Losh's VR Ute build thread

[losh1971]

Finally finished with my brake upgrades. I now have RDA slotted & dimpled rotors on the front, QFM HPX all round, fairly new DBA street rotors on the rear and braided lines all round. Unfortunately like i mentioned already i had to remove the caliper and did so before I realised i have no brake fluid in my main shed. Hopefully i can source some somehow tomorrow. May have to ask people on the town if they have a bit.

 

[losh1971]

Haven't done much on the ute over the last two weeks due to flat out working long days. But because the money has been pretty good i have pretty much paid off a set of Mace rockers.
I also have bought some engine bling that should be ready to fit around the time the rockers arrive.
I was looking at an eBay all alloy rad and made an offer but now am hoping he doesn't accept my final offer, only because I have managed to order a heater core for $110, from the rad bloke across from work. Cheapest on eBay was over $130. So ideally i will get that in two weeks time and pay to have it fitted. I just need to get an estimate on time wise as i need to factor the labor in. I am thinking an hour but maybe two at the most. Not sure yet if this will help giving me some better heat in the cab but I think it is the next thing to eliminate.
My current rad is fairly old and I do want to replace it but it can wait until later this year, especially given it is winter and I won't have any issues with it getting too hot until at least November.
Plus I need to stop spending money on the ute, new tyres and an alignment last week set me back $285, for a couple of KU22s. I sometimes get carried away and forget i still need to finish my linen press in the laundry and save 300 buck for my racing licence before September, lol.

 

[EYY]

hoping he doesn't accept my final offer .

You can go to 'bids and offers' and retract your offer.

Heater cores aren't fun to do, its a whole dash out job when you do it properly which will probably be more like 4-8 hours depending on who's doing the job. Unless you do the dodgy way and cut the pipes and it slips straight out. Can rejoin with heater hose and two hose clamps on each join. Plenty of people seem to do it without issue. The cooling system only runs at around 15psi from memory anyway (maybe 20?).

 

[losh1971]

Yeah I am having it done by pipe cutting method. If I was to do dash out it would mean I have to do it myself as yeah too much labor cost. AFAIK the bloke who does them this way uses flare tool and flares the pipes after they are cut. Tried to get the rad tech near work to cut and join but he said no. The mech I sometimes use has an auto elect who does them the quick way, so he will get the job. If I had a leaking evaporator I would pull the dash out and do it myself but it comes down to my time coming at a cost and if it doesn't need to come out then it probably won't. If dash out was three hours work then I'd pay to have it done properly.
Dash out is not out of the question, it would mean taking annual leave to do it myself but it's something I am not overly keen on just yet.

 

[losh1971]

You can go to 'bids and offers' and retract your offer.

Heater cores aren't fun to do, its a whole dash out job when you do it properly which will probably be more like 4-8 hours .

Hmmmmm do you think an A/C mech could do the job in four hours? Does the evap need disconnecting? I am wondering if I should have the box replaced as it did have a hole underneath near the drain, that I have since sealed up as it was dripping water onto the passenger floor. At least I would know all the flaps are working properly and the seals could be replaced. Just comes down to cost.

 

[VS 5.0]

Dash out is not out of the question,

Statesman conversion.

 

[losh1971]

Statesman conversion.

I could but I believe some of my dash is bench seat specific?

As mentioned I ended up purchasing the all alloy rad. I am thinking with the heater core I may end up installing it myself, using the chop and join method. I also want to have a look inside the core cavity and see if the sealant I squeezed in has somehow pushed into the space where the core sits, which is another reason for maybe fitting it myself. I did see one or two active members who have done the core this way are still around so might hit one up with a PM and get some advice, if that is ok Pete?
On another note I only have a $100 left to pay on my rockers and was hoping a bloke was coming to look at my GT mountain bike. But since he hasn't turned up it might be a case of borrowing $100 off the wife and pay the remainder on Monday.

 

[gtrboyy]

Cut pipes & flange them.

Done two that way in the past,compared to complete dash out job on my vp to gut everything out of it would never do that again if you want it all to go back in...

Only difference with dashboard is plastic centre part above transmission tunnel goes down for benchies...cars with consoles centre piece comes out to meet console section...all removable anyway.

 

[vs-lover]

I have stripped a 45,000Km written off VS of every last nut and bolt many years ago and I started on the dash and after getting halfway through it I thought to myself I hope I don't ever have to put one back in as these things are a Mecano set nightmare. I pride myself on doing things properly and having every screw go back in to it's original spot, but I'd quickly spit the chewy bigtime doing one of these that's for sure.

BTW Losh if the whole HVAC unit was to be taken out then the A/C evaporator would definitely require to be disconnected from the rest of the A/C system.

Like I said................Nightmare !

 

[losh1971]

Yeah I'm just gonna chop and join. Having pulled a dash out and refitted it due to a fairly bad heater core leak, i really think yeah do it the easy way. One i did had over 150 screws. It was more of a fleeting thought. I replaced the steering column in the ute and that was 3hrs by time i fitted the new bearing and mucked around. Full dash out would take me 10hrs. Plus there always the risk of the A/C developing a leak. Where as at the present it is icy cold and was regassed 18 months ago and no leaks.