Leroy the EK Ute

[In the Shed]

Ouch......... just another diversion in life you didn't need. Hope you get it sorted soon, we want to see the ute on the road, although probably not as much as you.

Yes it's a bummer re photobucket as many of the posts I have looked back on contain no pictures, which is a shame for all enthusiasts.

Regards
Stephen

[thebrotherj]

Sorry to hear J. Don't suppose there is a Portuguese version of Coopers Sparkling you could have done a classier job with.


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Hahaha touché




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[thebrotherj]

So I’m back on the tools after a hiatus forced upon me by the recovery from surgery.

Front brakes & clutch are bled. That was a lot easier than bleeding Generation 1 ABS brakes on an 80’s SAAB 9000 let me tell you...

Gear selector rods all re-sized, re-bushed and adjusted. Managed to semi-dismantle the lower column mechanism in-situ and got that nylon trunnion in without too much cursing... I think I installed it around the right way?? Seems to work pretty good now.



Next, I tackled wiring. Made new battery leads, then check each circuit & cleaned up every contact from the dashboard forward. I’ve thrown in a full set of new fuses, dash globes, a solid-state flasher can and a much needed new headlight switch. Managed to get the old single speed wipers operating at just over a snail’s pace... will re-evaluate that situation once I convert to an alternator in the near future. The GEN light stays on when running, so I only have 11.5 volt currently. I reckon a full 14+volts will get the wipers moving ok.

Let there be light.





I’ll update on the rest soon

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[In the Shed]

Hi Brother,
Good to see you back on the tools. Is there a particular reason why your going to an alternator? If the generator light is staying on it maybe that the cut out is not closing (inside the regulator box) or the generator has no output which in turn won't cause the cut out to close.

Regards
Stephen

[thebrotherj]

Hi Brother,
Good to see you back on the tools. Is there a particular reason why your going to an alternator? If the generator light is staying on it maybe that the cut out is not closing (inside the regulator box) or the generator has no output which in turn won't cause the cut out to close.

Regards
Stephen

hey mate, it's good to be back alright. To answer your question: I don't know yet. I might read up on regulator adjustment and crack it open for a look.

To be honest, I'm after a bit more amperage anyway, with H4 headlights, stereo and hopefully a heater (with fan) all going in. Plus a new, red-motor spec 55amp alternator can be bought real cheap.

Cheers, Joe

[FireKraka]

Hi brother j really pleased to see you back on it mate.
How's the finger going now after the surgery is it 100%.

How about you pack you drums and guitar and bring Leroy over for the nationals in WA mate
Regards
Neil

[thebrotherj]

Hi brother j really pleased to see you back on it mate.
How's the finger going now after the surgery is it 100%.

How about you pack you drums and guitar and bring Leroy over for the nationals in WA mate
Regards
Neil

ah Neil, I'm not even sure if the ute can make it out of 2nd gear, let alone across the Nullabor! I also have no faith in bakelite timing gears... not road-tripping it until I can confirm there's a metal cam gear up front.

Finger's ok, for now. One of the two screws didn't take, so it popped out. 'Spose the surgeon tightened it till it went loose, then backed it off half a turn, and hoped for the best haha
So they're gonna let it heal till Jan then have me in for another surgery to remove both screws. Bloody nuisance!

[thebrotherj]

some more progress pics and yarns:







This is actually a freshly kitted and cleaned Stromberg (you should’ve seen it BEFORE)... and yeah, that’s a choccy milk bottle filling in as a temporary fuel tank. Pleased to say that the old Grey kicked over instantly, no shortage of spark from the original BOSCH tin can coil I found in my parts stash too. The fuel pump eventually coughed up some scale so I cleared that and added a filter before a maiden voyage.

He grabbed gears ok and the brake pedal stayed firm for a short trip out down the back lane. The extractors and ‘trumpet’ tailpipe have that blatty sound, I will change to a turn down outlet I reckon. I never got the idea completely settled, I’m now wondering if it’s running a warm cam. Probably just a vacuum leak haha

Good to have a chance to see the ride height... and how rough the body really is in full sunlight. Oh well, we’ll get there. Pleased that the rear is exactly 2” higher than the front, lowering blocks will sort that right out.







heaps more done since then, stay tuned.


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[Harv]

Gotta love a milk crate test drive . It's not too bad in a ute, but the sedans and wagons have a nasty habit of spitting out the milk crate at the most inopportune times. Don't ask me how I know .

Cheers,
Harv

[thebrotherj]

Gotta love a milk crate test drive . It's not too bad in a ute, but the sedans and wagons have a nasty habit of spitting out the milk crate at the most inopportune times. Don't ask me how I know .

Cheers,
Harv

hahahahah I'll bet!! It's that damn hump in the floor

[Errol62]

Reminds me of when I worked as a 19 year old casual in the Chrysler factory at a Tonsley Park and had to drive a Regal with no front seats up a ramp and round a tight corner with Armco rail either side. No milk crate, just squat on left heel and drive with right foot. Lucky it was auto. Tell that to the young folks of today blah blah. Think the factory is a uni campus now and our biggest export is education rather than building cars...... oh well.

What are those wheels Joe? Aren't you running 4 1/4" pcd?

Good progress mate.
Cheers
Clay


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[thebrotherj]

Reminds me of when I worked as a 19 year old casual in the Chrysler factory at a Tonsley Park and had to drive a Regal with no front seats up a ramp and round a tight corner with Armco rail either side. No milk crate, just squat on left heel and drive with right foot. Lucky it was auto. Tell that to the young folks of today blah blah. Think the factory is a uni campus now and our biggest export is education rather than building cars...... oh well.

What are those wheels Joe? Aren't you running 4 1/4" pcd?

Good progress mate.
Cheers
Clay


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Yeah I know that feeling!! I had many hairy drives in seat-lass SAABs up the ramp to the rooftop carpark at the dealership I worked at in the 90s... Milk crate was only reserved for manual cars hahaha

Yes I am running 4-and-a-quarter PCD, but these wheels are 15's from a Commodore. Don't ask me how they're bolted on there
They're the only tyres in my shed that hold air, suffice to say, I haven't decided what wheels I'll be running when it's finished. My ex-HT Monaro steelies look great on it, but foul the steering knuckle. I'll work something out.

[Errol62]

Right. 4 cylinder Como ran the 4.25” PCs but not 15” I think. The 4 cyl discs are an option for conversion if you want to keep the early wheel pattern.


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[In the Shed]

Good to see the ute getting some daylight. Would have been a short squirt with that fuel bottle!

[Harv]

My ex-HT Monaro steelies look great on it, but foul the steering knuckle. I'll work something out.

One option is to put in a set of spacers in the steering arms (with thanks to Stinky who showed me this many years ago when I was figuring out Commodore rims). See the red circle in the photo below:

tie-rod clearance spacers.jpg (72.93 KiB) Viewed 892 times

Cheers,
Harv