The 57 Vauxhall Ute

[teza40]

HI 2 all,

Ok so work has been slow on the ol vauxhall ute of late,had the chance too work on it twice in the last two weeks.

The results are in the pics, tho the story more interesting.

 

I had not been able to find where the seat unbolted,due to the amount of rust etc in the floor.So bugger it i took the seat and the floor out in one,few cuts with a grinder and cutting disc (mmm should have brought more disc`s) and with the help of a garden tool mainly a pick axe to hack the floor when i ran out of cutting disc.

the tailgate would budge either on one side,the lock pin was jammed solid.so with the leverage of the matock i at last got it free and was able to get the tailgate off.

 

The next trip out was rust repair making time,and we just had an old washing machine blow up. Kept the stainless bowl for a friend and the metal cabinet of the machine to use as repair metal, being zinc annealed.What better for replacement of the rusted out sill panel.The white parts you see were hand formed using only hammers, cold chisel ,blocks of wood and some the home made front tube bar that was on the ute.

 

pic of how the twin headlight surround from s series valiant looks, quick mock up shot.

 

Yes it is in rough form, but once welded in i will be able to smooth things out and make pretty.so a long slow process has begun,i reckon 90% of the lower half of the car needs to be remade and replaced.but the fun and enjoyment of being a metal fabrictor and the result in the end is what its about for me.

cheers

Terry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2007 by teza40

[KE30_KE35_KE55]

looking good I restored a Bedford Ute very similar rust its a big job.

[Raven]

Lookin' good Tez.

 

Inspiration for me to repair the rust in my KE25 along the sill panels |blink|

 

What type of welder are you using to weld the repaired section of the panels?

[teza40]

HI 2 all

Just a quick update with a few pics of recent work, right side replacement metal made and temporarily fitted tot the body awaiting the hire of a mig welder and more of my time to work on the ute.Yes the quarter panel lower sill does meed morework to make it meet the very lower sill panel line(will do more forming of shape whilst welding)

 

Left side the worst of the rust so far removed and awaiting again my time to make replacement meatal panels

(sill panel,etc),some rust removed from across the top of the ute bed also.

 

Was down there bit more recent and did a mock up of the front sheet metal (for more inspiration on this project,lol) to take progress pic`s for maybe next stage of work the custom front.

Enjoy

Cheers

Teza

 

 

 

 

 

[teza40]

Lookin' good Tez.

 

Inspiration for me to repair the rust in my KE25 along the sill panels |blink|

 

What type of welder are you using to weld the repaired section of the panels?

 

HI,most likely a gasless mig welder from kennards hire or something like that.unfortunately i don't have the ready neddies of cash to buy one for keeps at present.they do a reasonable job from my experience and are easy to learn in a quick time (sure ya blow holes,but hey you learn to fill them quickly).

Thanks for the encouragement Raven and good luck with you rolla,its worth it.

cheers

Teza

Edited February 11, 2008 by teza40

[ae174agze]

thats a neat job

 

i'm thinken 1uz-fe

[teza40]

HI 2 all,

Just had a little play on paint program on computer,doing some design ideas for the custom

front for the vauxhall velox ute.

 

the original grille set up 1957

 

the s series valiant twin lights mounted up n down

with original grille in a new opening

 

as per the last pic but with a fc-e holden grill

 

the ultimate would be a 53-4 desoto tooth grille butthey are rare too come across and expensive.

 

Mmmmm engine final choice is a long way off yet,but modernish in old car yes worth thinking about.

Cheers

Teza

[teza40]

HI 2 all,

Ok so i have been a bit quiet lately with the working on cars, have done some more metal replacement panel making for the left side of the ute around a month ago.

 

Last week end i headed out there and brought the dash back to work on at home (getting bored) and yes lack of money does that to most people,the dash has been stripped back to bare metal and primed so far.have a small bit of rust to fix but later,as you can see by the first pic the dash has a nice looking dress plate between the speedo and the dress trim on the passenger side.

 

The large rectangle hole is the original glove box spot (glove box lid rusted out as it was on the ute cabin floor for many years) with ash tray on the left and heater controls on the right of it, these are going to be deleted as are the ciggie lighter and the igniton barrel.

 

Ok for the interesting bit,as this is a now 51 year old car it didnt come with much in the way of gauges for information of whats happening while the car is in motion.

 

So its up date time,I'm using 2 inch speco white faced sport series gauges in the tacho,fuel,oil pressure,water temp and amps and will use the sport series 85mm km/h speedo also with white face.as of so far i have 3 of the 2 inch gauges out of the 5 i plan to use so far cost of $75.00 the fuel guage and sender unit cost is $80.00 and the tacho cost is $90.00 and the speedo...well i will find out later could be scary the cost.

I have decided that for a bit of class i will use timber for a facia to set the small gauges into between the original speedo and dress trim (see pics).

 

The rest of the dash will be painted in burgundy/maroon colour as per the cars main outer colour.

AHhhh thats better not bored now.

Cheers

Teza

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JiP]

OMG I love the guages!! Looking great Tez

[oh what a nissan feeling!]

Love your work man, its rare to see rust done properly, you have one hell of a job ahead of you!

 

I don't envy the gasless mig, you must be keen!!

[teza40]

Thanks Jon,yes the guages are a touch of class for the old girl...

 

Also thank you to oh what a nissan feeling. yep plenty of rust to be done on this old girl and I'm sure glad it will be a hired mig, cos its goin to be worked hard with all that welding...lol

Cheers

Teza40

[13RENDAN_88]

This project is dead set amazing. and to think i was whinging about starting my ae71.

Your a legend keep up the great work mate. i will be following.

Brendan

[Trev]

That looks great, Love the modified pics.

[teza40]

This project is dead set amazing. and to think i was whinging about starting my ae71.

Your a legend keep up the great work mate. i will be following.

Brendan

 

Thankyou Brendan, YES amazing,i sure have taken on more than i thought it would be

tho I'm determined to see this project through over time (a lot of time).

Sometimes ya just gotta stand back,bite the bullet and say f#*!k it.LETS DO IT.

Cheers

Teza40

[teza40]

That looks great, Love the modified pics.

Thank you Trev, i have a style of how i want it too turn out when done.

tho i always come up with new ideas along the way,makes it fun

Cheers

Teza40