Aussie VC 67 Dodge ute

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trimmer is short for "motorbody and coach trimmer" as the old full name for the trade...or "motor trimmer" as it's known now, most people just call us car upholsterers!!

I'm on a trade forum in the US...they refer to themselves as "auto trimmers" it's not a trade that many would know the correct title for!!

had a quick look at your build thread...haven't been there for a while, how's the progress
 
another part getting close to completion is the duel battery mount....one battery is for all standard functions while the other seperated by a VSR (voltage sensitive relay) is for the audio system....this is to be mounted in the rear storage compartment...

this is the frame that will bolt to the floor, the fixed nuts are for the clamps...



1 1/4" straps clamp each battery in place...





part of the floor had to be cut away to fit the mount...





the frame upside down with the new floor section bolted to it while it's taked in place, has a built in vent for the battery gases....rego requirement



ready to fit...



welding done....now to make the caseing



first mock up of the case....still has to have the lid made!!



a VSR works by disconecting the 2 batteries from each other when the key is off....the second battery can then run accessories without affecting the starting battery....once the vechile is started, the starting battery only is charged to a preset voltage then the VSR connects the second battery and then charges both to full charge....the system will also have a battery minder fitted....they are a charger that works from the house and charges both batteries to around 14 volts then drops back to 12.7 and holds that voltage....designed for cars that aren't started every day....the wifes car had the starting battery replace after 7 years while the aviation grade batteries for the audio system are still going after 10 years!!
 
another small job out of the way this last week end.....with removing the factory hood springs it leaves a big ugly section of hinge hanging there for no reason...I bought a pair if hinges off Ebay to modify and swap over once painted...

I cut off the unwanted section and kept the rolled edge sections to weld back on to keep the original profile...





once they were welded into place I cut a pair of cover plates and cut holes for the hood bolts to fit through...



stitch welded ready to be ground smooth...



you can see how much was cut away with the new hinges placed over top of the originals...



before & after...

 
I've been working on the battery box...floor had to be modified to fit two batteries



bracket mounted with caseing in place...



twin batteries mounted...



ready to be covered...



the mould for the front half of the hard cover is made.....

the plug painted and waxed ready to make the mould...



the gelcote is measured on kitchen scales to get the exact 2% catalist mix needed...



mould removed from the plug ready to trim...



bracing being fitted as the mould will warp if it's not done...



designing the plug to make the rear half...



primed & painted ready to make the mould...



taken 12 days to get to this point and about another 5 days to make the rear mould and then the final cover...
 
the two halves of the hard cover are joined.....



sitting in place on the ute....sides need to be trimmed to size





next stage is to make the rolled edges....these will be made by casting a rim around the entire tray then bonding the top to it in place on the ute
 
Excellent work as usual Marty. Eagerly waiting to see the hard lid finished.
 
Nice work. It's kind of funny that you build it with a raised section. It matches the tonneau cover that came on my 69 Dodge D100.
 

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thanks Deecee....the cover has been a lot of work but it will be a one off...I have had a couple of people ask about making them one but I think the price would put them off!!
 
frame was removed from the ute and the last cross brace was fitted....



frame refitted to ute, marine carpet was taped in place over the edges to allow for the seal on the top edge, and for clearance on the sides, then the sides taped up ready to cast the rolled sides...



two layers of 450GSM chop strand matting were applied over the tape so it could be easily be removed to be trimmed before being bonded to the frame...



rim bonded to frame...



top bonded to rim & frame, screws to be removed later and extra matting applied to the rolled edges to make flush with the top...





matting applied to all sides of the frame as extra bonding for the top...



next stage is to fill and sand the edges smooth and blend into the top section ready for primer...
 
thanks Deecee.....all the sides have been built up and all imperfections filled, goes into primer today...and as we are having guests for Christmas eve dinner it goes back on the ute for a couple of day then I get it back in the work area to make the liner for the under side....I'd like to make a one piece mould for it now it right but the cost of them would make them unsaleable!!
 
hard cover is now primed ready for final block back...had to get it back on the ute for a couple of day as the court yard is back to being used as an entertainment area instead of my work area! I will make a liner for the underside of the cover before finishing off the sanding...quite happy with the results but I think after all the work that has gone into it I fell a bit "is that all" when I look at it.....think I will be happier once I'm on to other parts of the ute, spent so long on the cover!!









 
back onto the steel work....the spear wheel well had a bad repair or two done in the past and had a couple of other problems so the whole floor was removed





I had a piece of heavy gal folded which I then cut to size



I cut a section of 1" box to make the mount for the door hinge



cut some 1" x 2" box to make the ramps for the wheel to slide on then cut some more 25 box for the cross brace...



tacked back in place...should finish the welds this weekend...

 
while the mig was out I fitted the new fuel filler.....1968 Barracuda recessed flip cap....I was lucky enough to be given this by a guy on this forum, many thanks

trimmed the panel to size and had to make cuts top and bottom as the curve of the Barracuda is different to the Dodge, just enough to be a problem!





clamped in place ready to weld...



this was the old cap that came from the States, will look a lot better with a repro from Hemi performance!!



 
back to the fibreglass again....couldn't find a good spare wheel door anywhere so started to make one.....

this is the braces for the outside of the panel & the recess for the number plate...





assembled ready to bog up the joints and make the bevel around the plate insert...



the brace for the rear section of the door...



assembling the components...



primed ready for final sand and colour coat ready to make the moulds...




a bit of a change from the old to the new....

 
after losing interest in this project for 2 years I’m now back to working on it again! It’s been moved from the front yard to by back yard under a large pergola…..a few small but time consuming jobs have been completed with a couple of large jobs about to be started…lots of fibreglass work coming as I’ve just bought a roof turret to make a custom fibreglass head liner, and currently working on a full custom fibreglass hood with a low line scoop built in….here’s the finished spare wheel door…

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I’ve also been making custom bumperettes, the factory ones are made by cutting the centre out of a full sized bar and plating the ends….they look cut off and unfinished…so I made a mould from the curved outer ends of each bumperette so the replacements have a curved inner edge to match the outer…they have been made to fit tight into the body, as will the front when I get to that…

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I bought an old door to do some testing on before I cut up my good doors…..I wanted to modernize the ute with full length door glass, power operated of course…central locking…intrusion bars…puddle lights & illuminated exterior handles & will look at interior handle illumination later….

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I want to fit modern "reel" type safety belts to the ute, a pet hate of mine is early cars with seat belt bolts right through the top of the B pillar....I cut open the pillar and fitted a reinforcing plate with a welded nut, and refitted the cover section....I still have to make a recessed lower mount for the reel to counter sink into...the lower mount shown was a rough test pillar for my 62 S series but the ute will be made similar...

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A week ago I bought a VC sedan roof turret (a ute roof being to hard to find) to modify to the same size as the ute’s roof to make a plug from which a mould will be made, to make a hard head lining as per late model cars….this is to incorporate a VE Commodore interior light that will run off a Dakota digital controller to give full theatre lighting….i.e. the lights will fade up and down with the door opening, turn on as the ignition is switched off & run for 45 seconds before turning themselves off as most late cars do….this is the progress in the first 7 days!

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