Losh's VR Ute build thread

[losh1971]

All clean, not quite as clean as yours Woteva but pretty damn close. Cleaned te TB as that was black. Cleaned the intake elbow and squirted TB cleaner inside the manifold. That came up pretty reasonable. Its pretty much all back together now. I ended up squirting a bit of RTV on the rubber gasket in the corners as i reckon that is where it was leaking from. All went back together fairly easily. I did squirt some RP7 on the gaskets as was mentioned in the other thread. Good thing too because i needed to slide it around to get the bolts in. Had two hiccups. One of the bolts holding the cruise control bracket snapped off. Don't know why because i only use a 1/4 ratchet and hardly tightend it. Tried getting it out with torx and easy out with no luck. Ended up drilling it out best i could and then filled the hole with JB weld. Then screwed a fine thread tek screw in it. Should be fine because of all the other bolts. Moment of truth was starting tbe engine. Took a bit longer to fire and was running rough for about 10 seconds, but then ran beautiful. I can't be certain just yet as i have only just gone to the post office to collect my drive belt and haven't run the engine up to temp but i think the engine is a lot quieter. Not sure why that would be.

 

[losh1971]

All back together and running great. I can't be certain but I suspect the engine was pressuring the cooling system. I say that because the top hose used to be rock hard once pressure built up. But now it is only slightly firm. Can't see any leaks so thinking it should be good now. I'm actually wondering now if the error codes i was getting were related to the manifold gasket leaking. I also think i have fixed some oil leaks as well. There was oil coming from up high and have already changed the rocker cover gaskets a while back. Next job is to remove the starter motor to clean and grease it. Then that should take care of the need to disconnect the battery. I have a ext housing seal to go in but not sure if I feel like doing that job this week. Reckon if i can get the starter sorted and the roof painted tomorrow, plus reset the head unit that might be enough. Might try and finish the front fence on Wednesday insteaf of spending all my week working on the ute.

 

[VS_Pete]

and have a beer

 

[losh1971]

So today I spent the morning pulling out the starter motor. I'd been having some issues with it sounding like it wasn't disengaging. Pulled it apart, cleaned it and greased it. Put it back under and made up ground lead and grounded it to the sump. What a ya know click, click, click and cables getting hot. No good. Just now I pulled it apart again and yeah brushes are very worn. I knew they were when I disassembled it the first time but threw it back together regardless. Thinking I will add it to the list, since I'm a 100km away from anywhere to buy one and fix it down the track I was going to at least get the ute going but nup. So now I have ordered a new one for $130 bucks as the one in it was only going to let me down fairly soon I suspect, even if I did sand the brushes. Bit annoyed because the bloke I bought it off said he had not long put a new starter in. I reckon he must have put a SH unit in. Wished I had known it was an old unit as I would have grabbed one on Friday ready to fit today.
So in the end I have replaced everything that works the starter only to find out the last thing that I replace was the original issue, worn out brushes..... I think the switch was probably ok as was the relay. In the last 5-6 days I was thinking it was odd that the starter was still dead sometimes. No where near as often but still dead and yesterday it did it about 5 times.
On another note I have got the roof painted ready to wet rub tomorrow while I wait for a starter to be delivered.

 

[losh1971]

New starter motor arrived at 6.30 this eve. Dropped it in within 30mins, old one was already out and bingo ute is cranking again. New starter certainly whips it over better that the old Bosch unit. On another note I suspect I still have coolant leaking as I found fresh coolant this eve in the same spot, dribbling down along the timing cover. Don't know what to do now if it is definitely leaking. I have NFI what else to do to fix the leak. Really don't want to pour a can of gear in the rad but its getting to the stage where I have no choice. Seems like a waste of a day and $55 of gaskets only to rip the manifold off again because the leak is coming from the head.
If it is leaking, what gear is the best to pour in the cooling system to try and seal up the leaking head gasket??

 

[losh1971]

Ordered these last night for the ute. Also found a grey dash mat without the airbag flap on eBay for 15 bucks buy it now. Paid for it but it is in Adelaide so getting my mum to pick it up for me as I am heading over at the end of Sept.

 

[VS 5.0]

Why you running IE and not Chrome ?

 

[losh1971]

Have for 15 years. Sometimes I use chrome but IE works fine 98% of the time. I don't have to retype in the address bar if I use IE.

 

[losh1971]

Just contacted the seat cover place and looks like they will be dispatched this Friday. That is a lot quicker than I thought as I was expecting it to take two or three weeks. I don't get to fit them until the 12/8 as they are a birthday present. What I am thinking of doing is getting a cheap set of SCA lambs wool covers and cutting the back out and just stitching the elastic so I can just fit the front part. The ute seats are not too hard but just a tad extra padding would make them just that bit nicer.
On another note I am looking into getting some better door cards as the S Pac ones are rather agricultural. Also looking to see if I can get another heat shield for the bonnet as mine is falling to pieces; seems like the Karcher wasn't the best way to try and clean it 12 months ago.

 

[losh1971]

Went to the self serve wreckers and found a decent bonnet heat sheild protector. 25 bucks. I should have went tbere armed with a thin knife as it seems the clips are once in, stay in type. I managed to get them off using a trim tool and chopping them off with a screw driver and my palm. Wasn't ideal as i tore the fabric a tiny bit on the first few clips. But a tiny bit of black RTV and it won't even be noticeable, especially because the tiny cuts are under the clip. I just don't want the cuts to get any bigger or i wouldn't worry. But for the price i am really happy. Another good thing is the protector came off a column shift VS wagon so i may be able to source a couple of interior parts that a column auto specific. I should have had a look at a few things but i only thought about it after I was miles down the road. Here is a couple of pics old and new. I still need to source the clips and am thinking Thomas Parker should have what i need.