Jolls FC Ute Project

[Errol62]

Good luck Craig 👍


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[Jolls]

I picked up the door card yesterday. Unfortunately the top stainless trim is missing and the centre trim is bent and creased.



I will need to make a couple of custom dollys to work inside the damaged trim to get back into shape. I am a little concerned about working the trim cold given the depth of the crease. It doesn't look as bad in the photo as it does in real life.  I have not worked on such thin stainless that is creased this badly. My current plan is to heat it with MAP and work it slowly; however, this is me thinking through the problem - not through expereience. Any experience based wisdom would be of great value before I start on this part of the process would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers n Beers

[Jolls]

It has been a while since I posted and update the ute. But to get to that we need to get a feel for where we are on the house reno!

The house reno is almost complete - ensuite complete, bathroom 97%, painting 90%. I have spent weeks lifting the old vinyl floor planks and stapled MDF underlay in preparation for the new flooring (which is to be laid next week). So I am up agaisnt the clock to have the skirts installed and painted this weekend. Nothing like a bit of pressure!

The best thing about the house reno coming to an end is that the FC resto can get into full swing. It will be a bit like Kingswood Country though - have to move the bikes to the get the FC off the hoist. Get the capri convertible out of one garage bay and put it on the hoist so I can work on the ute. That is much easier said than done - but it will be a great milestone to finally hit.

Despite the reno taking up most of my time I haven't been completely idle. Glenn has all of the parts and is in the process of building me up a set of FC special door cards and late model FC special seat covers, customised for a ute, in fall red and black. I have also purchased a set of stainless scuff plates from Sam Crupi to replace the rusted versions I currently have and I have a new rubber mat being made by Martin at Obsolete Rubber. However, I haven't progressed any further with the engine rebuild or any of the chrome work as yet.

I chased high and low for a second hand rotisserie and I was either too late or too far away to win any offers I put in on them, or the postage made them dearer to buy than a new one. So I bit the bullet and purchased a new one (don't have the time to build one). It will be a longer term investment as the sons and I have a couple of other projects to get stuck into once the FC is finished. Suffice to say - it was delivered last week and, sure as eggs, today one comes up at Wollongong for a few hundred beer tokens less. Always the way!

So there should be some real progess made towards the end of March - only to be interupted by a holiday doing the Darling river run over the Easter/ANZAC Day period.

Just got to take one bite at a time! We are crawling towards the end.

[Jolls]

So an exiting day today. Started on the body of the ute.

The week before last saw the completion of the internal reno of the house and last weekend we had friends visit so I was busiy socialising. I took a day off work today and moved the bikes, shifted the wife's project (capri convertible) out, got the FC off the hoist and shuffled it all back around - wife's project on the hoist, bikes back in FC into the project bay.

That is about where the excitement finished! I thought I would take the front subrame assembly out and mount the ute on the rotisserie. Disconnected all of the bits that I needed to, got the old girl on some stands and started on the job. Three bolts and a couple of screws on each side, two bolts each side at the bottom and pull it out complete then strip away the crossmember etc on the ground.

Supported the assempby with a jack and some stands and started removing the bolts at the top - a few a little frozen bit get there with little fuss. Then to the bottom - only to find two nuts on each side. Seemed odd, one nut magically came off the other spinning on the bolt. Can't get to the bolt head as it is inside the sill area. Soaked it with some WD 40 while I had a think about it. Went back to the drivers side and tried to push the bolt in so I could get the assembly out, It would only push back a short distance - not enough to be able to prise the subframe over.


Went back to the passenger side and no luck, ended up pounding away with a cold chisel for about 1/2 hour and the nut split (so lucky). I was able to push that bolt back far enough to lever the sub frame arm out but the weight of the cross memeber made removinf the ineer bolts impossible. After wasting my time with jacks etc I removed the cross member and with a bit of persuasion and jiggling I was able to get the inner bots out. With a few more swear words I got passenger side of the sub frame out, rotated the frame a bit and was then abot to pull the assembly off the other bolt.

Both side had had rust repairs done - average work to say the least as you can see throughpinholes in the welds. I expect that the bottom of the A pillars were rusted out so old mate put bolts in from the outside. Glad he didn't weld them otherwise I would be up the creek. Anyway will have to undo his repair and weld in some captive nuts so I can get it back together. Didn't get an opportunity to get it mounted on the rotisserie as I ran out of time. Maybe tomorrow.

I found heaps of mud wasp nests inside the passenger side A pillar and more pinholes in the floor after using the persuader for a bit.



Still in pretty good nick for her age but now I have the guards and the like off some of the repairs coudl be better. He also welded the some of the sheet metal together instead of using screws. Looks neat but wil never be able to do a repair so I may have to chase some new bits. Once I cut out the bottom sill to remove the free spinning bolts I will have a better feel for how much work is involved.

Plan is to mount the rotisserie to the spring mounts at the rear and to the upper mounting points for the subframe at the front. With a bit of luck I will be able to get the mounts made up tomorrow and start towards getting the old girl rust free and ready for paint.