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UC Hatch converting to LX Panels


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#26 _hatcher_

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Posted 06 September 2008 - 06:53 PM

i'm listening :D



:spoton:

#27 bryanw

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Posted 06 September 2008 - 09:28 PM

keep up the good work, want to do same to my uc hatch, now I will have a better idea where to start once I get a shed sorted out.
I thought uc/lx b/bars are the same, just mounting brackets are different.
so can you just use uc brackets to the chassis? or do you have to use lh/lx brackets because of the radiator support panel?.

#28 Toranavista

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Posted 06 September 2008 - 09:47 PM

Rear bars are the same but the UC rear mounts are much lighter. The front bars are different in many ways. As far as mounting, the UC bars don�t have the holes on the top and bottom of the bars like LX. Therefore you cant use the UC bar with LX mounts or visa versa. You can use a UC front bar on an LX if you use the UC mounts and the UC bar. They don�t look right though.

Edited by Toranavista, 06 September 2008 - 09:48 PM.


#29 _doogs_

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Posted 06 September 2008 - 10:03 PM

Nice project choice,
Progress looks good as well. I wish I would work this quickly !

#30 _hatcher_

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Posted 06 September 2008 - 10:24 PM

keep up the good work, want to do same to my uc hatch, now I will have a better idea where to start once I get a shed sorted out.
I thought uc/lx b/bars are the same, just mounting brackets are different.
so can you just use uc brackets to the chassis? or do you have to use lh/lx brackets because of the radiator support panel?.


Thanx.
Apart from the brackets, the front bars are different shape and the UC one doesnt look right on an LH/X. I will photograph the 2 side by side to show the difference.

Cheers,

Dave

#31 _hatcher_

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Posted 06 September 2008 - 10:27 PM

Nice project choice,
Progress looks good as well. I wish I would work this quickly !



Cheers mate,
A little bit each day (I dont work on it every day though) adds up surprisingly.

Hopefully get some more done tomorrow and will post up more photo's tomorrow (didn't get a chance to touch it today)

Dave.

#32 bryanw

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Posted 07 September 2008 - 11:06 AM

sorry, need to take more notice.
also make sure I get front bar as well for the conversion.
even rust free donor fronts are getting hard to find.

bryan

#33 _hatcher_

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Posted 07 September 2008 - 07:06 PM

Well, I got my roof cut from a wrecker with the needed hinge mounts.
As you can see, the roof skin is F@CKED

Attached File  Picture_065.JPG   108.84K   123 downloads

But the needed bace looked in not bad nick (probably saved by the fact the roof skin was rusting)

Attached File  Picture_068.JPG   108.95K   133 downloads

I removed the metal I didnt need and unstitched the underside cover panel to assess the rust. As you can see, only a small rusty area (phew!)
Also, see the oil in the second picture? Has to have been done in the factory because there is no way of accessing that area

Attached File  Picture_073.JPG   93.44K   124 downloads
Attached File  Picture_074.JPG   120.71K   136 downloads


Next step is to clean the rust up on these 2 pieces and weld in a patch where the hole is, prime them with my zinc paint, carefully cut out whats left of the brace in the UC and weld the new piece in (sounds simple right?)
Another change I am making is creating drain holes where the hinge plates are and will use a hose down the piller to direct it away from the areas that normally rust out. Some water will always get in no matter what you do, so I may as well create a drain system so it dont stay there (like in doors)


Here are the two front bumpers (LX on the left and UC on the right)
You can see the bracket difference and the shape difference

Attached File  Picture_072.JPG   97.35K   141 downloads


I have started to remove the brace in the car but will post photo's next time.

Cheers,

Dave

#34 _TJ253_

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Posted 07 September 2008 - 07:30 PM

Nice work your getting into it keep up the good work

#35 _hatcher_

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Posted 07 September 2008 - 07:33 PM

Nice work your getting into it keep up the good work


Thanx! Appreciate the comment

Dave.

#36 _hatcher_

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Posted 10 September 2008 - 08:57 PM

Just a quick update, cleaned up the support panel and found more rust in it (more holes to weld!)
I have also cut the section out of the hatch ready for the new piece.
Sorry, no photo's yet, camera battery is flat.

Dave.

#37 bryanw

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Posted 25 October 2008 - 11:16 AM

hows the conversion coming along?

#38 _hatcher_

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Posted 25 October 2008 - 04:18 PM

hows the conversion coming along?


Short answer: Slow!

We have been flat out at work and short staffed, leaving little time for Torana work. Unfortunately the next few weeks aren't looking very good either.

Have done a few more rust repairs but the bits I am doing are taking a lot of time, anyone looking at it would wonder what I have done the last couple of weeks!
As soon as I do something more "visible", I will post photo's

Cheers,
Dave.

#39 _UC_L76_

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Posted 11 November 2008 - 06:53 PM

Nice work m8. i am getting the parts together myself to do this same conversion. your pics have really helped me work out what i need to do. just one question. did you modify the lh guards to fit the uc inner guard profile or did you just leave the gap in between? i was thinking i would have to cut off the inner part of the uc guard and match it up to the lh guard.

#40 lxsstorana

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Posted 11 November 2008 - 07:30 PM

Keep the updates and pictures coming Dave.

Very interesting. :clap:

I'm sure plenty of people would like to do the same thing to UC but don't have the time or skills.

Perhaps you should call it the LUX model hatchback - very rare! :D

Regards,

Mick.

#41 mrlctorana

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Posted 11 November 2008 - 07:45 PM

Nice work dave, coming along very nicely mate.

#42 _hatcher_

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Posted 11 November 2008 - 10:31 PM

Cheers guys, looks like I have some spare time coming up soon, be able to get the ball rolling again!

Dave.

#43 _hatcher_

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Posted 11 November 2008 - 10:35 PM

Nice work m8. i am getting the parts together myself to do this same conversion. your pics have really helped me work out what i need to do. just one question. did you modify the lh guards to fit the uc inner guard profile or did you just leave the gap in between? i was thinking i would have to cut off the inner part of the uc guard and match it up to the lh guard.


I have two choices (haven't done either yet)

1: Do what you said (most likley what I will do) but the downside is that if a guard needs replaceing in the future, I will have to modify it again.


2: Modify the inner skirt so a LH/X guard will bolt on, (harder to do)

Dave.

#44 LX2DR

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Posted 11 November 2008 - 11:07 PM

Nice work m8. i am getting the parts together myself to do this same conversion. your pics have really helped me work out what i need to do. just one question. did you modify the lh guards to fit the uc inner guard profile or did you just leave the gap in between? i was thinking i would have to cut off the inner part of the uc guard and match it up to the lh guard.


I have two choices (haven't done either yet)

1: Do what you said (most likley what I will do) but the downside is that if a guard needs replaceing in the future, I will have to modify it again.


2: Modify the inner skirt so a LH/X guard will bolt on, (harder to do)

Dave.


What about making a filler piece/panel that bolts into the gap?

Cut the piece off the uc guard that actually fits in that area, do the same with a LH/X inner guard and fabricate a piece to fit in and weld to the cut sections.

Could be a little simplistic? but just a thought.

#45 _hatcher_

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Posted 11 November 2008 - 11:20 PM

Problem is the inner guard and the guard itself are 2 different thicknesses, also, the inner guard isn't flat (has stamped sections on it) so a filler piece would stand out like a sore thumb. You would end up with a twin sandwitched flange that could also get a bit ugly. I originally thought of using an "adapter" filling piece.

Modifying the LH/X guard to fit the UC inner guard will look the best I think, allthough not original.

Dave.

#46 bryanw

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Posted 12 November 2008 - 01:25 PM

modifying the gaurd to fit would create less work to go back to uc front if you decided in the future.

how much work is involved swapping the whole inner gaurd?
could you then remove radiator support and inner gaurds as on piece.

would there be a lot of work to remove the uc gaurd bolt on section, the attach to the lx gaurd?

sure you will figure out the best way, keep up the good work

#47 RIM-010

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Posted 12 November 2008 - 02:37 PM

Why would you go to the trouble of changing to LX, only to go back to UC later?

Love the work, can't wait to see it done :D

Tim

#48 _hatcher_

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Posted 12 November 2008 - 05:53 PM

modifying the gaurd to fit would create less work to go back to uc front if you decided in the future.

how much work is involved swapping the whole inner gaurd?
could you then remove radiator support and inner gaurds as on piece.

would there be a lot of work to remove the uc gaurd bolt on section, the attach to the lx gaurd?

sure you will figure out the best way, keep up the good work



I NEVER will want to go back to UC front, thats why I am spending time/money to convert it!

If I had a donor LX, I would have unstiched the whole front for sure. I don't, so I cant!

Dave.

#49 marko1au

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Posted 12 November 2008 - 06:14 PM

watching................. learning

mark

great work and welcome

#50 _hatcher_

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Posted 12 November 2008 - 06:33 PM

Well, I picked up a small TIG welder today, looking forward to put it into good use!

Dave.




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