Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Monday, June 29, 2020

Brand new replica IKARA badges.

Just like the real thing except for the pins on the back. Sikaflex is wonderful. They were quite inexpensive too.

Windscreen in.

For the 40th and last time.

Sunday, June 28, 2020

Our Cobra contingent.


Any excuse.


Those Nagari mags.

BOLLY BARN FIND

Five Nagari alloy mags rescued after lying out in the weather for about forty years. Looks like a full set of Nagari factory mags.
However , not so.
Two are Nagari mags with the necessary Ford stud pattern.

Two others are stamped H1 and H2 in the reverse side of one of the spokes, but not Ford Falcon stud pattern. 
H1 is a smaller stud PCD than Ford by about 4-5mm

H2 is a larger PCD than Ford by about 4-6mm (Holden?)

the fifth rim could be anybody’s as it isn’t drilled at all.


Any ideas on H 1 and H 2 ?

However, even with forty years of corrosion, one of the Ford ones has scrubbed up OK.

Before and after
Any thoughts on these would be appreciated.

           ______________________________________________________________________________

Well, those wheels were made for Bolwell by a foundry called Robert H. Grant Pty Ltd on Ferntree Gully Road. After taking delivery of a couple of batches of wheels Bolwell never returned for any more. Much later, a number of tyre distributors  offered those wheels in various bolt pattern configurations. I recall a HQ Holden getting around with Bolwell mags and not all that long ago someone in Tasmania was offering for sale a set with Holden bolt pattern. Bob Grant (who was Tony Grant's dad) died about 20 years ago and the foundry no longer exists and neither do the dies for the wheels.




Saturday, June 27, 2020

How's this from Carol Joyce.

My Uncle Charlie Stanton celebrated his 100th birthday on 6th June. As a surprise his retirement village organised for the current owner of the Stanton Corvette to bring it from Blenheim to Nelson where Charlie now lives. This is the car Charlie and his late brother Maurice built 60 years ago. Charlie is still very with it and fit. He goes for a walk every day!

Friday, June 26, 2020

What happened to Pete on last Thursday's mystery run.

Also you may like to hear the "prognosis" of my little problem with the red car last week.........
As you may know I was stuck at Crafers with the car refusing to start, with very slow cranking, and consequently smoke in the drivers side footwell.... that was enough for me to decide to get it to the auto electrician on a flat top.
The car has an electrical cut off switch on the side of the steering column up under the dash above the drivers legs. Evidently with a battery low on voltage (which it evidently is/was) the starter draws a much higher amperage.....and "they" propose that the smoke was coming from the cut off switch as it didn't like the high current. We haven't been able to find any indication of burnt or melting cable casing anywhere, particularly on the starter/solenoid or the cut-off switch.
So all is well, a new battery about to be fitted, new fuses and a couple of other little things tidied up.

Oh ! Also I'm now aware that my trickle charger isn't suitable for a gel filled battery, so now have a "wiz bang" new Bosch one !

Pete
Attachments area

DIY DMCs


Monday, June 22, 2020

Well I never......


Unimog.

This might confuse little old me a bit.

Friday, June 19, 2020

At last a purpose for the Camaro and Firebird.

They make very good utes.

1938 Opel 6.

Is this where the grey Holden came from?

Thursday, June 18, 2020

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

The show must go on.

The Corona virus didn't stop the Brabham factory.
This competition BT62 has been completed and sent off to a customer in England for the opening of the upcoming sports car championship.

Big engined Ikara.

Years ago I contemplated a nice big transverse engine for the Ikara. The only thing I could come up with was the Kimberley/Tasman 6. I soon decided I was being ridiculous. Now I see this bloke with one in his Hillman Imp.

Some old photos from a Paramatta racetrack.

Now take a look at number 35. It's one of Roger's Simcas.
And here's a 1949 Simca Truck.

A couple more utes.

A Jeep and a Merc.

Monday, June 8, 2020

Coming up for auction tomorrow.

Needs a bit of a tidy up though.

Pete's Mark 7 number 3.

This is looking serious. Look at this big V8 ready to go in.
I don't know how he finds the time as the ice cream factory must take a bit of managing.
Actually Pete owned this very car in a past life in the seventies. So maybe it should be Mark 7 number 1. These days there are a number of V8 Mk.7s but this one is one of the few that actually started life as a V8. It was a sister car to Bill Griffiths', Bill being the instigator of the Victorian Bolwell Club. Here it is when Pete took it over to Calder for a TSOA 6-hour.
Other 7s in the picture are (A) the white one on the trailer John Szabo's, (B) the deep yellow one was Frank Rushton's (both these cars were destroyed in a devastating Victorian bushfire) and (C) the lighter yellow one is the ex-Doug Seath machine. Here it is being advertised for sale recently.

Favourite 3-wheeler No.64


Sunday, June 7, 2020

Nimbus for sale.

1968 Volkswagen KIT CAR
Adelaide, SAover a week ago
$500
  • About This Vehicle
    • Driven 100,000 km
    • Manual transmission
    • Exterior color: Black · Interior color: Black
Seller's Description
VW EMBEESEA/CHARGER/NIMBUS KIT CAR, Chassis sold only have body with panels $500 ph/txt [hidden information] ROYAL PARK, Adelaide

Saturday, June 6, 2020

Thursday, June 4, 2020

A beautiful photo by Lynton Hemer.

Taken at the last PI Classic. This photo has re-ignited the great debate about what to call the car. There should be no debate. My recollection was that it was originally called a Jaguar Healey Special which accurately describes it, being a Jaguar engine in an Austin Healey chassis with a special body. Even during the ownership of Graeme Bolwell, who built the current body, it certainly wasn't referred to as a Bolwell and at that time "Bolwell Cars" hadn't even been established. A subsequent owner, with encouragement from Bob Minogue, named it the Elgaram and even had a badge cast for it. It was his car and he could call it what he liked. Now, a bit later Bolwell began producing sports car kits. Their very first model they called the Mark 4 as due respect to 3 previous specials created by one brother or another, with number 1 being a large clubman looking creation built on an old Ford V8 after the damaged sedan body had been removed.  Number 2 was a modified MG J2 and number 3 the above creation by Graeme. The spanner in the works was that there is another "Mark 3", the creation by Winston Bolwell of a self styled fibreglass body also on a Healey chassis. That car still exists as well. Perhaps the first production car should have been called the Mark 5. Anyway, we enthusiastic Bolwell lovers have gotten used to calling the early specials Marks 1, 2 and 3. There was a time when the late Pat Ryan (Conor's dad) after he completed the restoration of the "Mk. 3" proudly took the car to the Bolwell factory to show it off. He was no doubt disappointed by the mild interest shown by whoever he saw. I'm sure that if Campbell or Graeme were there the reception would have been quite different (witness their reaction to the car by both brothers at the previous PI Classic).

Sump plug too tight?


Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Here's a fibreglass sports car you might not immediately recognise.

It was the new Jowett Jupiter R4. It came about because Jowett's body builder went broke so they decided to build their own.  It's not the prettiest body but, IMHO, a vast improvement on the old steel one.

Kapunda - week 112

A really nice Falcon ute at the supermarket today. WA plates.