Holden Ute - Mid life refresh
Discussion
No idea if anyone is interested in me giving my ute a bit of a refresh?
Ill give it a go.
Its a 2003 Holden ute, that i bought new in 2003. This is the third time ive owned, having sold it and bought it back twice, so i guess i like it !
I gave it what would be best described as a very light rust proofing when new, as they are, essentially unprotected underneath. I also had a paint protection film applied when new as well.
Fast forward 23 years, and there were some bits that really needed attending to. Whilst not bad, and certainly no MOT failure, it wasnt going to get better on its own.
Sadly, along the way, i managed to delete some photos, but im sure you get the idea.
Random pic of it in one piece. Dont really have many.
The first job was to remove the now completely knackered paint protection film. This was on the bonnet, part of the front wings, front bumper, side skirts and rear bumper 1/4's. This turned out to be an utter nightmare, because, as can be seen in pics, it has crazed badly, so any attempt at peeling failed at the crazing lines
In the end, this took we 2 weeks of evening to get off. That said, its been highly effective.
With that task out of the way, and the bumpers and skirts off the car, it was time to think about underneath. This is it as it was, albeit with exhaust already off.
The plan was to remove all the running gear, but not the engine and gearbox. First up was removing the front subframe.
And on to the rear subframe. No pic of it coming out. Just on the floor in bits
Back soon with some more.....................
Ill give it a go.
Its a 2003 Holden ute, that i bought new in 2003. This is the third time ive owned, having sold it and bought it back twice, so i guess i like it !
I gave it what would be best described as a very light rust proofing when new, as they are, essentially unprotected underneath. I also had a paint protection film applied when new as well.
Fast forward 23 years, and there were some bits that really needed attending to. Whilst not bad, and certainly no MOT failure, it wasnt going to get better on its own.
Sadly, along the way, i managed to delete some photos, but im sure you get the idea.
Random pic of it in one piece. Dont really have many.
The first job was to remove the now completely knackered paint protection film. This was on the bonnet, part of the front wings, front bumper, side skirts and rear bumper 1/4's. This turned out to be an utter nightmare, because, as can be seen in pics, it has crazed badly, so any attempt at peeling failed at the crazing lines
In the end, this took we 2 weeks of evening to get off. That said, its been highly effective.
With that task out of the way, and the bumpers and skirts off the car, it was time to think about underneath. This is it as it was, albeit with exhaust already off.
The plan was to remove all the running gear, but not the engine and gearbox. First up was removing the front subframe.
And on to the rear subframe. No pic of it coming out. Just on the floor in bits
Back soon with some more.....................
I'm in!With the front and rear subframes out of the way, and the engine strapped up, it was time to have a good look at the underside.
Mostly its fine. The first place they normally rot is the 3 layer join on the chassis rails by the bell housing, but these are perfect on mine. Any water in the engine bay drains through these, and of corse, makes its way into that join. Fortunately, id waxed (dinitrol) the chassis legs when new, so i guess this saved it.
The primary area of concern, and the reason i started it was the rear subframe re-inforcing plates attached to the inner sills. This is a substantial thick plate spot welded to the inner which is much thinner. Water and salt get behind these and it rots away quite happily. By the time you see it, its quite bad. I could see some "bulging" so i knew it had started.
General views of underside
Addtionally there was some corrosion around the lips of the front wheel arches that would also need attending to.
Next job, was to clean it, including the light wax coating id previously applied when new. Ice blasting would have been perfect here, but i dont have one, and live in the back end of nowhere and the cars not mobile, so it needed to be done the old way.
This involved covering the floor first in cardboard, and then spraying the underside in diesel. More than once. And leaving it for a few days.
Once it soaked in, i break out the brake cleaner and with some help from a brush, rinse it off. Yes, it uses a lot of brake cleaner, more than 15 litres! And it makes a massive mess. But it does get rid of it.
So heres a couple more shots of it "clean" if you can call it that. Attention to detail here is vital to ensure every last trace of corrosion is exposed.
With it all clean, it was time to start the actual repairs. Thats for next time.
Mostly its fine. The first place they normally rot is the 3 layer join on the chassis rails by the bell housing, but these are perfect on mine. Any water in the engine bay drains through these, and of corse, makes its way into that join. Fortunately, id waxed (dinitrol) the chassis legs when new, so i guess this saved it.
The primary area of concern, and the reason i started it was the rear subframe re-inforcing plates attached to the inner sills. This is a substantial thick plate spot welded to the inner which is much thinner. Water and salt get behind these and it rots away quite happily. By the time you see it, its quite bad. I could see some "bulging" so i knew it had started.
General views of underside
Addtionally there was some corrosion around the lips of the front wheel arches that would also need attending to.
Next job, was to clean it, including the light wax coating id previously applied when new. Ice blasting would have been perfect here, but i dont have one, and live in the back end of nowhere and the cars not mobile, so it needed to be done the old way.
This involved covering the floor first in cardboard, and then spraying the underside in diesel. More than once. And leaving it for a few days.
Once it soaked in, i break out the brake cleaner and with some help from a brush, rinse it off. Yes, it uses a lot of brake cleaner, more than 15 litres! And it makes a massive mess. But it does get rid of it.
So heres a couple more shots of it "clean" if you can call it that. Attention to detail here is vital to ensure every last trace of corrosion is exposed.
With it all clean, it was time to start the actual repairs. Thats for next time.
Massive progess! You'll be finished by next weekend!
It really does look very clean underneath. Certainly no rot to be seen.
Curious to know what sort of life has it lead in terms of mileage, usage, storage etc.. Has it been very much a fair weather car or a use anytime and where vehicle?
Did the UK Monaro come with better protection to begin with?
It really does look very clean underneath. Certainly no rot to be seen.
Curious to know what sort of life has it lead in terms of mileage, usage, storage etc.. Has it been very much a fair weather car or a use anytime and where vehicle?
Did the UK Monaro come with better protection to begin with?
Lincsls1 said:
Massive progess! You'll be finished by next weekend!
It really does look very clean underneath. Certainly no rot to be seen.
Curious to know what sort of life has it lead in terms of mileage, usage, storage etc.. Has it been very much a fair weather car or a use anytime and where vehicle?
Did the UK Monaro come with better protection to begin with?
Dont worry, theres some rot. But very limited. Pics soon.It really does look very clean underneath. Certainly no rot to be seen.
Curious to know what sort of life has it lead in terms of mileage, usage, storage etc.. Has it been very much a fair weather car or a use anytime and where vehicle?
Did the UK Monaro come with better protection to begin with?
Its been a daily driver during my three periods of ownership. The two people who had in between kept in nice warm garages though.
Its only done about 80k though.
As far as i can deduce the only the UK monaros had extra was they were galvanised/zince coated. Not that that helped much!
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