1981 L200 'ClubSport'

[Fordubishi]

Now you need to find a fully loaded one for all the plastic trim pieces to go around the top frame work

Headliner.jpg
the light gray pieces

[geezer101]

Your roof liner looks pretty good tortron - what is holding it in? As for Fordubishi, the tilt out sunroof rocks.

[tortron]

The plywood panel is larger than the opening. So it holds itself in place. I.e its wider and longer than the 4 edges of the door, and windscreen inner panels, you slide it right in towards the back and sort of work it in place like a bicycle tyre, then centre it. The 3mm was a good fit, add the foam and vinyl and it's tight in there

[pennyman1]

I used poster board, then thin foam padding and velour cloth and slid it in like yours. I also have the plastic trim from a later 1st gen - perfect fit - pics of it in Geronimo's gallery.

[xboxrox]

tortron, your truck project is awesome, if you make a bike rack for the bed, hope I see it
Kudo
Geronimo's gallery is pretty cool pennyman, love your truck top to bottom... I see these nice headliners but wonder how they actually get installed..? Think I understand how their slightly larger size keeps them from falling... The interior metal trim has some screws, does this mean some of it gets removed to slide in a headliner panel..? Happy Truckin

[tortron]

If the screws are likely to be in the way, but I don't think any would be at the right length and angle. What I did was start at a rear corner and push the panel in as far as I could both back and to one side, until I could get it in far enough to have room for the other two sides to slot in. Then manuver the panel central.

About to start some work on my 2nd gen tray. Not a bike rack necessarily but a bit of a camping set up

[xboxrox]

Thank you for that tip tortron ~ seems you & pennyman got this figured out... Am thinking the panel edges need to be almost an exact shape of the hole it gets put into (?) Maybe I should read more of the forum posts BUT it would also be nice to know approximately how much bigger the panel can be than the overhead hole it goes into (and still fit)... Am also assuming no support is needed in the headliner's center to hold it from sagging or moving... So, the finished product rests on the cab sheet metal border & NOT attached to the cab roof..? Do you think the original headliner was attached to the roof; if so, this would allow more headroom... Those Japanese did some puzzles & magic tricks making these little trucks, ya think..?

[tortron]

I believe any trucks that came with a headliner had them glued to the roof skin.

I didn't like the idea of foam glued to my roof and rusting away. Mine was zinc painted, sound deadened, then the panel. Which is 3mm ply and supports itself. Maybe 1cm is overlapping on each side. Mines also quite thick, so it holds itself in place so it won't rattle out.

I'm 6ft and have plenty of headroom

[geezer101]

+1. If your truck had a headliner, it was spray bonded to the roof turret (and not a lot of it either). The foam will eventually decay and the headliner vinyl will flap in your face. The paint under the factory headliner is sparse but IDK if poses that much of a rust risk (more likely around the edges of the cab but not so much in the middle where they didn't hit it with the topcoat colour) The roof turrets really need a sound barrier/dynamat on them so it stops the cab from feeling the pointy ends of weather and soak up cab vibration/road noise.

[tortron]

too excited to wait till i finish it tomorrow to share this.

Have been wanting to set my truck up for a little camping. Don't really want a fibreglass canopy (well I do, but I want a very specific design that I have seen in the past but now cant find anywhere) and always wanted a canvas cover on my comer to make it full ww2 surplus spec. A soft canopy also means I can take it off and fold it up and not be tripping over it when I need the truck for truck duties.

So todays project

Went to wreckers and got the front panel and lumber rack from a 2nd gen L200
Went to metal shop and got an assortment of steel and some alloy tube.
Had ordered an army surplus nylon tarp a week or so ago (was stolen, and returned too!)

Just a few pics, I have recorded most of it for a video il upload later.

Unstitched the welds from the rack and panel
cut the rack down to match the front and rivnutted it to the wee slot just behind the tail light area in the inner skin of the tray
drilled some holes to fit the 12mm alloy tube I got (tight fit in length so they cant vibrate and fall out at all)







work still to do - another 2 alloy tubes on each side, new eyelets in tarp + shock cord, need to figure out how im going to do the cab and tailgate end, thinking of putting some clear plastic in the front mainly for light, I don't know that I would want to drive around with this up, and a door for the back. Its kind of set back from the tailgate so will have a little bit of an angle, not sure that I like that.
In any case this is kind of a test mule for my 1st gen tray, Just wanted to get out there this summer and enjoy it (I figure I can now strap some kayaks up top too!)

[geezer101]

Dude I sooo want to try something similar with my Gen 1. My idea is to deck it out like a 2 man tent that I can fix to the tray behind the rear glass and yeet it over a roll bar (another side project thingy that will probably be from a modded one a-la U-Pull-It). I'd probably just have it slant back towards the tailgate instead of a full canopy like yours. Speakers would be a nice touch too. My other idea is to have a pair of seats facing rearward in the tray that can be taken out easily so I can take it to... the drive-in. The Subaru Brat is the inspiration for that one. They are really cool but we never got it optioned like the US models.

[tortron]

Yeah i have seen ones that slant like that. you could have it inside the roll bar and attach with velcro loops, i had a tent sort of like that once.
I think i would also like to have at least one side be able to open out into an awning, but then again these truck are so small that even a roof rack mounted awning would be about neck level for me. My tray fits a double matress perfectly width ways on top of the wheel wells, and has about 20cm extra length, so I might throw in a ply false floor and store some camp gear underneath for ease of construction and use.
I hope to park up next to some fully decked out 4x4 'expedition' trucks and show them how fun a small, light, minimal truck is

[tortron]

Added another set of tubes on each corner and set some extra eyelets in my tarp. Coming together nicely.



Need some extra bobbins for the front of the tray and some shockcord. Think I will cut and sew the front and back flaps, leaving them attached at the top, and some fixings to keep the sides in place while they are up. I think I can also get away without any further poles if I use some tie down straps in the middle area of the upright of the rack (to stop the sides blowing in in the wing) I always carry them. Although the eyelet set up holds the sides pretty nicely

[tortron]

Just bought another engine and box
Going from the current VP Buick 3.8 and 700r4 to a VS ecotec 3.8 and 4L60E

Basically the same set up but improved a little which ticks several boxes of my wants

Later engine runs sequential injection rather than batch fire, has higher compression ratio, more aftermarket parts and parts are easier to find (the old Buick is getting rare on the ground) and I can datalog from the later ecuuch easier.
Power is up about 17kw so I'll be at about 200hp out of the box, which is a cheaper upgrade than a cam for the Buick
Lean cruise for economy. With the cost of gas here old be saving about $5 per 100km so at $500 for the engine, box, loom and ECU it will pay for itself real quick even if I keep the old set up.
Really want the extra km per tank. 350km Is a bit short ATM.

Things I will need to change
Engine out (was doing some that anyway to panel and paint the bay)
Run new loom (again was going to do that anyway with the VP loom to tidy everything up, old just have another day of stripping the new loom to its basics)
700r4 box is hydro controlled new one is electrically, but I have all the loom and ECU so that's no drama
Will need to get vats (security codes) turned off on the ECU chip. Not a problem I will probably buy a cheap chip burner and custom a tune while I'm at it (vats may even be turned off in it already I will check)
My Speedo is totally adjustable so no dramas there
Ecotec comes on power a bit later than the Buick, so I may as well throw a shift kit in while it's on the stand, just a towing spec one. As well as a trans temp and engine oil temp gauge.

Oh and because my truck is certified for a 3.8 V6 and 4speed Holden auto I can get away without recertification
Nice one

[tortron]

Oh and I'll swap the steel Buick sump onto the ecotec (which uses an alloy sump) mines modified to clear the steering and frame. Pretty sure the only difference is the location of a few bolt holes otherwise. I recall something about the back where the gearbox goes but I'll see when they are side by side

[geezer101]

Nice tortron. The old V6 wasn't a great engine but it had enough get up and go for a much lighter vehicle like the L200. And this will give you a chance to tidy up a few things that you weren't 100% happy with the first go around.

[tortron]

Oh yeah I'll do it as clean as I can and stick with it till I can't get replacements any more. A bit more modern but still basically the same engine. Might even keep the Aircon pump and have a cool cab this summer (or replace it with an underslung supercharger, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm now there's an expensive thought)

[geezer101]

Well I learned sumpin' - didn't know the Holden was batch fired like a Nissan. Horrible way to manage fuel delivery IMO. The Ecotec should be a much smoother engine as a result.

[tortron]

Turns out you can fit a 3.8, box, subframe, and almost a full exhaust system in a mitsi tray if you angle it right

[tortron]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Some kind of honda set up up front?

[tortron]

So a short list of things I need in order to get this in and running.
A mental with security turned off, and the Speedo and shift points adjusted to my diff.
Vs throttle cable
Vs intake pipe with air temp and maf sensors to adapt to my existing setup
Shorter belt for AC delete
Vs fuel lines, or rather just the bit that plugs into the rails so I can attach a hose to them.
Along with fuel pressure regulator (I should check if my Buick ones will work actually)
A VS wiring diagram. It looks alot more refined than the VP loom it's basically stand alone already, will need to set up a fusebox and relays for efi, fuel pump and starter
Also need to figure out how to splice into my dash loom for warning lights, Speedo, temp, oil light, battery light.
Delete ac loom
Modify existing exhaust Y pipe to suit. No straight answer but I think it's going to match the new manifolds anyway. Just need to add in an O2 bung on each side.
Check if I can re use my existing power steering lines or figure out new ones
Attach oil cooler and lines
Extend trans cooler lines
Figure out engine fan wiring, Vs had 2 fans. I might also make a shroud and swap to puller fan

And the usual like gaskets, filters, fluids. Probably throw a shift kit in the trans while it's out

[tortron]

So a day at the junkyard and a day spending money online has gotten me the following bits

an eprom programmer so I can burn custom tunes and turn off security (this one im hoping will pay for itself, theres a guy selling 'custom' chips for about $150 each, so cheaper to buy the burner!)
VS throttle cable
shorter belt
intake pipe, airflow meter, air temp sensor and vs airbox top (top is different to the VP airbox, but they used the same bottom. so it will go right onto my existing one in location)
fuel pressure regulator and fuel rail lines in and out
ecu with memcal (I had the ecu already but the guy had taken the memcal out and not told me!)
O2 sensor bungs
oil filter

Then a whole bunch of fun stuff for my trans
-filter and pan gasket
3/4 clutch powerpack
aluminium accumulator pistons (original are plastic)
corvette servo
and a transgo shift hit with larger boost valve

There are endless upgrades for the 4l60e, but I think that's more than enough for me (I only got the clutch pack because it was local and too cheap to say no to) They are good for something like 400hp with no upgrades, most of those upgrades just increase the life of the trans, so with a decent trans cooler and behind an ecotec I should never have to work on it again im hoping.

Have gotten most of the wiring sorted out. Have deleted the AC and extra pully. Need at a minimum a sump gasket and rocker cover gaskets. probably a set of intake gaskets as they always go on these engines but I will wait till the trans is off as if I also need a rear main seal I may as well get a full gasket set

ZERO decent diagrams for the VS wiring around. cant even find a manual that's specific for the VS model.

[geezer101]

You are going to be busy gluing this together. The wiring shouldn't be that much of a headache once you've stripped off the conduit and tape and figured out what to delete and what to keep. Break out the rolls of Nitto tape! That was shifty of the guy not telling you the memcal had already been pulled Flog your old set up and make some coin back

[tortron]

luckily it looks like holden was lazy enough to use more or less the same in car wiring from 88 to 97, for the basic dash models at least so i can re use more or less what i already have

[pennyman1]

probably learned that from GM - they are notorious for that. Makes your swap easier though!