hey cheers fellas! thanks for the support.

 

Didn't really get too much done this weekend... still no word back from my engineer so I went ahead and made a crossmember then fitted up the bags... it will have to do for now, until I get word back I cant really just chop into it as I would like, so I have to settle for it a few inches off the ground till I put in the notch! not happy!! not until its on the rails...





But I got the inside floor all painted up and sika'ed, also re-fitted the gas pedal to clear the tubs, haha no clutch flip needed for me thank god!
Still haven't started on the heaterbox yet, but now the pedals are done I have no excuse

 

Should have added, I'm off to look at a 1976 toyo stout over the weekend... guy about an hour away has 3 sitting in he's yard up for grabs... wants $800 for the one that has a tub side on it!! will post up picks after I have a look!

 

Any update on the heater box progress? And how about that stout??

 

Hey, been busy as... time for an update!!

the stout was a failed mission... went out to this blokes old farm house to have a look and as we drove down the driveway we were met by this creepy old man who was holding an old side by side 12ga... he asked us if we were lost, we let him know we had arranged to look at the old ute's he had, he abruptly stated 'nothing is for sale' and asked us to leave, he then proceeded to escort us off his property... I thought I spoke to him on the phone, turns out I spoke to his son about them and he failed to inform his father! So after ringing the son back he met us just down the road a bit and let us back in... after having a look at the stout's and a brief conversation with the son it was clear that he just wanted to sell as much of the old mans stuff as he could, while he was alive... nice. The son told me how nuts the old guy was and that his sister had control over the old guys will, and he needed cash so in spite he was selling off tractors and what not on the down low... after being brought up to date on the sons plans I wanted no part in buying (or kinda stealing from the old man) anything from him, and promptly left. (one of the stouts would have made a nice project, the other 2 were fingered!)
It makes me sad when I come across folks like this. What a world we live in today!

anyways, I have finished up all the sheet metal work on the wheel tubs in the front and rear... it came out good I think!

 

If you were asking yourself what all the light gauge aluminium is around the outside of the tub (and across) it supports a lid I have been working on made out of alu/plastic composite panel... 4mm thick overall, 0.4mm alu skin on both sides with polypropylene in the middle... it sits flush with the top of the tub, I will throw up pics when its done, still working on hinging and latches/locks.....

Gave all the bare metal a hit with some satin black...





Hung the doors and front fenders... still need to get the hood on and set all the gaps!

haha, I still haven't done the heater yet! I have only just finished up on the wiring loom for everything, as now all battery and main engine room relay/fuse box is located in the tub to clear out some space in the engine bay... so I removed the entire loom, unwrapped it and started the incredibly tedious job of adding, removing, lengthening, splicing and finally wrapping the whole thing back up and re-routing it... and would you believe it, it still starts!
So still no excuse, although I will most likely find one not to do it... but we are edging into winter so it is at the top of the list!!

 

Your ute looks like it is coming a long bud keep up the good work

 

Cheers mate!

pushed it out of the shed this morning to have a bit of a sweep up... thought I would post up some pics of it looking kinda like a real truck again! and to see what y'all think of the new tub lid?! (the panel I used came in flat white on one side and gloss white on the other, not great on the eyes out in the sun first thing in the morning!)

 

Finished up on all the engine bay stuff today... overflow bottle, carbon canister, throttle cable, and tucked all the headlight wiring, ballasts and relays in behind the front fenders just in front of the wheels...


also butchered the stock intake and removed the MAF sensor shroud/pipe and plumbed it all together using leftover intercooler pipes from a wrx...

moving the battery, the main fuse/relay box and a heap of wiring has opened up the engine bay a whole lot more!


I have been thinking about ways to modify my heater box to have it clear the tubbed section of the firewall... at the moment the plan is to follow Xs5875 and 1low's mod... here is a shot of the box before I start mucking around with it!
(the white line is a proposed cut)

 

Hey Happy Easter folks!!


We had a couple of nice days here in oz over the weekend so I decided to blast a few pots of satin black over the old paint just to even things out a little... a half flame job just wasn't cutting it!





This will do for now until all the mechanical stuff is done, then I'll push her in the booth and go to town!!

 

Damn that looks pretty good!

 

Hey all, I'm in the process of moving house and workshop at the moment... I will post up some pics when i get all my stuff sorted and setup... amazing how much stuff one gathers up over the years!!