From ‘72T to 2.5 S-R: GeLo Racing #44

911hillclimber · Post by **911hillclimber** » Wed Sep 03, 2025 10:42 pm

I know exactly what it takes to put 'progress reports' together and many times for very little feed-back, but sometimes tons of support and solutions.

I do the reports to assemble a story of a project for myself, and happy to share esp if it gets a good response, but it sure does take time, and my projects are all DIY and I'm well retired so have lots of time.

I'm personally really interested to see anything on rebuilds, be them DIY or 'sponsored' by the owner.

Other forums are the same, the mix is exactly the same, no big deal for me.

Sometimes the threads are truly astonishing, the thread I started elsewhere on my Lola project in 2008 has just turned 3200 posts and 1,300,000 hits, and really delivered along the way.
The motorcycle rebuilds are along the same lines but smaller, and the very small projects are really minor!

Each however are fully documented.

This thread has been fabulous, as are several others on DDK over the years, too many to mention.

matteo68 · Post by **matteo68** » Thu Sep 04, 2025 10:35 pm

Thanks for the kind words Graham.

I realise this probably isn’t quite the same as the more typical DIY build threads as I don’t possess the necessary skills, space, time or tools to do this project myself but the 1m views in just 4 years does seem to suggest that there is plenty of interest in it, even if the work detail is light and number of posts pretty low.

However I will keep posting pictures and details as far as I am able - it’s a the first ever car build I’ve ever been involved in so it’s quite the learning curve!

911hillclimber · Post by **911hillclimber** » Fri Sep 05, 2025 10:41 am

Just keep it coming!

A million hits is a big number to grasp, but just shows the interest.
I think the DDK total pool of 'observers' is far greater than I think, more of a lake!

I am very DIY and that brings up a whole different box of frogs to deal with...

matteo68 · Post by **matteo68** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 10:33 pm

At Greatworth today - two mega builds in progress

neilbardsley · Post by **neilbardsley** » Tue Sep 16, 2025 12:27 am

I think I saw them posting about the car on the right? 2.5 twin spark?

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matteo68 · Post by **matteo68** » Tue Sep 16, 2025 7:47 am

Car on the right is Angus’ SWB hotrod!

matteo68 · Post by **matteo68** » Tue Sep 16, 2025 1:30 pm

Stripping the Bilstein struts down was proving to be quite a challenge after the donor car sat stationary for decades in Hawaii - nothing would pull the bushes out until Joe welded up a puller but they’re out now and ready for vapour blasting, primer and a nice coat of John Deere green paint this afternoon…

matteo68 · Post by **matteo68** » Tue Sep 16, 2025 7:36 pm

And in other news we are having another go at flaring the series steel rear quarter bumpers just as the factory did it back in late ‘71 / early ‘72, having made a bit of a mess of it a year ago…

We cut the top section of the bumper back to just in front of the second deco trim hole and then cut out a piece of cardboard as a template for how we want the flare to blend forwards from the front edge of where we made the cut into the rear edge of the wheel arch, following the curve of the arch when looked at from above:

The inserted flared metal section will also be rolled to match the rest of the existing bumper.

We are also using photos of Matt Blast’s S-T 0495 prior to its disassembly and restoration from many years ago as a guide to how the finished flare should look (this car was never touched beyond fitting a ducktail and fibreglass bonnet during Vasek Polak’s 25 year ownership until 1997):

matteo68 · Post by **matteo68** » Thu Sep 18, 2025 12:38 pm

Rear bumpers are coming on a treat - this is a really tricky job but Phil at Greatworth Classics is doing an excellent job with the benefit of just focusing on a single car rather than several like we did last year and got ourselves in a muddle (some pairs were slightly different as these bumpers were modified in the Sports Department, most likely by different people).

hashman · Post by **hashman** » Fri Sep 19, 2025 3:04 pm

What lovely curves you have Matt!

Karl

matteo68 · Post by **matteo68** » Fri Sep 19, 2025 3:26 pm

hashman wrote:What lovely curves you have Matt!

Karl

Ralph · Post by **Ralph** » Sat Sep 20, 2025 2:17 pm

That bumper looks lovely. I wish that I had gone with flares instead of staying narrow body.

matteo68 · Post by **matteo68** » Sat Sep 20, 2025 2:25 pm

Thanks Ralph! It sure is a lot of work but it’ll be worth it!

matteo68 · Post by **matteo68** » Wed Sep 24, 2025 9:30 am

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