Leroy the EK Ute

[Errol62]

Far out Craig. Odometer will still be out of course. I’ve got a bucket full of speedos to try this out on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[thebrotherj]

progress has been slow but steady... I’m still coughing up nasty stuff after yesterday’s session scrubbing the rear floorpan & wheelarches, then welding up holes and finally painting with rust convertor (where needed) and finally underbody goob. There were rust holes on both sides in the same spot:





these got filed out to some good metal then patched and painted. Also welded up cracks where the arches split up the top after all the hammering to get em back into shape





All the rear axle/spring hardware is scrubbed clean and rust treated ready for paint.



Haven’t sorted diff centre yet, I’m spreading out the bills... also waiting on new slipper pads for the springs and I’m yet to work out what to do with the incorrect spring pad rubbers I received: ute pads are thinner (on account of the extra leaf) than sedans - I wound up with a sedan set. I reckon I could make it all work, as I have longer U-bolts with the lowering blocks I got, the extra rubber will also make it a wee bit lower again...

I also entertained the idea of losing one leaf as I don’t think I’ll ever be carrying hugely heavy loads, but maybe that’s a project for later on. See how it sits & rides first.

Finally, the fuel tank is back. Old mate did a great job with huge patches on the dodgy sections and a tidy repair at the sender hole-edge. He also resoldered the filler neck and tidied up. It’s not pretty overall (I’ll give it a clean and paint) but he gave it a light pressure test and says it’s all good. $120 is pretty reasonable too I reckon.







There’s a bunch of solder blobs rattling around inside it, I’ll rig up some heater hose to my vacuum cleaner and try suck ‘em out through the sender hole. Any hot tips on a better way to get em out are welcomed!!

Cheers, Joe



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Errol62]

I fitted Ute springs to my sedan years ago. No issues with the stock rubbers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[thebrotherj]

I fitted Ute springs to my sedan years ago. No issues with the stock rubbers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sweet, I figured as much, the thing that got me thinking was that the metal plates that are sandwiched between the rubber pad and diff housing/bottom plate are different design. Recesses for U-bolts in Sedan but not Ute.

Again, should be cool, I’ll just suck it and see


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[In the Shed]

Getting there Joe,
You gotta be happy with the repairs to the fuel tank for that price. At least you know it ain't gunna give you any trouble once your mobile. There can't be too many other things for you to pull apart is there?

Regards
Stephen

[thebrotherj]

Getting there Joe,
You gotta be happy with the repairs to the fuel tank for that price. At least you know it ain't gunna give you any trouble once your mobile. There can't be too many other things for you to pull apart is there?

Regards
Stephen

Haha you summed it up right there - I can’t help myself. If I ever say “let’s do the bare minimum to get rego and go cruising”, then I strongly suggest you set aside at least 12 months and several $K before you see results...

I still have a few things to tackle after the rear end goes back in. Tank in, paint tray, wooden floor in. Sandblast & paint wheel rims, fit tyres, get alignment. Fix oil leak at gearbox & adjust shifter. Fix leaking clutch slave (again). Underlay & carpet in, handbrake in, vinyl-paint the seat & install. Glue in door seals. Sort out ignition barrel. Install HEI dizzy when it’s ready. Bed-in motor & oil change.

There is a nasty bit of rust in the box section where the LHR spring front mount is. That will be tackled next, not looking forward to contorting myself under there with the welder. Geez I want a two post hoist.

Oh and yes, I tried to repair the fuel tank in my old Centura. It was in an awkward spot but I had a go. After four attempts, I sent it to old mate who fixed it for $50. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again ;

Onwards...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Harv]

I may have one kicking around Blacky. I gave one to one of the FE/FC newstarters a while back, not sure if it was the last one I had. Remind me by PM next week (when I am home again) and I'll take a look in the spare parts department (EKmart, Western Sydney franchise ).

Sorry Blacky, I checked the spare parts department, and I only have an 23-tooth FE/EK one left. I could smack the speedo gear in the mouth until it only had 22 teeth, but I'm not sure it would read too well .

Cheers,
Harv

[Errol62]

Hey Joe
Not to quote Hendrix. With the underside repair, what my mate does is tip the body on its side so the roof gutter is resting on a tyre sitting on a 44 gal drum i think it is. With the engine and trans out two can tip it so it just balances on some old wheels then prop up lifted side with couple pieces of timber. Just a thought and no I haven’t tried it.

With the rims I recommend soaking in citric acid to get the rust off then a quick clean up can be done. Pressure washer gets most of it. Then in the super heap bead blast cabinet to tidy up.

Cheers
Clay


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blacky]

I may have one kicking around Blacky. I gave one to one of the FE/FC newstarters a while back, not sure if it was the last one I had. Remind me by PM next week (when I am home again) and I'll take a look in the spare parts department (EKmart, Western Sydney franchise ).

Sorry Blacky, I checked the spare parts department, and I only have an 23-tooth FE/EK one left. I could smack the speedo gear in the mouth until it only had 22 teeth, but I'm not sure it would read too well .

Cheers,
Harv

no stre4ss mate, cheers anyway I tried looking on a few Seppo websites a few years back thinking they might be the same as early 50's Chevs but it seems they are a bit of a one off ......

[thebrotherj]

Hey Joe
Not to quote Hendrix. With the underside repair, what my mate does is tip the body on its side so the roof gutter is resting on a tyre sitting on a 44 gal drum i think it is. With the engine and trans out two can tip it so it just balances on some old wheels then prop up lifted side with couple pieces of timber. Just a thought and no I haven’t tried it.

With the rims I recommend soaking in citric acid to get the rust off then a quick clean up can be done. Pressure washer gets most of it. Then in the super heap bead blast cabinet to tidy up.

I have seen this done also! Would take some balls to attempt that for the first time also I'd say...
My driveline is in the car and not coming out again, I hope. Previously I had an EK Sedan (The HOF) up on a rotisserie in this garage so I know I have the height and width to tip my ute, but I'm not really game to try it. I think I'll just get it up nice and high at that corner and do my best. Promise I won't whinge on here too much

Cheers for this tip. I am actually really looking forward to trying either molasses or citric acid bath on the wheel rims, never tried that before but, with all the success stories I see on here/elsewhere online, it really is about time I did

[Errol62]

Must admit I don’t know I’m game to try it either. When the time comes I may get mate Ian to help. He’s only got about 80 cars in his collection mainly needing work. I reckon he’s done it many a time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[thebrotherj]

Joe,

I have a full diff out of a sedan and maybe some brake drums if you want it, out of one of my wrecks yours if you need it.

Regards Greg

Hi Greg, I sent you a PM re: diff

Cheers, Joe

[thebrotherj]

Fuel tank is ready to go back in. Blobs of solder from the repairs got vacuumed out with the help of some 5/8 heater hose...





Sender is in, employing a new Rare Spares gasket & screw kit (the sealing washers are pretty neat) and finally primed & painted the lot. I trashed one of the new screws using it as pilot to clean all the threads so there’s an imposter Phillips head screw in there from my stash. Whaddya gonna do eh.





Off to collect some parts to get my diff/rear axle back together this weekend. Cheers Joe



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Errol62]

Smik j


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[FireKraka]

Looking good mate great progress

Neil