Trailstar Series 3 SWB rebuild

Cracking rebuild and pics , l like the patina on the bodywork

Nom, nom, nom. Tasty thread.

Just moving my way slowly through the parts that need zinc plating....every bit of preparation now makes life a lot easier down the track....!

Well heres the first lot of zinc parts back

















It's hard to put these back together now, not because I've forgotten how, it just looks amazing all coated like that....

That's gorgeous! Beauty overload at 9.15 in the morning!

LincolnSteve said:

That's gorgeous! Beauty overload at 9.15 in the morning!

Click to expand...

Funny how just a whole lot of parts like that can look so nice eh!?

They look very nice, are the little springs still springy
Do you mind revealing how much it cost for that little lot to be galvanised

steve2286w said:

They look very nice, are the little springs still springy
Do you mind revealing how much it cost for that little lot to be galvanised

Click to expand...

Yep the springs are still very springy...
I definitely will once I get the invoice! - keep in mind I'm from NZ
It's all electro plated, so while it's still a form of galvanising it is very different to Hot Dip Galv.

I do know the guy who is doing all the zincing for me pretty well, so he is cutting me a bit of a deal, but going by their per KG price, it is very worthwhile...

I still haven't received an invoice for the zinc parts yet, but no doubt it will come!!

Just a few more pics of general assembly, trying to get as much grease as I can in all the places that may never see lubrication for another 30 years!

It's quite satisfying knowing I wont need to worry about all these little niggles like I have in the past with my last series 3 that I tried to restore while using it every weekend!


Handbrake linkage or whatever you like to call it.....painted it black cause I'm fussy and it looks more original black.


New 4wd in Hi range knob, they were surprisingly cheap too!

The gearbox crossmember should be turning up this friday. Which means I can get on with coating the chassis.
I also need to get on with repairing the firewall, I have two new footwell repair panels to help fix it up, not sure what to repaint it with yet because I'm leaving the body as it is?....

New cross member welded in, ready for another blast before it's off to the galvanisers

Meanwhile my carburetor got stripped down the vaporblasted


Also lots of zinc plated parts to black, trying to keep it looking standard and not to flashy, so if it was black before I zinc plated it, its painted black afterwards too.

Now time for bending some curves into the bumper I got laser cut out, the will be getting hot dip galvsnised as well...



And i got myself a new toy too, fairly self explanatory title on the front of it...

Only 1.3l but it works very well for what I need it to do.


New spring shackles cnc plasma cut and drilled out for 9/16ths bolts


Some paint on the rims, I got a few tins colour matched to the original factory code


Some light fabrication to do....salisbury under a swb requires inboard spring mounts...thankfully the axle tube is good for mig welding and doesnt require any special sticks!


Chassis back from the galvanisers... just been cleaned down with isopropyl alcohol...


And after a few coats of 2 pack Unithane....




New Deestone 750.16 tires on the rims, on the new front axle, upgraded to a set of military 109/stage 1 axles.



Heres the salisbury casing gleaming after a coat of the unithane 2pack paint!



Tyres going on...yes I'm lazy and use the gantry crane for everything...


Looking better....hope to have a rolling chassis later in the week when I get some more parts back from the Zinc Platers...

Up to date now though I think...

I'm not sure what i'm more envious of, the work you are doing or the workshop your doing in it.

I am very lucky to have a boss that let's me use the workshop after hours....cannot complain there...