Tank the 144!!

Well i thought i would create a thread all about Tank.
Tank was Born in August of 1969, and she rolled out of Gothenburg with a B20A single Zenith Stromberg and BW35.

My Father purchased Tank in January 1983 and has been the family car ever since, up until there was no use for her any more. 3 years ago, my father no longer needed her, so i decided to take good care of her. There are far too many memories Like family holidays all over the east coast of Australia, me and my brother both learning to drive for her to get sold or scrapped.

Over the years, the engine has been swapped to a B20B, first with single carb, then dual carb, then back to single carb, then back to a fully rebuild B20A which is now in place.
The Gearbox was converted from the BW35 to an M40, and then later on in the early 90's to a Celica 5speed steel case with Dellow Bellhousing.

Just about everything on the car has been replaced at some stage during our ownership. The only thing that is original is the Body and paint! Both of which are in great condition after nearly 42 years of abuse!

Anyway, Tank is a pleasure to drive around, and she turns heads everywhere she goes.

Here are some pics:

heres one from a snow trip about 10 years ago.



here are some ones i took today:



















hope you enjoyed the pics!

Those rear belts are awesome!

Wheel restoration

Time has come for some serious restoration on the 144 wheels. I successfully was able to find 4 5.5" rims, but they were in sad shape.
Paint had crows feet all over, and rust coming through all the cracks.

So i had to strip them all back to bare steel. I used 80 grit white paper, which i found to be the best. paint stripper wouldnt touch it.
Sanding these wheels is very hard work, as the openings cut the crap outta your knuckles.

Anyway, here are the pics:

Before, not looking too good ay?:




Sanded to bare steel:




In 1k Self etching Primer:




In 2k Urethane Hi fill primer:




+ guide coat:




All Done!







Here are all the Products used in order to get a professional finish and forever lasting job :



From Left to right:
- Chemspec Laquer Thinners
- Transtar #6184 Self etching 1k primer
- Transtar #6414 EZ sand 2K urethane primer & #6937 Activator
- Berobase Basecoat in VZ commodore Silver
- Genrock 2k super fast clear and H500 activator
- Genrock S811 normal speed Urethane Reducer

dayum. you dont mess around do you?

Parcel Shelf

The rear window was leaking, so i removed it, treated the frame and replaced it with a new rubber.

however over the years the water had ruined the parcel tray so i had to make a new one.

looking kinda sad:



here is the new MDF parcel tray. I painted it with Primer to seal it, cause MDF turns to crap if its exposed to any moisture. this should help it last a very long time.




here is the new one all done. its covered in brown marine carpet left over from when i did the speaker boxes in the 740. very happy with how it came out.
I also resprayed the speaker grille in VHT matt black, as it had started to get surface rust. So now the colour scheme is inverted from original.

the rear license plate visor thing was all yellow, cracked and ugly looking as it had been in the sun for 43 years.
So i gave it a freshen up with some #799 silver with a 2K clear.

this was the most diffficult thing i have ever painted, as no matter what i did there was always a reaction and the plastic started to crack and the paint would fry up.

I eventually got it to work in the end tho, and it turned out great!

Got some new old stock original mudflaps!
thanks V speed!!

the old:



the new:





they made a huge difference to appearance, much more fresh.

next on the list:

- fit front bumper from spac as its much neater
- repaint radiator satin black
- repaint booster satin black
- repaint sill seam satin black
- repaint butt cheeks satin black
- new underbody sealer in wheel arches (buy new schultz gun)

Looks good. Just need to fix that steering wheel.

top knotch there,,140s are the best

any updated shots?
that is one fresh ORIGINAL 140! ive never seen one that clean, especially after two engine swaps, a few tranny swaps and countless miles of abuse
looks AWESOME, i look forward to more pictures.

edit; what happened to the visor, rear louvers, and roof rack?

They are all updated shots except the first one.
I have the roof racks, rear louvre and visor here, but too old man style

YLD244 said:

They are all updated shots except the first one.
I have the roof racks, rear louvre and visor here, but too old man style

Click to expand...

Duuuude, rock the visor. I freakin' love those things.

As always, your OCD yields awesomeness.

Any Updates Marc? Love it

YLD244 said:

They are all updated shots except the first one.
I have the roof racks, rear louvre and visor here, but too old man style

Click to expand...

would be awesome with the above on!