Harv's (Grace's) EK ute

[vmx-mxr]

A great achievement Andrew !
Grace is a lucky girl and has the number plate to show for it too.
What a good dad you are, and I am glad you got the old ute as it has gone to a very good home.
Now to the wagon ....
Cheers
Dave Mac

[thebrotherj]

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Cheers,
Harv

Hey Harv,
My ute only has the inner door aperture seals installed, the outer ones are missing. Looking at the Rare's website, I can see that they offer "Seal Door FE FC FB EK Left Hand Front" and "Seal Door FE FC FB EK Left Hand Front" then they offer a generic seal for the inner "Seal Door FE FC FB EK Inner All". I am seeking replace my outers only as the inners I have are fine.

My question is: is the outer seal for the Ute's unique? That is, different to sedan/wagons as it has the round profile, rather than the 90 degree bend at the top corner?

I'm wondering that you might've ordered in a complete seal kit for Grace's ute... but I'm hoping I can buy these outers separately. Do you know it this possible?
Thanks in advance. Joe

[Harv]

G'day Joe,

From memory, Rares only does one type of outer rubber. There is a left and right hand version, as there is a specific "flappy bit" in the moulding for the lower trailing edge corner.

You put the rubber on from the bottom (glue to the scuffplate), then work your way up. Once you get up to the top, the curve at the leading edge (closest to the front of the car) gets just "bent around" and glued in place. The original rubbers had a nice moulded corner, but the Rares ones just do the straight seal profile. This is the same on utes and sedans. You end up with a big hollow area on the corner. On the sedans, you run the rubber across the top, then cut-and-shut the rubber to make a 45º mitre joint at the top trailing edge corner (closest to the rear of the car). For the utes, that corner is another curve, to you "cut and shut" somewhere across the top horizontal run.

I bought the two front rubbers separately (many of Grace's rubbers were in good nick, so I didn't replace them all).

Use superglue to hold the rubber on. Loctite 454 is an awesome product, especially with my fumble-fingers. It is a gel, and doesn't immediately "stick" like normal superglue. It gives you a few seconds to move things around into the right position, then sets after about 30 seconds. Can't get it from Bunnings, but can get it from CBC Bearings. Bunnings does a "Loctite 60 Second Universal Glue" which is probably the same stuff.

Cheers,
Harv

[thebrotherj]

Excellent Harv, this is exactly what I was hoping to hear Time to spend more money

I have a dried up tube of whatever I used last time on my old Centura, it may have been Locktite, worked very well as you are describing. I'll seek out some more. Cheers for the installation tips.

Joe

[Hamlet]

Joe, the Rare's outer rubber for utes isn't all that friendly, Better Auto Rubber's fit pretty well and have the square moulded infill at the top front corner and are shaped to go around the door striker plate, the join is behind the hinges from memory. You have to order left and right as they are different. They also sell a 3M product for gluing them in (quite expensive) and recommend Loctite 406 for joining the rubber only.
Doug

[thebrotherj]

Joe, the Rare's outer rubber for utes isn't all that friendly, Better Auto Rubber's fit pretty well and have the square moulded infill at the top front corner and are shaped to go around the door striker plate, the join is behind the hinges from memory. You have to order left and right as they are different. They also sell a 3M product for gluing them in (quite expensive) and recommend Loctite 406 for joining the rubber only.
Doug

Thanks Doug! That does sound better than what Harv described... I’ve never used Better before and have definitely encountered the odd disappointing seal from Rare’s in the past. I might give them a try.

This forum is great. Cheers again.
Joe


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[WayneXG95]

Andrew are you coming to the Nationals in Mudgee next year?

30th Nationals Mudgee 2019

Wayne

[Harv]

Not sure if I'll make Mudgee. This working remotely business leaves me very little time at home.

Cheers,
Harv

[Blacky]

Not sure if I'll make Mudgee. This working remotely business leaves me very little time at home.

Cheers,
Harv

[Harv]

After much mucking around, we have gotten Grace's ute repaired and back on the road. I've held off posting much until it was all sorted.

A couple of months back, Grace was driving home from school when a bloke pulled across the front of her. He didn't look, and somehow did not see the ute. Busted up the front of the ute, and sprained Grace's hand (thankfully healed). Broke the other blokes arm, and stove in the side of a VS Commodore wagon.

Ute was written off, but thankfully is over 15 years old so not a stat write-off. The blokes from Hawkesbury Smash did an awesome job of resurrecting the old girl, with thanks to those of you who contributed parts. Still a few odds and ends to sort, but it is now legally back on the tarmac again. Photos below are not for the faint hearted.

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Cheers,
Harv

[FJWALLY]

Poor old girl - glad she is back on the road harv - one good thing about a resto is they are easier to repair under insurance


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[Errol62]

Oh my not for the faint hearted indeed. I’m going to lie down now.


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

[BILLY BLACKARROW]

[quote=Harv post_id=247542 time=1601266491 user_id=2189]


Ute was written off, but thankfully is over 15 years old so not a stat write-off.
]

What doe's this mean I didn't know about this loophole doe's that apply to modified cars

[Harv]

For a new car (it’s either 10 or 15 years... I can’t remember) if the car is written off, it goes onto a naughty list and can never, ever be reregistered. Older cars are exempt. Cause, you can cut out and reweld body and subframe numbers, but those are the chop-shop practices the law is aimed at stamping out (“rebirthing”).

Cheers,
Harv

[Brett027]

Wow Harv, what a blow and so glad she is back on the road again. I see where your front guard post came from now