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Thread: RRC ute conversion

  1. #1
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    RRC ute conversion

    Good evening all,

    I was hoping to get a perspective on the difficulty of converting a 4 door rangie into a ute with a tray back. Better yet would be converting it into a dual cab tray back.

    I have spent the last week researching on the interweb and havent really come up with much.

    I am aware of the Les Richmond kit, which I will most likely go down the path of. Has anyone done this?

    I have found two threads on here of people doing the conversion, a 4 door rrc and a disco, but they seem to dry up after a couple of posts.

    The reason behind all this is that I found a '88 4 door at the back of a wreckers and they werent entirely aware that they had it. Its a diesel of all things and aside from having a community of spiders living in it, its pretty straight. The engine is seized (or took a breath full of water- they werent sure) which may take a bit of time to rectify, but the other option is to do a 300TDi conversion, which I have already located from another member on this forum.

    It will basically become a work truck for the side business I do after hours, which will save my '89 from being a tow vehicle.

    I believe I can complete the conversion and rego for about $5k. But want to get an idea of difficulty, time and anything I should look out for.

    Thanks in advance for your thoughts, ideas and advice.

    Looking forward to reading your replies.
    '15 Discovery 4 HSE- The family bus and the kids like it!
    '89 RRC- My favorite of the bunch!
    Ex '03 Commodore 'S' ute- 450hp of uncracked 5.7lt and 6 speed manual uteness - Still crying that its gone
    Ex '06 GLXR Triton- *Gone and forgotten*

  2. #2
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    Will follow this with interest. Would one day like to chop my '86 into a tray back. Will be at a guys place that has a single cab/tray rangie comp truck (is, or was registered in NSW) in a few weeks, intend to give the cab a good going over as to how it was chopped.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick1970 View Post
    Will follow this with interest. Would one day like to chop my '86 into a tray back. Will be at a guys place that has a single cab/tray rangie comp truck (is, or was registered in NSW) in a few weeks, intend to give the cab a good going over as to how it was chopped.
    Rick,

    If you can, put some pictures up. All of the pictures I have found on the net don't show any close up detail, just of an angle from 20ft away.

    Cheers

    Sent from my Nexus 4 using AULRO mobile app
    '15 Discovery 4 HSE- The family bus and the kids like it!
    '89 RRC- My favorite of the bunch!
    Ex '03 Commodore 'S' ute- 450hp of uncracked 5.7lt and 6 speed manual uteness - Still crying that its gone
    Ex '06 GLXR Triton- *Gone and forgotten*

  4. #4
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    Will try and get some pix, i'm hoping the rear of the cab isn't trimmed as such, so can get some idea of how it was chopped.


    Hope to get a good look at this one, hope you don't mind Dave
    Attached Images Attached Images

  5. #5
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    That would be good. If you can, could you get some pics of how the tray is mounted to the chassis. I'd like to get a tool box made up and I just had some concern about how to mount it. Looks like I will have to weld on some mounting points.

    I also found some time today to give Les Richmond Automotive a call to follow up the Email I sent last week. Turns out that the guru for the ute conversion is away until Monday. So I'm looking forward to that conversation, to get a better idea about the tray back kit.

    I was also advised that there is a couple of week turn around in getting the kit as they only stock the steel bits and have the fibreglass parts made as required.

    Will update as I find out more.

    Sent from my Nexus 4 using AULRO mobile app
    '15 Discovery 4 HSE- The family bus and the kids like it!
    '89 RRC- My favorite of the bunch!
    Ex '03 Commodore 'S' ute- 450hp of uncracked 5.7lt and 6 speed manual uteness - Still crying that its gone
    Ex '06 GLXR Triton- *Gone and forgotten*

  6. #6
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    *Update*

    Spoke with the guru about the ute kit. They supply the back panel, brackets, fibreglass bits and the vinyl wrap around bits for the C pillar. The only thing you need to sort are bolts, rivits and glass for the back panel.

    He also said that, for the tray back, they cut the body at the top of the 45? in front of the back seat and steal the quarter glass out of the back door and the existing C pillar. That fits behind the B pillar and then the gap left by the rear door is filled with some panels they supply and the corners are finished off with a fibreglass corner panel after the back panel is fitted.

    Sounds pretty neat and well finished. Also sounds a damn lot simpler than just cutting and hoping for the best. It also comes with a letter to hand to the rego people to help get the changes through.

    So attached is a pic of what I will be attacking. All I need for it is a gearbox, possibly a engine and gearbox. If anyone has a 2.4lt diesel and gearbox floating about, let me know.

    Can't wait to get started.


    Sent from my Nexus 4 using AULRO mobile app
    Attached Images Attached Images
    '15 Discovery 4 HSE- The family bus and the kids like it!
    '89 RRC- My favorite of the bunch!
    Ex '03 Commodore 'S' ute- 450hp of uncracked 5.7lt and 6 speed manual uteness - Still crying that its gone
    Ex '06 GLXR Triton- *Gone and forgotten*

  7. #7
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    Sounds like you may have a VM diesel. 300TDi is probably a better (IMO) option
    PaulT

    REMLR 256 / SLOw 4 (P)

    W/Shops/trailers & GS's
    RRs, Disco's, 110s & 109s.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by pop058 View Post
    Sounds like you may have a VM diesel. 300TDi is probably a better (IMO) option
    Oh it most definitely is a VM.

    The 300TDi is a good option and I have already sourced one from another member on this site, but from what I have read here, the swap requires engine mounts from a discovery. Sourcing them here will be impossible. So if the engine is good, il stick with that until I get back down south.

    Either way, I will still need a gearbox/transfer case.

    Sent from my Nexus 4 using AULRO mobile app
    '15 Discovery 4 HSE- The family bus and the kids like it!
    '89 RRC- My favorite of the bunch!
    Ex '03 Commodore 'S' ute- 450hp of uncracked 5.7lt and 6 speed manual uteness - Still crying that its gone
    Ex '06 GLXR Triton- *Gone and forgotten*

  9. #9
    Homestar's Avatar
    Homestar is offline Super Moderator & CA manager Gold Subscriber
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    Chances are the engine won't be good - they never were...

    Getting mounts to suit the 300tdi should be straightforward I would have thought.
    If you need to contact me please email homestarrunnerau@gmail.com - thanks - Gav.

  10. #10
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    Mounts are easy to make.

    Sent from my GT-I9300 using AULRO mobile app
    MY08 TDV6 SE D3- permagrin ooh yeah
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