Project 2.

[Brett027]

Does anyone know what these seats are out of? I'm thinking these will be going into this ute once they are re-trimmed.

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[Errol62]

Look a but like VB Commodore to me.

FB ute driver, EK van project

[Blacky]

Yep - agree , early Commode, they look good once you throw the headrest away and retrim them

[Errol62]

Good bolstering. You'll be able to throw it around the bends. I vaguely remember some nice roads heading from Golburn to perisher down your way.

FB ute driver, EK van project

[Brett027]

Thanks gents. Thought they might have been but no idea really.

[Brett027]

A couple of days of down tools to catch up on other jobs.
Today: Set up inner sill marker/spacer with install of repair section of crossmember2. Set seat support member at right hight to assist crossmember1 patch panel.
Cut out door section of sills. Photos showing ute inner sill support for those who have not seen how it works before.

Certifying engineer coming this evening to set me straight on HR front end, collapsible steering column, mountingrack and pinion steering, M20 gearbox mount and 2nd crossmember brace, seat mounts and brake requirements.

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[Blacky]

If you are going to use those seats and you are cutting that much floor out it might pay you to replace the lot and get rid of the hump ? Will give you some headroom if required - I cant put later model thicker base seats in my cars because my head ends up against the headliner ..... when I used to race speedway I had to weld a plough disc into the headplate in my roll cage to get the required clearance to pass scrutineering !!

[Brett027]

Thanks Blacky. I'll talk it through with the Engineer later today.
One of my jobs is to test mount a seat to see how much needs working. In any event I'll mount sills as per normal and then work out the flooring for the seats. Someone posted this bracket for commode seats on the forum yonks ago

[Errol62]

Thanks for that cross sectional photo Brett. I considered welding centre panel to outer as per original but using 1.2mm was worried I would have trouble pulling it into shape against the inner. Factory centre looks to be 0.9mm?

Box section under the seat is formed by overlapping front and rear floor panels. Pic of passenger side on the van.
Unfortunately the floor pan patches don’t go that far.


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

[Blackdog]

Hi Brett,

That sill cross section, is there any drain point between the outer and middle sill panels along the sill? I know there are weld reliefs between the outer and the inner, but what helps drain the outer/ middle cavity?

When rebuilding I have only seen outer and inner sills as replacement sections, is there a middle you buy or jut make it up? Or leave it out?

Sill replacement school is now in session.

Blackdog

[Brett027]

Thanks for posting Brett. Copper seems popular lately. I will give it a try, when I eventually get back to the van.


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

Had an interesting conversation with the engineer tonight about weld thru copper rich primer after he saw it everywhere on this build. He said people were having problems with rust appearing in about 5 years where copper rich primer had been applied and then welded over. His preference was a zinc based weld thru primer.

I have a couple of thoughts about this: Firstly, it is a 'primer' so my expectation is that where it has been used, either something like POR 15 or at a minimum, a water proof 2pak etch primer goes over the top once fabrication is finished and the the whole thing is flooded with cavity wax. For Wilma, I sprayed POR15 into the A, B and C pillars and inside sills. Then oversprayed with cavity wax. Did same inside crossmembers and k-frame. Secondly, where I can, I respray the copper primer to re-prime over the finished welds. I do this because the paint burns where it is welded over, so it is not sealing properly anyway around the weld area. My experiences using zinc rich weld -thru primers were exactly the same. It burns off where its welded and needs to be re-sealed. So, I'm thinking the lesson here is not to depend on weld -thru primers post weld as the only rust protection measure, not that the copper primer is failing.

I will cut up my cross section sill and report back on drainage methodology used for middle section. As far as I know you cannot buy a reproduction middle support section. On the sedan where it is only a short length under the B pillar, I made a set (photos in Wilma post, and in Daves Orange Betty post somewhere), on the ute I have welded RHS along the inner sill inside connecting to A pillar inner panel, and welded a extra support bracket onto the B pillar, but I'm still questioning if this is the right option, given the factory bracket supports the outer and my method supports the inner- two different outcomes. I think the only way to achieve the factory setup would be to weld the full length support onto the inner sill before attaching it to the outer. I can see all sorts of potential distortion issues ahead doing that.

Much to think about.

[Errol62]

The idea of weld through primer is that the zinc combines with the steel in the weld pool, effectively galvanising the completed weld. I’ve never understood why people suddenly started using the copper stuff although I did start using it myself.

There aren’t any centre sill sections being produced. Out of sight is out of mind. What I did:
Four or five cut outs along the bottom for drainage.


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

[Blackdog]

Thanks Brett and Clay

Clay I like the drain points you installed, I assume you lined up reliefs in the inner and outer sections where they join at the bottom at these locations?

Keep the schooling going!

Blackdog

[Errol62]

I put the inner sill drain holes one either end and one center as factory. At least that's my recollection. The centre section bottom sits slightly above these. I used 1.2mm zincaneal for inner and centre.

FB ute driver, EK van project

[Blacky]

A bloke on bookface recently installed a piece of SHS in his sills , that would stiffen things up considerably , and you could cap the ends to keep moisture out . If you are doing both sills could be an option ?