Jackal Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 (edited) I picked up my new toy a month and a bit ago, and finally figured it was time to start a diary of the build. First a little about myself. My name is Duane and I have been a car guy for a long time now. First car I had was a 1968 Beetle that turned into a full custom show car. Basically all show no go. I moved into a Lada Niva after that, and boy do I miss Natasha to this Day. She looked like a peice of crap, but it got me into the bush for a days wheeling, and never left me stranded when it came time to get home. Funniest story with Natasha was pulling a small Coke delivery truck off a pile of snow at the local gas station when there were a bunch of bigger trucks and owners looking on in disbelief. Most recently I got into Subaru's and had an 03 WRX with an EVO III 16G turbo swap (Betty). I have competed in auto-x for the last three years but really got serious the last two. An opportunity to purchase a 7 came up, and I could not pass it up. Enter Beatrice. Here is a shot of her the day I bought her, In fact I had owned her for less than 5 min. It is a repost from the Alberta "introduce yourself" thread, but I figured it would be allowed at the start of the build thread. Edited October 5, 2011 by Jackal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 Unfortunately Beatrice did not yet have an engine, and I waited a few more weeks to pick her up. The man I purchased her form was kind enough to drop her on a motor, and we were in buisness. Shortly after that I came to pick her up. A pal offered to assist by towing her back, but I would need to help him with a little side project. As it turns out, his Mother in law deals in Pez, and had located a large collection up for purchase in the same area as Beatrice. I had hoped to enjoy the looks of approval for the fantastic car I had just purchased, on the ride home, but as you can see, nobody could see past the PEZ. :banghead: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancylad Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Keep the pics coming Duanne, really looking forward to this build thread. Cheers Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 Keep the pics coming Duanne, really looking forward to this build thread. Cheers Steve Will do. I have had to rent/borrow a garage from a guy I met through the Subaru club. (Westernsubaruclub.com) and I managed to get a corner I can work in. As expected the car has a bunch of parts missing and as such I spend much of my time behind the wheel making motor sounds. I am currently drawing up a PO for the Zetec plumbing kit, fuel pump, Jenvey intake (twin two barrel) and alternator bracket. That should get me moving again. I have gone through the car and torqued everything to spec. Everything except the nut on the back of the uprights, the one that also holds on the fender bracket. I can't for the life of me find the spec for that nut......anyone here know? My big project until more parts arrive is sorting the driving position. I am a shorter fellow at 5'6", but my co-driver (and generally better half) is all of 5'. I find that with the pedal box all the way towards the cabin, I still need the seat partially moved forward to be comfortable, but this doesn't feel comfortable for the arms. Karina (the better half mentioned earlier) still can't reach the pedals when the seat is all the way forward. I was thinking about fabricating some extensions for the pedals to the tune of around three inches. Has anyone run into these challenges? On with the pictures.... (This one courteous of Bill) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XR4Bill Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Keep at it Duane, summer is fast approaching. :driving: cheers, Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted October 6, 2011 Author Share Posted October 6, 2011 Bill, I find myself saying I have lots of time, but I know that there will be a crunch time to finish the build. Next time your in the garage, could you send me some pics of how your shoulder harnesses were mounted to the car Please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirkinBernie Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Duane, here is a pedal extension fabricated by Craig Taylor at one of the Se7ens Festivals a few years back. Enjoy your Birkin! Bernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XR4Bill Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Bill, I find myself saying I have lots of time, but I know that there will be a crunch time to finish the build. Next time your in the garage, could you send me some pics of how your shoulder harnesses were mounted to the car Please? No problem Duane, I will do that tomorrow for you. Or you could show up at the last Auto X event of the year at Deerfoot Mall and take as many pics that you need. cheers, Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted October 6, 2011 Author Share Posted October 6, 2011 Duane, here is a pedal extension fabricated by Craig Taylor at one of the Se7ens Festivals a few years back. Enjoy your Birkin! Bernie Thanks Bernie, That's exactly what I was thinking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted October 6, 2011 Author Share Posted October 6, 2011 No problem Duane, I will do that tomorrow for you. Or you could show up at the last Auto X event of the year at Deerfoot Mall and take as many pics that you need. cheers, Bill. I happen to be free this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancylad Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Bill, what time does the Auto X run. We are in Calgary this weekend, birthday party.. might be able to drop by for a look see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XR4Bill Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Bill, what time does the Auto X run. We are in Calgary this weekend, birthday party.. might be able to drop by for a look see. Steve, set up in the early morning so the event should be starting at approx 9:30/10am. It should run through to approx 4:00/4:30pm. Its on Sat the 8th of Oct. This is the last event of the year unfortunately. Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersportsp Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Simple project for you. Swap your front wheels. The directional tread is backwards... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted October 6, 2011 Author Share Posted October 6, 2011 Simple project for you. Swap your front wheels. The directional tread is backwards... When it was delivered, all the wheels were on incorrect accept the drivers rear. All that need to be swapped now are the spare and the rear passenger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted November 2, 2011 Author Share Posted November 2, 2011 Still been pretty quiet, but I have a lot of parts on the way, so I should really be able to make a few jumps forward in the project soon. I sent out a couple parts for powder coat to Top Gun Coatings in Calgary, and I got the parts back today. The service there is great, they got the parts done in four days, for a great price. I am not a fan of chrome on my cars, and I knew that looking into the back of the headlight buckets was going to drive me nuts. I got the buckets, headlight arms, windshield uprights and the front fender arms powder coated a flat black that sort of looks like the canvas of the tonneau. Here's a before and after of the buckets. http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/d459c764.jpg http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/a506360a.jpg http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/c9ffba8a.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pi7ot Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 I have the chrome on my car. I toyed with the idea of going flat black with the headlight buckets, but then I realized that I was using them for rearward vision blindspot checks. Eventually I'll get the car dechromed. Yellow and Black looks Mighty. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted November 2, 2011 Author Share Posted November 2, 2011 I like the look of yellow and black for now, but the long term plan will include a respray to a gunmetal grey/silver, with the stripe in red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted November 6, 2011 Author Share Posted November 6, 2011 (edited) The Birkin windshield appears to be riveted together and I am not so keen on pulling it apart to powder coat it. I'll wait until the windshield needs replacing and purchase a frame in black. For now though, I will use one of my favourite materials for DIY projects...... Plastidip. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a spray/dip plastic in many different colours. In the past I have used it on foglight covers, front grills, and even dashboard components. I like using it because it is very resilient to chips and cracks because it remains pliable when dry. http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/c9ce99c7.jpg For some reason I got a little crazy with the tape, and taped the entire glass surface. http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/227d7497.jpg I have scuffed the surface with a 3M pad, and cleaned it up. I'll be spraying it in the next little while. I live in a condo that I rent, and don't really have a good place to spray the frame. http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l294/nivaguy/21904444.jpg Edited November 6, 2011 by Jackal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlumba81 Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Neat tip. Might want to cover up the button snaps if you plan on using the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 The Birkin winscreens come apart really easy, 2 rivets each side that you drill out and it pulls apart and then replace to put back together, be carefull with the Birkin glass as its heated I broke mine and had it replaced with normal glass and I sure do miss the heated fron screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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