Kei's 2001 Carry ute

Suzuki van tech question and answers.
Kei
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 1:17 am
Location: Brisbane

I figured I should make a thread to keep my car's progress in one place.

I bought this Carry on eBay, flew down to Adelaide to buy it and drove it back to Brisbane over 3 days.

It's been a farm car most of its life and is the dirtiest thing I've ever laid eyes on, including my girlfriend unfortunately.

Here's a picture in Cobar on the way back to Bris:
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Interior:
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Kei
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 1:17 am
Location: Brisbane

After I got it back to Brisbane I stripped the interior carpets / seat covers, removed the dash and cleaned a lot of dirt out.

Then, I got some new 15x6.5" wheels for it:
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Kei
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 1:17 am
Location: Brisbane

The tray of the ute had checkerplate bolted to it. The gates on all sides were dinged and not closing tightly and I could tell there was some rust on the tray itself.

So, I removed the checkerplate and an inch or so of dust/leaves that had packed itself solid underneath. Then, I removed the tray sides/gate and welded up some angle iron and painted it black.
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Here you can see how rough the tray itself is:
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I am an amateur so I decided to hold the gates closed with wingnuts. They're on the inside so the outside will look nice and clean.
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Next step is to get some timber to put inside the tray frame. I want something dark red, like a jarrah or merbau.
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goose360
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2009 10:24 pm

Looking good! Nice work so far
Kei
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 1:17 am
Location: Brisbane

Been away for the end of Dec and most of Jan, glad to get back into it now.

I grabbed my timber, merbau. Have just finished putting together the ass end. I'll probably re-do it with different hardware, just wanted to see if this worked.

My intention was to keep it clean without using bolts or welding on straps over the panels. I managed to screw down from the top and up from the bottom, gluing the panels in the middle. Thought about doing tongue n' groove, but it's damn solid as it is so, meh.

The timber needs 6 months to cure, then I can oil it, so this is pretty raw atm. The final product will be a darker, almost red colour. Very happy with it so far!
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Brayden
Posts: 9101
Joined: Sun Apr 11, 2004 3:09 am
Location: Canberra ACT
Contact:

Interesting mix of old school timber boards and new school wheels. I reckon a set of dished wheels and some flares are in order. :twisted:
F8B EFI turbo - Three pots and a snail.
Kei
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 1:17 am
Location: Brisbane

I think you're right, dish would look great.

Small update: 2 sides done now. Almost finished!
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I also put on two new taillight lenses as one was cracked. Sourced from: http://www.minitruck.ca - really slow delivery, but they're legit.
Kei
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 1:17 am
Location: Brisbane

...and, done!
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User avatar
goose360
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2009 10:24 pm

That looks awesome! Should look even better once it is oiled
Kei
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 1:17 am
Location: Brisbane

The floor of the tray was pretty rusty, so I have just finished cutting it off.

I'm going to tidy it up and then just do more timber for the base.

A few random pics after giving it a good clean with the pressure cleaner, had soooo much caked on dirt and stuff under there.
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Kei
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 1:17 am
Location: Brisbane

Small update: I have had someone do the work to remove the rust at the base of the cabin for me.

I then welded on some horizontal plates to give me something to attach the timber to and gave it a quick primer/white coat.

Timber is here and I've just started to cut and install it. Pretty impressed with how this merbau is turning out, it's been a few months now and you can really start to see it change colour and go to a darker like I intended. A couple more months and I can oil it, then it will be amazeballs. Lots more cutting and screwing to go.
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Bonus picture:
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I went on a holiday to Hamilton Island and it's covered with Suzuki Carry's and APV's. If you're interested in a carry ute like mine, find some way to buy the old ones from the island I reckon.
Kei
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 1:17 am
Location: Brisbane

Tray is mostly done now. There are two thin strips down the middle that I will fill with a contrasting colour of wood.

Can't oil it for a few months, but it's looking good!
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Brayden
Posts: 9101
Joined: Sun Apr 11, 2004 3:09 am
Location: Canberra ACT
Contact:

Very neat job. Well done. :thumbup2:
F8B EFI turbo - Three pots and a snail.
oldvanman
Posts: 67
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:49 am
Location: Dubbo NSW

G'day

Lucky bugger, I have been chasing a ute for a while.

A couple of suggestions...
New headlights

Image




Tacho Dash out of an Ignis, Jimny, Holden Cruz...


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Once a 2%er, always a 2%er. (old vanners know what I mean)
Kei
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 1:17 am
Location: Brisbane

Good suggestions oldvanman.

Do you know if the ignis dash will pop right in? Mine is pretty shit so I'm pretty clean to replace it.
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