got it back and dry fitted it... very close overall match...
1st step was removing the stock Eunos Bar... which is easy if you have done it before (installation of HID driving lights)
then remove the black cold air intake piping over the radiator.
Hardest bit was removing the black body bumper piece behind the actual bar. (you cant get spanners in there... and had to loosen by shaking the f**k outta the black body bumper to loosen the rear nuts)
I roughly Cut the back out of the R33 bar with a jigsaw, i'll hit the air con tubes, or whatever they were.
Now this is the first real dry fit... the sides of the bar almost are a perfect match to the shape of the 30x, which is a massive relief...
Sarted to actual Cut-n-Shut process... the most nerve racking step..
Before anyone say it, yes i looks messy atm... but it's only the start of the process...
Trimmed out he front of the bar (in the center evenly) to bring it in
Cut edges brought together. just how i wanted it.
To improve the structure of the cu'n'shut, i cut the bottom "off-center", incase i hit a bird etc, it wouldn't have as big of a stress point
I quickly used an offcut from the skyline grille/spliter to hod the two pieces together
With the side indicator covers on.
Another one of the offcuts fitted perfecly in the top groove, so with some full thread screws I fastened the 'bracket' to the bar to join the top.
Now looking much neater... the bottom is yet to be joined.
For the sides of the kit to fit properly along the body contours, I had to cut the skyline bar around the existing lights.
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I always love it when the gap between the synapse closes just enough for ingenious ideas to sprout...!
I was thinking about how I was gonna attach the top of the skyline kit to the chassis... i ummmmed and arrrrd for a bit, not really wanted to fab anything up.
I shot a dirty glance at the old stock eunos bumper like I was about to kick it... then low and behold, I remembered that the mounting brackets (off the eunos bumper) were not only removable with a few nuts, but were steel and relatively easy to bend into the correct shape!
So i removed the mounting bracket, bolted it to the chassis, and brought the two halves of the bodykit together..
PRESTO!
the kit was together!!!!!!!!!!!!!
next step is the final accurate cut toi join the two halves together.
tools I will be using.:
I'll use this to preheat the poly, but not too much, as i have found it shrinks... :-/
Use the soldering iron to do the actual weld.
stay tuned for more...
PS: Sneak peek at the job so far.
Dry fitting the Eunos lip kit...
Corner shots
With the top half held together with a "G-clamp" I welded the two halves together.
With offcuts I used it like solder, heating the offcut first, to a temp where it becomes very very soft, gently heat the place I am about to weld, switch to the soldering iron (I had an old soldering iron i belted the tip into a spoon shape) and with a spreading motion, weld in the offcut.
I didn't get pics of me cutting the bottom part to size, (sorry)
but its the same process, measure, cut a little, re-measure... I never took out more then 5mm from each side (1cm) at any one time.
A dremal with a 4mm drill bit (Yes! a drill bit attached!) Because the headlights are glass, you can run the drill bit along it without scratching or chipping the headlight. its great to get accurate shaved pieces from around the headlights.
In this pic, the cut is messy because i used a hacksaw blade without the handle, easier to go around corners, but har on the hands.
you can see that its much smoother now.
Still needs some slight shaving. Bare in mind that this is a very precise but fun job, (and very messy lol) little bits at a time, at about 3/4 speed in the dremal, you don't want the drillbit to "Bite"
looks messy, but just needs sanding/bogging.
I couldn't figure out how I was going to attach the new bumper to the body without fabbing something up, i just wanted someting easy yet strong.....
i looked around my shed for something I could modify to suit the job, when I cast my eyes over at the stock bumper.... WOW, hang on, there is a mounting bracket designed for that exact job! lol
(Which I reattached)
1st layer of BOG. ignore the two blobs either side, they were little cracks.
I couldn't find my camera for the initial sanding steps, but it's pretty simple..
Bumper sanded, and white paint to get an idea how the top would match the bonnet.
Not properly fitted, but a quick corner shot.
I didn't take any pics of modifying the skyline lamps, but i used the drill bit in the dremel to cut out the hole on the RHS of the light housing below to fit the indicator bulb in... and little notches to hold in the lamp holder.
(don't ask about the 10c coin, lol.. dunno why it's there)
fitting lamp holders
Now the left side is bulging because the back of the skyline lamp holder is too deep and is pushing hard up against the chassis, I'll need to trim the back off to bring it back square.
