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242GT 1979 Group C Race Car

Marvelous ! Simply Marvelous! You're doing a swell job there, keep up the good work!
 
Extra trivia. The number plates were actually spotted 2 years ago still on one of the spare parts vans in Sydney by the original mechanic so they have survived a long time. What is really spooky was that he was on the phone to us for the first time talking about the car and sitting at a red light when the spare parts van pulled up behind him. Bizarre but true.
 
Well still in paint.

K and I spent the day today plundering the donor cars and picking the best exterior and interior parts in readiness for the cars return from paint. We cleaned and detailed all parts and placed them ready for fitment. We have only left a couple of item waiting for removal and fitment straight away.

Anyway here is the resulting pile

Mint headlining

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Rear parcel tray and passenger seat. We were very lucky as we have original Volvo speaker covers in excellent condition to attach

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Long shot of the pile. Tubs have heaps of pieces ready to go and bagged and tagged

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Lets hope I can deliver on promise of a painted car soon. Fingers crossed
 
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This car was supposed to be painted weeks ago! Why leaving us hanging. But really, this thing is going to end up incredible, that GT seat looks immaculate!
 
Sorry still not finished paint.

One of the last jobs we had to sort was some replacement bailey channel (window channel elsewhere in world) being the flocked rubber that the windows slide in. Searched the web for hints to no avail so visited a local auto rubber supplier with a bit of searching other stock lines the Volvo window channel is an almost exact match for Holden station wagon tailgate bailey felt. If you need some see www.betterautorubber.com.au and the product code is BR1012. Cost was AUD $14.70 a metre. We bought 5 metres for the 2 - 242 doors. Here are some pictures including a trial fit and window wind up.

Update 2019

It appears it may have changed part number.

Contact Better Auto rubber and confirm if old part number BR1012 but pretty sure this is new part number but please do research to confirm.

http://https://betterautorubber.com.au/product/hq-hj-hx-hz-wagon-tailgate-bailey-channel-tgbc1007/

Update 2017 - This has been in use for 2 years now. It would be great if the outer curved section was a mm or 2 longer as you will see in the picture that its is slightly smaller than the original part. Sometimes it may fold into the surround but it can be easily sorted. I have not found a better match yet so can live with the results

Update 31/07/2019

Saw a 242 today that used Holden Commodore VB-VL Bailey channel and a way better fit than the stuff I used and which is pictured below. The windows wound up better as it was not so tight and the person fitting it had done a fantastic job on joining the corners

Reference to one example Rare spares Holden Bailey Channel VB VC VH VK VL Commodore Front Door Part# RBC1065


And Betta Auto Rubber Categories: VB-VC-VH-VK-VL, VB-VC-VH-VK-VL Door Parts, VB-VC-VH-VK-VL Rubber Seals SKU: BC1008F


Below New is the BR1012 and not the VB-VL rubber mentioned in 2019 update

Old and new side by side

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Bottom to bottom. When the old is straightened out they are exactly the same width

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Pictured as trial fit into metal channel. Fits in very nicely. New on top old on bottom. PS only done for comparison on one of the wreckers. Will replace all on car when it returns

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Here it is with window wound up. Width good and no movement/rattle. A little tight but will loosen up with use.

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In terms of paint the car has had 4 light coats of silver and has been denibbed/lightly sanded back. Final 3 coats of colour and 3 coats of clear going on this week.

We are also in the process of fixing bottom of both door cards. Will post up pictures of process we intend to use and results.
 
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The wait is killing us. Still not back from Paint. Painter not happy with finish and is taking the time to get it right. We know him very well and he will be at all the race meets we go to so he and others will have see the results of his work on show, so have to respect he wants to get it looking best it can be. It will be our job to keep it looking that way. It is historic racing with original cars so it is as respectful as racing can be so we have more than a decent chance of doing so. Cant let that be top of mind otherwise you should stick to display laps and static displays. We want to go racing.

The only shot we have is after light coats of silver prior to final coats and clear.

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So to kill the pain of waiting we hooked in to cleaning up and separating our spare B23E engine and M46 gearbox. We had already done a compression check on the engine and it is spot on. A couple of months ago we realized it has a reconditioned head done in 2010 which means it has about 1000kms on it. The WUR and fuel distributor have been sent off to be reconditioned for the travelling spares kit.

We blocked all the open holes and hit it with degreaser and let it sit for an hour than treated it to some high pressure love. After all it was valentines day.

Here it is after the high pressure love

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Whilst in the air we pulled out all the water ingress blocking material to let it dry out and also dropped the oil and filter. Kris mid action

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We shouted the car to new oil suitable for long term storage as well as a new filter and ran it on a spare starter we had for a decent time to get the oil circulating. We also blew what we could out with air and everything including water jackets got a good dose of Innox. We separated the gearbox then the bellhousing from the gearbox. The gearbox will become part of our travelling spares kit so it was prepared to ensure it had best chance of actually being in working condition when needed.

On Bench ready for some work

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End brace made up to hold all the stuff at end of box (technical term) in place in transit.

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We are now sourcing the gasket and seal between bell housing and gearbox for travelling spares kit as well. We had to separate them as it will not fit in one piece in the belly pan of our trailer.

When deciding on best storage for engine we decided to make it a piece of industrial art in the shed until needed. Don't worry we will be blocking up any open holes to keep insects out and we will spin the engine regularly to keep the oil circulating. We used the Joe Gibbs high Zinc MR1 oil after a lot of research. I also used this in my old Group A car.

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MtNxqJdh.jpg

The journey continues
 
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A couple more interior clean up shots.

Rear Parcel tray cleaned up ready to go

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Close up of the rear speaker covers cleaned up

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And we were very lucky one of the donor cars had a crack free dash pad

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Paint on home stretch

Body all prepped prior to final coats and clear

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Roll cage being finished with a matt sliver finish to best match the aluminum cage that was in the car in 1979

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Don't worry the centre door pillar will be body colour to match original specification for this car in 1979

Like this

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Well rain hail or shine (yes we have a wild weather warning current) it is in the booth tomorrow.

Here it is as it stands today after its final rubdown after repairs on a couple of places the painter was not happy with.

Should have some pictures tomorrow night of it in the booth and hopefully the results.

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The time has come.

Today off to her date with the spray booth.

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Here she is in spray booth all masked up and ready to go

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With some nice coats of Mystic Silver #130

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And the clear coat

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It has been left in the booth overnight.

We were hoping for some photos in the sun tomorrow when it comes out of the booth but we have heaps of rain forecast so may not be possible. All the Black will be done in the next few days and we should have it back in our possession very soon for final assembly.

Will keep you all posted
 
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Best we can do for an outside picture on a rainy day but here it is back from booth.


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Over the next week painter just tidying up the cage and the door jambs etc as well as laying down the satin black on door top,sill, mirrors, rear and front window trims and side and front metal body strips. Once done he is going to give it a light sand with 2000 grit and a final polish.

Will update once we get it all happening. The push is on to get it done
 
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We pick up the car in two days time from the painter.

In the meantime I have sorted out the door cards. 1 was quite extensively damaged and the other not in too bad a shape from some boofhead not taking the minute to refit the plastic to the doors at some stage.

There is a thread here on turbobricks where they describe how to use fiberglass to repair the door cards. Gave it a go and can say that it worked a treat. Have managed to strengthen the cards in the weak spots and reinstate all mounting points to accept the clips. I did not remove the trim from the front as it would not come off the front of the board so I just lay the wrap section back to allow me to build up the bottom of the board and I placed plastic underneath and on top whilst it dried under timber to flatten out. Was very careful to ensure that the resin did not flow through holes that go all the way through and spoil the vinyl trim on inside.

Here is the worst of the door cards before starting

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Here it is after glassing under the press

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And here is the worst of the cards completed

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Just about to go under a slight press to stick the trim back to the backing board.

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It turned out better than it looks in the photo so it should go the distance.
 
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