Another ute on the road to recovery?

[ajay]

A while ago I was a bit bored and in a foolish moment of impulse buying I purchased another wreck for my long suffering back yard. It is a good thing I part own this property as it is getting to be a bit of a mess. (memo to self, get a truck in and get rid of a few bodies)

It is a Utility of undisclosed age. It is registered as a 1969 model but it has not got the original registration on it so it could be any age after the coordinated wipers came in. As I had not actually seen it prior to purchasing on Trade Me (NZ version of Utube) I was a bit apprehensive as to what I had bought.

Not too bad and that other body over there goes with it. Loaded them both on the trailer, with the body mounted over the back of the ute. Looked like they were having a bit of hows your father but I didn't get any baby utes afterward.

The sills were stuffed, the floor was very sad in the ute but the Traveller (the body that came with it ) was sort of alright but would need a lot of work to get everything married together.

The intention was to make a ute with a longer cab, so the traveller sills etc would be very useful.

Then another Traveller came on Trade Me with doors and a 1100 motor and bigger brakes and lots of other goodies. The body on this was so bad that even the birds were no longer game to nest in in case of an earthquake and the impending disaster that could happen. I am sure they just slammed the doors to remove the engine and gearbox. The doors were not too bad, just needed the bottoms repaired (replaced)

Note to anyone cuts the bottom off a morrie door. They can twist as the bottom is the strength of the door..

Now I had 3 more vehicles in my back yard and was $550 poorer.

I wonder if I can get pictures to upload on to here. Well wonders will never cease.
This is the passengers sill suffering from tin worm
[frame][/frame][frame]The Taveller just waiting to be cut into pieces
[/frame]
Te Ute with the rear of the traveller sat in place but still with normal doors[frame][/frame]
The sills replaced and repaired. staring to become a hybrid. Sorry wrong photo this is still the traveller[frame][/frame]
This is the sill repaired. A traveller sill has to be severely altered to fit a ute[frame][/frame]
Door in place[frame][/frame]
From the other side[frame][/frame]

That's about as far as I have got at this moment. Am having a bit of a rest due to getting the bot or something. Whatever it was I was not happy with life for a while. Been a bad year so far. Broke a rib, then completely tore a quad muscle in half (cannot be fixed so I have a 20mm hole in my leg where the break is). Got kicked in the nuts and then the broken muscle by a lovely young 20 year old while auditioning for a part in The Phantom of the Opera (lost interest very soon after that). Got chicken pox (yes you can get it more than once) . Then got this flu thing. Now I have asthma.
Isn't age lovely.

Cheers Allan

[jaekl]

I hope you feel better to continue with this project. What are your plans? Simply lengthen the frame six inches and use a standard box. That would take the least amount of custom work. The factory didn't have to deal with the bottom of the cab and the curves on the door, but if you make a custom box, how will you deal with these areas? Also with a custom box, the slope of the cab panel would be out of place. Whereas a straight one would give extra space inside. There are pictures online of a white one that is still on a traveler floor pan and a custom made box. There is a green one that possibly is built on a frame, but has a custom box with traveler fenders on extenders. Just curious.
Do all of the holes on the cab panel align with the holes on the B post of the traveler? What about general alignment since a truck roof is still rising at the joint so the curvature may be different? Probably close enough.

[jaekl]

These are photos of the green one. I think I saw the white one on this forum. I recall it was seen at a show.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[ajay]

It is planned to make it into a woody without the top. The third photo gives a bit of an idea of what it will look like. The rear of the cab will be cut in half through the bend and the bottom will be straight and attach directly onto the deck at the sides. There will be no lengthening of the chassis even though I have to do a bit of repair work on this at the rear

The deck will have a double skin, the inner (steel) welded to the rear of the cab and the outer (original woody style made from ply. The prototype Traveller had wooden slats on the sides) screwed to the rear of the cab. The rear guards may need to be wider as the marina axle is wider than a Minor. No arches for me (I hate them) they will be widened from the wheel inner arch by about 20mm each side. Hope I can get away with standard for the front.

You are correct with your question about the holes lining up. They dont. They are in a different place vertically and horizontally so the whole thing will have to be welded. Thank goodness there is a hoop underneath to create some sort of rigidity (020202020202020202020202020202020202020202, this is a kittens footfall).

Motor wise it could have anything. 4AGE, (need a gearbox), Nissan 1300,(need a driveshaft) Alfa 2000 twinspark (now that would be interesting) That one is unlikely as the rear is too wide. But at my age it will probably have the trusty old 1100 (have 2 of them, both are of unknown quality. Or I could pinch the 1300 marina from old blue.