Phil B's XB coupe

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by Coupes and More

iam gonna say one thing ....chin spoiler

I probably will one day, budget doesn't allow for one at the moment.

[Phil B]

Here's a few pics from November when I visited a mates place.


I love this angle


And the lovely Mrs. Very understanding, she even likes to ride in the coupe

[KOOP74]

Love the pics, great to have a Mrs that understands, mine doesn't !!!!

[GTB 351]

Originally Posted by KOOP74

Love the pics, great to have a Mrs that understands, mine doesn't !!!!

I'm with you there KOOP74, although mine did come on Jaf's Last Cruise with me which was a surprise. Trying to talk her into coming to the Hardtop Anniversary and making it a longer holiday. She accasionally needs to be reminded that I've had the GT longer than her!

[KOOP74]

Yeah GTB 351, I'd hate to see which way you'd go if you had to choose between the two! I think we'll just have to call this young lad "Lucky Phil'

[74xbkoop]

Here here for me as well! I'm in the same boat. Mine just see's a lack of shoes and handbags!

[bionic2006xr6t]

I have made it quite clear to mine. She understands the wedding car has to be finnished before the wedding. Just have to think up some excuse to get the other one done two.......hmmmmmm matching wedding cars...

Cheers Ryan

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by bionic2006xr6t

I have made it quite clear to mine. She understands the wedding car has to be finnished before the wedding. Just have to think up some excuse to get the other one done two.......hmmmmmm matching wedding cars...

Cheers Ryan

Exactly what I did. And I also got away with the engine rebuild because we're taking it on a 3500km road trip and we don't want it to break down!

Seriously though she's really good about it and I'm very lucky

[falconator]

Looks good Phil.

[darkside]

Originally Posted by 74xbkoop

Here here for me as well! I'm in the same boat. Mine just see's a lack of shoes and handbags!

you guys are going about it all wrong ,the coupe thats in the build here somewhere is for my wife so that she has to be part of it,just wish i could get mine started so i got less hair to brush...doc

[Phil B]

My parents and some friends of theirs have taken my coupe out to the lake today I'm told. My coupe, another Falcon, a sailing kayak, lake, friends and dogs. How Australian!

I was specifically told that the dogs didn't go in my coupe, very good to know!

[Phil B]

As we all know, pics or it didn't happen, so here's the coupe at the lake today:

Sticking its bum out behind the trailer!


I must say this is a good angle. I bought new tail light lenses today, as you can see the ones on there are very crazed and probably not very roadworthy.


And one of the boat, with the dog going for a sail too


Funny thing is as soon as my Mrs found out that my parents took it for a drive she freaked out, got worried that they would break it or something. Shes more paranoid than me!

[Phil B]

Hit my first real drama so far. Mechanic who was going to rebuild the engine and the painter have both pulled out on me! Time for plan B!

[cs123]

Originally Posted by Phil B

Hit my first real drama so far. Mechanic who was going to rebuild the engine and the painter have both pulled out on me! Time for plan B!

Get Simon (GreenCapri408) to put together an engine.

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by cs123

Get Simon (GreenCapri408) to put together an engine.

Yeah maybe. Looking at a few other local options first. Freight from and to an out of the way country town isnt the cheapest. The engine is fine so I'm planning on just giving it a mild rebuild, not a whole new engine.

Also I have a suspicion that my definition of mild is a bit different to most guys here!

[motorcycles4eva]

beautiful machine mate.. well done!@!! I'm betting you don't need convincing to jump in for a cruise..lol..
awsome ride!!

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by motorcycles4eva

beautiful machine mate.. well done!@!! I'm betting you don't need convincing to jump in for a cruise..lol..
awsome ride!!

Thanks! And while I was down in Vic I sure didnt! Drove it everywhere, coz I could

I'm now at the other end of the country, 4 days drive (only in the dry season), or a full days flights at 2 grand a round trip means the excuses need to be a bit more substantial these days My dad is looking after it while I'm away, hes not too bad at finding excuses either!

[falconator]

That engine will last ages,just replace those noisey lifters.If you want a little more grunt, throw a bigger Holley and intake manifold on.Get another complete engine if you want something to play hard with and put the matching number one aside.Awhile back we got a 351 complete for $600 off another member.It goes well and it does not matter if something happens to it.

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by falconator

That engine will last ages,just replace those noisey lifters.If you want a little more grunt, throw a bigger Holley and intake manifold on.Get another complete engine if you want something to play hard with and put the matching number one aside.Awhile back we got a 351 complete for $600 off another member.It goes well and it does not matter if something happens to it.

I'm planning on a bit more extra grunt than that but nothing close to pushing any limits. Yes the engine runs great now, definitely seems to have had the good life So I'm pretty confident that there wont be any nasty surprises when it gets rebuilt.

I have thought about another engine but I'm not able to store another engine at the moment, and why waste a perfectly good engine? Its not like I'm going to build a blown monster, unfortunately

The Mrs has approved the rebuild so I'm not saying no! She offered to go and look for a shop to do the rebuild for me and found another place that'll do the engine, just waiting for a quote back. And they put her onto a painter they recommend.

Did someone say lucky Phil?

[Phil B]

Well plan B of getting a shop in Echuca hasn't worked out for me, been 6 weeks since I asked them for a quote, no answer. And the Mrs has spoken, the engine has to wait till later this year. That's not too bad though, means I can do some work to it as well and save some money, and I'd like to work on it get some experience.

So the plan now is to get one of her friends from work to do the paint and radiator for now. So the question is, where can I get a good radiator? Due to circumstances, a local shop would be difficult, so online would be good.

A while back I mentioned about the heater hose fittings, I'll fix that up properly while the radiator is done. Is there 2 of them? I can't remember, just so I buy the right amount.

I also need a new fuel sender unit, will that just be one of the ones off ebay with the 5/16" outlet?

[Phil B]

Eh, second painter bloke has backed out. Gunna run out of letters in the alphabet soon...

[greenjgs]

Hi Phil I could have put you on to my guy but he's just proven himself to be an **** as well. What's wrong with these guys, make promises then break them as if it didn't happen. I do know someone that I can trust to do the job for you but he's a professional shop with good business sense and that unfortunately comes at a price. At least I know you won't get screwed. Cheers G

[Phil B]

That's no good. At least mine are for real, understandable reasons. First mechanic was for surgery, first painter was some family emergency interstate (hes an older, semi retired bloke anyway), second mechanic was the annoying one, just didn't get back to me, second painter was just a friend of my Mrs who offered but didn't promise anything and had to pull out because he's still in school and wont get the time.

Will try again with another painter bloke next week hopefully. One that the Mrs looked into before her friend offered, she said he seemed keen back then and it looked like he did a good job. Because I'm not there, and she can't drive it (P plates), her dad has to pick it up and drive it.

And it looks like I'll be busy when I do get home before the wedding. I'll have to finish organising the wedding, keep the Mrs happy after not seeing her for 6 months, keep other family and friends happy seeing them, pack everything and get 3 cars and a trailer ready to move and do a few things to the coupe... In 3 weeks...

[greenjgs]

Very busy boy Phil. Good luck with the wedding planning

[Phil B]

Oh and I have to drive from Gove to Darwin in my ute. 1000km all up, 700km of dirt track, river crossings ect and fly to Melbourne. Who needs sleep anyway? Should be good though, thanks, we think we have it mostly under control, yay for Hong Kong ebay!

[Phil B]

So painter number 3 quoted today, more than I really wanted to spend. But the Mrs gave the go ahead to do it now. We both figured it was going to cost that much to get it done properly anywhere, and we were better off doing it right the first time rather than risking it with dodgy jobs or half doing it. This means that the engine will have to wait for quite some time now, but it'll be much better in the long run, will give me plenty of time to plan the build.

[neptune blue]

If I were you Phil I would get the engine done first
No point paying for a nice paint job then having mechanics lean all over the front guards to pull out & refitting an engine

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by neptune blue

If I were you Phil I would get the engine done first
No point paying for a nice paint job then having mechanics lean all over the front guards to pull out & refitting an engine

The plan was to do both at once, but that didn't happen. The main priority was to get it looking good for the wedding photos, means the engine has to wait. So that's just the way it is. I'm hoping to do some of the engine work when I do get the chance, so I can at least be involved in the engine removal/install to make sure it's done carefully.

Here's some early progress pics the Mrs took when she went to have a look at the painters yesterday. They've just started taking a few bits and pieces off so far.

[Phil B]

Well the Mrs had another look at the coupe yesterday (after seeing a surgeon, yup, a bit like that...)

Anyway a bit more progress on the coupe, from the pics it looks like its been filled and sanded in spots. I'm pretty sure it's not going back to bare metal, just hit pretty hard with the sander to even it all up.

Some poor quality phone shots:




Got a mate who will order a new fuel sender and radiator for me and hopefully they will be waiting for me when I get down, give me something to do while I should be sleeping. Just hoping to hell its all ready to go by the AFF drags.

[Phil B]

The Mrs dropped in to the painters again. He's started shooting the colour on the smaller bits. Looking like its still on track, can't wait to go pick it up in 2 weeks when I get back.



What's that in the reflection? Stang?