FATBOYS PANELVAN

[TorqueFC]

[TorqueFC]

The fe 219

[TorqueFC]

and finally, the garage where everything takes place  

[FATBOY]

havent been doing to much on the van over the holidays have been building a car trailer. last night got both rear quarter panels to bare metal no surprises where found. on previous page you can see the new manifold i bought for the motor vn group a never been on a car

cheers fatboy

[FATBOY]

The bonnet that is leaning up in the last photo is now in bare metal only one little high spot  . Will get pics up later today

cheersa fatboy

[HARKO]

Hey Fatboy ,Ive been watching from the sideline since the begining and I dont think Ive even posted on your thread at all ,Well Im turning a page in my book and Im striving to post what Im thinking soooo .... I realy dig what your doing as you probably already know ,I love the fact that you chose a van and the style you like is cool ,I just cant wait to see the outcome and If you didnt already know we are in an unoficial competition here mate ,You better start pulling out all the stop's and clear out all those beer bottles hehe.
Hope you finish it with good detail and finish but I realy hope you finish it off a week after me

[FATBOY]

Iwas looking at my van today and noticed that there was no headboard behind the seat or evidence that therewas ever one there. Does that mean it was a vanette if somebody could shed some light on this matter would be great
cheers fat

[RET]

The term 'vanette' generally refers to a panel van with windows and a back seat (ie a two-door wagon).  These were post-fitted by coach-builders, never factory made.  The only factory option on the panel vans - excluding the special orders like PMG - was whether or not the upper tailgate was glazed or not (RPO 333).

No FE/FC panel-vans ever had head boards as standard, and to the best of my knowledge the only early one to do so was the exceedingly rare FJ butchers/bakers van, which was a special order (like PMG or Army vehicles).  GM-H made these at first in-house, but the job was subsequently contracted out to coach-builders and then eventually simply sold as an accessory by dealers and the special RPO code for the butchers van was dropped.

It could be that some enterprising dealers were having head-boards made for their FE/FC vans, but they certainly weren't a Holden/NASCO option.  You shouldn't read anything into the fact that yours doesn't have one.

Hope that helps.

cheers
RET

[zulu]

Fatboy, My FE Van (with glass) has a head board (vertical riser to stop load slipping forward into seat), it's a pain because it dosen't allow the seat to adjust all the way back.
When I get around to it I'm going to either remove it or re-work it so it is angled back.
I can email a pic or two if you need it
Gary

[mcl1959]

Fatboy, let me throw an interesting concept past you.
We did a suicide door conversionon on an XP tudor and thanks to yours truly, we used FC pillars and hinges on the car.
(I love to get Holden parts used on Ford projects - I'm sure the owners would gag if they knew)
Anyway I digress, The panel beater said it was far easier to fit the whole pillar rather than try to fit individual hinges.

Apparently it is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to line up the hinge bolts EXACTLY since the door will bind up when opening and closing if they are not perfect.
This seems to be borne out when we did hidden hinges on a 1931 Chev roadster, once again using FC hinges.  This time we used the hinges individually and had quite some considerable difficulty even with a tiny little roadster door.

Anyway that's my 2 bobs worth - any comments from others who have done a suicide door conversion.

Ken

[FATBOY]

Thanks for all the replies . With the suicide hinges ive bought i just ordered some 5/16 rod to go thru the hinge pins so that they will be in alignment when welded in.All ideas on doing suicide doors is welcome . My next door neighbour who is a panelbeater (retired)tryed to talk me out of it but he didnt win he he .

cheers fatboy

[Ed]

Sounds interesting Ken,

I'm imagining the result and the smooth action of the door doesnt show the countless hours in that conversion.  did the pillar require alot of re-work?

In one of my far fetched FE/FC dreams I thought about either reversing a B pillar and using rear door hinges facing forwards however, after a little thought I am not sure if they would allow a wide enough swing for the door or provide enough support for the heavier front doors.

Based on your conversion it seems that cutting out the lower front pillar and reversing it would be the "easiest" and safest way to achieve suicide doors?

just some thoughts...

Cheers

Ed

[TorqueFC]

[FATBOY]

started stripping the roof last night. There was about 6 coats of paint on it .it took a tin and an half of stripper. Ive got to get another stripit disc i seem to be spitting them off my 9 inch grinder before i get to do some work with them Have bought a new makita 7 inch sander polisher hope this fixs the problem as the discs are $26.00 each and ive spat three out of four off them . There was only one ding in the roof .It is at the front and in the centre looks like a bonnet has hit it or a visor has peeled back will take some close ups tommorrow when im at the shed next
cheers fat

[TorqueFC]

[FATBOY]

as you can see ive been shopping at the nos warehouse.The front a pillar repairs will be going into the van both sides.New sills for both sides and new inner sills that should tidy up the front a pillar and make them look like new again.
The front of the roof i found some tin worm and the ding in the middle other wise roof very straight

cheers fat

[minifcvan]

looking good fatboy...

[yogie]

some guys came over last wednesday night to give a hand to get the van back on track one grinding one welding and me holding a piece off copper over the big holes so that the welds didnt blow thru
cheers fat

I'm sorry for such a stupid question (because I dont know ) But does the copper reduce a concentrate of the heat in a area and therefor reduce the blowing of holes in thin gauge metal....  

[FATBOY]

the piece of copper stops bigger holes blowing thru . the weld wont stick to the copper but you still need to weld slowly so you dont get too much heat in that particular area
cheers fatboy

ps some updates will becoming soon

[yogie]

as you can see ive been shopping at the nos warehouse.

WHAT THE NOS WAREHOUSE?, sounds good??..