Barn find EK Ute

[fastenough4me]

One of those 'round-about' stories of 'a old Holden ute in a shed at **** that might be for sale'
Found the farmer, made a time to go look and sure enough there was an FB(?) ute sitting in a shed on his farm, looking a bit the worse for wear. To cut a long story short, there was a bit of camel trading done and at the end of it I was the proud owner of an FB(?) ute.
A time was arranged - in between cropping and hay carting, and the availability of the tractor forks and a tilt tray to go pick it up.
Went out yesterday and loaded it onto the tilt tray and had the first good look at the underside, no real surprises apart from the sills which seem to be in remarkably good condition other than at the front passenger side end which is a bit ratty. Sub-frame needs a lot of work and maybe a replacement would be in order, front floors are rusted out but rest of the floor pan doesn't look too bad. All in all a good find.
Got it home and did a bit of rodent poo removal, de-dusting and grease removal and was able to read both ID tag, sub-frame number and engine (red motor) numbers. All indications are that it's an EK body number EK30753M, which is on both sub-frame and ID tag, originally Honey Beige with Floral Green and Madison Grey trim. The engine appears to be from an EH and is a 149 High comp.
History of the car is sketchy but apparently owned from new by another farmer in the area and bought by the guy I bought it from some 20 odd years ago, used as a spotlighting ute for a while and then, around 15 years back, retired to the shed I found it in. At some point in its life it had the front sheet-metal replaced with FB Special parts which sort of explains why the owner thought it was an FB.
There aren't many parts missing, other than the front hubs and wheels, bonnet bar and the centre rear window glass and separators, so I think the deal was pretty good.
Gunna try to start it later, a running engine would be a bonus.

What about the PATINA!!

[pauly]

Nice find there. I look forawrd to hearing how the rebuild goes.
Now why can I never find a fb or ek ute ? If I wanted a fj ute I would be set but I can never find the right model.

[Blacky]

welcome to the forum mate - nice score !!!

[EK JAY]

[parisian62]

Welcome to the Forum. Great pic...did you take a shovel to dig her out?

[fastenough4me]

Nah, just got the rabbits to give her a bit of a push

[oz_ek]

Nice find!.....how's the tailgate?

[fastenough4me]

Rusty and rough, so is the spare wheel door but at least they're still there and complete. Missing the centre rear glass though

[fastenough4me]

Back on 4 wheels, tried to start it , after bolting the loose starter back on, no go even though there seems to be good compression. Coil not putting out anything, which I suspect -along with the loose starter - is the reason it was shedded all those years ago. Gunna find another coil tomorrow and try again.

[bootlegger]

Good luck with it. I hope you get it done.

[In the Shed]

So there are still some old cars out there...... It looks like the ground was slowly swallowing the front end. Look forward to watching your progress.

[oz_ek]

So there are still some old cars out there......

Seen a EK ute sitting in a paddock in central Victoria last weekend!........I'm always looking!

[FireKraka]

Welcome 4Me
As Sunny Tim said great to see another ute that is going to come back to life.

Patina mate just clear coat it

Regards
Neil H

[Blacky]

Welcome Mate, another ute....grouse. Even better it's an EK!

You must be spewing about that - at first glance it would appear to be a far superior FB but some unfortunate EK owner has tried to upgrade to "keep up with the Joneses"

[Mick]

Welcome Mate, another ute....grouse. Even better it's an EK!

You must be spewing about that - at first glance it would appear to be a far superior FB but some unfortunate EK owner has tried to upgrade to "keep up with the Joneses"

i'll get this one Tim nah just useing what was cheap and available as the rest of the car was more than likely (as with most FBs) beyond any reasonable use