Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

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Harv
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Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by Harv »

Ladies and Gents,

Figured I’d start a thread for the new ute. This one was purchased for my daughter, who has inherited her father’s love of old Holdens. She was doing her own grease and oil changes and rebuilding carbs in primary school, so I figure she can learn a few more skills on this one. Plan is to preserve it for now, and let it sit idle until I get the EK wagon on the road. The ute then becomes the next project, aiming for a tidy up to original spec.

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The ute was previously a Queensland car, and was located in Toowoomba in 1999 with rego NPV105. Sold by Gary Ziser to Dave Mac in Sydney a few years ago, and recently bought by me.

Subframe number: EK18708B
Engine number: B319029
Firewall plate:
EK2106-9112S
TRIM 563-983 (Mephisto and Chianti red)
PAINT 585-4685 Silverton Grey Dulon solid acrylic lacquer (a 1962 colour)
INSERT
TOP

Looks like the engine has been rebuilt, or at least given a decent tidy up. Starts easier than the FB :oops: . Apparently the head was rebuilt, which looks right – nice rust-free gasket surface and new gaskets. I’ll give it some running hours to free up the valve train, then run a compression check and see how healthy it is. Gearbox operates nicely through all three gears and no unusual noises. Some oil spray underneath says that it has had a pinion seal let go at some stage, not sure how long ago though. Brakes are operable, but front left and right rear wheel cylinders stick in the bores. Might free up, though the brakes need going through anyway.

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Body is pretty damn good – very little rust. The two floorpans are shot, but not badly so. 5c piece sized bubbles in bottom of each front guard. Passenger’s sill has a hole in the leading end. Small rust hole under battery, and evidence of earlier battery repair. Tailgate, doors and spare wheel door look good. Body has been repainted at some stage, with a pretty fair job done. Car has had a small shunt on the drivers guard, just under the blinker fitting. The driver’s rear quarter had been stripped before I bought it, and had just started to pit. I cleaned off the surface rust with a Strip-It disk, killed the pitting with rust converter then gave it a prime and a few rattle-can coats of epoxy enamel. The colour on the can lid was waaaaay lighter than how it came out, so the rear quarter is now badly mismatched. Looks ugly, but it is only there to preserve the panel for now… respray to come at some stage. Still have to vacuum the debris out of the panels and fishoil it, but that is a good job for Number 1 Daughter.

Tonneau has had a hard life, but will do for now. As far as I understand it, the original tonneaus did not have the elasticized shock cord, and used lift-the-dot studs, presumably mounted on the tub top edge (?). The ute has double-height lift-the-dot studs (with self-tapper ends) under the rear window, then riveted shock cord fittings along the side. Does anyone have any idea why double-height lift-the-dot fittings were used? Single-height ones are normal for mounting tonneaus to panels, with double-height ones use to join to thicknesses of tonneau together. I assume the double-height ones are not original? If someone has some photos of an original tonneau I’d appreciate it.

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Seat trim is very neat, though the inserts have been replaced with perforated grey vinyl ala 1980s. Door cards are nice too, just some small tears where the handle reinforcing plates have rubbed.

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A little bit of the cars history came in the ashtray – entry pass for the Darling Downs Veteran and Vintage Motor Club Inc.

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Cheers,
Harv
327 Chev EK wagon, original EK ute for Number 1 Daughter, an FB sedan meth monster project and a BB/MD grey motored FED.
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FireKraka
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by FireKraka »

Nice Harv great to see another Ute that will see the road again, seems like a lot of Utes being brought back to life lately flavour of the moment.
Regards
Neil H
Member of WA FB/EK Car Club
Frankenstein EK V6 Ute
FB Station Wagon Project
1950's Commer Light Truck (2.5 Ton)
D-MAN
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by D-MAN »

Good to see your daughter has inherited great taste for cars!
Great project
parisian62
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by parisian62 »

What a good Dad you are! :thumbsup:
Feelin free in a '61 FB.
Member of FB-EK Holden Car Club Of NSW Inc.
Check out the Rebuild of Old Timer
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Errol62
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by Errol62 »

Lucky girl! Looks like a good sound run-about. Yoots are cool.


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getting my FB ute on the road
EK van on rotisserie
In the Shed
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by In the Shed »

Good score Harv,
Looks like the basis of a great project. Once your daughter hears your wagon fire up she might be seeking an engine transplant?

Regards
Stephen
A day in the shed beats a day at work!
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Harv
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by Harv »

In the Shed wrote: Sat Apr 22, 2017 10:38 pmOnce your daughter hears your wagon fire up she might be seeking an engine transplant?
There's a spare 327 sitting under covers under all those bicycles. If she brings home a chassis kit, we may be in trouble :ebiggrin: 8) .

Cheers,
Harv
327 Chev EK wagon, original EK ute for Number 1 Daughter, an FB sedan meth monster project and a BB/MD grey motored FED.
ardiesse
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by ardiesse »

Harv,

That's a very nice, unmolested ute.
You've probably got all the glass, but I have a spare EK windscreen plus reveal moulds that I've had at home for 35+ years . . .
Oh, and wheel cylinder pistons don't free up with use. You just end up with dragging brakes, followed soon afterwards by fluid-soaked linings.

Rob
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Harv
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by Harv »

ardiesse wrote: Sun Apr 23, 2017 9:35 pm Harv,

That's a very nice, unmolested ute.
You've probably got all the glass, but I have a spare EK windscreen plus reveal moulds that I've had at home for 35+ years . . .
Oh, and wheel cylinder pistons don't free up with use. You just end up with dragging brakes, followed soon afterwards by fluid-soaked linings.

Rob
Plans are to keep it as unmolested as possible. Needs seatbelts though.

I was planning on a miracle for the brakes, but should know better. They need to come apart.

Cheers,
Harv
327 Chev EK wagon, original EK ute for Number 1 Daughter, an FB sedan meth monster project and a BB/MD grey motored FED.
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FJWALLY
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by FJWALLY »

Hey Harv - great looking ute - glad you found a solid one.

Re the Tonneau I believe mine is the original factory fitted so if there is anything I can supply let me know - It's in awesome condition as we found it rolled up behind the seat and looking at it I reckon it's been there for the majority of it's 50 odd years.

the clips on mine are definitely small in order to keep the material close to the metal to reduce leaks I assume.
You will find me lost somewhere!
In the Shed
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by In the Shed »

Harv wrote: Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:39 am
In the Shed wrote: Sat Apr 22, 2017 10:38 pmOnce your daughter hears your wagon fire up she might be seeking an engine transplant?
There's a spare 327 sitting under covers under all those bicycles. If she brings home a chassis kit, we may be in trouble :ebiggrin: 8) .

Cheers,
Harv
:thumbsup:
A day in the shed beats a day at work!
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Harv
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by Harv »

FJWALLY wrote: Mon Apr 24, 2017 6:18 pm Hey Harv - great looking ute - glad you found a solid one.

Re the Tonneau I believe mine is the original factory fitted so if there is anything I can supply let me know - It's in awesome condition as we found it rolled up behind the seat and looking at it I reckon it's been there for the majority of it's 50 odd years.

the clips on mine are definitely small in order to keep the material close to the metal to reduce leaks I assume.
Thanks Wally. The photos of the tonneau on your thread look really neat. The lift-the-dot studs running on the top edge of the tub look a lot better than the bungy cord on mine. If you get a chance, can you please take some photos of the stud placement and the tonneau construction? There is a tonneau manufacturer near work, and the photos will help me have a conversation with him about price/difficulty.

Cheers,
Harv
327 Chev EK wagon, original EK ute for Number 1 Daughter, an FB sedan meth monster project and a BB/MD grey motored FED.
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FJWALLY
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by FJWALLY »

will do Harv - I'm heading away for a couple of weeks from this weekend but will see if I can get some pics and measurements before I go.
I had my first drive in it in 10 months on Friday and will hopefully get it back in the next day or so once he has ironed out the rough spots in running.
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Harv
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by Harv »

The ute is pretty much in a state that I can leave it for a while. It got a coolant flush on the weekend (new skill for Grace), and had it’s first stuck needle and seat (no fire, and another good learning for Number 1 Daughter).

I know I have to concentrate my time on getting the EK wagon finished, but figure I can use also use the time to do some thinking, and stockpiling of parts. This is my first ute, so I figure I’ve got some learning to do. Some questions please (apologies if they have been covered elsewhere):

a) The ute has a door lock on the passenger side, but none on the drivers side. This apparently is normal. Can someone please remind me on GMH’s logic to having the lock on only the passenger’s side?

b) The ute needs some form of tunes, though I am keen not to butcher it. I bought a RetroSound radio (http://www.retrosoundusa.com.au/index.php) for the EK wagon that has a nice period finish – chrome, pushbuttons, twist knobs. It bolts into the EK, and clears the wiper arms and glovebox. It’s got all the USB/iPhone stuff, and enough grunt to drive some heavy 6x9’s. I figure I’ll buy another similar radio for the ute. The only drama I have is speaker location. I can get a modern, split (stereo) speaker that bolts into the original speaker grille (RetroSound supplies them). I figure the sound will be pretty average though. Any ideas please on how to mount speakers into an EK ute without cutting huge holes in the bodywork? Worst comes to worst I will put them in the doors (using some old butchered door trims) though prefer not to.

c) The old tonneau is pretty much buggered. I had a cunning plan to use a motor trimmer in Queensland to get one made up, but he needs access to the car (which is in Sydney). Can anyone recommend a tonneau manufacturer in Sydney please? I could get A Stitch-in-Time to do the job (Mr Mifsud did a great job on my seats), but would prefer someone who is making tonneaus every day.

Cheers,
Harv
327 Chev EK wagon, original EK ute for Number 1 Daughter, an FB sedan meth monster project and a BB/MD grey motored FED.
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WayneXG95
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Re: Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

Post by WayneXG95 »

Harv

a) The ute has a door lock on the passenger side, but none on the drivers side. This apparently is normal. Can someone please remind me on GMH’s logic to having the lock on only the passenger’s side?

I did read somewhere that they did this so you weren't standing in traffic when opening the door :-)

Wayne
Wayne Chambers
President
FB EK Holden Car Club of N.S.W
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