83 WB_Ute's Ultimate Shed Thread

[83 WB_Ute]

Well, I having no car to work on is driving me nuts.... lol

So I decided to pull the original bumper (that had been on the car while the fire happened) out of the shed... and clean it and get it ready to sell at a swap meet.

I spent 3 and a half hours with metal polish, and constantly rubbing to remove all the crap that had got stuck on the chrome etc.

Well, another surprise to me... never read a book by it's cover... lol
The bar looked average with all the stuff on it... but with all the stuff off it is in good condition, there is one dint (that I partially removed, it is also 3/4 covered by the plastic number plate holder) and a few spots of pitting (only small spots)... and I thought I sent the best bumper with my car to coffs... But I think this one is better.

There are some marks from stones... but you cant see them unless you are 5cm from the bar...






Any idea how to get rid of this???




There is a little bit more that needs to be done in this photo

I also removed the brackets. The back had been affected by the fire badly... The chrome was toast... so I'm going to hit it up with a wire brush, rust convert it and then give it a coat of black paint... I'll do the same for the brackets.
After all, who really looks at the back of the bumper bar???





The surface rust is from where the moisture got under the chrome... I'll get most of it off before I rust convert it.

I should have some more pics tomorrow...

[83 WB_Ute]

Another update... The bumper has had the back scuffed up... rust converted and painted matte black. I aslo removed the brackets and did them aswell. I also gave it another polish just to get that extra bit of shine...







It's not prefect... but it is good enough... I think it was pretty good for a home reconditioned bumper... lol

I also got my new scuff plates yesterday, they are in very good condition. There are some scratches as you would expect... but there are no dints, the chrome is good... and there is bugger all surface rust underneath.

I have given them a polish also.







News from coffs... the car has been put up on stands, and everything underneath is getting checked over... the rear suspension rebuilt, new wheel bearings etc.... and then when that is done, a coat of nice black paint is going on.... and then it's onto the body work...

It's definatly getting closer to being registered...

[83 WB_Ute]

Wel, I have been looking for a HQ-HJ manual centre console insert... and have not been sucessfull. I don't want to pay the $100 for a new one.... and I also want to add my own touch to the car.... So out came the autoshatic insert that came with the console. I'm going to make it into a custom insert. It won't be too different to the factory ones, but the boot will be bigger and fill out the plastic insert more.

Start with an old crappy autoshatic insert.


Make a insert out of paper.... mark how big you want the boot to be. I made it bigger to cover all the holes that were present in the insert.


Fit to the insert and mark where you have to cut.




Drill about 140 or so holes .... I did this with a hand drill.


Then I used a hack saw to cut the bits that I could get to... and then just removed the blade and hand sawed with the blade

Here is the insert while it still needed to be filed.


And then filed down. There is still a little bit that needs to be done in this photo.


I have some vynil that was given to me with the console, and I'm going to see a guy about making up a boot and how we can secure it to the insert... I'll do that tomorrow after I finish tafe.

[83 WB_Ute]

Well I have bought some more stuff for the car... but have not heard anything about where the ute is up to :(

I called on a family member that has a HQ 1 tonner... This is what I got from him.


2 x Front door seals
2 x Inner door belts
2 x Outer door belts
2 x Bailey channel felt rubbers
Rear window seal with lock strip
Set of cowel drain tubes
Firewall Rubber
Door handle and lock gasket set
Door bump stop set
Bonnet bump stop set
Rear pillar valve check seals
Wiper pivot seal
Rear bumperette rubbers
Tailgate seal
6m of black pinchweld

He also threw in a set of new interior window winders and a set of chrome door strikers.... everything new and mostly from Betta Auto Rubber.

I also have bought a full set of HQ statesman stainless trims for $100 posted to me... I should have them early this week. So should have some more pics soon.

[83 WB_Ute]

I got my statesman stainless trims today. I paid $100 for the set, and the seller included another trim that goes below the window.
There are a few dints in them, but they are tonnes better than the other set that I have here... and being quoted around $200 for the same stuff from wreckers, I'm over the moon on how good these are.



I have a pile of parts to go to coffs... and good news, I'll be going down there on the 4th of november. So I should have some more pics or info of progress on the car once I get back.

I'll polish these up, hopefully this weekend and then I should have some more pics. I'll fit this set to the car... as I'm not really fussed about them having a few dints... but you can only see them if you are looking for them.

I got out my scrap doors just to fit them and see weither you could see the dints. I think they look pretty good....





Now my next question, does anyone have any idea of where to fit the "Trim Clip Rivets" along the bottom bit of the window??? If anyone does, measurements from each end of the door to the nearest stud, and then distance between every other stud. Please

Okay, have not had much to do.... :(

I have polished the statesman stainless trims. They came up pretty good... Not perfect, but they'll do. They may get a bit more polishing later.









I was looking in the shed to see what I could find to do.... I found a windscreen wiper, and was going to polish it and make it shiney... but thought it would be such a pain taking it form black to bare metal, so I decided to refurbish them


Being Etch primed


Being painted


Resting for 4hrs... just to make sure it's dry


Mocked up with old wiper blade....

I'm also pretty happy with this, it looks like it has just left the shelf ready to be fitted to the car.

I don't have the passenger side one... as it was sent to coffs with the car. I'll just do that later, I'm going down on the 4th of november... So I'll get it then.

Now another question, I need to buy a new indicator stalk.... what are peoples thoughts, aftermarket or NOS????

[83 WB_Ute]

Okay, I have heard some news... The ute has been jacked up, and all the rear suspension rubbers and shocks etc. replaced. The next thing to do is blow the fuel line out and get the fuel tank ready and then it is just checking the work that I have done... just to make sure it is all good before we go to register it. Then it is either the body work or get the running gear running good enough to pass.

I'm heading down on friday to look after my nephew for the weekend, and my brother said that we will work on it and get as much done as possible... So hopefully it is not long now.

I have about $1300 worth of parts to take down, they are just the polished stainless, rubber kit, bumper, scuff plates and the reconditioned wiper...

Because I know we like pics...





I'm gonna ag through the parts down with the car and find out what I can bring back and clean up/reco while the car is away... so far I can think of the rear bumperettes and passenger side windscreen wiper... There is bound to be more stuff that I can bring back.

So I should have some more pics by monday or tuesday...

Well, I got there and did a bit of work on the car... but didn't take many pics... (none that show what has been done :()

I spent about 5hrs working.. in that I got the fuel line rubber hoses undone, the fuel line blown out and hooked back up again. Half set up the emissions stuff... I left some of the emissions stuff at home :(, the carby was removed and had gasket sealer put on... and I tried to isolate any leaking etc.

The charcol canister was fitted aswell... I also sortd out some of the parts from the back... but only bought back the passenger windscreen wiper.

Okay, I got some more little things done on the car...

I have been organising emmisions stuff, so it will pass rego and look functional after rego (I'm going to put ball bearings in the tubes so it looks like it is working and nothing looks suss...)

I pulled the EGR and EFE off my parts motor... needless to say they didn't look very good, I degreased them, sanded them back a bit, etch primed and then painted. I separated the bracket from them and painted it satin black instead of aluminium.





I also removed the thermostat cover (that is capable of taking the thermal vacuum switch...) from my parts motor and painted it aluminium aswell.



I also did the passenger side windscreen wiper, the same as I did the drivers one.



The painting is not perfect, but it is tonnes better than the original parts were... Later on, I will probably rego the paint, wiring and accessories in the engine bay when I fit the reconditioned motor...

[83 WB_Ute]

Okay, have had some news... The exhaust has been fitted to the car and a few other little jobs done..

The downer is that the lukey muffler won't pass rego. So I went and had a look at the spare ones I have here and both would pass rego.

I think one is a standard holden one, and the other is 2/3 of the size... and I think that it is a high flow muffler (because you can see through between the openings.. and you can't on the standard holden ones..) or something and it has been barley used.. None have any markings on them which say who made them.

I chose to use the smaller one, and painted it cast iron to match the rest of the exhaust system.







I have the passenger side windscreen wiper and the emissions stuff aswell as the muffler to take down.. When we go next sunday. While there, I'll get the headlight trims, rear bumperettes and a few other things home to be polished and fixed ready to go on.

I am also planning to go down and work on the car for 2-3weeks over the christmas holidays...

I have also bought a set of WB kingswood plastic door mirrors for $51. One is in perfect condition, and the other needs some work... But it is fixable.

Okay, long time no see...

I have been slowly working away on little parts for the car.. and organising other parts so the car can be registered.

I bought a set of WB kingswood plastic mirrors off ebay for $67.90 posted to me... One is in really good condition and the other is in average condition..

The bad one is missing the trim thatgoes around the outside of the mirror, has a fair few cracks in the plastic and the metal mount has been broken off. There is a bit of work to do to get it back into decent conditon... The glas is in great condition, with only a few little scratches, but 1 has been replaced at one stage.

I have also found a set of mirrors that are missing the glass, I talked the guy down from $70 for the pair to $50... So I am going to make a good pair out of the 2 sets, and then repair the other set so I have a spare set...

Here are some pics...



















I pulled both the mirrors apart, just to check and see what condition they were in on the inside... While there I also cleaned them up a bit... I found a few cracks in the housing (the bad one...) but nothing that can't be fixed..

I am also organising to go down to my brothers over the christmas holidays for about 3 weeks, hopefully I will get the car closer to rego and painted by the end of January, maybe early Febuary.. But the sooner the car gets registered, the better

[83 WB_Ute]

Well, I have still been slowly organising parts for the car...

I am going down on the 28th and working on it for 10 days and the coming home and getting school stuff done... :(

My brother found that it needs a new radiator, but we are going to see if it will go through rego with it ad then pressure test it after...

With the push to get the car registered, it has been decided that only the front end panels will get a coat of paint (maybe where the rust has to be fixed aswell...) and the rest buffed up. That means that the holes i the rear quarters won't be welded up.. Therefore I will be getting some rubber/vinyl body moulding to run up the side and cover the holes until it gets new paint...

All going well, the car should be registered early next year, and then I can drive it around while making modifications/improvements here and there...

Now for some pics...

I have had these HQ GTS rims for a while (I just never got around to putting pics up...) I paid $200 for the set with 2 trim rings and all the wheel nuts.. The tyres are alright. They need to be re-sandblasted and repainted..

They are also apparantly canadian rims, but I will find that out when I remove the tyres..







I found some old photos on mums camera from when we first bought it... These show just how far the thing has come, I also found out that I had some parts that I didn't know about..

The day we brought it home...



Interior before the floorpans were completely bare metaled, rust converted, body deadened and then painted... The dash has also chaged...





Engine bay, this is the most notacable part of the car that has changed...





With the original burnt 202 and auto (was origially column manual..) This motor is now becoming a table for the shed..

And all the parts that came with the car..







Well, thats it for the moment... I will make sure that I get a heap of photos while I'm down there and I'll put them up here when I get back..

[83 WB_Ute]

Ok, long time no see...

We got a whole heap done to the car over 10 days and now it is closer to rego than it has ever been in about 15-18yrs...

27/12/11

I got down to coffs around lunch time and then went straight out into the shed and started working...

We rebuilt the rear brakes with new shoes and rear wheel cylinders etc... Checked all the bolts and fastners in the front end and fitted split pins to the castleated nuts.. Adjusted the front wheel bearings and fixed the passenger side shock, where a bolt had previously been broken off..

28/12/11

My brother aligned the front end panels while I fitted the seat belts, b-pillar carpets and the bench seat.. We went and got 2litres of Alabaster white (original colour), 4litres of thinners and 1litre of primer for $94.. Which was an absolute bargin...



One of the rear brake lines was squished flat against the diff... We didn't have a spare one, but had the one from the opposite side.. So I tried to see if the one we had would fit, with a bit of straightening it fitted perfectly..

29/12/11

I finished fitting the seat, then removed the rear window (had to be resealed...) I also started sanding (with 80grit) the front end ready for paint..









The ariel hole got filled...





The front end had a few small spots that needed to be bogged up, but they will be completley fixed when we repaint the car in about 1-2yrs...

The brakes were bled, and the power steering was hooked up... Then we got the engine running and idling...

30/12/11

We then sanded the front again with 180 grit... Then masked it up and then sprayed some primer...









And then the guide coat..



Then we left it to set and harden a bit until the 2/1/12...

Between them dates, we went to grafton speedway.. It was incredible, the first time I have been to the speedway.. And I would gladly drive the 4hrs to see it again..

2/1/12

We sanded the front end and the rear window apreature with 240 grit and then 600grit paper...





We also put a bit of sikaflex along the firewall...



Then came the big moment... It got wax and grease removed and then 2 coats of white we put on and then 2 more coats with a bit of clear in it...

[83 WB_Ute]

Ok, the ute is finished ready to go for rego!!! I won't have it back home until mid - late february... :( And even then, I may not have enough money to register it... We'll have to wait and see...

I received part of my 18th birthday present today... I got a yellow needle GTS dash for $75, plus $35 postage... It needs work, some prick broke the speedo, so need a new one.. It needs new lenses cause the prick broke the tacho and speedo ones aswell... :( It also needs a new fascia.. But it will work out cheaper than buying one in good condition..

First thing I did was pull the guages apart and clean them all... They must have come from the outback because they were full or red dust...

Before pics...









After cleaning...











I think the clock has been rebuilt at some stage, because it is soooo clean and new looking inside...





All the guage plastic outers are in perfect condition... Not one mounting tab broken off
I don't know if it works, but it came with all the wiring.. I will be taking it to a famil friend (who happens to be a auto electricion...) and will get him to check them and see if they work...

I also got another set of WB kingswood door mirrors.. The wrecker wanted $45 each, and I talked him down to $25 each.. They are missing the glass, but they are definatley my best set... With only a little bit of damage on the outer ring and one chip on the mirror itself on the drivers mirror.. It's also fixable, so will get that done and then I will have a good pair of mirrors..