with a hangover...lol...got everything welded up in just over 3 hours...even taught me how to weld...
The Dude that created MP3's: because without them the week would have been a very long and sore one...
The rest of the QLD AGT Community: For simply being awesome during the event and after...without everyones effort i would nt have been able to do it, i might stil be out there punching the bonnet...lol....
Chers, John

[bourbon]

no worries ill be there to help when ever i can... you drivin it now??? glad you listened to me and decided to pull your finger out...

piccies!!!

[marcs_sp20]

Glad to hear it back on the road again mate, and as bourbs says, show us ya unpainted bits!!! :p

Marc

[bourbon]

picsorban :p

[89sp1.8]

shows ur your pink (maroonish) bits:P

[zappy65]

I have some pics but photobucket still wont upload anything so ill post em up from dad's house, yeah im driving it around now and surprisingly it doesnt pull or anything, drives like it used to except for the different coloured panesl, oh and i got sexy lookin jap spec fog lights now...bahahahahaha...and a familia badge...lol....and astina written all over my panels...and unmatched headlights...lol...not to mention the parker lights,,,

[marcs_sp20]

Why not just upload to imageshack?

[zappy65]

Because it always sends me to this ****ty photo site where it asks if i want prints.....i think they call it snapfish.com or something...

[zappy65]

OK so ive finally been able to upload pics to imageshake.US!!!!...not .com....lol..
The car has been driven for around 3 days with no problems, for some reason the crash has even fixed my steering wheel shudder at 110km/h???....i mean its completely gone....anyway..brooke has a peap more pics that ill upload soon....

[karamello]

looks like your drivers side headlight cover is off a little :p

[FEM]

who cares, that is a fricken good job! well done buddy, well done

[89sp1.8]

looking good noice job

[karamello]

yep def a great improvement zappy..well done

oh and i can see where you have a dint on your passenger side guard...mines perfect as you will see tomoro ;)

[zappy65]

Yeah well the reason i havent alligned all the panels is because they all need to come off for painting anyway, so why go through the trouble of lining them up and pulling them all off again?....and for 9 days of work (not to mention real work in between) it is a good effort...

[marcs_sp20]

great work in getting this far zappy, now get stuck in and get it painted! :D. You going to keep the familia badge on it seeing its going bpt down the track?

[RedLineResident]

that is a hell of job mate.

look great

[zappy65]

great work in getting this far zappy, now get stuck in and get it painted! :D. You going to keep the familia badge on it seeing its going bpt down the track?

Cause I am......lol...Thanks guys for all the + imput...

[newman]

did you get any parts you need for your birthday?

[zappy65]

Na mate, all i need to do now is paint the dam thing...which is getting done in about 2.5 weeks...Bourbs supplied me with most of the stuff i needed for less then expensive prices....the paint and stuff will only cost me about $500 and im planning on airbrushing a small pic on the LH side part of the bonnet...just nice and small, nothing to crazy, also the wing will be going on too....

[zappy65]

Well i took some quick pics this morning but as usual they suck..bahahahah, i also took some photo's of the process of painting the car but unfortunately they are on a different SD card:( Brooke said she would take some better ones later on but mine will do for now....
Currently the BG has only been cut once, the process took about 2 days to get it that way but in a weeks time, once the paint has cured, i will be able to polish it, the fog lights, which i want to mount further into the bumper,are from the JDM BG bumper (are not wired up as of yet) as is the Familia badge.

I havent put the door bump strips on because I broke the stupid 20 year old clips that held then in. The roof gutter linings were also destroyed in the painting of the BG. I also painted the wing but havent put it on as the paint needs to cure before i go drilling holes...

[outbakoz]

OMG thats turned out so well

Maybe i should get mine resprayed

[zappy65]

Yeah the best thing is I DID IT MYSELF!!!! not to brag or anything...

[project.r.racing]

Yeah the best thing is I DID IT MYSELF!!!! not to brag or anything...that's a awesome job. it improves the look of the car painting those black strips that the bgs have.

ryan

[Lawsy]

Yellow foglights....

I think I'm going to be sick, and then get the shotgunout and come to your house.

My distain for yellow foglights anywhere else but in a "fog every day" area is more than you could imagine.

[DavoAust]

very nice mate. good to see you're back on the road and the grey beast is looking like its old self

[bourbon]

so so so when ya gonna bring it into my work so i can check out my panel beating skills :p hahaha

[zappy65]

Yellow foglights....

I think I'm going to be sick, and then get the shotgunout and come to your house.

My distain for yellow foglights anywhere else but in a "fog every day" area is more than you could imagine.

Yeah well they came with the JDM nosecut so i thought id give em a go, i want to put them further into the bumper though...

DavoAust very nice mate. good to see you're back on the road and the grey beast is looking like its old self

Old self, yes except for the lack of dents and the awesome new "matching paint job"...

[zappy65]

very nice mate. good to see you're back on the road and the grey beast is looking like its old self

Yeah, old self except for the awesome new paint job...its good to have all the panels straight and matching

[newman]

paint looks good. was it your first experience with spray painting?

why do you need driving/fog lights in the city?

[bourbon]

he previously painted his old bonnet and roof before the accident but never finished it...he does a great job...hes almost a perfectionest

[zappy65]

I have experience with a pencil airbrush (eg. Iwata) and have been doing art for years (deviant link in my tag) but nothing to do with the bigger industrial airbrushes, my Grandfather used to be a panel beater by trade but now only does old antique rebuilds (Things like SLR 5000, Wolsley 4/40, Mustang ground up rebuilds, he currently has a Vauhxaul "Vagabond" or Roadster on the "spit" that he just finished making panels for, he also just one a trophy for "Best Custom Panel Work" on a "59 Ford Pickup Ute" gone hotrod style) so to say the least he has alot of experience with this sort of stuff, he 2 is a very picky guy but usually only when it comes to his cars unfortunately:(......together it took us 1 week or about 6.5 days to strip, prep, prime, prep, prime and paint, clear, cut and it hasnt been polished and waxed yet. After doing all of this on the BG i can seriously say i now have the experience to paint any car i may want to "build" in the future

As for the foglights...I dont know guys, they were there and they are OEM JDM products, i do go through fog in the morning sometimes...lol...atm they are not wired up, ill do that when i put in my new stereo...

Also thanks for the comment bourbs...my Grandfather never worked with a sunroof before, he said he'd rather just paint over it...Bhahahahahaha

[DarkMaTTer]

I have experience with a pencil airbrush (eg. Iwata) and have been doing art for years (deviant link in my tag) but nothing to do with the bigger industrial airbrushes, my Grandfather used to be a panel beater by trade but now only does old antique rebuilds (Things like SLR 5000, Wolsley 4/40, Mustang ground up rebuilds, he currently has a Vauhxaul "Vagabond" or Roadster on the "spit" that he just finished making panels for, he also just one a trophy for "Best Custom Panel Work" on a "59 Ford Pickup Ute" gone hotrod style) so to say the least he has alot of experience with this sort of stuff, he 2 is a very picky guy but usually only when it comes to his cars unfortunately:(......together it took us 1 week or about 6.5 days to strip, prep, prime, prep, prime and paint, clear, cut and it hasnt been polished and waxed yet. After doing all of this on the BG i can seriously say i now have the experience to paint any car i may want to "build" in the future

As for the foglights...I dont know guys, they were there and they are OEM JDM products, i do go through fog in the morning sometimes...lol...atm they are not wired up, ill do that when i put in my new stereo...

Also thanks for the comment bourbs...my Grandfather never worked with a sunroof before, he said he'd rather just paint over it...Bhahahahahaha


Love the art :cool:

[zappy65]

1st Post Pics Updated.

[zappy65]

Yellow foglights....

I think I'm going to be sick, and then get the shotgunout and come to your house.

My distain for yellow foglights anywhere else but in a "fog every day" area is more than you could imagine.

When i lived in NSW i had a short stay (1 year) in the Blue Mountains, if youve ever been there at 5am i can tell you now you'll need em, otherwise whenever i go to work in the morning around the Jacobs Well/ Pimpama area there is always thick fog for about 5km's....so thats my excuse...lol...i just found this out the ohter day to, when i drove through it...