1981 L200 'ClubSport'

Middle of winter? What better time to remove a not leaking rear screen and swap in a breezy sliding rear window!

Cut some wedges and popped the screen out, just like a bicycle tyre, but make sure to sepperate the inner and outter from the body incase its been siliconed in there. Luckily mine just and some horrible non hardening sealant and the rubber was still pliable enough to consider re using
https://i.imgur.com/zSGo97xl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Mk1kR2Jl.jpg

The passenger side has been skilfully carved by artisan bondo sculptors, the drivers? well probably the apprentice
https://i.imgur.com/iz3LIhIl.jpg

But, il forget I saw that for now, its all hidden and not rusting out


I just used some paracord and window cleaner to pop the new window and old seal back in. So nice to have a hole in the middle of it to grab and pull so I didn't need a helper on the outside
https://i.imgur.com/RlbzVsZl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/HTPk3u6l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/XSzQZZ6l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2rZjFcwl.jpg


Just needed to give the glass and felt seals a good clean, lots of crap in the drain holes. Replaced the 2 middle rivets that act as stops for the glass. Cleaned up as best I could a bunch of old window tint. The anodising is a bit faded (bluish tint) on the outside which looks a little out of place so I might get them re coloured one day. Otherwise, so sweet!

...I hate you :lmao:Don't think I have ever seen a slider for an L200 in Australia. You lucky bugger, it's a nice add on. Your seats look a lot like the ones I had in my Lancer fastback before I retrimmed them.

Very surprised to see one, it's not exactly tropical here so I'd have thought there would be more over your way. hopefully will be enough that I don't think about installing AC next summer. Seats are standard l200 bench seat.

L200 bench? It looks like a pair of bucket sports seat in the pic (just from the top half anyway). Mitsubishi used the same headrests on them. Must have been 'fun' getting the glass and frame in with the tie down bars in the way.

Yeah, it's a split bench seat, the middle folds down to an armrest. Most of them over here have one like that, don't see many of the true bench seats. No problem at all getting the glass in. There's that huge gap where the tray has been cut too short! Haha at least it worked out for getting the glass in. Real easy with the opening to hold onto. Hell anything is easy compared to split screen minor glass. It all goes in from the inside and fights every step of it

Having a rattle canned, and bumpy from exploritory bog digging roof and A pillars has bugged me enough.

Bare metalled the roof again (just had some black spray paint on it to keep the rain off, worked well still clean underneath) and tidied up some welds on the repairs i had done earlier in the year. and then finally pulled the pin and pulled the screen.

Very slow going as it had been stuck in with non hardening sealer, and i wanted to preserve both the glass and rubber (would have been impossible if it had been siliconed in there) as i want to keep my chrome trim. so very slowly i went around as above and inch by inch seperated the rubber from the body and using penetrative spray to keep the sealant from sticking back i inched back the rubber seal. Its been in and out before i think (and left in for the last respray) as theres quite a few cuts and missing chunks on the inner lip. Going to be delicate to put back in, I will begrudgingly use a plain seal if it turns to custard.

Amazingly it doent look like theres any rust under the rubber. i will take the A pillars back to bare metal to be sure before sealing with primer (Exterior A pillars and roof back to the top of the rear window, and inner door jamb where the drip rail exists)

https://i.imgur.com/UinXUE2l.jpg

Its been a long time since I have blended metallic paint, but should go alright

WELCOME
Cool truck, keeps you busy, goes fast & harder to stop (?) I can see brake dust on the front wheels...
Another Islander,
George

doing an amazing job on a cool truck!

Stopping is always exciting. You really do have to pay attention because although the brakes work well, they don't stop on a dime like the modern car infront

I see you've had a shot at fixing the dash pad cracks with expanding foam. Could get a big offcut of vinyl and bond it down with spray adhesive. You colour matched the demister panel with the body? You weren't worried about glare bouncing up off the windscreen?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by geezer101

I see you've had a shot at fixing the dash pad cracks with expanding foam. Could get a big offcut of vinyl and bond it down with spray adhesive. You colour matched the demister panel with the body? You weren't worried about glare bouncing up off the windscreen?

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All the previous owners work

It's all normally covered with a dash pad cover (just some speaker box carpet stuff cut to shape) so you normally don't see any of it.
I have repaired a split dash before using filler and sanding and painting. But I have a replacement this time

Sealed with durapox (used on the NZ America's cup boats, sticks real well to the junk I have painted with it)
https://i.imgur.com/zyBr74hl.jpg

And 3 coats of south Auckland racing grey
https://i.imgur.com/zAPTa7xl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/z39LBQTl.jpg

Coming up really well with some work with the long sanding board. couple of spots needed some extra filler. But far from the inch of bondo covering the whole thing before I started
https://i.imgur.com/PXOHWAMl.jpg

I think I will have it sanded out and ready for a final coat of primer by end of the day, and if the weather goes my way il get the colour and clear on this weekend

Did a bunch more sanding and cleaning and put the top coat on today


sucking in those solvents already
https://i.imgur.com/CgVWQpXl.jpg

base coat on
https://i.imgur.com/vRIWAOwl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Q311qWJl.jpg


and some fast flow clear
https://i.imgur.com/kFfSrVml.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/OX63m3Tl.jpg


Paint is left overs from whenever the last time this was painted (I think about 5 years ago) so we will see how well it matches after sitting. I blended it down to the body line so should be a smooth transition along with the clear.

yeah theres some dust in the clearcoat, but it should be fine after a polish if I ever get around to that, the rest of the truck is pretty average (sanding marks in the base coat expecially on the bonnet) so it would be polishing a turd. I think I will give it a doors closed respray once the new old tray is on

Windscreen, Stainless gutter trim, and visor back on

https://i.imgur.com/7AfpJJSl.jpg



All that work and I'm back to where I started almost a year ago

Yikes



Screen rubber has turned to cheese and all the existing nicks really didn't help, so the inside looks pretty bad where it's torn even more. Probably not leak proof

So next up in the pile of parts I have been collecting was a spare fuel tank with sender, and a Holden fuelpump/sender combo.
Have been thinking of how to sort out the fuel gauge. But in the end I felt it most cost effective (don't need a custom long range tank I guess) and simple enough to just put the Holden sender in the mitsi tank.

Unfortunately the Holden one is larger in diameter, and I don't really need an in tank pump in a non baffles tank.

So the plan was to adapt the Holden sender onto the original mitsi unit

Took apart the mitsi one
https://i.imgur.com/VUL843dl.jpg

Took apart the Holden one
https://i.imgur.com/RzCVRTUl.jpg

Removed the sender bodies from both

https://i.imgur.com/7VA1TnCl.jpg

Soldered the long mitsi float arm onto the Holden pivot
https://i.imgur.com/toqn9bZl.jpg

Welded the Holden sender body to the mitsi mounting, and soldered the single wire to the original fitting

And re assembled
https://i.imgur.com/2GxBME9l.jpg

And it works. The hardest but will be removing the one currently in the truck

Nice. I still would've adapted the Holden tank though. I've seen how freaking expensive fuel is in NZ and on days where it's at the low end of the pricing cycle, it would pay to fill up. And you'd have a baffled tank with the stock fuel pick up which solves a few issues with running the Commo V6 drivetrain. But I do like bespoke components like this :thumbup:

Every wrecker here spikes the tank, bit of a pain getting a 2nd hand one
I may put my spare tank in on the other side for 100l range tho!

I'm planning on putting my other Gen 1 behind the rear axle and modifying the tank hangers to pin it up there. That way I can keep all the fuel supply lines together and hide a fuel filler neck (somewhere...) in that side of the tray. I'll end up with 114 litres fuel capacity and I can fill up when fuel is at it's lowest price. I mean, we're paying $1.60ish AUD for peak price per litre but it ain't the $2.40 NZD you poor buggers are getting gouged for.

Oh yeah, just in Auckland though, we have our regional fuel tax to pay for our never ending roadworks. But don't worry, the train line will be done by 2050!

Maybe that is a good idea for keeping weight over the rear axle too. I like the idea of keeping the weight in the middle and even side to side, plus the symmetry of a filler on each side of the tray. Plus my spare I think would get in the way.

I really should get on lpg, although right now I'm carpooling so I save a bit over $100 a week just in fuel.
Plus too many little projects going on haha, need to do the original tray, replace the loom, custom cluster, replace dash, sound deadening and trim interior, etc etc.

Little job today
https://i.imgur.com/MN7FPnxl.jpg
Pre punched marks on the floor seat rail mount

https://i.imgur.com/1MixiFAl.jpg
Drilled and rivnut installed

Cut some bar stock and added another pair of rivnuts to mount the extinguisher cradle to
https://i.imgur.com/uMa5K78l.jpg
Seat right back
https://i.imgur.com/Negl9LVl.jpg
Seat so far forward I can't put it in gear and still accessable

Quite basic, but a step up from having it jammed under the seat. Not race track approved, maybe I'll get a nicer one one day. Currently painted black and drying

so another little job knocked out.
a little while ago i was monitoring the under bonnet and intake temps and figured i could see a significant improvement by ducting the airbox to outside the hot engine bay.

Here is what i am working with
https://i.imgur.com/d0kqMRSl.jpg
standard holden airbox but missing its snorkel, and an unused headlamp pressing in my inner rad panel

So I went to a wreckers and picked up another complete airbox with snorkel incase I wanted to cut it up. I briefly tried to heat set the snorkel into the shape I wanted, but no luck
Around that time I spotted in a clearance parts bin a 3"-4" silicone adaptor. The unused headlamp hole just happens to be 3", and the snorkel hole more or less 4". so at $5 I took a punt

https://i.imgur.com/5ZqJNX8l.jpg
yup, with some trimming this will work

Now its hard to see in pictures, but the two holes don't line up, theres about 3cm of offset and the headlamp hole is a little higher. Fortunately there is exactly enough room to move the airbox closer to the inner guard, and up without touching the bonnet when closed.
https://i.imgur.com/u6WZ7lYl.jpg
I can improve this by slotting out the airbox hole, but for now it looks like it will be fine and the only additional work to do is make some spacers to mount the airbox at the correct height on the old battery tray.

https://i.imgur.com/0O8sKZrl.jpg
this is the joiner un trimmed, in place between the inner and outer headlamp panels. I don't think I will bother with any kind of fancy scoop even though its probably dead air (but it always measured much cooler than under the bonnet) and will just cut it more or less flush

Good spot for pulling a fresh air charge from outside the engine bay. Due to the V6 having an absurdly long intake duct this can only help with torque. Might need a mesh screen in there to prevent it from collecting bugs and debris.

Interior improvement time
https://i.imgur.com/L89Gzvml.jpg

zinced up the floor and roof
https://i.imgur.com/tLlXmYel.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/tRoQ9Xsl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3NxR9zSl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/mIMNJctl.jpg
ordered a 2 door kit of dynamat, it was actually the cheapest option. The real cheap stuff I did my Morrie with seems to be NLA, but this was a bit nicer to work with

most of the deadening is achieved by covering 30-50% of the panel, so I didn't bother trying to cover everything. Yes I realise I have done this a bit backward, most of the sound will be coming through the firewall and front floor sections. But I have more work to do there and will do that when I take the dash out and fill up the un used holes etc. I have some vinyl, so I will make a headliner and rear of cab panel maybe this weekend

Got a sheet of 3mm ply, some fluffy backing and a metre of white perforated vinyl
https://i.imgur.com/Ngr3e9Zl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ejXZK58l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/JKhK4iNl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0WScL1nl.jpg

Came out really well. Quite a tight fit, but some shoving and slapping got it in place, and it all smoothed out after being left to unsquish for a few minutes. Quite cozy in the cab now. I wouldn't want to be any taller haha