Grunt's Papaya HX Sandman 18v 308 4 speed Project

[Vombil]

Looking the goods Grunt. Does this trim fella do the proper pressed HX-HZ door trims?

The old fella is after some kinga Q trims too

[Grunt]

Looking the goods Grunt. Does this trim fella do the proper pressed HX-HZ door trims?

The old fella is after some kinga Q trims too

When I got the van the door trims were there but down on one knee so I could compare them with the one from one stop, they are exactly the same with all the factory pressings, they look exactly the same. He even wanted me to take pics of the seat to make sure it was a 2x stiched face or single stitch

[Grunt]

The van arrived with the original dash fascia and a new repo fascia as well. The original had holes hacked in it for switches and a big ass stereo and had some nasty heat buckles so rather than fix it I will use the repo fascia even though it has a molding for the RTS badge.

There was a lot of work to get this ready, between the gauges and where the switch punch outs are located there are dips and grooves that needed filling and sanding







All primed up and nearly ready for the Portland Grey



Still needs the silver outlined sharpened up in spots a little but I have to wait for the paint to dry. Might try to find a RTS badge and replace the wording with the Sandman logo.... who knows.

Overall pretty happy with the result, would have loved to see how they did these in the factory, probably some for of pad painting as the masking takes forever

[Grunt]

I wanted to check the radio and fabricate a speaker plate for the grill on the dash.

They dont make them like they used to, 35+ years and the old radio fired into life..... I didnt even know they had AM stations anymore but I managed to find some



needs a good scrub but its all there

[Grunt]

Just when I thought I could hang up the grinder with the wire brush I had to strip back all the cargo area inspection panels

[Grunt]

Things have been a bit slow on the body progress, its ready to head to spray but im waiting for my slot to open up. I have been told only a few days and I can drop her down.

I decided to start on a few jobs to save time later.

I finished sanding, wire brushing and filling the cargo area and go that in primer, I will give it the finish grey when it comes back from spraying. I wanted to install a hard floor in the back to protect the floor. The idea is a 6mm sheet of MDF with a 3mm sheet laminated to that to make a study 9mm floor. This will be covered in carpet both sides and the floor will be removable, Im hoping the carpet on the bottom will keep the metal floor looking great and reduce some road and exhaust noise

[Grunt]

Got an ally radiator that I want to mount some Furd El thermo fans on, heard its an easy job and it was everything after mods fitted well



had a thermostat plug welded in the radiator



here are the fans dusting the mods





Gave the top tank a polish and painted the fin area



all together

[Taily]

Noice work. I can see the amount of time you've spent there just masking up. I've done a couple of dash fascias now (including my own) and boy, they take some time to get just right. Are you going to install the floor loose or fix it down in some way? In my ute I have a 3mm sheet of sealed MDF that is the right shape for the panel behind the seats, which fits in the front of the ute well with just some out of sight adhesive velcro strips. Sits up off the ute floor enough that any moisture shouldn't worry it - along with some of that compressed grey cloth fibre insulation in behind the vinyl trim behind the seats they both quieten the inside down quite a bit.

Interesting idea with the RTS badge!

Regards,

Dave.

[Grunt]

Noice work. I can see the amount of time you've spent there just masking up. I've done a couple of dash fascias now (including my own) and boy, they take some time to get just right. Are you going to install the floor loose or fix it down in some way? In my ute I have a 3mm sheet of sealed MDF that is the right shape for the panel behind the seats, which fits in the front of the ute well with just some out of sight adhesive velcro strips. Sits up off the ute floor enough that any moisture shouldn't worry it - along with some of that compressed grey cloth fibre insulation in behind the vinyl trim behind the seats they both quieten the inside down quite a bit.

Interesting idea with the RTS badge!

Regards,

Dave.

Hey Dave thanks for your comments. I am just letting the floor float, I spent so much time getting it dead straight I dont want to drill into it. I made templates and its a snug fit so hopefully with carpet on the bottom it will protect the finish.

I have lots of sign equipment so I will have a go at the badge and stick it there with blu tac to see how it looks. Im amazed that out of all the dashes to copy the desinger in their wisdom deceided to include the location dimple for a RTS badge when it only appeared on one model, probably some late HX had them but the majority were blank (HJ HX) .... even if you had a HZ you could work out the placement without a location bump so why include it.

As you know the dash surface is textured so I couldnt even sand it out

[thatotherguy]

Excellent work, its great to see someone doing the majority of the work themselves.Winter is a good time to clean/restore interior trim and vents,dash etc, i take mine inside and clean bits while watching tv