Losh's VR Ute build thread

[losh1971]

Started buffing the ute today. Managed to get the bonnet mostly done, the right guard fully done and the left guard almost done. I was using a wool pad and it caught a few times and was wrecked. Bugger because I would have liked to have finished all the buffing today. Looking at getting another wool pad for the final polish and getting a couple of fine foam pads for the main work as I think the foam ones will be less likely to get snagged on edges of panels etc. I had one little mishap where I held the buff in the one spot working it too long on fresh paint, trying to get the edge nice. In the end I had to web rub it and it will need a touch up coat, which is easy enough. It just would have been nice to have the bonnet all finished properly today but it's not to be. I will get a couple of pics up later in the week, once I get the rest of the car buffed. From what I have achieved today it looks a lot better. At first I thought it wasn't much different but then when you compared the polished to the old you can see how much whiter the polished paint is, where as the old paint is a fair bit cream colour more than white.

 

[losh1971]

got the ute ute polished this arvo. I ended up buying two pads a orange foam one and a wool one. Glad I bought the foam one because it was getting caught on mould strips and hinges and things. After a while i managed to handle the buffer better and hardly got caught. I still have the bumpers to do by hand. Plus the rear bumper ends needs some paint to tidy it up. I washed it all down and now waiting until I can wax it. I may wax the sides and tailgate so its easier to keep clean as i drive along dirt roads twice a week and without wax the dirt will stick a lot more.

 

[Deuce]

Thanks Deuce. Post a link of your build I would like to have a look.

https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/vr-v-8-ss.206331/page-6

 

[Lex]

I think its looking ok.
Good work.

 

[losh1971]

Yeah it looks good the pic was with 4pm light. I will try to get a better photo tomorrow after work. I need to take it by 3pm or it starts getting too dark. The ute has gone from cream to bright white.

 

[greenacc]

Looking good for a beast that's about 25 years old

 

[losh1971]

Looking good for a beast that's about 25 years old

yeah it will never look as good as a nice VF ute. But I try to make best with what i have. A good friend from church bought the ute for me as a gift so i try to make his investment look as good as it can be fo a 24 year old car. I also take pride in the little i have and try to make the most of what i have, same goes with my house.

 

[losh1971]

Over the long weekend I have touched up the paint where I rubbed through to the original primer. Probably because I went a bit too course on the wet and dry and worked the one area too much trying to get it perfect, because of the dent the strut left a few months back. But it's mostly good now. I still need to rub it with 1200 and then smooth kit up with 2000 before buffing the roof and bonnet again.

I was planning on getting the Pacies fitted but just run out of time. I spent about 20-25hrs working on the house, so the ute took second place. I managed to sandblast 2/3s of the headers and I got some pot belly matt black paint on the parts I blasted, to prevent surface rust. I run out of sand before I could finish. I went through about 40kg of sand. Thinking about it I should have adjusted the amount of sand coming through as I had it on full. Where I think I used to turn the sand leaver to about half, which means less sand but the same amount of air. Been years since I did any sandblasting and it was only when I nearly ran out did it remember I used to adjust the sand to make it go further as you don't really need a lot of abrasive just gotta keep the air pressure right up. Bugger because I have only found one place so far that sells kiln dried sand and it costs $13 for a 20kg bag. I had some play sand I bought from Bunnings but it was really not a good enough product as it takes three weeks to get it dry and it's full of fine impurities that block the blaster tips. I ended up filling the pot with 30kg of Bunnings sand and had to tip it up and drain the lot out and the reverse blow compressed air through the blaster to clean the blockages in the ball valves. Then I sieved the sand best I could and refilled it and used it up so it wasn't wasted but never buying this gear again, gonna stick with kiln dried washed and screened gear.

 

[losh1971]

Far friggen out...... The whole painting thing is going from great to bad to an absolute sht fight.... I touched up where I had rubbed through to the original primer on the roof and the bonnet. I packed a really thick coat on the roof but thought it would be a good idea to tape the edge and paper to prevent too much overspray.... Worst possible mistake I ended up with a sharp edge. As a result of trying to feather out that sharp edge, I have just lifted a sht load of paint and because of the sharp edge and it is peeling like a bastard. I hit it with the hose and it lifted even more. So what was supposed to save me time is now going to cost me more primer and another 500mls of paint...... Not to mention another two hours of work.....
Should have primed the roof before top coating but Youtube tutorials say it's not always a good idea.... Or I should have used blending thinners, so it bit in and I definitely should have not taped the damn edge.... All of this could have been prevented had I bought a litre of paint in the first place, so that I laid it on thick on the roof the first time round and went easy on the wet rub so I left enough white paint....

 

[losh1971]

Finished sandblasting and painting the Pacies this arvo. Was thinking about fitting them tomorrow but i didn't have any antisieze for the O2 sensor. Therefore ive decided to do some more work on the house. Working full days next week so looks like it will be about 10 days before I can fit them. I could get underneath with ramps but it is so much easier with the pit that i will just wait a little while longer.

 

[losh1971]

Serviced the ute today. While i was checking the rear pads i noticed they are getting down. Need to save up to do them as i want to replace the rotors and rebuild the calipers. I reckon the handbrake shoes will need replacing as well because 6 months ago i drove about 40km with the handbrake still on. Id like to fit rear braided lines but they are about 140 bucks for the three. I also noticed i have a coolant weep that looks like it is leaking from the timing cover but Im not sure if it can leak to the outside? Hoping it is the bypass hose as that will be a far easier fix.

 

[losh1971]

Currently working on fitting the Pacie's. I have the Y pipe off and the driver exhaust manifold off. Ended up cutting part of the Y pipe with the grinder using a grinding wheel as had no cutting disks. Damn mongrel just needed another 3mm to get past the rack where the steering shaft meets it. I tried jacking up the rear of the engine but still not enough to pull the flange through. I tried undoing the rack mounting bolt and even the rattle gun couldn't get it loose. I could have tried the 500mm breaker bar but I didn't want to risk damaging the bolt as I have no replacement. Getting it from the top is a nightmare. Anyway here's hopping the Pacie's and the Y pipe all match up to the cat back or I am I trouble..... Right now though it's time for a coffee. Taken me nearly two hours so far and I have another 2 hours to finish the job.
For anyone attempt this on a VR I recommend having stubby ratchet spanners if you can; it makes getting to the back bolts a heck of a lot easier. Other option is to remove the heater hoses because that is what gets in the way.