Dadson Racing: 2010 Revival

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

The trimmer is making headway and I think the end result is going to be nothing short of stunning but he's been a bit too economical and might have cut the material a bit short at the top of the transmission tunnel so I'm going to take the console to him and if it doesn't cover he'll just have to do it again because I don't think I can live with it patched up, fortunately we have plenty of material.

 

This will give you an idea of how it's going to look.

 

 

Cheers

Dad

 

[Whittie]

At $120 per meter he'd better not waste too much of it!!!!!!!

[KatoKid]

What is the material? Thinking of doing something similar.

[Whittie]

It's Alcantara.

 

It can be hard to get in small quantities (and horendously expensive) and I had to get 8m to make it economic.

 

Whatever is left over will be available for sale once we know we won't need any more.

[Grandad]

At $120 per meter he'd better not waste too much of it!!!!!!!

 

Don't worry Whittie he's not wasting it he's actually been a bit too economical with it but after doing a check fit of the console this afternoon I can report that all will be good.

 

 

What is the material? Thinking of doing something similar.

 

Whittie posted tis earlier in this thread.

 

The Alcantara sample card my Aunty sourced for me showed up today. This stuff is AWESOME!!

 

 

 

Our trimmer had never heard of Alcantara before we presented it to him, interestingly, yesterday he had a customer ask if he knew about it and to his customers delight, not only did he know about it he was able to show him his current Alcantara project.

 

I took our Alcantara marketing info to him this afternoon to give him some light reading material for tomorrows lunch but like me he couldn't wait wait for tomorrow, after reading the list of manufacturers using it he said, I think I had this in my Monaro, he then took me to his current Commodore and opened the door... no prizes for guessing what we found small patches of.

 

Cheers

Dad

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

The trimmer got a fairly clear run on the Zed today and is confident it will be finished by close of play so will be ready to pick up Monday.

 

It's starting to look really good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Dad

[KatoKid]

Mmmmmm....Alacantara...I'm getting hot for this.

 

Assume its glued on with some kind of sparay on contact adhesive?

 

Guarantees that it wont come "unglued" and look pox in  a few years time?

[Grandad]

Mmmmmm....Alacantara...I'm getting hot for this.

Assume its glued on with some kind of sparay on contact adhesive?

Guarantees that it wont come "unglued" and look pox in  a few years time?

 

It's designed to adhere directly onto solid panels hence the name "pannel cover soft" so should be good but given the amount of it we've used I won't be surprised if we do encounter some minor maintenance issues in high wear areas.

 

Cheers

Dad 

[Riceburner]

Wow, very nice 

 

The passenger footrest is fitted the wrong way around.

[Grandad]

Wow, very nice 

 

The passenger footrest is fitted the wrong way around.

 

Thanks for your interest in our build and that was well spotted Gareth.

 

When I got to the trimmer this afternoon he had already made the passenger side mat but was not aware of the foot rest so I went home and got it so he could modify the mat, here it's just sitting in place so he can work around it, in the next shot of this foot well you'll see how he's modified the mat to fit.

 

Cheers

Dad

[MaygZ]

That stuff looks great.  He has done a great job to get it to take all the contours.  Looks to be worth every penny.  Good choice of material and trimmer.  Love this car!!

[PB260Z]

Alcantara was in a lot of Audi's a few years back, really nice stuff.

This build just keeps getting better.

 

Awesome work

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

I hadn't heard of Alcantara before Whittie announced that he was going to use it but I must say that I'm seriously impressed with it. I found this on Wikipedia today.

 

Alcantara is a tradename given to a composite material used to cover surfaces and forms in a variety of applications. It can be described as an artificial substitute for suede leather. The material was developed in the early 1970s by Miyoshi Okamoto, a scientist working for the Japanese chemical company Toray Industries, and was based on the same technology of their other product Ultrasuede, produced around the same time. Around 1972, a joint venture between Italian chemical company ENI and Toray formed Alcantara SpA in order to manufacture and distribute the material. The company is now owned by Toray and Mitsui.

 

Alcantara is composed of about 68% polyester and 32% polyurethane giving increased durability and stain resistance. The appearance and tactile feel of the material is similar to that of suede, and it may be incorrectly identified as such.

 

Some versions are designated as flame retardant in order to meet certain fire standards for both furnishings and automobile applications.

 

Alcantara has applications including furniture, clothing, jewelry, helmets and automotive (such as in seating, dash trimming and headliners in many high-end OEM automotive suppliers). Alcantara is being used currently as a flame retardant driver seat covering material for Formula One race cars, including the Williams Formula One 2011 FW33 car. It is also used in the ear pads material for the high-end, audiophile headphones Sennheiser HD800

 

Alcantara is created via the combination of an advanced spinning process (producing very low denier bi-component "islands in the sea" fibre) and chemical and textile production processes (needle punching, buffing, impregnation, extraction, finishing, dyeing, etc.) which interact with each other.

Wow now I'm even more impressed, I found this amongst the Alcantara promo material.

 

 

And for anyone who may be interested this is their web address.  http://www.alcantara.com/#/en/home

 

Cheers

Dad

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

I currently have a cousin from Melbourne staying with me who has previously joined Whittie and I at both PI and Bathurst and has a keen interest in the Zed but while there's currently lots of Zed talk there's no Zed action, tonight he said that while he's here he really would like to do some work on the car so I'm thinking that tomorrow I'll find a little job that genuinely requires two people and get him to help so that he can legitimately lay claim to having played a part in the re-build.

 

The car's back from the trimmer and while the job is good, it's not as good as it could have been.  You may remember I mentioned in an earlier post that the trimmer (conscious of the material cost) was a bit economical with the it and cut one section short, well it turns out that there was not enough material left to replace that section so a bit had to be added, while that's not acceptable for a show car I have to remind myself that this is a competition car and for that purpose it is perfectively fine.

 

The section I refer to is the top of the transmission tunnel but by the time the dash and seats are in I don't think it will be an issue.

 

As Gareth noted, the foot rest is the wrong way round but when finally fixed in place it will be correct and at least the mat is easibly removable.

 

I do like this look.

 

Even the spare wheel cover's been done.

 

Paul did it for us here.

 

Cheers

Dad

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

Not much Zed action while my cousin is in town just red wine, reminiscing and tall story telling, I'm going to keep it that way because as much as he wants to help the reality is most of what's left to be done is one person work and as he doesn't really know what he's doing he will just distract me and slow me down.

 

On Saturday I did get him to help me on a job I couldn't do alone so he can genuinely lay claim to helping with the re-build.  The electric fuel pump and filter are mounted to the underside of the spare wheel well and have studs protruding into the well.

 

Before sending the car to the trimmer I gave this issue a bit of thought and decided that studs with nuts on was not acceptable then remembered that the new MSD mounts I used have a stud one end and a screw the other I figured reversing the fitting should be fairly easy so removed both before the trim was fitted.

 

The vibro mount reversal was pretty simple, while my cousin turned the screws inside the car I lined things up underneath and in a flash it was done, I'm thinking he's a bit disappointed that it all went so smoothly and quickly so I made sure he knew his assistance was essential as there's no way I could have done it alone.

 

Whittie has gone cold on the idea of entering Motorvation next year which is a bit sad because much of the detail work I've been doing had that event in mind but I've gone too far to stop now so I will have the car looking the best I possibly can when it's finished.

 

The time line for completion hasn't really changed because I received notification a couple of days ago from the car club were in that they're holding an afternoon/evening test and tune at Wanneroo mid January on a date TBA so that's what I'm aiming at and we also have the PI NDSOC accommodation booking we didn't get to use at Easter this year moved to the PI historics in March next year, so the car needs to be well and truly finished, tested and tuned by then, just in case we make it there.

 

Cheers

Dad

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

Well my interstate guest has gone so I can now concentrate on the Zed again but the time I lost while he was here means the car won't be going by Xmas but it will by new year and will be out on the track for a shake down mid January.

 

Rikki the sparkie called in for a couple of hours on Saturday and got a bit more done but without the dash in and fuses in the distribution box we couldn't power it up but he will be back just after Xmas and I'll be ready for him so we should be able to both power and fire it up then.

 

With the limited time I had available Sunday I decided to do a relatively simple job and fit seat belts what I didn't realize was that Murphy had a different plan.

 

With a bit of for-thought and planning all the parts we want to re-fit could have been cleaned and detailed while the car was with Will but needless to say that didn't happen so now I have to detail things before fitting them, I'd be so lost without my shoe polish and aerosol spray paint.

 

With the detailing done I mounted the belt stalks using eye hooks for the racing harness, the passenger foot rest has been secured and the pedal rubbers had a brush with a black KIWI.

I recon this interior is looking tuff I can't wait to see it completed.

 

We use retractable belts for convenience, they are a simple fit sitting on mounting blocks on the rear strut towers, I mounted them then realized that with them in place I couldn't fit the trim panels so off they came.

 

Whittie decided some time ago that having the plastic trim panels flock sprayed in black would create a nice contrast to the Alcantara so had them done then stored them for a few years under his bed which just happens to be one of his cats favorite hiding places resulting in more detailing for Dad.

 

They do clean up well.

 

That's where I had to stop but today I'll get some foam strips and double sided tape so I can finish the job.

 

Cheers

Dad

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

Didn't get to the trim today but decided to pick up some fuses instead which turned out to be a lot harder than it really needed to, I decided to drop into Jaycar and not really knowing what I needed I asked for distribution block fuses thinking that the Jaycar experts would know exactly what I needed so I left with some 60amp fuses that I didn't think were the right ones and they were a bit lower amp than I really wanted but they were the highest they had.

 

When I got home and tried to fit them it was obvious they were never going to fit so I decided the best thing to do is remove the block and take it with me.

 

Here's what I got from Jaycar clearly completely wrong and never going to fit.

 

Because the distribution block is designed for car audio application I did the ring around of car audio stores and auto parts shops with no luck, no one had a clue what I was after, I found what I wanted on the net but don't want to wait so kept searching locally, eventually I found what I thought would do on the Jaycar web site so back I went armed with the part number, finally I'm getting somewhere or so I thought, when I got there they couldn't find it even though the computer said they were in stock, eventually they did find them but they were maxi fuses and what I need are the mini variety so they gave me a refund and sent me on my way referred to an electrical wholesaler.

 

I thought I recognized the name of the wholesaler and it turned out I have bought some 240volt stuff from them previously but they don't carry much 12 volt stuff anyway the guy who served me started asking where it came from and what it was for, when I told him what I'm using it for he opened right up, turns out he has a 76 Toyota Crown and is right into old Jap cars and said he found some hard to get parts from Ashdown Ingram which fortunately was in the same suburb so off I went.

 

I found them tucked away out of sight in an industrial complex they have a rather large warehouse so I'm guessing their business in primarily wholesale, anyway when I showed the sales guy the distribution box and asked for fuses he knew exactly what I was after and presented them to me immediately, he asked what I want to do with them and when I explained that they were replacing some fuse-able links he said "that's just as well because you can't buy fuse-able links any more they went out of production five years ago so existing stock is all that's left" I don't have an issue with fuse-able links going out of production but I did think that for those Zed owners who want to keep their cars in factory spec it might be worth trying to find some just in case there ever needed.

 

This is more like it.

 

And here it's been re fitted, another little job done.

 

In case any one is interested here's a link to the Ashdown Ingram web site, looks like they have branches all over the country.

http://www.ashdown-ingram.com.au/

 

Cheers

Dad

 

[CroS13]

Yep I have a Ashdown Ingrum's right around the corner from me. I have used them to source parts to repair forklifts many times while on the road, and i gave them a shot when looking for parts for my Datsun.

 

The young bloke that served me didn't really seem that enthusiastic to help, saying "nah we don't stock parts for that", Luckily, one of the old boys that was sitting behind him overhead, came up to the counter and once i mentioned i was after parts for the Dato, well he warmed up right away, politely told the young bloke to "piss off" and spent the next half hour going through all the old books to help me out with parts, turned out he used to have a SSS stanza back in the day.

 

They got me all the bearings and brushes for when i rebuilt my alternator, got me a new starter motor, all off the shelf, and old boy told me whatever i needed to come in and he would be happy to help!

 

Good to know that they do those distribution blocks, i might upgrade the old fusible link wires too.

 

Rudolf.

[Grandad]

Hey Rudolf

 

Great to see you're chilling on the Zed forum just over a week out from your big night. :)

 

I'd never heard of Ashdown Ingram before today but I'll keep them on my radar from now on, they don't actually have the distribution blocks, that came from the US via ebay but they do have the fuses.

 

It's really interesting how much difference a sales attendant can make, early in the re-build we had an issue with extending the length of the steering rods and finding suitable tie rod ends we went to a Pedders store and were told they couldn't help so we went to their local head office and by chance were served by the state manager who couldn't have been more helpful, he sent our requirements to they're R&D section in Melbourne and a week later we had the parts we needed, pitty you can't tell when you walk into a store just who the helpful staff are.

 

Enjoy your big night Rudolf.  (Like I bet no one has ever said that before)

 

Cheers

Dad

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

In preparation for re-fitting the trim I recently retrieved the door cards from storage in Whitties former wardrobe (where his cat couldn't go) and delivered them to Paul the trimmer so he can re acquaint the vinyl that over time has let go of the backing so it will look good as new when I fit it to Whittie's car. 

 

I got to fit a few trim pieces today and have to say that it feels really good to know that in a re-build of this magnitude by the time you get to be doing this type of work, the end is not far off but first things first, clean up after Whitties cat.

 

What a surprise, more detailing.

 

Here's how the wiring protruding from the sill looked pre trimming.

 

And here's how it looks now with trim in place.

 

Because of the cage we had to cut the rear quarter window trim in half, fortunately we've been able to do it so that it's almost undetectable,  I like the look of the flock sprayed panels but sadly I don't think they are going to wear all that well.

 

Rear hatch trim fitted.

 

I know it's not finished yet but I'm liking the look.

 

Cheers

Dad

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

Got a little more done today, when the car was on the hoist after the engine and gearbox were fitted I noticed how crappy and out of place the gear box mount looked so I fixed that today now the only jobs that require the car to remain up on jack stands are fitments of the speedo cable, reverse light switch and bleed of the clutch but I will leave it up because it is a comfortable working height for my tired aging back.

 

I spent most of my time today inside the car cursing the roll cage but managed to get all the rear trim fitted.

 

For those few of you who didn't twig that the dome light is on...We have POWER.

 

Cheers

Dad

[Whittie]

Were there supposed to be pictures in that reply? I see gaps but no photos?

[Grandad]

Were there supposed to be pictures in that reply? I see gaps but no photos?

 

I can see them ok is anyone else having difficulty seeing them?

 

Cheers

Dad

[lightmaster240z]

Sorry but yes they are still missing

[Whittie]

I can see them now.....

 

Well, one of them