Jonnos Hq tonner thread..... the third

[Jonno]

Okay so take 3 at this thread, last ones died because of lack of updates,
But now that this thread is getting closer to the end I thought I might as well start it up again…

So when we got it it was in terrible condition (pictures) we had to get a coach builder in to redo a lot of the body work,

Then we got an engine for a good deal, was told it was a big stroker, and later found out(thanks to a lot of guys on the forums and we got it dismantled at a performance shop) that it was a 355.
We had a demon 750 carby for it, but was way too big so we got a holley.

 

[Jonno]

Then we put the body back on after all the chassis work was done, dummied it up and painted it, and also fitted the tray we were building (see further down).

Then we pulled it apart again, fitted the motor and transmission, and started it up (with the big carby) so their was a lot of stalling. But it ran and sounded really strong.

Then we got a new ute that took the lead in the projects. It came with a statesman front end that we eventually decided to swap to a single head light front and put the statesman front on the one tonner…

After the blue ute sold we got the old project going again, we built the tray

 

[Jonno]

As dad got busy with work I started to do some things myself, I fitted the new carby, the MSD ignition, the new power steering gear and built the MSD leads and also fitted a lot of stuff we got sent off to get chromed.

And whist I did that dads mate Rick started doing the wiring, we brought a pre made loom which made it A LOT easier, but still running It around and hiding all the wiring throughout the car was still a challenge (that and the custom dash)

We built a dummy up of the dash to see what it would look like and where all the gauges would go..

I also cut up some MDF to the shape of the back of the ute to try and get somewhere to put some speakers cos we don’t want them in the doors (power windows and **** in the way)

 

[Jonno]

We then went out and brought a new (reco’d) center console, carpet and seats (seats are off being ret rimmed, no piks)


Now the car starts, idles revs etc perfectly,
The TO-DO list Is getting a lot shorter.
And the F**K UP list is getting a lot longer lol.


We still need to:

• Get new diff and locker built
• Finish wiring and fit new dash
• Fit power window thingy’s
• Re-design the tray tilt
• Get new door trims and get them re-trimmed
• get a stereo, speakers, sub etc
• buy new wheels
• fit custom rear bar (sorry no piks )
• then dismantle, paint and reassemble whole car
• get the glass fitted/made/tinted
• get it roadworthied


so there is still along way to go but it has also come a very long way.

So to all those people that said we gave up on this, we didn’t, its just hard with dad running a big company and me.. knowing sweet fk all lol.

 

[Gab vs]

Nice mate... wish i had your skills

 

[Hangman]

Very nice mate. Bit nasty when you first got it, but anything is repairable.

 

[Jonno]

yeh well its come along way and i lost alot of the pictures i used to have but its looking good now, we replaced that whole dodgy section with a new one...


also anyone know what we should do here.. their is a hole in the roof where the old owner had a aerial... its about the size of a 5c piece maybe a little bigger..
would it be safe to weld up? or is there too much risk of warping the roof?

 

[Rusty]

Awesome work mate, you guys have got some skills

 

[MikeCuzzy]

Very nice mate, look forward to seeing it finished.

 

[Jonno]

thanks guys just started it up and fitted all the gauges and made them all work with a temporary loom. gonna make a new neat one hopefully this weekend