Thread: Stirlsilver's Disco Ute Project

Originally Posted by disco2hse

Hey there Stirling,

Have you thought of perhaps sloping the top of the rear cab wall you will be adding forward? Instead of it coming straight up it would take the eye away from the shorter wheelbase which at the moment is accentuated by having the rear wall straight. The windscreen slopes backward, you can also have the rear glass slope forward but of course without as much rake.

Not sure if is just me but looks as though the edge of the windscreen (if you look at it sideways) points at the front axle. What happens if you give the back wall the same treatment, by pointing its edge at the rear axle (if you look at it sideways)?

Just a thought. I am going to follow this thread with some real interest

Alan

Hi Alan,
Thanks for the suggestion. I had a quick play and this is what I came up with, I've pushed the top of the rear wall forward by 50mm. Shifting it forward anymore than that and it gets complicated because I have to cut the model again further forward and rebuild the roof and door panels.

I'll have to decide which one I like better.

This is what it looks like now:

Yeah, cool. Subtle change but I think it makes the whole thing look that much more 'whole' if you get my meaning. Basically makes the rear cabin wall look like it is part of the design rather than the part where the rest of the cabin was chopped off.

I like the change but I think a bit more would be better (you know, bit more left, more left, more left. No, move it right, more right, up a bit,... )

Alan

I think you should find that the roof is steel so it shouldnt be too much of a problem to match up, I would try to cut and shut the rear section of the roof to give to the factory look if it is possible.

Where you join the side panels to the rear panels I would try and use the old inner door fram and just skin it like a normal door but weld it to the rear frame.

Then panel the rear panel and mastic up the gap as you wont be able to join the ally skins neatly.

I also think it would look better a few inches longer, I know this would make it slightly less capable but would look a hell of a lot more in proportion and a bit more of a factory look.....if thats what your after.

Looks like fun, I might try something like this when I eventually get a shed

Thanks for the info casper, I will try to blend the roof along with adding the gutter in as best as I can. Will see how I go when I get there.

I was in the workshop again today I've now pulled off the rear bumper and I have started to mark things up.



Getting the markings across the top of the roof proved to be a bit of a challenge as there wasn't any good reference points. I had to measure back from the windshield on 5 different locations using lengths off the model. I got a straight line which I am happy about.






After going to all the hassle of marking up the roof section when I looked at it I realised that the roof really needs to be cut about 100mm further forward to allow a slight slope on the rear window and a nice curvature on the roof. The yellow line on the roof shows where originally I was going to start the curve of the roof.


But after taking Alans comments onboard I went back and spent another 4 hours on the model to shift the point where the roof curves (very painful process). Next time I am in the workshop I'm going to have to get back up onto the roof and put another yellow line to match the new design.







Slope of the rear window is now finalised, I might tinker with the rear pillars a bit more but that isn't a huge issue. Also i'm not liking the shape and position of the rear window, again something else that is easy to fix and can be taken care of later.

For anyone that is curious...this is what too much slope looks like (in my opinion)


I do have a question. I was taking a look at the body mount and found that the second last set (from the rear) of body outriggers are just infront of the rear wheel arch... This is a problem, because I am cutting about 200mm or so further forward from this point and it looks like there is nothing to nearby to support the body in this area. So I'm going to have to cut off the outriggers and reweld them onto the chassis just infront of where I cut. Does anyone have any suggestions on this? Perhaps there is a better way of getting around this?

Looking very nice!!
Can't wait to this is done, i like the look of all your drawings you've done, but your last ones to me look the best
Love the idea of a nice high tray, i've seen some flat tray ute disco's and i reckon they look a bit funny with a realy low tray
IMO, the hight you've chosen is just right
If possable maybe make it a tiny bit longer in the roof to take some slope out of the rear window

CHEERS TIM.

Hi Stirling Looking real good.
I like the way you are using the modeling program first saves a lot of work and errors later.
I thought about chopping My 2 door,but it is still whole.
Couple of picks i did In paint to show what I was looking at liitle rough but as i said only used Paint in pictures.
Also played with D3 some one might do some day.
STD UTE

BOB shortened UTE Styleside

And D3


Keep up excelent work can not wait to see finished vehicle based on your designs.
Cheers Allan (4wd4fun)

Originally Posted by long stroke

Looking very nice!!
Can't wait to this is done, i like the look of all your drawings you've done, but your last ones to me look the best
Love the idea of a nice high tray, i've seen some flat tray ute disco's and i reckon they look a bit funny with a realy low tray
IMO, the hight you've chosen is just right
If possable maybe make it a tiny bit longer in the roof to take some slope out of the rear window

CHEERS TIM.

Thanks for the comments Tim. I think I am happy with the angle of the rear window now. No doubt it will change. I'll wait until I have cut it all away and start working on building up the new back end.

With the tray I haven't decided on how it will look just yet, but yep I do want it to be reasonably high so that it won't foul with the tyres and lets me keep a decent departure angle. When I cut the body off and have the chassis exposed i'll measure it up to make a representation in the model, then I will start up desiging the tray.

Originally Posted by 4wd4fun

Hi Stirling Looking real good.
I like the way you are using the modeling program first saves a lot of work and errors later.
I thought about chopping My 2 door,but it is still whole.
Couple of picks i did In paint to show what I was looking at liitle rough but as i said only used Paint in pictures.
Also played with D3 some one might do some day.

Keep up excelent work can not wait to see finished vehicle based on your designs.
Cheers Allan (4wd4fun)

Cheers Allan, some photo shopping certainly does do the trick eh? I did consider a styleside, but when you are off road what gets belted the most is the rear end. So having a tray back car you effectively have 50% less car to dent!



Does anyone have a comment on my question on the shifting of the outrigger?

For angle of the rear window you might be able to use the quarter windows including the frame from the rear doors for the glass behind the B pillar. This will give you glass on the right angle and curve that already has a frame to suit.

Cheers,

Tim