365 weeks...

[Maco]

Thats a nice press

Is that yours

Cheers
John

[JB]

Nope, not mine...

Can bend 20mm high tensile steel... its mainly used for making truck trailers.

[Ed]

Jas,

Just curious.. If you're using coil overs, then why use the commo bottom trailing arms?  was this just to keep the engineer happy?

fantastic work, glad you got rid of the fuel filler.

Cheers

Ed

[JB]

Hey Ed,

No the bottom trailing arms evolved that way as I am going to use them as the base for the coil overs... As in make a bracket where the old spring was located.

The engineer was part of the process and was his idea... I just ran with the idea and am doing it the way he suggested to get it passed easier.

Cheers
JB

[GOA350]

Hey Jase, now that you have got rid of the fuel filler i have an idea that i have used on my ute. Why not put it in behind the tail light. I hinged the tail light and put the Gas filler in behind it. Now i know that it is easier to fit a gas filler but i am sure a man of your ability  could come up with something. If i get a chance i will take a photo and put it up.
                                                Cheers Scott

[JB]

So got a few more days in yesterday and today...

First i had to give the coil over shocks some clearance so to stop fouling on the floor.


Then decided to have a look at the exhaust system... Needed a little clearance as well..




But wasn't satisfied there and decided to get a a little radical, as I have no where to exit the exhaust out of the back of the car... Did this




Needed a bit of room to make it work.




Then a present arrived... Pedro, this may help your problem... Its a modified VN tank.





The fuel filler neck is in the wrong spot so had to take it back, oh and Scotty i love your idea, but I have done this instead...


It will be welded in instead of on a hinge and painted the same as the car so should not stand out too much...

Cheers
Jason.

[JB]

Well another couple of days at it and was pretty annoyed at what i found towards the en of yesterday...

Started by a couple of patches..


Then started to find crap like this in the car, filled with fibreglass and bog!!! Very pissed as the guy who sold it to me has lied!



So the sills have been welded over the old ones, creating 2 joins that were rusting... end result, sills gone




Couple more Gems!



I will step down from my box now vented..

JB.

[pedro]

It's amazing what some butchers think is an acceptable technique for fixing rust, I picked my wagon over the other one i had because it seemed so straight and rust free whereas the other one had obvious rust, once i got it sandblasted it turned out to be the worst one of the two as the guy had done similar patches to yours .
                   Pedro

[JB]

Well back to the good stuff...

Make some brackets for the bump stops..




Then needed some more clearance for the bottom trailing arm as they fouled the chassis rails.




Then for the 2 compartments in the back... 1 is for the sub woofer and the other is for the battery, and relay boxes.




Next getting it home, I have been evicted from the shed as the owner needs the room, so have to assemble it to bring it all home on a trailer. This will be fun.

Cheers
Jason.

[stubbie65]

yeah jas it piss,s you off with the rust and the fact it was hidden. like me its a good thing you come across it

[NosFEratu]

You've been a busy boy again Jason. 

Definitely not nice to find surprises like that.  I must admit, structurally our van is not too bad but we're not game to touch the panels yet - the panel and paint might not be the best to look at but we're certainly not ready to find a heap of underlying surprises yet. 

I'm sure you'll be able to continue the progress once it's home - especially if your supervisor is there! 

Kathi

[GOA350]

I don't understand why you need a subwoofer in the back, when you sit in the front separate to the subwoofer when you listen to the stereo.
 It still baffles me why big kickass stereos are essential in cars when they cant be used to there potential.(Totally Bemused)

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

It still baffles me why big kickass stereos are essential in cars when they cant be used to there potential.(Totally Bemused)

I agree, must be the same reason some people put methanol guzzling blown big blocks in "street registered" cars.
A normal subwoofer makes the music that much better though, I have a Jaycar 8' subwoofer tucked in behind the rear seat of my dual cab ute and the difference is incredible. Even the 10" sub in the boot of my FE makes a difference.

[JB]

Hey Scotty, it seem s my descriptions are coming across the wrong way LOL... What I am doing is putting the subwoofer in behind the passenger rear seat, its going to be a 10" woofer with the box hidden below the floor line in the back or the ute tray.

I am not about the competition noise that some go for but for clarity of sound, and yes i do like the bass component.

At this stage i am planning on using a rockford fosgate "punch" subwoofer, hooked up to a kenwood double din stereo with mp3 input and navigation system all in one that will also be able to accept the bluetooth for the phone. The head unit is just a flat panel and will be placed where the chrome speaker grill sits on a billet aluminium piece mad the same shape at the speaker grill.  For the mid range speakers I am planning on getting some Focal's 2 way or possibly 3 way system, but not sure where to place them in the cabin yet.

The ute is going to become my everyday driver as I am trying to sell the van, so i want it to be as good as I can make it to last for the next 10+ years.

So mate hopefully I have cleared up your bemusement...  and i hope you are not too disappointed in me.

Cheers
Jason.

[GOA350]

I'm never disappointed in you Jason  . It all sounds just fine to me and sounds like you've done your research. When i've built my cars the stereo has never been planned, it's always been about the engineering and building it right once. A stereo could always be put in later. Oh how times have changed 

[GOA350]

Let me just congratulate you in your efforts so far, you have taken building modified holdens to a new level and anyone considering doing something similar should look at this before spending any money and make a decision whether they have 1, got enough money and time and skill, and 2, whether they have the balls to have a go at building something correctly to todays standards.
  Your build makes my FE look obsolete and dated, which is fine because thats how we did it in those days (remember i started mine in 1989.).
  Let this build be a lesson to us all that the standards are high and the price is high but the satisfaction is immense. If you get the opportunity to buy a car like this in the future be prepared to have a substantial price tag attatched because, as Jason is showing us, these things aren't cheap to build.
  Good luck Jason and any comments i make will be purely constructive if possible, sometimes tongue in cheek  , but never to offend.
                                      Cheers Scott

[Ed]

Jas,

Use splits for your front so you can get your sound stage spot on.. you will also get much better clarity than 2 or 3 ways, your mids will also be able to drive much harder.

Mould the tweeters into your A pillars replacing the metal mould with a fibreglass one.. would be sweet and discreet.

keep your mids down low, and stealth them behind some sheer material matching your trim, or build them out on your kick panels... build outs don't need to be gaudy.

loving the build.

Cheers

Ed

[TTV6FC]

Lucky some of us know what you're talking about Ed  ...(I used to install car audio for about 10 years,shit of a job) Ed's advice should be followed word for word as he is spot on. Jason,I feel your pain regards the rust.The difference for me was that it was obvious in ya face rust and was even more obvious when it came back from the sand blaster.I'm sure that although it's a set back you will have no trouble cleaning it up and then it will become just a memory.This ute is becoming a work of art,keep up the good work.Cheers Jamie.

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

keep your mids down low

I nevered bothered to check it myself, but there is supposed to be plenty of room between the metal in the kick panel area and the front guard. A welded up headlight bucket might make for a good speaker enclosure/recess.

[freddyc]

jason just finished my stereo in my sedan. Put 6 + 9 on rear shelf (soundstream) split type with cross overs. Also 6.5 (soundstream)  splits in front doors with cross overs. They are better than when I visited you. Will now have to see how many DB I produce. Keep up the great work.