EK Wagon project - Total rebuild

[Devilrod]

Nice work with the stereo Finny!

[Finny]

Decided to take "Hek" for his first visit to a mechanic today.
I was concerned about his wandering nature, especially at 80 or more.
Was told I could possible tighten the idler arm a little and ensure the steering box was right.
But otherwise everything was good.
He told me the problem was my wheels.
The front and rear where tracking differently and that was my issue.
I had original wheels on the rear ( because the mags were rubbing) and wide mags on the front.
Has anyone heard that one before.

[Trev]

I can believe that, I had a car that was crabbing, I thought I had bought something that was in a major prang! and a set of new tyres fixed it up.

[Finny]

Still waiting for my son to put my new stereo in, but should be in by Christmas.
In the meantime I'm getting a few of the many fiddly bits out of the way.

I wanted to replace the door trims as the red clashed with the red paint too much.

So I used ABS sheets to make the door cards.
Great stuff to work with, cuts easy, drills and files without cracking, and just the right thickness.
And best of all they will never rot away again, unlike the originals, MDF or Masonite.





Cut some foam as the underlay.




First vinyl as the base colour.


I had both EK and FB door mouldings so I am going to include them both.
As I've said before, you can never have too much chrome.
Considered just leaving it that way, but the holes for the clips would show through.


Played around with a few design ideas, but needed to keep it in line with the rest of the colour scheme.
Shame because I did like the animal prints.


So the first base vinyl is on them all.
I strongly recommend AGAINST putting adhesive between the foam and vinyl, as it sticks down and isn't smooth.
Learnt that lesson on the first one.




Still need to do the final colour changes and fabric inserts and some nice door badges.
But that could mean redoing them from the start if it doesn't look right.

[Woody01]

Looks like you have done a good job so far on those trims...

Just one question, will you have enough clearance for your window winder to work properly, with those chrome trims??

[Finny]

Looks like you have done a good job so far on those trims...

Just one question, will you have enough clearance for your window winder to work properly, with those chrome trims??

They are factory items for FB and EK so they should, but I'll know shortly.

I put them against the doors this morning and I was very happy.
Now I'm wondering if I should just leave them as they are ?

[BILLY BLACKARROW]

(So I used ABS sheets to make the door cards.
Great stuff to work with, cuts easy, drills and files without cracking, and just the right thickness.
And best of all they will never rot away again, unlike the originals, MDF or Masonite. )

Excuse my ignorance
What is ABS Sheeting

I think the Grey looks good with a red car
BILLY

[WayneXG95]

I used the sheet as well, kinda silly to use the cards on something ya never see..

[Cocko750]

(So I used ABS sheets to make the door cards.
Great stuff to work with, cuts easy, drills and files without cracking, and just the right thickness.
And best of all they will never rot away again, unlike the originals, MDF or Masonite. )

Excuse my ignorance
What is ABS Sheeting

I think the Grey looks good with a red car
BILLY

I thought the same and googled it so it's a plastic sheet similar sizes to flat steel sheet might get a price for some , have a few jobs I could use it for. And also I recon that the trims are awesome some talented people on here.

[Finny]

Sorry guys, yes its a special plastic, and comes in various sizes and thicknesses.
Has a really long name but ABS is the short version that everyone knows it by.
I bought a 2540 x 1350 sheet in a 3mm thickness.
Although the receipt says 2mm so maybe I got that wrong.
Plastic suppliers often stock it, and its not that expensive, I paid $50.
That was enough to do wagon cargo areas, tailgate and all 4 doors with enough for a extra door left over.

Extremely flexible stuff. I picked it up in the wagon and just wrapped some tape around it.
Could have also collected in in my normal sedan as the 2540 sheet when rolled up would fit in the boot or on the back seat
If you heat it up (heat gun) you can also mould it to a particular shape, and it stays that way after it cools.
It made it really easy to bend and shape the inside end sections for the wagon cargo areas.

Wife, son and daughter in law, offered feedback on colours today, so I'm going ahead.
Stage two completed and the most challenging/scary stage three is still to go.

This was the plain straight grey.
As Billy said grey with red goes well. And with the Silver it blends in really well.


This was the black section added.


Was getting too dark when I took this photo but It also looks OK.
But I'm going to do one door with the special 3rd trim (NO its not the zebra) and see how it looks.

[Finny]

Daytime photo is a little easier to see.
Looks a little white in the photo, but the grey matches the silver really well.

[Finny]

Sometimes I wonder what I am doing, and other times Iknow.
Not sure which one this is.
HEK has had an intelligence upgrade.
Gave him a new brain transplant.
I patented it, and call it the "HEK rider".
Only works on EK's not FB's


Youtube
http://youtu.be/kYIx1RtnLtw[/youtube]

It looks like the above link works on my IPhone, but doesn't work when viewed on a computer. Direct Link below.
http://youtu.be/kYIx1RtnLtw

[In the Shed]

Hey Finny ,
Love the techno upgrade on the EK very impressive! Is the display blue toothed to the original GM engine management system?

Sorry couldn't help myself!

Regards
Stephen

[Finny]

Stephen a very reasonable question.
Unfortunately it runs off a flux capacitor, so I'm using a portable microwave link with optional gps backup.
It's alien technology, but so is the brain.
Motor is actually a turbo rotary, disguised as a grey.
It's also disguised to run like a grey, so no one will know including myself.

I couldn't help myself either.

[In the Shed]

Well bugger me I never realised ...... The lengths you guys go to ..... Great work Finny and thanks for the laugh

Regards
Stephen