Been a bit quiet of late. Work for me has been fairly busy recently, and i had tickets to JAE last weekend, so that has been occupying my time lately. Today was my first opportunity to properly get in about the Silvia.
First up, the front end. I had to take apart as much as i could to allow enough space to put the V8 in and maneuvre it around in the bay. Also, it will be fairly awkward so i stripped out any critical parts that could be damaged and potentially hard to replace. Essentially, this is the entire front end!
Pardon the belly, but those old overalls are about 3 sizes too small! What i'm left with now is the basic chassis. All lights and gubbins are away so i can properly measure out space for radiator and ancillaries, etc, and more inportantly get as much access for measuring up and templating the engine mounts. As said, these will have to be made from scratch, so i want to make it as painless as possible.
Since taking all the mechanisms and supports for the pop up headlights out, i have been contemplating a slimline headlight arrangement to replace them up front, something similar to a Nissan S14a or PS13. Naturally this is many months away but if i see a cheap set of lamps crop up i may take a punt and make them fit... ;)
Next task was to take the prop and exhaust off to see what space i would be left with underneath for the new box and potential routes for the downpipes. No such luck here as i forgot to bring up any axle stands and dont fancy fannying around under an unbalanced shell without them. Will get my old set tomorrow and get the car up in the air. Another reason i'm keen to get under there is to be certain I wont be hit with unexpected rust!
So i moved onto the only thing left to tackle with limited tools: The rear hatch. Never been a fan of the back of the car. Something out of proportion about the features, and the overhang strikes me as ungainly for a car with such a short wheelbase. To help me plot out some ideas i decided to remove the hatch. As you can see this dominates the entire rear of the car, and leaves a substantial amount bare once deleted...
The car almost resembles a saloon in its side profile without it. Will wheel it out to the yard and take a wide angle shot of the side with the hatch off to help me chew over my plans for the rear, but i am considering a pick up.
Yes, a pick up.
My thinking is to create a larger B pillar coming down along the roof line left by removing the hatch, and chopping the remaining metal support for hatch and the C pillars. I think a bit of photoshopping may be required just to be sure, before i start getting handy with the grinder!
Coming up: Car goes in the air, appraisal of underneath, paint prep and pedal box shennanigans!
Ps, for those awaiting progress on Simons front, he is on a break in Bath (the town, not the trough) and will return later this week!
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