My new 1963 Cresta!

[banno]

Gidday Lisa, looks good, will look even gooder when she. Is pink.
CYA

Banno

[sportsman 1]

Gee, who ever would have thought that a VAUXHALL would make a good tow car

Hold on, maybe that is why I have 8 of them.

Welcome to the very exclusive V & V V club, Vauxhalls and Vintage Vans.

I suggest you need to join the Vauxhall Owners Club for access to spares and information.

Hope it all goes well for you.

Cheers, Leigh.

[surfingyogini]

Congrats! Hubby and I were lusting after this car too after seeing her in the Noosa news! Great catch!

[Deleted]

nice Cresta magicangelisa .......sweeeeeet
not often you see 'em in that condition .....

....... and its going to be painted pink

had a look at your blog ....you are indeed a pink girl .......are you aware you can turn the forum from the blue to pink on your computer ?

Mark

[RollyDog]

Good to see another different car in the group and that Cresta looks the part. Hopefully my Hillman will be back together for the February run. With the diff change came other issues including the need for a new tailshaft to be made. Modified cars can be a problem sometimes.
Rollydog

[Deleted]

Hi All
Those old Vauxhalls where a good solid old cars.
Represented good value for money at the time and just kept on keeping on.

I was looking at the photos the other day and held a piece of paper over the front of the car from the windscreen forward... and a piece of paper over the rear of the car from the rear door handle back...

Not being Holden biased or demeaningful to Vauxhall here but the cabin.. roof line.. doors and windscreen pillars etc look very similar to the EH Holden.
Not surprising as Vauxhall where the pommy Holden... or was it Holden was the Aussie Vauxhall

Nice car Magicangelisa

Reddo

[joey]

Hi Lisa,
Go to profile up along the top.
Modify profile.
Account Preferences.
Select Skin.
Choose anniversary.
Modify Profile.
Now you should be Pink.
Cheers,
Joey

[Deleted]

so you've discovered the pink forum Lisa ....thanks Joey for the instructions.

Don't tell anyone .....but I use the pink forum myself so that I know when I'm logged in ;D ;D

Mark

[RollyDog]

Lisa
There is a model Cresta on ebay at present. Type in "TELSALDA" and you will find it. I had never heard of that brand before but by the looks of it they did quite a few old English car models.
Rollydog

[John and Lynne]

Well another Vauxhall saved from going to the tip.

John has had his Vauxhall since he was 17 years old and he is now 57 years old (shh).

As Leigh said join the Vauxhall club for the parts as we have.

We have a few Vauxhalls as well, not as many as Leigh.

We have had a change of cars as well and have bought a 1957 Chev for a tow vehicle as well as the 1971 F100.

Enjoy your Vaux it will look after you, if you look after it.

John & Lynne

[margra]

Saw a Vaux going north from Brisbane to T/ville on the top deck of a car transporter last week. Had NSW number plates attached to it. Exactly the same as yours blue/white except had mirrors on the guards. Looked really good sitting up there with modern plastics.

[kaybee]

It'll tow it,don't worry. Might not do it at 60 mph , but if you're realistic and don't push it too hard,it'll get you where you want to go. Once you get some rego and have a chance to put a few miles on the car , you'll have a good idea of how the car drives unloaded , then all you need to do is hook up the van and take the pair for a bit of a run ....gently ....you'll probably find the car will have a level it's comfortable at ( with the van on the back).....and once you've sorted that out.....you're done.
Might be a good idea to have the trans serviced if you can find someone who remembers how to do a Hydra......they suffer from a slow ,drawn out 1-2 shift which can sometimes be improved by shortening the kickdown rod and also by adding some shims behind the main pressure regulator spring ( if you get the right guy he'll know this already ).....so good luck and I hope it all does what you expect, Col.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Magicangelisa,

You will find some info on the towing capacities of Vauxhalls if you click here.

It's UK information so it may not help...on the other hand perhaps it will, so I thought I might as well point you to it.

I'm not a Vauxhall person, but I'm guessing that Hydramatic 2.6 PB refers to a Hydramatic gearbox mated to a 2.6 litre motor, and PB is the model???

The Cresta model in the table is listed as 3.3 litres, however my understanding is that it's not the size of the motor which determines the maximum towing weight but a range of factors, including the weight of the car. Thus, the maximum towing weight in the table may be a pretty good guide for your car, even though there is a disparity in motor size. (I'm happy to be contradicted by others if they think I am wrong.)

Quite a few years ago, when we were deciding to use a 3 litre Toyota Cressida or a 2.4 litre Tarago as the tow vehicle for our van, our caravan serviceman told us that the Tarago could be the better of the two because of its weight...it just depended on how fast we wanted to get to our destination! We decided to use the Cressida - we must have wanted to get there fast!

Thinking about it, at that stage we had three teenage boys. No doubt they - and we - wanted to get there fast! ;D ;D ;D You're still to get to that stage with your daughter I think? I could tell you some stories about the three boys and the Cressida once they got their licences, but that would only scare you.

Don Ricardo

[RollyDog]

Lisa
I agree about getting the auto serviced. Next to the tyre shop is an auto mechanic who does a few old cars so if you work it right you could put the car in for the auto and while it is on the hoist the boys can take the wheels off and do the tyres next door while the auto is serviced.
That way one stop for both jobs.
Rollydog

[griffin]

I've been towing all sorts with my '61 Velox and previously a '62 Cresta over too many years, both 2.6 litres.

My Vauxhall documents rate the PA's towing capacity at 24cwt, 1.22 tonne and I should think the PB would be about the same.
You didn't say how much the Viscount weighs, or I missed it

Don R's chart is great but I think may be quoting figures for the PC which was 3.3 litres and had a higher kerb weight at 2796lbs.

Our Debonair weighed in recently at 1.12 tonne and it tows it OK, no speed records being set but it's OK. Ambarvale to Goulburn on the Freeway recently and only twice out of top gear

That said it did cause me embarrassment recently travelling from Goulburn to Bathurst via Taralga. Despite many assurances it was a good road, and it was, it ran out of puff climbing out of Abercrombie Gorge and for those who know it wouldn't wonder why. I don't think I've ever been on a steeper hill. Someone later told me it is signposted unsuitable for vans but it it was I didn't see it

The Cresta when I had it only 'failed to proceed' once when towing but it was a big hill and I was towing another Cresta on a car trailer (so well over the recommended capacity) and the auto transmission overheated, it just sat there and revved, fine when it cooled, just a slight traffic flow problem for a while

I find that stopping is the problem with drums all round, at least you have front discs

Take it steady and don't be afraid to pull it back a gear on the auto, I used to drive mine like a manual and never had trouble with it.
I'd like a buck now for every kilo I've ever hauled with a PA:D


George

[sands]

howdy lisa... great to see your Vauxy... had the same shape in a 4 cyl some years ago... hope it's still around. I once heard from an employee at GMH that the company dug a big hole and buried their Vaux stock back in the 60's because they could not compete with the Jap cars which came with heaters and radios as standard equipment at the time... what a nice little treasure that could be. I was up and down the Maleny hill a few weeks ago visiting the in-laws, and thinking I'd never want to tow a van up or down that hill. I'm new to this game, and amazed that you could do that.

cheers, sands

[cruisindoug]

Lisa glad to see you have the weight distribution sorted - makes for a much more enjoyable trip without white knuckles!

You already have a ratio to work out actual km from the indicated miles ... 38 km (actual) equals 677 miles (indicated), the odometer must be spinning off its head.
You would probably need to check that this is consistent, sounds like it may have jumped a few numbers somewhere. For every actual km its indicating 17.8 miles (so divide your indicated by 17.8).

You could try Otto Instruments to get it fixed up ... they will probably need you to take a measurement of your rolling diameter of your tyres, and will need to know the diff ratio as well, someone may know what it was originally?

You should also check what speed is indicated for how fast you are actually going - if you have a GPS it will probably show speed.

[vernon]

Lisa can l ask what you used for polishing your van please, as Des and l are spending endless hours polishing. It's like our third child.

Cheers Des and Kel

[RollyDog]

If you can't get the purple polish from your local auto shop try a truck parts place. I use one at Brendale and when you think of all the chrome on some trucks it is only natural they use it. Purple polish is brilliant but if you have a really dulled off surface ask for the green polish first as it has some grit in it then use the purple polish after. You'll save yourself some rubbing that way. This method is also brilliant at restoring old school style mag wheels.
Rollydog