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Post by kaybee on Oct 11, 2009 7:12:22 GMT 10
G'day Col , You sound slightly excited by this rare find. Just about every feature on it is unique. The suspension set up and the dolly wheel look as though the builder expected to carry heavy stuff in it...... and the electricity wiring ... and the way the lantern roof has been constructed.... different. Put together by an individual I'd say Thing is...... what are you going to do with it I've been to healesville, and found an "Expanda van"...how come my radar didn't find this one too Cobber. G'day Cobber , excited ,amazed, impressed,.....yep...all of that, particularly when you consider that the build was done during the war , a time of heavy restrictions and rationing ,material and manpower shortages.......the story is that the builder was an engineer in the railways , and the rail workshops were heavily involved in the war effort, but somehow the fellow was able to find the time and secure the materials to embark on this project . The log book details all the purchases ,docket/receipt numbers and the suppliers names too , maybe a necessary precaution on his part to prevent any suggestion of pilfering restricted materials. Some of the receipts show his address in Hamilton near Newcastle as being just up the road from a certain person in Barnsley ;D. ...."what are we going to do with it?".....for a little while it will go into storage while I catch up with all the other stuff I've got to do , right at the moment we're still "exploring" it's features and eccentricities while we dry it out ( it's been a bit wet here recently and there's a few of the windows not fitted)...... I removed some of the lower panelling in the interior and the Lino yesterday, a little damp at the front but it all looks very sound and no rot....van frame looks super sturdy and it might be Blackwood or similar. All the timber joints are tight and most have T shaped gussets along with screws....no staples anywhere..... The long term plan is to restore it and retain as much of the originality as possible , although it will need to have a pair of steel mudguards made up to fill in the giant wheel arches and maybe re-arrange the tail lights a bit. All the external panelling will need to be replaced , the weather has de-laminated all the plywood. Probably won't make a start on it until later next year.....have to repaint the '57 Pickup ( lemon and white this time) and a few other odd jobs .....and we've recently bought another project car that will match nicely with this era of van.... ....it's a '48 Chevy Sedan Delivery , should make a nice pair..... oh,and the reason you didn't find it on your foray down Healesville way was that it was so deep into the undergrowth that you could drive right past and not see it....we did! ....there's also an early unusual styled Aluminium van with forward slanted wrap around windows in the same road too.....cheers, Col.
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Post by kaybee on Oct 10, 2009 21:30:11 GMT 10
G'day folks ,some of you would have seen that we have our Castle van for sale.....reason is, we've found an original old van that was hand built during WW2. This only came about on Thursday by following a link to Ebay from a friend on Ozrodders forum.....dialed it up and saw this funny old van in the bush,saw it was just up the street in Healesville and figured we better just go and have a look. This is where it has been sitting ,in a bush block right near where some of the Vic. bushfires were recently..... ...and yeah, it does look a bit ordinary ....but....it came with a full documented history , handwritten by the gent who built it and beginning in 1943 with the purchase of a pair of '38 Ford wheels.....every part,nut,bolt,fittings,etc are recorded....even some drawings of components. It's a bit hard to decipher in some places, being written in a cursive script , but it includes even the serial numbers of the tyres as well as details of the trips away , how much it cost for camp sites, etc,etc. One of the attractions was the integrated towing dolly wheel setup on the drawbar....then I had a bit of a look underneath the van.....WOW....what a work of art.....the engineering that has gone into the construction of the underside is amazing....it looks a bit scruffy in the photo's because there's a lot of peeling paint and a few cobwebs , but it's solid as a rock and completely functional..... .....this makers plate is fitted to the towing dolly , but it's such a complex piece of engineering that it's hard to imagine it as a commercially available item.....maybe some detail in the logbook that we have yet to discover...... ....but the rest all seems to be hand built ,one off construction.....there's rivetted fittings and gusset plates,adjustable clevis ends , pulleys , axle anchor system and the beefiest drop axle I've ever seen ....brakes are '37/8 Ford cable type , vac operated but fitted with a cable handbake system that overrides the vac. setup. .....and some topside pics.....rear bumper is a pair of FX/FJ items joined in the middle with a neat cover plate..... the van has suffered some ah....shall we say "restoration".....a slurp of some of that late model "effects" textured paint here and there.....fortunately the people responsible got sick of that and moved on .... ...and we bought the first parts for it this morning just before we went to pick it up....thes nifty Deco era handles were at a Garage sale for 50c......the van needs some handles either end to make moving it around a bit easier.....the red glass lens/light is off the van , it was hanging by the wiring and we clipped it off before it got lost on the journey home.... There are a few more pics (oh goody,you say )....but Photobucket sent them into orbit somewhere.....so when we find them we'll add them on.....cheers, Col.
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Post by kaybee on Oct 9, 2009 15:43:52 GMT 10
Hiya Redperson, good effort....keep it up , old son...... ;D ;D
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Post by kaybee on Oct 8, 2009 7:32:41 GMT 10
....I reckon you mean "who" ;D.....and it's forum member 56 Vicky who owns it.....towcar is a beautiful Galaxy Coupe , I built the towbar for it the week prior to Cora Lynn show, regards, Col.
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Post by kaybee on Oct 2, 2009 17:41:45 GMT 10
Hiya Gavan , here's another couple of '37 Willys photo's for you ....and the same car at Bondi for the start of the '57 Ampol round Australia rally..... cheers, Col.
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Post by kaybee on Oct 1, 2009 13:08:12 GMT 10
.....cool.....so where's the prize? ;D ;D.....to be fair though ,we've owned a few Willys , dating back to black n'white days, so it wasn't a hard question ;D..... ....still got the one below...... ....regards, Col.
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Post by kaybee on Sept 30, 2009 15:08:15 GMT 10
Yep....37/8 Willys...... ;D
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Post by kaybee on Sept 30, 2009 10:13:29 GMT 10
I've got a towbar if you need one
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Post by kaybee on Sept 28, 2009 21:08:09 GMT 10
I've seen your "overalls"..... ...... ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by kaybee on Sept 28, 2009 19:18:29 GMT 10
Hiya Clyde , that looks really classy .......but what I want to know is.......have you got the paint off ya feet yet ?..... ;D ;D
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Post by kaybee on Sept 26, 2009 17:26:07 GMT 10
Hiya Chris , great pictures mate......lotta Hotels seem to find there way into those pics..... ;D ;D......next time you trip over one of those '48 Chevy utes (or cars).....grab the sill trims and stick 'em in the post will ya? ;D ;D
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Post by kaybee on Sept 24, 2009 12:58:59 GMT 10
Hint No.2 Opposite to my 36 ...so how about a restored '36?
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Post by kaybee on Sept 22, 2009 22:11:31 GMT 10
Hi Ron, Dont talk about bullet proof auto boxes & mention Borg Warner. The Torqueflite is so much much more capable of handling real horsepower than any toy pommy motor can put out. You have brakes for when you need to slow down..... JBJ ....gotta agree with that.....brakes are for braking and are also much, much cheaper than transmissions and gearboxes..... ....used to be an auto trans rebuilder back in the 70's....THE most common trans we did were Borg Warner 35's....they can break everything ...apart from the normal wear and tear on clutch plates , they often break the trans case where the reverse band servo mounts.....this happens when the car is revving fast in the mornings on choke, slip it into reverse and bang.....no go.....new case please..... .....commonly shatter the forward clutch diaphragm spring , shows up as a harsh grating or squeak on 1-2 shifts....they love to shudder in reverse , clutch slippage in the rear clutch pack from leakage past the ball check valve.....they have a delicate set of planetary gears that are prone to self destruction , both bands aren't renowned for longevity and need frequent adjustment.....and on and on it goes......they are a light duty trans that should have stayed in the 4 cyl Hillman,etc.....Never seen one in a Jag and I've had a few , most seem to have the large case Model 12 that is similar to the FMX Ford 'box , and they are fairly tough old transmissions.....cheers, Col.
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Post by kaybee on Sept 16, 2009 12:16:12 GMT 10
Ah Hummm!!!!! No 19 FX? shouldn't that be 48-215 ;D ...if it makes you happy ,so be it..... ;D...just that most non Holden people have no idea what you're talkin' about..... but most folks know what an FX is......and it's easier..... ;D
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Post by kaybee on Sept 15, 2009 23:36:58 GMT 10
Hi Brett,glad to have been able to help. Col
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Post by kaybee on Sept 15, 2009 23:00:28 GMT 10
....and the number 19 FX.....
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Post by kaybee on Sept 15, 2009 22:51:08 GMT 10
All of Phil Mundys work and cars have been on the forum before by Col ....Kaybee..... if you hit the search button with a little luck you might find them f/f ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ....he probably won't ....I sort of deleted them..... ....but here's somethin' to go with the race car...... ....and here's the guy who made it all happen, my good mate Brendan, ....regards, Col.
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Post by kaybee on Sept 15, 2009 19:57:44 GMT 10
Hiya Geoff , good to see you "recuperating" in the best possible way...a bit of automotive therapy.... ;D ;D , cheers, Col.
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Post by kaybee on May 9, 2007 21:04:18 GMT 10
So you're saying then that a person should not be free to make the choice to drive the vehicle they like,or feel safe in?...and we should all drive same size , same look plastic econoboxes? Not me bud.
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Post by kaybee on May 9, 2007 16:20:17 GMT 10
That's easy to answer, way back then the traffic flowed much slower that today, most of the cars were slower and the drivers were generally in less of a hurry. It was fairly common for car and van combo's to trickle along at 35-45mph and not get abused for being in the way or forced off the road by a B double doing warp speed, so that meant that the small cars of the era, such as Morris's,Austins,Vanguards,Consuls,Prefects,etc could safely drag a small van around at a speed comfortable to them without becoming a target. Those same cars could still do that same task today, but the circumstances have changed so much that it isn't really wise to get into traffic with a 'van in tow if you can't keep up with the flow and ,most importantly,be able to stop quickly when some hero cuts in front and then props. So, the best vehicles for high speed towing and stability at speed as well as effective braking , are going to be the big m/f 4WD's and pickup trucks. They have a big footprint on the road, they're usually heavier than the towed load and they also put the driver nice and high up , which gives a nice overview of the loonies in the buzz boxes, and that sometimes can be a big help in seeing what's well ahead, giving you time to set yourself up for an exit when things go pear shaped . Regards, Col.
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Post by kaybee on Dec 10, 2007 18:57:12 GMT 10
actually public entry is free, didnt realise I hadnt changed that yet, thanks for letting me know. I would love to be able to offer a lower entrance fee to display vehicles but we have steered away from havign a major sponsor therefore the entrance price is simply set to cover costs and at a price that is common to many shows of similar size. Regards Melburg That's even worse...so you're asking the entrants to prop up the running of the show, sorry but I think you should have done the ground work and sought out a suitable sponsor. It'd neither fair or equitable to expect that folks should pay to display. Consider how much time and effort goes into preparing and setting up for a show, and then the time spent on the day,not to mention the considerable expense of building the cars in the first place. Sorry, there's plenty of shows that demonstate their appreciation of the entrants by not charging them to participate, that's how it needs to be.
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Post by kaybee on Dec 10, 2007 16:37:51 GMT 10
Sorry Mel...I don't want to be rude , but you're asking the car owners to pay $20 to display, when the public pays $2.... ?, I know it's not huge cash, but without the car guys there is no show , 'bout time car owners were given some consideration for their cars and the time involved.
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