Widebody crushed on boneyard :(

JA83 · Post by **JA83** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 9:23 pm

i think everyone would be keen on a widey glass kit???

thrash · Post by **thrash** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 9:44 pm

nobody wants narrowbody glass fenders eh.... think of the weight savings..

i suppose if we're getting widey fenders, we should also get widey suspension arms etc?

1320ft · Post by **1320ft** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 10:13 pm

Why dont we just make some glass replica wide bodies and be done with it!

redzone · Post by **redzone** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:47 am

Yep to fit on a vw chassis lol

enthuzed · Post by **enthuzed** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 2:05 pm

So I reckon you'd get about 9 sets of rear quarters in a container. Then fill in between each set with 4 wheels, a set of guards, front shocks & control arms, LSD, torque tube & half shafts, arms & hubs. And some mirrors!
In the US, an uneconomical repair means paying say $1500 to $2000 for all the bits plus 1/9th of freight costs & duties...

Do-able?

Or maybe we go the glass panel route & get some pointers from LxS on the nb to wb conversion. Then it's mostly just mechanicals to bring in...that translates to more sharing the costs...
Oh & driving light lenses & surrounds!

Rob26t, front bars are available in glass, I'm making glass 3 piece wings (still in progress but slow) so we've got bit to start.

MrBishi · Post by **MrBishi** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 2:58 pm

Say $2K for parts for one conversion (mechanicals, wheels, body panels) including shipping (I think $2K is skinny). How much do you think bodywork + respray costs? Then think about the RHD late model stuff for the interior (made of unobtainium here) and compare the total costs to importing a J-spec widey.

You are dreaming if you think there are big savings to be had.

redzone · Post by **redzone** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:41 pm

i remember LXS's site saying that she should have just bought a genuine one as it would have been cheaper

i do very much want some spare front & rear guards for my widey for in case i stack it...

enthuzed · Post by **enthuzed** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:29 pm

MrBishi wrote:Say $2K for parts for one conversion (mechanicals, wheels, body panels) including shipping (I think $2K is skinny). How much do you think bodywork + respray costs? Then think about the RHD late model stuff for the interior (made of unobtainium here) and compare the total costs to importing a J-spec widey.

You are dreaming if you think there are big savings to be had.

All that's really left is the seats & climate control unit, correct me if I'm wrong.
So you could retrim the seats & color match the rest to be a replica of a widey or save the coins and go with the interior the car already has.
Most cars are a work in progress anyway so when people have enough time and money they do the next job.
A lot of people here do much of the work themselves based on info on this forum, so with good instructions those select few that want to do the conversion could have a go & save a fair bit putting on glass guards and doing most other bits themselves.
Who here would end up happily spending the same price as importing a WB by building it themselves as time & money permit?
Rego details don't change, no compliance matters to attend, then there's the weight saving benefit of glass bits....

redzone · Post by **redzone** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:15 am

outer guards are all well and good, what are you gonna do about the inner rears? you'd have to mini tub your car.

NXTIME · Post by **NXTIME** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 4:30 pm

Dave, you would just extend the inner rear guards to suit the widey 1/4's.

If people really wanted a widey, Phil in North Queensland was selling his widey for around $10K (plus shipping to you and your state registration costs). It would cost that if not more to convert a NB into a WB.

Climate control retro-fitting, interior upgrading (seats mainly), suspension and drivetrain changes, and then rear 1/4 replaceent & full re-paint (these two alone would be $5K), plus the price of sourcing the parts and having them sent over.

I have been through all this years ago when I had the idea of converting my old JA.

It would be only possibly worth it if you were planning on doing most of these things anyway.

jk · Post by jk » Tue Jan 11, 2011 10:57 pm

NXTIME wrote:If people really wanted a widey, Phil in North Queensland was selling his widey for around $10K (plus shipping to you and your state registration costs). It would cost that if not more to convert a NB into a WB.

I was thinking exactly the same thing, nice manual widey for about $11K, why would you really bother converting??? Even the black auto with ssr's went for a song in my opinion. If I lived on that side of the country and was real keen for a wb I wouldn't be thinking about a conversion, I'd already own one of those two mentioned and be living it up.

But a total fiberglass body on a vw chassis? classic LOL

JDSTAZ45 · Post by **JDSTAZ45** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:54 pm

^^^^^

Hey jk, how would you like to get your teeth into this widey from the US. Thankfully it's not going to the wrecking yard. You can still keep your sig... LOL

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... MEWAX%3AIT
The listing started at $250 with a Buy it Now price of $600

I'd love to put this one in a container!! :)

JDSTAZ45 · Post by **JDSTAZ45** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:04 pm

BTW...As some will know, I'm doing a widey conversion on ex Mitsumadness' GSR-V which has rear quarter damage.
I have most parts except the rear quarters which I will looking at bringing in this year...

So, in other words this will be a mock A184A which will be identical as they have the same interior and running gear...(not sure about the diff though)

:beer

NXTIME · Post by **NXTIME** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 7:21 pm

Mal, converting a GSR-V is a great idea as you really only need to do the bodywork and repaint. You wouldn't need to do the suspension either, but it would be a good upgrade to get the 1988/89 rear end.

Having said that, just doing the 1/4's and repainting the car in a quality finish will cost $7K including parts.

Either way it isn't a cheap exercise.

jk · Post by jk » Thu Jan 13, 2011 2:25 am

JDSTAZ45 wrote: Hey jk, how would you like to get your teeth into this widey from the US. Thankfully it's not going to the wrecking yard. You can still keep your sig... LOL

Yeah I don't hate the colour combo but there'll be no widey for me in the near future, especially a LHD basketcase.

Truth is I did consider both phil's black widey and nacho's gsr-v when they came up for sale. But both were going to be a little too expensive in their own ways, and I feel I've come too far with the jb to back out now. New 4stud wheels, small jb style lsd and ex anchor sohc head/cam/inlet manifold for a mild 2.4 build all waiting in the wings and useless on those cars, I'd just loose too much to gain relatively little for what I need/want. Not to mention the genuine HJ GTS Monaro coupe I still need to partially put back together. The damn Starion was meant to be the daily :roll: LOL

And not to play my sympathy violin, but my wife was diagnosed with a bowl cancer tumor mid last year resulting in immediate surgery and 6 months of chemo which is still ongoing. All this 3 months after our wedding, we're only 32 and been together since we were 17, so obviously my little car modding adventures have almost ground to a halt. Stiff upper lip and all that though :)

Austarion

Widebody crushed on boneyard :(

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