Rupewrecht's Astina Hardtop Turbo

[gobsmax]

nice meeting you dude

[bourbon]

Does that pic mean your a stalker?

[Mad Mat]

Originally Posted by bourbon

Does that pic mean your a stalker?

i think the bigger question is why is his car under that garage sale sign????????

[Rupewrecht]

Originally Posted by gobsmax

nice meeting you dude

Haha, likewise

[bourbon]

Originally Posted by Mad Mat

i think the bigger question is why is his car under that garage sale sign????????

what garage sale sign? do you not read? it says GARAGE CAFE & BAR

[Rupewrecht]

More toys, thanks to Greg @ GSL



Superpro lower control arm bushes (front and rear), and Whiteline rear trailing arm bushes.

Why? After 8 years of 150+ kw atw, being lowered more than it should, and general hard driving and a couple of track days, the LCA bushes are kaput. Currently, you hit a bump...and straight ahead on the steering wheel changes a few degrees left or right. Not good or confidence-inspiring, and it's torque steering like a mofo (which it never used to do)

The poly trailing arm bushes i just figured i'd do while i'm putting in the beefier trailing arms from the V6 parts car.

[Rupewrecht]

Swapped all the modded body bits onto the Parts car a few weeks ago, with the aim of working on them, and still being able to drive WRECHT.

...but WRECHT has been sitting without a battery for the last 3 weeks.

The boot off the parts car had a standard wing on it, and it seems the way it's wired creates a massive drain on my car somehow, so i've just been charging the battery.

I have actually done something to the Astina though - i started making the new dash to accommodate the new boost gauge. I was a bit over the old dash - the boost gauge i was never happy with the way it was lit, and the shift light got old pretty fast :laughing:

So, old dash vs stock dash. Basically, the new Defi Racer boost gauge would go on the same position as the old Autometer (LHS pod), the shift light on the RHS would be deleted, and the surround for the Wolf ECU hand controls would be replicated using the work from the old dash. Oh, and filling in the 3rd Hazard/Demister button space again.



There was always a few issues over time with the dash being flexible and body filler being, well, not. The top pods were never a problem, but the Wolf button surround was always a bit of a pain for cracking. So i'm going to make that a bit separate, and also by drilling some holes thru the plastic, hopefully anchor the filler to the base a bit better.

Pod placement: testing angles, and cutting just the right amount of plastic out! I also wired the plastic pod that came with the gauge into the dash for a bit more location while the pod was being fibrebogged into place. The pod is inset to that when the gauge is in place, the gauge is level with the front edge of the dash.





and slathered in fibrebog - body filler reinforced with fibreglass strands, basically



More work to come, but i've been slack with smoothing that off for the past week or so. Soon it'll be done though.


Oh, the end plan for this version of the dash (this is version 3, over the years!) is to have it flocked, so the surface finish doesn't matter too much. It's pretty cheap to have done, and there's a place reasonably locally that does it in the color/finish i want - a short, black flock.

[mikey_something]

That looks good mate. Great placement and wont look out of place when done
I was gunna have the dash out today but I lost my tiny handled Phillips head for the drivers panel :/ road block lol.
Will be keen for more pics

[Rupewrecht]

Taking shape (after the hiccup of my sander cacking itself!)



Just needs a bit of filler in a couple of spots, and then it's pretty much done, ready to be sent off to get flocked (along with the lower area of the centre console that joins up the the DIN area.

[Rupewrecht]

Finally bought something for myself from Japan - a set of the OEM Mazda Lantis roofracks. Great little piece of design, and they've got moulded rubber feet that sit perfectly around the roofrails and on the roof. 50kg limit, and all lockable too.

[Rupewrecht]

And now on to another project: Dan Cuts Stuff - episode #576.

So, the BG Astina (pop-up headlight one) cam cover that i spent many hours customising (removed moulded lines and writing, flattening centre, generally smoothing) i've decided not to use. The plan was to fit a flat cover over the spark plugs for a bit more of a modern look. Oh, it's the black one in the pic below, too.

So instead, i picked up a MX-5 one for cheap because it was cracked where the cam gears sit. Perfect for what i wanted.




Because i then did this to it...



then this



and ended up with the rough shape i wanted



And then a few more bits taken off. Luckily this cam cover had the raised writing which made it easier. And that breather hole (and the IAC valve) is going to be filled and moved anyway as it isn't in the right spot when the cam cover is being turned 90° for the east-west configuration. And i've got to angle the cut end to be the same as the other end, which has a bevel all around. Luckily there's enough metal there...and if there isn't, then that metal putty stuff will fix all



Finally, the area of the letters smoothed nicely. It's going to be painted anyway so doesn't have to be perfect. Not sure what colour at this stage...but possibly body color when the car is resprayed (if that ever happens...!)



The BG cam cover i'm already running has a separate plate which sits behind the cam gears, so i can still fit a cam gear cover if i wanted to - which is required for legality in Vic...but exposed cam gears look cool, dammit.

More to come when i've done more hacking

[project.r.racing]

Any reason why you just didn't do that to a BA cam cover? That way the breather and PCV valve would've been in the correct positions?

Also, I was wondering when this NA8 cam cover would resurface. Dave/Danny must have thought you buying a busted one was weird at 1st?

I have the same Superpro front control arm bushes. But one is a rear castor adjustor.

[marcs_sp20]

Nice work there oh great juan

So are you just going to paint it black and call it a day, or go fancy, maybe even red fleck??

[scott b]

Originally Posted by Rupewrecht

The BG cam cover i'm already running has a separate plate which sits behind the cam gears, so i can still fit a cam gear cover if i wanted to - which is required for legality in Vic...but exposed cam gears look cool, dammit.

More to come when i've done more hacking

Clear perspex??

[Rupewrecht]

I did start making a BG cam cover with found holes to expose the face of the cam gears (and not the belt) but i wasn't happy with it.

I think perspex would be a nightmare to try and mold to a box shape like that and look good

[70NYD]

If you have a router, you could make a mould and plug out of wood and heat press some .5 cm perspex, that would look good

[Rupewrecht]

Effort

[tamass323]

and what your doing now doesnt involve enough effort?! lol

[Rupewrecht]

Yeah i realised the contradiction after i posted that...but at least i know what i'm doing already, sorta

[70NYD]

It's not THAT much effort and just think you could sell the custom clear cam belt covers after