FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

Some may recall, the search began last year for a ute for my wife. After a hiccup or two we finally got one.
(http://tinyurl.com/7gnxr)

As it such a STINKing hot day today, I thought I'd stay inside and get a start on the roof lining for the ute.
The first half of the day was spent piecing together the old roof lining for a template, it then only took about an hour to cut the pattern and sew. Fitting will be the real test, but I left plenty of overhang.

The bow's paint is drying and trial fit should happen tomorrow.

Thanks to Scott (collecta) for the template, now I just gotta make another for Scott as part of the deal  ::) oh well, it's all practice  ;D.

(http://tinyurl.com/8xlpl)

NEXT: The bucket seats and door trims.

Nice work there on the lining Stink and I love the car, you got some front shots?  Looks to be pretty clean and honest from this angle.  Red or Grey motor?

Hey Stinky.
Looks like you got yourself a nice ute for the Mrs.
A couple of false starts and some headaches, but that's all behind you now. Congrats to Mrs S on the ute, when will we see her on the forum?  ;D
Regards
Alex

Thanks guys, I am trying not to do too much on the ute until the Sedan is finished. It seems to have the usual rust, but I haven't looked too close yet.
I had actually posted pics before of the ute, but wanted to get a pic of my first "real" trim job. After getting the industrial sewing machine I have been practicing on kids sofas, pillows, beanbags and other small stuff. I am starting a course at TAFE in Feb to build up the skills too.
We haven't taken any pics since it got home, these pics were from Steven J when he checked the car out for us.

I don't think Nadia will get on the board, she has enough trouble logging on to the PC let alone getting on the forum  ::)

Here's the front shot of the ute.
(http://tinyurl.com/8rfbc)

Dont forget to tell us everything you learn at tafe, my wife and I are going to start on my trim soon, there are a few things I need to sort out with my machine first, its been set up for clothing, its a juki and has a motor hooked up to a clutch to control speed, first prob is the clutch seems to go from stop to a million miles an hour with little in between.

Tell me about  ::) I am thinking of putting on some sort of adjustable governor or messing with the pedal to clutch adjustment. You can't turn corners at a million miles/hr  ;D
Getting the thread tension is a little tricky too.
Hmmm, I'd better look up that sewing forum   :-X

hey stinky, did you uswe a thinner vynil for the hood linning, I want to use the same stuff as what is on the seats wich is capri marine vynil, it felt a bit like nuagahyde but was half the price yet double the price of the usual cheaper stuff they had.
what kind of machine are you using?
are you using a sewing forum?
was your machine last used for clothing or upholstery?
I was going to go to a sewing machine shop and see if I could get some info on setting it up for upholstery, and slower for a beginer.
my machine is a juki ddl 555, it came with no manual so I know stuff all about it.

Same vinyl all 'round, Roadrunner HJ(?) Dark Brown at about $15 per metre, then we have a light coffee coloured velour for the contrasting colour.
Got it all at www.uda.net.au
The machine is a Brother DB2-B755-5, it's a really old machine from the '70s I think. Scored it on ebay for $180, a few dramas getting it back to Adelaide and about $50 in parts to fix it up. Supposedly used for making curtains in a previous life. I just adjusted the pedal linkage today and it is a lot easier to control now.
The only other change I made to the set-up was the needle, I also have an adjustable foot, for piping and zips.
I got all the parts for the machine from http://www.caproncarter.com.au/directory.html

they have a Sydney address too. Even though my machine is old there are a lot of parts that are carried on. They even photocopied parts of a manual they had to help me out with threading and fixing it.

Rough mock up of the bottom of the seat, it still needs to be glued and stapled into place.

(http://tinyurl.com/d59mq)

Good one stinky,
that hoodling looks Xcellent,
hey ive also got a HD prem interior for ya to do, my brougham needs some :D, also can ya look at my front seats for my statesman  ;D,not to mention all my FEs and FCs LOL.
cheers
Scott

Finished seat, after a few dramas with the machine and a bit of hand stitching  :-/.
It won't win any trim awards, but it ain't bad start for a computer professional, IIDSSM.   :D

(http://i1.tinypic.com/ml2o1l.jpg)

Excellent job Stinky, keep the pics comming.

Thanks Andrew, you are pretty good job yourself on your project from the "other" forum  ;D

Good going Glen,
its not like you picked an easy seat to try first up
well done...
cheers
Scott

Kick panels done durng the week, bucket seat number two finished last night, cut the door cards today in between fitting the bailey channel to the black sedan. Nadia and Jonas (6yr old son) have started to strip the ute and rub back for paint.
Here's an artist rendering of the final product in action.
(Artist being Jonas, note the burnout marks!)
(http://i1.tinypic.com/nlprax.jpg)

Started TAFE last week, not quite what I expected after doing a Diploma in IT  ::)
It's a casual setup with blokes that have been there for up to 3 years, no theory, all practical, BYO projects after 6 weeks and if you want black or grey vinyl materials are free!
Currently we are doing MG door trims.
You haven't seen an industrial sewing machine until you've seen one that can sew through a door card! Watch those fingers  ;D

Hey Jonas....nice drawing.
The flames are cool.
Regards
Alex

Thanks Alex, Jonas appreciates the comments.

Here is some more of his handiwork (Mum helped)-

(http://tinyurl.com/9cluf)

(http://tinyurl.com/7nvh9)

Ha Stinky,

Well done on the Seats and roof lining looks great!

Good to see some progress on the exterior too, What colour are you going paint it? Keeping with the cream?

Keep up the good work! :)
Darren.

Chocolate Brown will be the colour, much like this door trim that got finished tonight!

(http://i1.tinypic.com/np00t2.jpg)

The door trims are dead! the trims are ripped to shreds thanks to an oversight. The old bitumen board, old padding and vinyl are all pretty thin compared to the new masonite, padding and vinyl. So as I was tap, tap, tapping the top SS trim into place, the trim was cut, cut, cutting it to shreds! >:(
To make matters worse, out of 7 metres of vinyl I was 10cm short to make up two new trims, the vinyl is discontinued and at this point no-one I have contacted in Australia has any in stock.
Several options present themselves.
1. Make a pocket in the door to cover the expected shortfall.
2. Install a speaker pod to cover the shortfall.
3. Reverse the colours.
4. Continue the hunt for 1 metre of Dark Brown vinyl.

On a happy note -
Old ripped, bent and dented bumperette
(http://i1.tinypic.com/o8i06p.jpg)

Old straightened, welded and less dented bumperette
(http://i1.tinypic.com/o8i32s.jpg)

After knocking out most of the big dent, I hooked a piece of wire through the bolt holes and twisted the bumper until it was fairly straight then MIGed it, more hammering and welding, then grinding and sanding. It is now in a state where we can hit it with a smear of bog and paint it silver. This will suffice until a suitable bumperette turns up or Nadia decides she likes it silver.

Further to the vinyl drama, I looked up the original invoice and found the guy at UDA looked up the wrong brown. They thankfully have plenty of stock of the original colour that we bought.

and thanks to Gaz 8) for the offer of help to source the vinyl I thought they didn't have.

It turns out we didn't buy an FE Ute, but a rust/bog sculpture  ;D

Much like fccool59 I took a week off to get things moving on the cars in readiness for the Nats.

No before shot, but I put the "double-wall" piece of steel I cut out next to it.
(http://tinyurl.com/kbuay)

A bit of straightening and welding, it's pretty close now.
(http://tinyurl.com/ku53e)

Oh dear  ::)
(http://tinyurl.com/zfu63)

Oh dear 2!
(http://tinyurl.com/geehb)

Turns to OMFG! :o
(http://tinyurl.com/ze3x5)

At least this part was easy  :-/
(http://tinyurl.com/khcrs)

A few more shots here -
http://tinyurl.com/ol88b

It's been a productive few days, I'll need a holiday before I go back to work  ;D

The bog, a good tip - less is more, you only have to sand it off later  :-/
(http://tinyurl.com/o2r5e)

(http://tinyurl.com/pdjfw)

Decided to paint is matt black........... not! etch primer.
(http://tinyurl.com/q9pcx)

We are going to paint it grey instead!  ;D
(http://tinyurl.com/nshem)

The family that works together, well I did most of the work while Nadia screamed at the kids as they messed around. Jonas (who took the photo) is actually showing promise by asking to help, unfortunately at 6 yrs old I can only offer him the crap jobs.
(http://tinyurl.com/qholg)

Hey Glenn
Some interesting progress.
Pretty standard rust for a ute.
The person who made the earlier repairs (?) didn't do you any favours.
Good to see the family involved, though it's gunna be hard to fit 'em all into the cab.....might have to chuck 'em in the tray.....JK!  :-X
Keep the posts coming.
Regards
Alex

Good progress Glenn, and family...
Looks  very familiar.

cheers
Scott

More painting next weekend after stuffing it all up, probably Sunday now because of the Club's Show and Shine on Saturday.

Funny you mention chucking the kids in the back Alex, after taking the back board out and seeing the floor pan I started chucking ideas around for a dickie seat and roll bar arrangement, maybe later  ::)

That's not Poo Brown!
THIS! is Poo Brown!  ;D
(http://i2.tinypic.com/rcmtzt.jpg)

Mock up of the grille arrangement. I am sure it will look a lot better on the car with a dark background.

(http://i2.tinypic.com/t563jo.jpg)

Very cool Stinks! :)

Good progress, and good to see some custom stuff.
How would that mesh look with the vert. fe grill bars?

Not the best shot, but here's the console.
An old Mazda unit that's been recovered. I have yet to fit the handbrake section, the ute has been converted to a floor handbrake. No glue yet either, so those wrinkles will come out (I hope :-/)

(http://i2.tinypic.com/t5ja5f.jpg)

The grille is now in the car, but the thin "teeth" look lonely, I might add a few more when we get back from the Nats. Especially since removing and refitting an FE/FC grille is soooo much fun  :P

Tonneau Cover, this is the first one I have ever done, not too tricky but you can see I need to learn more
(http://i2.tinypic.com/t5jcpg.jpg)

Getting there! draft excluders and other bits of trim tonight, Roof lining, rocker cover and radiator tomorrow night, then it's off to the windscreen mob on Saturday morning for screens. The rest of the interior during the rest of the weekend and maybe the inner trays panels......  front lowered springs......  tidy up the wiring.......  ummm.... and probably a few hundred other things!
(http://i2.tinypic.com/t5jd4k.jpg)

In the abscence of good bumperettes, I gathered up a set of dress items that wouldn't make the grade for chroming and got them powder coated silver. Plus the fact that chrome would put a $1000+ and 2 month dent in our dollar/time budget.

Nice work Stinky, have got time to run me up a suit ?
Cheers Gary

Great stuff, Glenn - but I hate to tell you this - you've got 6 days left. :D >:( :P

Hope your taking that Black FE over to Vic Stinky

Gary - no worries, but only if you want it made from Vinyl  ;D

Martin - No need to remind me, between Tony and RET's constant reminders  :o

TAYZ - I hope so too, still need to fit door rubbers and scuff plates, fix a brake fluid leak, install shifter console, install boot and door locks, fix the rear tyre rub and chase a short in the headlights  ::)

This time next week we'll be sitting around scoffing fish, drinking beers and checking out the cars... ;D

Richard,
Hope things pick up a bit weather wise,,,or we will be in raincoats as well !!!

AL

Think yourself lucky you weren't at Jindabyne THIS Easter!

Crikey with all the projects going on the ute almost dropped off the page  ;D
Anyway, almost done, put the lowered springs in the front today and it's a different car.
Mainly interior to do now.

(http://i2.tinypic.com/takdo0.jpg)

Looking reeeeaaal good, Glenn.   :D

Martin

Thanks Martin, it passes the 20 metre test  ::)
Needs a good clean up and the paint will need some attention after the Nats too.
Here's what was happening tonight -

(http://i2.tinypic.com/tapls9.jpg)

Fingers crossed I can get the few bits and pieces I need tomorrow, then we can smack this one on the bum and get on with my sedan.