I wasn't too sure about those tonneau bungee-cord clips. Part of me wanted to remove them, and fit Nasco-type lift-a-dots. The reason I kept the bungee-cord clips is that it lets you pile stuff up quite high in the tub, put the tonneau (or a tarp) over it, then tie back to the bungee-cord clips... not that I've ever done that .
Optimized-Towing 2.jpg (880.34 KiB) Viewed 651 times
Harder to do that with the lift-the-dots.
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.
Looking great Harv - Paint will be fine - thats the beauty of getting a new re-spray - very easy to touch up so I'm sure they can fix for you without drama.
Did you use a replacement spare door or was the orriginal still good? Mine is a bit cheesy and will take some repair but can't bring myself to get a rares plastic one.
Nut-sert idea from Black is cool - will pinch that too thanks Blacky - Why the double height pins though? Wont that let more water in as it holds the tarp higher off the surface? I'm going with nuts all around mine - might even get them tacked from behind so they can be painted and sealed from rust.
The original spare wheel door was immaculate. The ute had very little rust in it - bottom of one guard (old bad repair), small amount in both floorpans, small amount in tailgate hinges. Haven't seen one that clean before.
The ute had double-height studs when I bought it, From memory, the studs sit between the rear window and the tub lip. The double height helps get over the tub lip.
Did some homework on the nutsert guns, and ended up buying one from Bunnings. I bought the two-handle job, as apparantly the other type (like a pop-rivet run) can run out of grunt on the larger (and stainless) nutserts. The only drama I had is that the dies are for evil metric fasteners (M3, M4, M5 etc), whereas all my stuff is imperial. Can get imperial nutsert guns (or imperial dies), but have to import them.
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.
Had a very productive Easter weekend on the ute. The old man came down to lend a hand, so got quite a bit done.
Pulled out the leaky brake master cylinder, and had Burt Brothers sleeve and kit it. Bench bled, and noted to be a little slow on the return. Refitted it to the ute, and the sodding thing still wouldn’t return fast enough. Pulled it out and pulled it apart, tried rehoning it. Still too tight. The brand new check-valve in the end of the master cylinder was shagged, and not letting fluid return fast enough. Fitted a check valve from the spare parts department, and all good. Refitted the master and cleaned up the mess of fluid we got all over the bench. Replaced the front shoes with some that Burt Bothers rebonded for me.
Dynamat on the floors, underlay, carpet and kick panels. Had some spare red vinyl panels in the spare parts department (think these might have come from Greg?) that fitted beautifully.
Got the scuff plates out, some rust convertor, primer then three coats of silver hammertone. New stainless screws, and they look a treat. Put the inner door seals in, then removed the doors and put the outers in. Doors are a little tight, but not too bad (haven’t used any Rubber Magic yet, will see if they settle).
Fitted the bench seat, should have bought longer bolts (the original ¾” length struggled to deal with the extra thickness of the carpet and underlay, so had to use some spare parts department bolts). The only drama is that the vinyl flap that covers the parcel shelf is shagged (sun bleached and ripped). Was going to put a piece of carpet on the parcel shelf, but seeing the seat in-situ I am no longer convinced. Might have to make up a new flap and hand sew it on.
Refitted the front bumper, got some mounting bolts ready for NSW rego plates, and got some L-plate holders fitted.
Checked suspension play, and found the upper inner pins and bushes were sloppy. New pins and bushes from Rares. Will have to get the front end realigned at some stage.
Wiper motor refused to park, despite much encouragement on the earth lead. Replaced with a wiper motor from the spare parts department.
Fit the seal to the spare wheel door, and worked out how to swing the door without collecting the towbar. Made up some fancy straps to stop the door opening too far. So now you unlock and open the spare wheel door, and lower it gently until the number plate sits on the towball cover. Reach inside the cavity and take out the 1”AF spanner. Undo the two bolts and remove the towbar tongue. Lower the door more until the fancy straps hold it up. Reach into the cavity again and take out a 9/16”AF spanner to remove the spare wheel hold down clamp bolt. Remove spare wheel. Fiddly, but not being done every day.
Got a gentleman (retired windscreen fitter) from the FE/FC forum to come out and fit the front and rear screens. It really is an art. The Better Rubber front rubber fitted well, the Rare Spares rear rubber not so good. Had to redrill the holes in the rear rubber to get the support bars to fit. Refitted the windscreen wipers.
Looking to put it in for rego when I am next home from work.
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.
Errol62 wrote: Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:44 am
Want to swap those yucky FB hub caps for a proper EK set Harv? And do you need a glove box lid?
I thought about putting some EK caps on the ute, but apparently the Commercials came out with the plain FB caps (...and no drivers door lock, no dome light door switches, no cigarette lighter...).
The glovebox lid is still at the panelbeaters. Some idiot (who looks a lot like me) forgot to pick it up when he picked up the rest of the car . I figure I get it rego'd, then drive it over to the panelbeaters to pick up the glovebox lid. He can repair the guard while it is there.
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.
Spectacular! Wow Harv, I'm officially green (or should I say Silverton Grey?) with envy. Huge effort, feels like this came together very quickly indeed.
Do you have any photos of the hammertone scuff plates? I'm trying work out how to paint mine, that won't look garbage... seeking inspiration
thebrotherj wrote: Wed Apr 04, 2018 12:33 pm
Spectacular! Wow Harv, I'm officially green (or should I say Silverton Grey?) with envy. Huge effort, feels like this came together very quickly indeed.
Do you have any photos of the hammertone scuff plates? I'm trying work out how to paint mine, that won't look garbage... seeking inspiration
The ute was quick, as it needed little work. Not much rust, and most of the "bits" had been cleaned up in a previous resto about 10 years ago (just needed a good clean and polish).
Photo of the scuff plates below. The hammertone suits the era, is a little more forgiving of scuff marks, and seems to set a bit harder than normal rattlecan paint.
door openings.jpg (703.62 KiB) Viewed 570 times
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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