Losh's VR Ute build thread

[losh1971]

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!

Yeah it was I forgot to say. I ended up picking it up yesterday. It wasn't a fantastic screwdriver but it was one that lives in the ute so it gets a fair workout.

 

[Deuce]

Yeah it was I forgot to say. I ended up picking it up yesterday. It wasn't a fantastic screwdriver but it was one that lives in the ute so it gets a fair workout.

That's great to hear. I was also wondering. Lol

 

[figjam]

[QUOTE="losh1971, post: 2978437, member: 66009" But I also asked him about redoing my head liner and far out he can do it 95 bucks, [/QUOTE]

Good price, but when you get the headlining done, make sure that the lining edges are folded over the cardboard plug, not cut off level. That is the point where they start to fall apart in the future.

 

[losh1971]

[QUOTE="losh1971, post: 2978437, member: 66009" But I also asked him about redoing my head liner and far out he can do it 95 bucks,

Good price, but when you get the headlining done, make sure that the lining edges are folded over the cardboard plug, not cut off level. That is the point where they start to fall apart in the future.[/QUOTE]

Good advice yeah will do.

 

[losh1971]

Bought a sheet of 12mm foam plus a roll of carpet tape for 25 bucks. Plan is to pad the seats a tad more with a piece of foam under the base part and on the backrest. I have new seat covers to go on in 9 days time. Hanging out for the 12th as I'm getting them for my birthday and want to have the seats as comfortable as i can before the 10hrs on the road in October. I could fit Stato seats i guess but i like the centre seat so i can carry two people. Plus the dog likes if on the odd occasion he is inside the cab because of rain.

 

[losh1971]

This arvo I finished the painting of the last door trim. The rear pillar panel is also painted and all fitted up. Looks heaps better with a decent rear pillar panel as it all sits nice at the top into the gutter moulding, whereas the old one had a piece missing. I didn't need to paint the white on the pillar panel in the end as it came up nice with a simple cut and hand buff. It has taken me a couple of days to get the passenger side done as it becomes really fiddly trying to get the black where it meets the white looking nice. In the end I had to use a fine brush and carefully tidy up the line in a couple of spots.

Looking at it now and the wipers are looking pretty shabby. So thinking I should possibly sandblast them and repaint them when I swap over the wiper plenum to one in better cond.

 

[losh1971]

Early birthday present

 

[losh1971]

Went to the wreckers again as I do on a regular basis. I picked up another VS window winder handle to match the drivers side. I think the VS one looks a bit nicer so I went with two of those instead of getting another VR one. While I was there I grabbed two more interior door handles, as the ones the ute came with were the blue/grey and not the light grey that I believe my ute came out with. Probably not a biggie but I want everything to match and I really want to achieve a smick interior and exterior within the next six months.
I have now lined up a pair of Caprice door trims and am either getting them freighted over or working out petrol costs to pick them up as they are in Adelaide. But if I can bypass Adelaide on my way to Normanville early next month I will. Gonna Google the extra miles and work out petrol costs tonight.
Reckon I have spent close to $200 at the wreckers over the last few weeks. I replaced the ECU as I'm trying to figure out a problem with the O2 sensor having an intermittent signal problem. So far relacing the ECU has made a difference in the number of CEL's I get. I was getting one every 5-10 mins or more now I get a CEL only once or twice on a 30min trip, plus I was getting lean codes. I'm hoping the lean codes are sorted with the new ECU but I need 200km round trip to know for sure.
I have a set of mint door vents and holders to go on that I bought about a week ago. I am gonna wait until I fit the trims before replace the vents and do it all at once. As it is the wrecker scratched the new ones I had already paid for, which meant I had to buff out the marks on the bench grinder buff wheel. I have a special leaver tool that doesn't scratch but didn't have it on me last time I went to the self serve wreckers. I thought the other wreckers in Town would have been more careful than they were, so I thought I'd just pay the extra $5 and get them from them.
I fitted the new handles tonight, when I got back. They look a fair bit better. Took a bit to find a matching pair because all the VR's were pretty well stripped out. Bloke said I could use a VS one but I showed him how the VS one is different on the drivers side and means you need a mirror switch to fit. Given that all the switches at the wrecker are probably knackered I didn't want to go with a complete VS handle and switch, especially since I rebuilt mine and it took two switches to make one functional one.

 

[UteBeautVR]

Bloody good read mate, you've really gone the extra mile and pulled this ute back for near death. Keep it up! I'll be using your thread as reference to a lot of things I'll need to do. Do you have any recent photos of the beast you can upload?

 

[losh1971]

Bloody good read mate, you've really gone the extra mile and pulled this ute back for near death. Keep it up! I'll be using your thread as reference to a lot of things I'll need to do. Do you have any recent photos of the beast you can upload?

I will get some more up later this week once I get time to give it a wash.