Thought I would post up the start of the build....

what a mess it was when it arrived......

lots of work to be done in the treasure area and new ribs to be welded in, I'm toying with the idea of having the rear half of the tray fixed but then then front half towards the cab on gas lift struts and flush mount locks so you can open up to get inside the treasure chest from above., maybe skin where the treasure chest door is located, any thoughts?

Jeez Ian, a bit of work ahead. How's the rest, cab floor, doors, screen, roof etc.?

The top hatch idea could work IMO, if a proper seal, gutter and drain arrangement is made. Water in there is just another rust trap. Maybe graft in a T3 hatch. I'd definately keep the side door though, even put one in the RH side too.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^yeah but a challenge is good right?...

I'm kinda diggin the gas strut thang at the moment, spent a lot of time sitting in the chair looking at the ute today and I think it is worth a try. You are right about the weatherproofing, siill trying to work that out.

Rust is ok, major areas are where I already cut out the ribs n such, floor pan will be all new. The main frame and rest is all good shape.Doors and panels are smooth and ready for paint. All parts are arriving soon, so my 2 months off work will be doing guess what?

Plenty of documentation pics also for future sale, really want a dual cab.

>EDIT< Mr Berry, do you know the best place to find a windscreen and anyone that has put a sliding rear window in a cab before?.. I would love to have a slider window but just depends on coin. Do need a windscreen though..

zap zap

Loooking good

ohh it keeps going......

cut up the floor pan and found a key wired to the chassis up and under the pan, ohh and some rust

cool! keep up the good work

Looks like a good project, I have a spare 79 dualcab if you are interested.

Peter

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ arghhh don't tell me that !!! .. that's wha tI have been looking for but grabbed this as a substitute. Send some pics and more info to ihatestarbuckscofe@hotmail.com
cheers Ian

Ian,

Photos sent to your email as requested.

Cheers

Peter

after a long crap day at work I come home to 4 boxes of joy!!

whooo hoooo..... it's like xmas and made me get my ass into gear and get going on this project....

enjoy

Good stuff Ian, got some more goodies for you too. We'll dropoff friday

^^^^ohhh really!!. I'll give you a call today if I get a chance.
You da man!!

Ohhh my ...ohh my ... just got home and opened up the Vintage speed gear. I think I may of trickled, this stuff is even better in real life!!!! The exhaust system is pure fuggin art and the gear shifter is off tap!!....

Thanks Matt for the drop off and thanks for swingin me towards vintage speed... I'm sure the $$$$$$ are worth it.

40 IDF's are enroute as well

I'm doing up my dual cab bay over christmas and a full length lift up aluminium floor is part of the plans. It will give me access to a custom 120lt fuel tank and the top of the engine which could be handy. Do what you feel like doing even if its not liked by purists

Glad you like the Vintage Speed gear Ian. Definately nice stuff.

Power rear screen....cool

Ha ha. He'll try and sell ice to the Eskimo's.

Window sounds cool. Dual cab and single cab are the same.

^^^not when you got kids......

I meant the size of the rear window.

bahhh hahhhh....still got the wit after 15 years.....

shit bloke I can't stop looking at the shifter.....

worked on the power winder a bit today ...... I think it's going to work and now thanks to Mr Berry I am going to try to lift the whole window and not just a section.

The winder came out of a falcon and was way too long so had to cut and shorten and reweld the pulley, changed the length of the cables to suit, reshape the guide flat because falcon windows are curved.

Interested in the window rubber? Will you get one made? Simply cutting a slot to allow the window to go through won't work I would of thought judging by with wiggling required to fit the rubber over the glass in a normal install..

Love the idea!
Mike

^^^^^^^ yup , will make my own felt/rubber waterproof seals and rehash the entire widow sill to suit.... it all takes time and beer and sitting thinking .....

only an hr or so today, most of the day was spendt collecting parts/things/steel blarghh blarghhhh...
reinforced the lower section with some 50X50x3 angle and more vertical reinforcing to be added,welding in anchor points for child seats also for future buyers.

The cardboard mockup is for my cab extension or if you want to call it my tray reduction. Added an extra 200mm which will be a lockable space for tool box n shite.
Tomorrow will be an all out welding day so hope to have some good progress shots tomorrow nite.
Today is my first day of holidays, so it's all out for four weeks....
stay tuned!!!!!

Good stuff Ian, holidays workin on the bus

how crazy are CV joints to take apart?... I got new boots but shit scared about losing ball bearing everywhere. I guess I just gotta bite the bullet and go in deep.....

did a lil more today.........

put some sound deadener on roof, doors and front. Welded in new treasure chest ribs.Welded in drivers side floor section.
And had to see what the green dash will look like.....
The cut out in the door is for my SPAL power window winder kit and central locking. I was going to put door poppers in but thats just too much electronica

ahhhhh holidays.....

cut more out yesterday, and welded in more new steel. Painted it all in gal prime then hit it with tar mix paint.
Punched in new brake lines, had a bitch of a time getting off the drums, and don't mention the fuggin axle nuts...... the bastards were seized up so there was a lil bit of screaming and yelling at inanimate objects around the garage for a bit. I should of put it on video and uploaded to metoobe

The brakes were houses to wasp nests and spider webs and looked like they had never been removed in its life....
So it's off to blow more cash today on cylinders and pads. Do people still machine drums or is that too old skool these days?

just a few others, and that spray adhesive is the shit!!... EAL 790, 22 quid a can but it sticks like shit to a blanket and the best thing is it is aussie made