Losh's VR Ute build thread

[losh1971]

Went to the self serve wreckers this arvo in an attempt to find a decent wiper plenum. Seems like they are all gonna have some sort of cracking, even the really well looked after VS' had some cracks. Ended up staring to remove one off a VS and the bloke wanted me to get one off a more stripped out vehicle. Damn I had already spent 20 mins working on getting the plenum off. Went to another VR and started but couldn't get the wipers off and had to give up as it was getting close to closing time.

With like 20mins before closing I raced around trying to find a passenger window strip. I had a look at few but the rubbers were all really hard and most had a tear at the rear most edge of the rubber seal. Found an ok one and then realised I have just about run out of time and had to give up. I did however work out why mine was cocking up at the rear, it was because the retainer screw was missing. I fitted a new screw and it sits down pretty well now. While I was there I had a look at the VS and paid for a dash piece that I can pull out tomorrow. Mine was giving me problems with the radio facia dropping down a few mm because the slots the facia slide into are damaged on mine.
So in the end I managed little but did work out a couple of things so wasn't a total loss.

When I got back I had a look at the small rear window moulding and panel and it's pretty damaged. I have taken it off and need to do some repairs on it to get it looking good. I could try to buy another panel but I'm thinking I can repair mine to look as good as a replacement. What's happened is a previous owner has cracked it in two places where it screws to the body. I need to make an elbow and glue it in with JB Weld so it can be screwed on down by the door window trim and I also need JB Weld a washer where it has broken away on one of the screw holes. Then I need to prime and repaint the black areas as the white is ok as I already painted a couple of months ago.

 

[losh1971]

Went to the wreckers again this arvo and picked up the shroud that holds the radio and heater control facia in place. Ended up being in fantastic condition. While I was there I noticed it also had the proper radio bracket that is column shift specific, so I grabbed that as well. Stoked that I was able to get the proper bracket as meant the radio now sits level and doesn't pull on the fascia. Found a slight problem though and that was the fascia is missing a flat piece and that means it won't hold into all its locators. Now I have to make one. Then I can glue it in and fit everything back together.
While I was pulling parts I noticed the piece that sits over the trans hump was in perfect cond. Gonna go back to the wreckers next week and get that piece. Also I looked at the door cards and they are a fair bit nicer than VR ute ones and should be a straight fit. I asked the bloke at the wreckers a price and he said 40 bucks a side. Tad more than I really want to pay, so hoping if I swing by on another day the price might be a tad cheaper. I'd be happy at 80 bucks if I can get the interior door handles and vents included. Because I think I will need the lot to make everything look nice.
A few mins ago I glued in the locating tab on the fascia now I need the glue to set before I can fit it back together. I'm hoping that by 8/8.30 tonight I can put the fascia back in, so that if I drive tomorrow I don't have the interior half apart.

 

[losh1971]

Well this arvo i started out by getting the radio and heater control fascia looking really good. Finally i have no broken panels and the radio fits stacks better than it ever has. Ended up being really happy with the way it all come together. I still want to get the trans hump peice from the wreckers and i hope to pick that up Wed arvo. I'm also hoping my screwdriver i left in the VS wagon hasn't been snavelled by someone else.

 

[losh1971]

I mentioned earlier that i was thinking about getting the VS exec column shift door cards and vents but I'm now thinking I'd still like to see if i can get some Stato ones, after another member mentioned he has fitted them into his column ute. In another thread i mentioned the drama i had with the central locking cable snapping where it flex's. I was pretty wild about it as i hate things not working. Not to mention i have to work on grass that has now turned to mud. Thinking I'm gonna drive to work tomorrow and find an undercover supermarket car park to work on the ute, either that or see if i can find someone with a carport as it is supposed to be raining all afternoon tomorrow. I prefer option 2 as we have narky Carepark parking inspectors that just love wacking a parking ticket on your car if you're not in the supermarket spending money.

 

[losh1971]

So spent around 2hrs trying to work out what is going on with the central locking. I had some dicky cables, so they were fixed with solder shrink tube joiners from Jaycar, which can be used with a lighter. Only bought one pack and i ran out. Ended up soldering all the joins that run through the drivers pillar. But I still have no locking on the passenger side. I tried the actuator using a battery charger and got it to move. So thinking there must be a break between the actuator and the cable that runs across to the controller. I have to do a couple more tests but the rain hit. I have lined up a carport to work under so gonna head back around there and figure this out.

Ok so back home now and worked out the cable has broken inside the sheath. No idea which one is broken so I need to replace both and the female lugs on the end of the cable. I went to the hardware store to price up cable and found they had no blue wire and at 12 bucks a roll it was going to be too expensive regardless. So now I have all the trims off and gear everywhere. Hopefully I can get the left actuator working tomorrow but I need to make another trip to Jaycar for more supplies first and that's providing I have definitely figured out why the actuator is not operating. Really hard without any test equipment as I have it all at my other house. It would be nice to get it all back together tomorrow, including the trims all back on. This has certainly turned out to be a way bigger job than I expected it to be when I noticed the it not locking yesterday.

 

[losh1971]

Central locking is all working again. Not exactly sure what the issue was, whether it was in the female lug joiner or inside the cable itself. The plastic wasn't stripped anywhere but the aftermarket kit has pretty thin cables running to the actuators. The cable on the module was pretty decent and I have now fitted better thicker gauge cable to the passenger side and replaced the black ground cable in the driver side. I was pretty fortunate on the passenger side as I was able to tape the new cables to the old and pull them through the pillar boot. Where as the drivers side they snapped off at the joins and I had to feed them through with a piece of wire and that boot is hard to get through as even with the hinge support bracket pin removed it still doesn't open up wide enough.
With the cables in the drivers side I ended up cutting and removing the red crimp joiners and replaced them with solder-shrink tube joiners. I also gave the cables in the drivers side some more hang so they are less likely to become stressed from opening and closing the door.

Off to the wreckers in a little while as I misplaced a screw on the door and I want to get a nice clean centre hump piece of the column VS wagon at the wreckers, plus I'm hoping to find my screw driver I left there.

 

[losh1971]

Been to the wreckers again this arvo. This seems to be fast becoming a weekly or sometimes daily ritual, lol. Anyway I picked up two ducting vents, not the ones attached to the door but the ones that pass the air from the dash through to the door vents. I was hoping that the bloke would say $20 for the two but he said $30. But I did have time to poke around which I feel funny when this wrecker bloke is there, because he always acts suspicious, like I am trying to steal something. Where as the other bloke I like as he is really cool and I know him by name now.

But on the upside while I was poking around looking for VS window winder handles that were already off, as I didn't have a tool for the clips I noticed a ext trim piece that fits on the rear window pillar. So I thought hmmm maybe if I say 40 bucks for the lot and see if he would come at that. I did say to him that it's not a perfect specimen as the paint was pretty mouldy and one of the screw spots was broken away a tiny bit. However compared to mine it was in damn good shape. As mine is missing the top edge bit that locks it into the ali door trim that goes along the gutter. Plus the new one has is perfect on the bottom as well, which means I don't have to make an L piece and use $12 worth of JB Weld to secure it. So for $40 I ended up doing all right, I think. Also even though the paint is not shiny I reckon a wet rub and buff might be all it needs, although I do have some white paint that's is mostly thinners but I can let it sit inside in the warmth to try and evaporate some of the thinners before I spray it on. It won't need a lot of paint just enough so I can replace what I take off with wet rubbing and buffing.

Also while I was out I called into the motor trimmers. I asked about re-trimming my door cards with material but he said it can not be done as they are moulded. But I also asked him about redoing my head liner and far out he can do it 95 bucks, which is cheaper than what I paid to repair it myself six months ago and the job will be perfect. Anyway live and learn with that one.

So I have had a look at Stato door trims online and they look really nice. I can't find any though except a set in Melb for $200, which is a lot and it means trying to find the wreckers, when I head over in Oct or pay heaps in freight.

So for this fortnight I have blown the ute budget, so won't be heading out there again for a couple of weeks. I still need to get a couple of vent holders that go on each door as the paint on mine is coming off and there is a couple of chips in them as well.

 

[losh1971]

well i just washed the panel with a sponge scourer and then some 2000 wet and dry. Damn, come up great. I only need to paint the black and give the white a buff with a cloth and some cutting compound and it will be just fine. Definitely worth the 40 bucks i paid for all my parts today, now I've cleaned up the panel.

 

[losh1971]

While I was at the wreckers I checked out the VS wagon they had and was hoping I could use the steering column cover panels on my column shift ute. But it looks like they must have made some reasonable changes to the dash as I don't think the VS ones would fit because my dash above the steering column is quite a bit different and the covers on the VS look larger. Shame because mine are a bit damaged and don't fit together anywhere near as nice as the ones on the VS do.

 

[UTE042_NZ]

Yea, but what about the really important bit, was your screwdriver still there or did you forget to look for it?
Don't leave us all hanging dude!