Holden Colorado 2.8 half height Canopy build

[Hagar]

Thanks for the support!

Continuing the mission....

First thing up today was to assemble all the outer pannels so that I could check that all the bolt holes lined up with the rack. I was quite pleased as they all slid perfectly into place. I was not expecting that!

Below you can see roughly what it will look like with rack mounted. I will be spacing the rack up about 10mm or so. My main quandary is whether I trim the rack down to fit the width of the canopy. This will look much neater but will reduce the load space by about 100mm. Anyone have an opinion on this?

Looks like I will have about 250mm height difference between the cabin and the rack. This means that If I want to run a RTT in the future it will not cause to much drag.





Next up was fitting the latches and the water filler. I have a bit of problem with the water filler as it not much higher than the inlet for the tank. This is causing the rubber pipe to crimp. I will have to find some elbows to make it work.



Then it was time to bolt all the external panels in place and begin to shape them so they are ready for fiberglass. Now you can see the shape of the canopy starting to appear

.



Have a top week all.

 

[BobsCreek]

Wow, that's a nice looking job you have done

 

[jgaz]

Great job! I really like you design.
Your project has turned out so well that I would seriously consider narrowing the rack to match the width of your creation.

 

[Hagar]

Its been a while since I had time to work on the truck canopy. So I managed to set aside a weekend and after much sanding I am finally getting close to having the canopy complete. I need to apply another coat of epoxy to the exterior of the shell and fill the cut out for the hinges. I will then have the canopy professionally sprayed to match the color of the vehicle.

Hatch covers installed



The tailgate cover installed. Hinge cut outs will be filled so the hinges are not visible.



Kitchen Drawer is also coming along



Almost there now, in time for spring down under.

Happy travels all.

 

[Hagar]

I got a little evening time on on the truck, reinforced the main drawer and fitted my gas bottle for the cooker.





Bogging up those unsightly hinge cutouts (more sanding , sigh...)

 

[02rangeredge]

View attachment 414977

Bogging up those unsightly hinge cutouts (more sanding , sigh...)

View attachment 414978[/QUOTE]

so you're painting it then I assume? matching the truck or?

 

[Hagar]

Yep will be painted the same color as the truck. Will get the pros to do that for me!

 

[Hagar]

On the road again

Happy to say the truck with canopy is now back on the road!

Canopy is prepped for paint and will be going in for matching colour in not to distant future. Here it is out and about







Got time install some vinyl flooring and aluminium accents



Fitted my compressor outlets



Finally new bigger hotter stove to enable easier family cooking





So now needs paint and further work in the kitchen drawer. After paint I will need to remount the rack as well. So far I am pretty happy with the outcome.

Happy trails

 

[589FAB]

Nice job! That looks really good!

 

[Hagar]

PAINT!

Hi All

Firstly cheers for the comment 589Fab

So I'm pretty chuffed the canopy came back from paint and now the build is at least looking good. The guys who did the paint have down a great job!

So here are the glory shots







Sorry about photo quality sun was going down.

So now the final items, kitchen drawer to be finalised and electrics installed oh and the rack on top of course.

Have fun all.

 

[Hagar]

Rack mounted

Got the rack mounted up over the weekend.

Used some suspension sway bar bushings to space the rack up about 20mm over the canopy

My truck is finally back to its role of mountain bike support and transport!

 

[Hagar]

Hi All

Finally got some new suspension fitted to the truck. Ended up going with Bilstein B6 offroad shocks, king springs front and EFS leafs in the rear. Truck came up around 2 inches. Not a huge lift but enough to stop the belly scraping so often. Also means that I did not have to go to the extent of new UCA's or a diff drop. Rear of the truck is performing much better now. The front is better but a little harsher than what I would like over low speed square edged bumps. Not sure what to do about that.

My munchkins seems to like the extra height, they have just been out learning some early slab rock climbing skills and are quite happy with themselves



Also had a little time to work on the kitchen, certainly not finished yet but it is coming together.



Have a top week all.

 

[bdp1978]

Turned out great. Nice work on the canopy and the lift.

 

[Hagar]

Cheers bdp1978 much appreciated!

Hoping to start building some fold able ladder racks to sit on the rack this weekend so that I can carry longer objects easily. Currently tossing up a RTT for it as well.

 

[Hagar]

Unfortunately didn't get around to the ladder racks this weekend, however managed a little time to varnish up the tail gate kitchen and begin packing it with goodies to keep the tummy etc happy!

I'm pretty pleased with how this the kitchen has turned out and I am very keen for the first longer proper trip that is coming up. The shorter little trips have shown that the functionality is close to what I was hoping for.





Cheers All