My Ute

[Davet]

Hi this is my ute, ive only had it a couple months, progress is slow as i have to try to learn as i go, my father in law knows about cars but he is in WA now and im in QLD so its hard to get advice i pretty much read to learn from you guys and whatever advice i can get from retailers, but enjoying it most of the time. took a few ideas from the threads i found around here.. thanks guys . so yeh this is my random snaps photo album i made yesterday for fun.

Photo Album

[kiid61]

Good work man, keep us posted

Nice bug zapper

[Thommo]

Welcome to the forum davet
The ol' ute looks to be in sound condition
Good luck with the rebuild, keep us posted

Cheers
Jeff

[shmeagain]

ITS SHMEAGAIN Welcome ute looks good so far

[black duck]

great looking ute you have there dave . looks nice and solid and seems like you know what you are doing. keep up the good work and the great pics

black duck

[hewey]

Nice work so far, looks good

[parisian62]

welcome aboard. Do you know any of its history? What are you're plans? grey, red, V8....?

Stewart

[samprinci]

all the best mate.... lookin good so far.

Sam

[Davet]

thanks =)

yeh the bug zapper is cause they were driving me nuts, it was zapping like a machine gun for 4 days straight when i turned it on lol. lot better now its been like a week i can actually bare to be outside at night xD

The only history of the ute is from the guy i bought it off, it was his sons ute that he started doing up when he was 14, they got their engineer mate to cut out the floors, sills, and tunnel and replace it with new metal.. obviously not original, they moved the rear of the cab back to suit bucket seats. i wanted to stick with a original bench seat but i got back issues so i think ill end up finding some nice supportive buckets or seomthing. It has been sitting in a shed for 10 years untouched.

I got a Gold Star Special grey motor with it thats been outside under a tarp for 10 years, so it definitely needs a rebuild, for the moment i swapped it with my father in laws 202 red motor thats running, im tossing up whether which gear box to go with i want to have a floor shift manual, gonna bomb the motor up a bit lumpy cam etc. it has to tow my ski boat so thats why i chose the 202. its gonna be a everyday driver so i want to add some comforts, where the ciggy lighter and ash tray goes im gonna build a navman holder that blends in nice, then ill keep all the dash and everything original and use the navman for a speedo as well. the stereo as u can see i cut in, but thats a crap stereo i had laying around, im gonna try find soemthing a bit nicer that suits, i was gonna put in the glove box but i like having a glove box to put stuff in.

I bought my welder after i bought the car , OMG I LOVE WELDING SO AWESOME!!!! i am a little frustrated atm trying to get the body sandblasted, gonnna try another business tommorow and see if they will do it, others just aren't showing up.

Im kinda proud of the new tray i made up in the back, i was unsure if the RHS i welded in was necessary as i had never seen a tray before i just expected it would need support, but i have since modified in my mind the tray and im gonna cut out the front cross member i welded in an move it forward then put another one just in front of the wheel arch and build a nice stainless steel hatch into the timber floor then ill store the spare and some tools up front of the tray instead of on the fuel tank. i also never got a spare wheel door for the back so i went to retro rods and got them to make me up a blank panel the correct shape... then i realised i had nowhere to put the number plate.. so now im considering houseing the number plate higher on the tailgate somehow i remember seeing a older ute with it up higher, a Fj or FX maybe and it looked sweet.


btw just call me Dave. =)

theres a swap meet in hervey bay this weekend im hoping to pick up some HR disc stubs there

[mickhrt]

great job dave should turn out a nice ute

[ekute62]

welcome aboard to the fun and games of restoration and building of a beauty. Look good and it brings back some of the memories, some good and some bad of what i did and proberly everyone else on here has done and been through. Keep up the good work and photo's..

Pete

[oldnek]

Good work Dave, nice progress on the beaut ute....Man O Man you got some big bugs were you come from Big enough to short your bug catcher out

[Davet]

its been a while since i posted some update pics so i thought i better through a few up. ive got more but this is ok for now =)

[Trev]

Looking great Davet .

[parisian62]

those mags polished up a treat. What sort of top coat are you planning to put on the underbody?