news from my shed.

1600GT · 12-10-2007, 08:22 PM

hiya all.

as some of u know already, i've got a few different things put away, namely these...

Isuzu Wasp ute

Isuzu Bellett sedan racer

and some may have known that i've had an Isuzu Bellett GT coupe for a while, and i've been busy restoring it over the last 6 or 7 months.
well finally, it's done.
well... it had to be done for our nationals later this month (oct), so it's finished 'enuf' to go, even tho it's not quite ready for the road. i'll worry about getting it rego'd after the nats.

here's some pics, starting from the begining...

how it was when i got it

bare shell

on it's side to do the under-floor.

going back together

and the result

glad it's done, and pretty happy with it.
got some more cleaning and polishing, then i'll be satisfied.

ohh, and as my sig. says, i'm now BA free.
here's the new work ute too.
pics is a bit crappy coz it's from my phone. the only one i have yet of it with the canopy and the wheels.

cheers.
Brett.

XRNIL8 · 12-10-2007, 08:27 PM

looks like you have done a great job on the bellet coupe ... the photo's make it look ohhhh sooo easy .... if only it was the truth ;).

Thanks for sharing.

1600GT · 12-10-2007, 08:38 PM

ohh, and when i wasnt busy... HA!!!... i decided that a new BBQ stand was needed, coz the old one was well past it's use-by date.
and the fact that it caught fire one BBQ nite didnt help it either...

anyway, if u have the bits lying around, i guess it has to be done like this...

has got a few laughs from the boys already.

and yep, all 3 cars are going to the nats, as well as the BBQ, so it should be a good event.

1600GT · 12-10-2007, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xbgt1974

looks like you have done a great job on the bellet coupe ... the photo's make it look ohhhh sooo easy .... if only it was the truth ;).

Thanks for sharing.

thanks for the compliment.
and u are soooo right. if only it was that easy.

must admit tho, there were times when i really wondered what the hell i was doing this for... again, after the Wasp and racer, but seeing it all done now makes it worthwhile.
still, i reckon i think twice if i built another car, although MRS is still talking 66 Mustang for herself, so maybe i'll be seeing more of the inside of the shed before to long...!!

XRNIL8 · 12-10-2007, 08:54 PM

All I can say is ..... Bloody Awesome mate .... bloody awesome.

XRNIL8 · 12-10-2007, 08:59 PM

Having spent the last 2 years give or take doing my XA ute ....... I ask myself regularly if it is all worth it .... and as it is still NOT finished .... I am sure to be asking myself the same questions for some time yet. Right now it is sitting in a truck company yard in Brisvegas awaiting transport to Adelaide then from Adelaide it will find it's way to Bendigo .... yeah, it is the long way but I am getting it transported by a family friend at mates rates .... $300 total ..... so can't complain really .... I will update my intro with some pics I took of my ute this last weekend while I was up in Qld.

I look forward to being able to say yeah .... was well worth it and I can now drive it ... lol.

Seagull · 14-10-2007, 08:03 PM

You certainly have been busy. Good luck at the Nationals.

AUXRVIII · 14-10-2007, 08:40 PM

Nice work Brett, look forward to seeing the Mustang project.

1600GT · 14-10-2007, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AUXRVIII

Nice work Brett, look forward to seeing the Mustang project.

thanks steed... but mustang... gotta get my breathe back first!!

GRNKPR · 15-10-2007, 12:22 AM

hasnt someone been busy leave the country for a couple of months and all hell breaks loose !!!!!!! i have stiil got My BA

e

Brute6 · 15-10-2007, 11:43 PM

I see your little baby has come up great, mate!!! Great job, it looks sensational!!!

: Good luck with it all at the Nationals....

MOTIV8 · 17-10-2007, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1600GT

.......maybe i'll be seeing more of the inside of the shed before to long...!!

Brett great work and it does pay off just not initially... I know the feeling as we also have a few projects on the go!!!!!! May need to set up the bed in the garage so that we can finish them all off. Any way good luck at the Nationals

Grasshoppr · 18-10-2007, 09:05 AM

Mate, well done. Your little baby is looking a treat AND you actually got it done in time which would have made you feel much better!! Oh I am sure I saw Craig's GT on the road the other day, some blonde lady driving.

1600GT · 18-10-2007, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLKPhoon

Mate, well done. Your little baby is looking a treat AND you actually got it done in time which would have made you feel much better!! Oh I am sure I saw Craig's GT on the road the other day, some blonde lady driving.

ta damo.
very happy its done with time to spare, but then again, ive still got the other 2 to deal with yet... and all the nats organising as well.

and yep, would have been saturday. had a wedding for one of the guys in the club.
craig's mrs was driving it coz he was working at winton.

1600GT · 18-10-2007, 10:42 PM

good news... the GT came out of the shed, under its own steam, tonite for the first time. its actually the first time its been driven since 1988.

took it quietly down to the end of the street and back, under a km in total.
pretty happy with it on a whole considering its been to a bare shell and back.
have got a few things to take care of...
brakes really need a booster. i was unsure whether they would or not when i was building it and thought i'd wait and see if one was needed. they stop pretty well, but not as well as i'd like. IMHO u can never have enuf brakes. i found the pedal was fairly hard and a decent push was needed to stop it well, and that was at only 30-40kmh, so 100-110 might be an ask without some boosting help.
front end needs aligning, but it'd be amazing if it didnt, considering its all been apart.
and it could do with another, or a stronger return spring on the carbs. the accelerator returns ok, but not as quickly as i like, and the last thing i need now is a go pedal that likes to stay open.
other than that, it feels pretty good, but a few k's will tell more of the whole story.

anyway, here's some better pics of it from tonite on my front lawn.
cheers, and thanks for all of your congrats and wish for the nats.

AUXRVIII · 18-10-2007, 11:01 PM

Nice. What have the bumpers been finished in, looks like satin.

1600GT · 18-10-2007, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AUXRVIII

Nice. What have the bumpers been finished in, looks like satin.

hiya steed.
they are just painted for the time being.
should be chrome, but the original chrome was waaaaaaaaaaaay stuffed.
also, the correct front bar on them was a full width one. the GT-R version had 'bumper-ettes' like that with the driving lights. i liked the look, and wanted driving lights as well, so i cut the bar up, capped the inner ends, re-made all of the brackets and mounts, made the light bar from scratch and it came out pretty close to a real GT-R one.
i wanted to re-chrome them, but that was going to eat a fair hole in my budget to get it done in time for the nats, so we painted them in acrylic "silver dollar high metallic" for now, with a heap of clear on them as well.
they look satin-y in darker light like the pics, but they are a really brilliant silver shine in the sun.
i'll get them re-chromed one day when i get some money together for it, coz trust me, good chroming that is done properly to last is expensive.

Grasshoppr · 29-10-2007, 09:02 AM

:

:

Just wondering how it went on the weekend 1600GT??

Not sure if your back yet, especially if you had to hire another trailer for all the trophy's?

Seagull · 30-10-2007, 01:08 PM

Any news update ???????????????????????

1600GT · 31-10-2007, 09:34 PM

news update...
yep, nats were last weekend (27-28/10), and we took all 3 cars along.
and yes, i know we're

:

: ...

was easily the best nats yet, including the ones done in the 90's.
had 42 people and 20 cars. should have been 22 cars, but 1 wasnt finished in time and 1 "failed to proceed"... but the owners came along anyway.
everyone had a ball, and all vowed they'd be back in '08, bigger and better, AND with more cars AND more people.
on one hand, thats exactly why i do this event (i'm the organiser of the nats), but on the other hand, i'm wondering what i've started, coz it's enuf work already, and people are asking about what's on next year already, so if things get bigger, i'm gunna be run off my feet!!
think i'll be taking a break first before i think about any more... but the date and location are locked in for next year, and the location for '09 is set too, so the rest will follow later.

brought home another trophy this year with the Wasp for "Best Isuzu".
getting to the point with the damn thing that i'll be building a cabinet just for it, and a second one for everything else!!
the GT was second in the GT catergory, and only missed by 8 points (out of 200). happy with that, as it's not quite finished and the areas that it lost points in were where i expected it too, but i didnt expect a 2nd in class. hopefully it will take the crown when its completely done.
mind you, coz i'm the organiser of the nats, i cant take all the trophies home, so i might have to pick which one to take next year...

overall, the Wasp was 2nd outright, and the GT was 3rd outright. very happy with that too.
the race car didnt do too bad, placing mid-field in the Sedan catergory, but after all, it's a race car, and u can't really expect much better than where it placed.

anyway, now that the nats are done for '07, i'm not even thinking "Bellett" for a bit... giving MRSXR-8 a hand with a couple of things first :Up_to_som , and then some stuff to do on the house i've been putting off while the GT was being built, and then i'll go back to the GT and do the last few things it needs so its on the road for the historics at the island in march.

ohh, and a new diff is going in the race car very soon, so it'll make a return to the track in '08 as well.

cheers all.

1600GT · 31-10-2007, 09:57 PM

meant to post this before too...

the spoils of victory!!

:

AUXRVIII · 31-10-2007, 10:33 PM

Well done, looks like the hard yakka is bringing its rewards.

Brute6 · 01-11-2007, 10:52 PM

Fantastic buddy!!!! Top effort!!!!

:

:

You deserve a bit of a trophy for all your efforts of late!!!!

:

Grasshoppr · 02-11-2007, 03:04 PM

Congrates mate, all that hard work has paid off.

P.S. you could have smiled for tha pic??!!!

1600GT · 02-11-2007, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brute6

You deserve a bit of a trophy for all your efforts of late!!!!

:

ta for the congrats boys.

anyway,i reckon that, considering i organise the trophies, as well as every god damned other thing, at least 1 should come home with me too!!
na, seriously, there were some really nice cars there this year, and the standard was waaaaay up on last year.
mind u, if what i think is going to happen next year actually does happen, then i know i've got my work cut out for me, coz quite a few people up there were indicating of taking it to the next level again...
jeeeez... what have i started??!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLKPhoon

P.S. you could have smiled for tha pic??!!!

read my t-shirt!!

i think by then, coz it was winding down, i was starting to feel it, coz it had been non stop for weeks, and the signs were showing...

but next time, i'll think of u... that'll bring a smile to my face!!

... or should that be thinking of the very luvly LA...??

:

1600GT · 04-02-2008, 09:02 PM

thought u might like to know that finally...
the GT is done.
roadworthy on saturday (without a drama), and got the plates on it today.

have been for a drive in it tonight already. only 10k or so, out to the local airport and back. drives very well. probably the best one ive set up for the road yet, without the normal fiddling u always need to make things right. has plenty of go too for what i wanted. 60mph (100kph), 4th gear, push ur foot down, and see ya. is probably quicker than the silver GT i had at the club run in may last year, and that goes pretty well for a 40 year old car too.

have put a brake booster on it, and the brakes are VERY good now.
did the front end alignment a couple of weeks ago, and it steers well. not as sharp as the race car, but it's not the same set up anyway, but its alot better than a standard GT . still looks standard too, which is even better.
i worked out the carb return prob not long after the last post on it... i had the carbs rebuilt, and they put the plates that hold the springs back on wrong, so they didnt have enuf tension. easy fixed.
the only consession ive had to make is with the exhaust. it really needs a new one, but money wouldnt go as far as that AND get it on the road, so i patched the old one up for now. it's only got to last a couple of months and i'll get it done.

anyway, im hoping to take it to hanging rock this weekend, if a few other things fall into place first. might even trying and take the ute too, but thats not important.

have fun.