mine & dazzajay's FB ute

[Trev]

Welcome to "old" home ownership, you didn't think there would be nothing to do did you?
I had a waterfall coming in our front bedroom window the first day we moved in just recently (1930's miners cottage) , cleaned out the gutters and all was fixed, amazing .

[DazzaJay]

aye, i knew there was stuff to do to it, already had to get a light switch changed, and such, but this was a case of the previous owner putting up that gutter mesh, then assuming they never had to clean or inspect the gutters ever again.

the gutter with the hole in it was about 1/4 filled the rest of the way with moss and other such green, gutter-living plants.

cleaned all that out today, got some sheet metal, and silicone, hopefully it will hold till we get a new gutter to replace it.

[MeFB]

cleaned all that out today, got some sheet metal, and silicone, hopefully it will hold till we get a new...

Sounds like the guy that repaired the sills in your ute

Talking about your ute...wassup? I'm sure you've been doing something worthy of a photo.

[DazzaJay]

cleaned all that out today, got some sheet metal, and silicone, hopefully it will hold till we get a new...

Sounds like the guy that repaired the sills in your ute

Good point, the difference is mine is a temp fix, with a New gutter going in next week.
His fiberglass-over-rust patch looks like he intended to "Hide" the problem and just leave it.

[DazzaJay]

Done a lot of driving this weekend. Hired a trailer and borrowed a commodore and picked up the FJ from Talbot and dropped it off in Allison's Mothers shed (Where the FB Was) - I wish i had filmed her mothers reaction to seeing it again, there was a lot less tears than i expected, and a LOT more happiness. she was absolutely ecstatic at it coming home

Then today we put the FB up on same trailer and have transported it to Finley and it's now in our shed in the yard! so expect some updates soon! I'm going to make a few trips in the week to get the rest of the odds and ends from Berrigan, such as the fuel tank and spare wheel... wont be doing much this weekend coming though, have to sell the old house in Shepparton at auction. http://www.realestateview.com.au/Real-E ... 99833.html

[holdenutechick]

actually we will be calling through Shep on the way to Rye to pick up a complete FB grey and transmission won the engine on ebay and the bloke is throwing in the transmission for an extra $200, a few push rods some new gaskets and we can probably get it going a much better deal than trying to replace all the rusted or missing components for the FC grey that came with the ute.

Also we picked up an oxy set from a garage sale for the FJ so will probably use that for the FB as well, next stop rare spares for some more rust panels and those last few bits we don't have.

[holdenutechick]

It's been a while since the last update, been a busy bee gathering parts and supplies got heaps of sandpaper getting ready to take the paint off, just wondering if anyone can recommend a good undercoat as I can imagine I'll need to coat it with something to stop it rusting be kind guys remember I'm still a newbie

[MeFB]

I wondered when you two were going to pop-up again

I think the primer will depend on what sort of paint you will be using, and if you just want to protect the metal whilst you do body repairs etc.

It's probably the one topic that you'll need to do a bit of research on.

[Rusty EK]

Use a good etch primer on it , to start with .

Go and talk to your local Auto paint shop ,tell them what you are doing and they should be only too happy to help ,talk you through the process and tell you what you need to paint the ute .

Get some strip it discs to start pulling the paint off , they work a treat .

[62MLOO]

That canopy is an original Lowline canopy made in Melbourne. Lowline have been building canopies for aussie utes since 1946 and are still going strong. I presume they could have been offered as dealer fitted accessory back in the day.I have one as well complete with tailgate. It is almost identical the your one in the photos except your side windows are a bit longer. I plan to restore mine (after it gets the chop) and fit it to my ute. I reckon they would be pretty rare will make the ute stand out from the crowd. The only problem is the way it fits over the cab is a bit of a dodgy design to say the least. Any one else got one of these canopies?
Cheers Mick

[DazzaJay]

wow just realised you guys are in Finley. I just bought an FB from there
Had you seen the black one on the edge of town?
Tim

No, i haven't, but i have seen a Brown with White Roof EK in town. (Got a pic of it)

(Sorry for crap photo, was driving at the time, so i didn't have time to aim the camera well.)

Also, i have attached a few extra images at the bottom of the post of other restos i have seen around town.

That canopy is an original Lowline canopy made in Melbourne.

Ah, then i retract my previous statement about it looking like a homemade mutilated caravan, and change it to it's been so badly treated in it's previous life that it now resembles a mutilated caravan.

The only problem is the way it fits over the cab is a bit of a dodgy design to say the least.

I agree. along with the main roof rust patch, there are definite marks in the roof where the frame of the canopy has been digging through the paint, but i would EXPECT that it's missing some Rubber. because having just the steel framework of it sitting directly on the ute just doesn't seem right.

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Random Pictures of other Restos taken around town:



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And heres something stupid i saw in Shepparton recently.

This woman parked her car, AS SEEN IN IMAGE, Over the ONLY entrance to the Tirana City Walk Carpark, Blocking all traffic in and out of it. (You can see the red car that can't get out)
we KNOW it was a woman because after we dropped past the cop shop, (Which was funny, the cop had just got off the phone with the owner, telling her to move it or it will be towed) - we went back (needed to go to Medicare which is in the place that carpark belongs to) - and saw her getting in and driving off.

[holdenutechick]

Thanks for the info Mick you could probably answer some of my questions about it.

I've still got it in the shed by the way, I haven't gotten rid of it despite Daniel's insistence that it resembles a mangled caravan, the frame of the canopy is extensively rusted, it needs a whole new frame and windows I've left it for now as it is not required to get the ute on the road.

Mick, how it was attached to our ute was by some screws through the bottom of it bent around and hooked onto bars attached to the inside of the tray I'm not sure if that is how it should have been fitted as when we moved the ute on the trailer had to rope the canopy down as it was able to slide around specifically backwards off the back, scratching the paint which is why where it was fitted there is rust, pretty dangerous to think the previous owner was driving it around like that.

I was wondering if you could tell me if yours is fitted in the same manner? I had reached a dead end on any information on the subject of the canopy and with Daniel arguing with many users on here I have had very little assistance the last few months in the way of information and suggestions about the ute.

hey there Tim, seen photos of your FJ and your other cars the other day very nice.

Dad actually said something to me a few weeks ago about an FB on the edge of town but I hadn't got round to taking a look, work, TAFE, the ute, Mum's FJ fixing things at the house (bad guttering, blocked toilet, termites in the garden) not to mention involvement with the new car club in town which we are active members, have kept me flat out busy I'd been meaning to take a look but hadn't got round to it.

[62MLOO]

Yeah mine has the hook bolts on the canopy same as yours but the ute tub doesn't have any bars for them to hook onto, but then again I dont think it was off this ute that it came with anyway. Found a nice photo of a ute with canopy on the forum. http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtop ... 12&t=10169
Regards
Mick

[holdenutechick]

Hi Mick,

yes I've seen that post before but nobody can give me any information on how they were fitted, but since both of our canopies have hooks maybe that's how they were fitted, I have not found anyone that has one fitted can tell me if the way it was fitted to my ute was right, even if the company is still around I greatly doubt that they would have any information on a canopy this old.

[holdenutechick]

here I am popping up again as some know I decided to tinker with the engine there is a gap between the rockers and the pushrods sorry for no pics ute took a small holiday due to my sisters wedding next weekend travelling backwards and forwards to Melbourne isn't the cheapest thing but hey that's what happens when the grooms family refuse to travel. Anyway my brother who did automotive at tafe took a look at the engine and diagnosed it as having short pushrods made a trip to shep yesterday to see some friends and Daniels family and we called in on Sam and went over a few engine parts Sam believes it to be that our pushrods are right but our cam followers aren't right luck would have it I believe we may have what we need on hand to fix it so once we get our rust repairs done (one of our car club offered to do the welding) we should be able to drop the engine in and get it going (paint research still pending though I like the colour on Sams wagon don't know if Daniel is a fan of it)