Thread: Grommet becomes a Utility, Gone the days of a hard top

Today i fitted the Galvenised Lock plates for the top and then i fitted the tailgate and welded the hinge brackets on.

bummer i painted the top gal strip last week... now i have shiny pop rivets......



Special weld...... ohh my Mig is my friend....

Well its finished....... Kind of.... need to get it on the road and then start to make it tough....

Last night i painted the tailgate and painted the rear cross member.



Then i fitted the Tail gate



I was worried there would be too much Galvenised parts on the back, but by painting the Gall top strip on the tail gate it made it look right, blends in and the catch's and hinges look right. Not to much gal in my opinion. if i painted them it would look funny i think....

Then i cleaned her up and drove up the road to the local park and took some full pix.....
I'm very happy with the result....







So thats it for this thread.... next one will be the Mods on Grommet.....
Thanks for watching and your idea's...

Clarkie

As requested by my fellow Viewers, Where i got all my parts and costing and time frame.....

OK
You need the following.........

Defender, County or Stage 1 or series....... if its not a hardtop 3 door then you will have to find a hard top rear tub....

Then you need to find a roof that suits that model... i have a Defender so i sourced a 2nd hand Defender 110 Single cab roof from "British Off Road" in QLD. Ph 07 54451094

Rear Truck cab is from a Series LR, i sourced it from "Fred Smith Automotive" in Bayswater, Vic

Then you will need all the rubbers, and trim and brackets.... get the brackets from the guys you get the roof and rear cab from.

New rubbers, window runners, and misc new parts i got from "Fred Smith Automotive"

Tailgate and fittings from "Fred Smith"

Now the cost for the parts......
Roof $350
Rear cab $150, Bead Blasting $50
Tailgate $70
Rubbers, Runners and misc parts $400-600
Paint............. i can do my own so it cost about $300 if you paid someone else about $1000-$1500
Labour...... roughly 250 hours....... @$50 per hour $12,500

So if you pay someone else to do the conversion for you it could cost as much as $15k...........

if anyone wants me to convert there County or Defender into a ute and to make it nice i will do it for $5k.

If i was to sell grommet today i would ask over $12k, if i got it that would be another case......

The people i bought parts from were very helpfull and i only had one PITA, that person i wont mention. But i highly recommend British Off Road for parts in QLD and Fred Smith in Vic.

There you go, you can convert your Fender into a Ute in 6 weeks.

Clarkie

Hi clarkie it has turned out a great job. Grommet must be pleased. Do you mind if I ask where you bought the roof and rear panel you have the prices but not where from. I was thinking of doing the same to my 110 . Thanks and once again it is great job
Cheers
Jamey

Yep, its all in the above post....

I sourced a 2nd hand Defender 110 Single cab roof from "British Off Road" in QLD. Ph 07 54451094

Rear Truck cab is from a Series LR, i sourced it from "Fred Smith Automotive" in Bayswater, Vic

The Series cab is stronger than the Defender one, but you loose some backwards movement in the cab. Next time i would go a Defender rear cab.

Regards
Steve

Hey Steve,

Noticed in later photos you are now running simexs?
What size? any modes required? Any rubbing?

I think the Hardtops came with firmer springs as standard.

Definately like the ute conversion.. but not this year :-)
Damn tempting though.

Thanks

Dave

Originally Posted by Dave110HardTop

Hey Steve,

Noticed in later photos you are now running simexs?
What size? any modes required? Any rubbing?

I think the Hardtops came with firmer springs as standard.

Definately like the ute conversion.. but not this year :-)
Damn tempting though.

Thanks

Dave

The Simex are 32" but roll out at About 33.5"
No rubbing, no mods needed
Hardtop springs are the same as 110 wagons.

I have Std Rear and 130 front coils

Hey Clarkie,

What are the specs on the D130 springs?

Also whats your bump stop distance with the D130 spings / bar / winch?

THX

LRH