1330 Aspirations

[Vinay-RS]

Those subframes look absolutely amazing! I'd love to take the subframes off my car someday and get them black and shiny like those ones.

[DomMINIque]

Nice man.

Painted a subframe of mine once and it became shiny like that and then put the rest of the car to shame but my car hadn't been freshly painted.

Yours should go together very well.

[Grant]

Upper control arms before, during and after

   
   
   
   

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Steering rack before, during and after

   
   
   

Breaking down, cleaning, adjusting and reassembling the steering rack luckily sorted out the slight play I had on the driver’s side track rod but the real test will be when the car is back on the road.

This pinion damper arrangement with the spring washer had me guessing for a while because I couldn’t find anything resembling it in the various manuals/ part catalogues. I then found a post in an Aussie moke forum with someone struggling with the exact same thing and a very helpful reply saying this setup was common in Aussie built steering racks.
   

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Front subframe with new bits and pieces
   

Ready to go back in with new rubber cones, hi-los and upper control arms in place

   

New 5/16” (c8mm) copper fuel line bent by yours truly with my new pipe bender.

   
   

New main brake line and fuel line fitted and ready for the steering rack and the front subframe

   

[Vinay-RS]

I love the attention to detail on your build. That subframe with the new components looks spectacular! And that engine bay! Wow, a freshly painted engine bay just looks so special!

[Grant]

Another 8 months has gone by and I’ve made some progress, although never as much as I would’ve hoped to in the time.

I’ve been keeping an eye on GTSPhil’s progress on 1978/79 GTS and some of my posts are going to look pretty identical to his, apart from the colour and nose shape of the car.

Steering rack fitted before the front subframe can go in -

   

Tow hooks and front subframe mounts cleaned up and painted. I had to source a replacement second-hand tow-hook as the eye on one of mine had broken off.

   

Prep for the front subframe to go back in

   

And without much hassle, she was back in.

   
   

Fitting the rear subframe was a different story …

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Although I’m getting tired of cleaning things, it’s always so rewarding starting with a rough looking part with years of dirt, grease, and old paint on it, cleaning it to within and inch of its’ (and your hands’ life), and then repainting it so it looks like it’s just come off the shelf.

Prepping the rear subframe and its bits –

   

   

   

   

   

Getting the rear subframe in was a lot trickier than the front. Took four of us and a lot of persuading (which is a scary job when you’re trying to protect all the fresh paint) but it finally went in.

   

   

[Jared Mk3]

Really neat work going on here

[minitim]

Looking Great!. Rear subframe persuation sounds familiar!