Stinky's FE "High Roof" Pano Project or "It has begun but should it continue"

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

We had a few days of leave left after returning from Orange so after a family meeting we decided to resurrect Nadia's FE Ute (last seen at the Philip Island Nats) by doing a ground up rebuild and adding a pano roof from a rusty EK Pano that I picked up.
Plans at this stage :
- Red motor, possibly Red 3.3 (got one already), Supra 5 speed (got one already), M90 style blower (can get one cheap) with a Gas Research Carb running straight LPG. This one will be a regular driver so 5 speed and LPG should make running costs bearable.
- HR front end and brakes (got one already)
- Probably a Volvo diff, I might use the one I have rather than putting it in the Sedan.
- Metallic Green paint, the lighter/brighter shade on the recent Commodores
- Tan/Natural Leather interior, Custom Gauge Cluster, Tarago Middle bench as the front seat for the 1/3 flip forward and a station sedan rear seat for hopefully 6 seater capacity.
- Body mods: High Roof, Commodore side indicators to replace the FE front indicators (got none), possibly a one piece tailgate but then I can't cruise with the tail-gate half open 

The Ute, double defected  requiring repairs to be sited in bare metal for defect to be removed.


The Pano, more tin-worm than an entire wrecking yard  going to a good cause. Some goodies from the van will help fund the project, I think I'll keep the unopened (rip-top) stubbie of Southwark Bitter for posterity though 


The usual suspects "helping out" again


My first full interior will be going  lot's of mistakes and lessons learnt in there.


Old 161 and Aussie 4 speed to be set aside for my LC GTR


Don't mess with Jaras!


Possible final colour

[FC0058]

Sounds good Stinky almost sounds like it could be a 1950's Prototype for the Sandman.

Cheers Jim

[HAMFIST]

i'll be watching this one!!! and what do you mean by dubble defect?

[Ed]

Hey Stinky,

Sounds interesting... but at the risk of sounding harsh or over critical

I don't think the high roof will improve the lines without making the vehicle look disproportionately top heavy.  Think of the horrid lines of a disabled cab, or a mr whippy truck or a high roof transit.. unless you need to accomodate a physical disability, I'm sorry I can't see it improving the lines.

If anything the roof on an FE/FC is too big, so a 1 inch section removed thru there normally makes it flow.

I'm all for different things but sorry Mr Stinky, chops and sectioning have been the norm for a reason... hope I havent offended you, and apologies if I have.

Cheers

Ed

[Ed]

i'm re-reading this... are you high roofing the ute, or adding the FE front to the pano?

if it's the pano, then cool, but the ute? no.

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Hamfist - double defect = 1 defect in Tintanara on the way back from Philip Island Nats (suspected too low) then they added a second when I went to get the first taken off.

Ed - No offense taken, people are entitled to their opinions and with a project like this I am expecting some "feedback". I was looking at grafting an FE front to the EK Pano, but the Pano is too far gone. The ute was languishing so we decided to combine the two, either way the same end result. Some people think HR Panos are ungainly and others like them, one of the first jobs is to unpick the roof from the pano and fit up to the ute to make sure it is going to work and will look the way I want it to.

[Paul In Ireland]

Well, I am no great scholar on old cars and rebuilding etc. but if thats what you want to do - go for it. Look at that double bogey sedan/ute hybrid I saw pics of at the Nats. Whatever you build, build for yourself, you may start a trend and at the least, no one else will have one!!

[pedro]

G'day Stinky, while it would be sad to see the EK van wrecked the roof would be going to a good cause, I'm one of those that likes the high roof vans( Ed ) and it sounds to me like a great one of a kind project, It might be a bit of fun getting the windscreen pillars and frame aligned though the FB/EK has a completely different setup.
                       Pedro
p.s. parcel sent

[FCRB26]

Sounds like all the fella,s from the shaggin wagon erra love the high roofs.

Maybe some bad experiences with a low roof.

[pedro]

Growing up on the gold Coast a shaggin wagon with six surfboards on top and a "don't laugh your daughter may be inside" sticker on the back window was compulsory , Ahh the days of the drive in and a mattress in the back
         Pedro

[jack_fc]

Growing up on the gold Coast a shaggin wagon with six surfboards on top and a "don't laugh your daughter may be inside" sticker on the back window was compulsory , Ahh the days of the drive in and a mattress in the back
         Pedro

that applied not only on the gold coast, Pedro 

having owned a number of FB/EK panos, and being an admirer of FE/FC panos, I'm having trouble forming an opinion on a 'high roof' FE pano - can a photoshop genious give us a pre-view??

[fe-ambo]

Sounds interesting.
As Pedro has suggested a photo shop preview would be great to see before you start the hard yards.

Cheers
Paul

[customFC]

Hey Stinky
I'm lovin' everything about this idea......but the colour!!
Bring it on I say.
Regards
Alex

[TTV6FC]

Unfortunately this is the kind of thread that I try to avoid.Glenn,you know I love your work but IMHO and with what I have had to deal with (rust wise) I think the van is easily repairable and the ute just needs a colour change.As has been mentioned,this is your build and is entirely up to you.I doubt I'll be able to avoid checking up though as much as it will make me cringe.I am of course hypocritical because the next one I build will have extensive mods,just not body related ones.Having said that I do appreciate your "thinking outside the square".Good luck what ever you do.Cheers,Jamie.

[EffCee]

Glenn,

I wish you luck with the project, I am a fan of the windowless vans and prefer the lowline look, although the FB EK could hardly be called high roofed, I assume that if you are going to put seats in the back you will be putting windows in it.

I am curious as to how it will look, with the higher than normal roof line, and the FE front.

I hope that ll goes as planned and that there are no major hurdles

Keith

[customFC]

Here ya go...

Regards
Alex

ps. Thanks for the loan of the car Rusty, I bet you don't remember parking that out front.

[Omalley]

Give it a run stinky, cant hurt!!  I think it should look ok, well just checked the photoshop, that looks great!!

[FC427]

Here ya go...

Regards
Alex

ps. Thanks for the loan of the car Rusty, I bet you don't remember parking that out front.

Looks great just needs a roof chop  .......FC427......

[EffCee]

I was apprehensive at first, now seeing what it could look like, I am all for it. Give it a go, Stinky

Keith

[DN2168]

Yep, definately give that one a go Stinky, should looks the goods.

Dean.