Leroy the EK Ute

[In the Shed]

Hi folks
Also noted the dots showing the various fuel levels are positioned differently when comparing the two! Just some more trivia
Stephen

[thebrotherj]

A bit of fiddling with the fuel sender arm as per the suggestions above and I’ve found the lower limit. It’s pointing at zero on the gauge now, that’ll do me.



Cheers, Joe


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Hi Joe
Seeing pics of your fuel gauge jogged my memory of something I spotted on eBay. A fuel gauge like yours was listed (now sold $202) as super rare VDO type that apparently matched the elusive VDO FB or EK clock.

The seller stated the needle pivot pin was special. Must admit I had never looked that close at my gauges, but of the 6 or so I have none are like yours. Hopefully the below link works.

https://m.ebay.com.au/itm/Holden-FB-EK- ... cvip-panel

Regards
Stephen

This is very cool! Thanks for pointing it out, I certainly hadn't spotted it.

Ok so here's what I know.

When Bill was dividing his time between the inner west of Sydney and his place up in the Blue Mountains, he also acquired a heavily optioned EK Sedan. My understanding is that it was very rusty, got left out on the street for a long time, so he eventually scored it real cheap and parted it out. Leroy's tray was full of parts, including a complete Hollywood sedan flash kit that lasted 3 minutes when I advertised it on Facebook. I reckon a few of you could guess who scored that!

Also in the tray were body coloured tail light surrounds and a collection of dash clusters. I imagine that Leroy has a body coloured dash cluster from new, being a Standard ute, so I gathered that Bill built a good chrome cluster using all the best bits he had. I have no doubt now that said well-optioned parts car contributed this fuel gauge and yeah, I bet it had the fabled VDO clock in it too.

When I get home tonight, I'll dig out the plastic container with the dash clusters and dig for some more gold for ya.

I've messaged Jodie to ask if she knows anything more about the Sedan that Bill picked up, stay tuned

[thebrotherj]

Hi folks
Also noted the dots showing the various fuel levels are positioned differently when comparing the two! Just some more trivia
Stephen

Jeez I better up my insurance eh?

[In the Shed]

The end of the needle is different too! Super rare has a pointed end whilst the other has a square end. I’ll stop looking now

[thebrotherj]

The end of the needle is different too! Super rare has a pointed end whilst the other has a square end. I’ll stop looking now

The VDO font is tidier also.

given I’ve never really been a man of substantial disposable income, I’ve not had cause to gaze lovingly at the fuel gauge in any of my previous Holdens... This certainly is a first! Haha


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[gpi]

im pretty sure you'll also find an adjusting screw on the back of it too

[thebrotherj]

im pretty sure you'll also find an adjusting screw on the back of it too

bwhahahahaha! I would discover this AFTER all my effort modifying the sender!

[thebrotherj]

A little bit of progress to report... life outside the shed has been busy of late.

A scorching Sunday in Sydney was perfect for attacking the rear floor and tray with a scraper, wire wheel, vacuum cleaner... and finally the Gerni. Watched the water (and several beers) disappear right before my eyes with the old boy wheeled out into the heat. Also burnt my hands pushing him back in, spicy weather indeed...





I’ve also finally given the fuel tank an almighty clean and discovered what the blobs of filler/JB Weld on top of it were hiding: several holes. Despite really wanting to have a go at filling it with water, purging the vapours then welding some patches with my MIG... I think I’ll send it to my reliable radiator guy who will repair it cheaply and better than I can.







Oh and I was sent this photo of Bill & his old man with Leroy circa 2010.



Seeing the old black & yellow rego plates got me daydreaming... I have these plates from my old LJ Torana that I sold unregistered in 2001. I know it’s probably going to be an impossible task... but has anyone in NSW ever managed to transfer old-style plates (that they never handed in) on to another project car at blue slip time? I swear I’ve heard of it happening, but I’m sure it took some serious arm twisting down at the RMS counter...






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[ardiesse]

Joe,

What you have to do with number plates is what I did with my FX -
innocently go down to the RMS and order plates with the same number. When it comes time to register the car, present your blue slip and attach the plates you ordered to the car. Go home, put the new plates on the wall and the old ones on the car.
Mind you, the RMS does a pretty close replica of the old black-on-yellow plates.
But I recall that you'd be up for the extortionate yearly fee this way.

Rust holes in tank. When the family EK smelt of petrol inside after filling the tank, my father would take the boot mat out, wire-brush the top of the tank, clean around the holes with hydrochloric and then Baker's fluid; and then with a big soldering iron, solder the holes up. Always with a full tank. But the "fssh" sound that drops of solder made as they dropped into the petrol and quenched was a little heart-stopping . . .

Now that the tank's out of Leroy, it's a better bet to go to a professional.

Rob

[59wagon]

Rust holes in tank. When the family EK smelt of petrol inside after filling the tank, my father would take the boot mat out, wire-brush the top of the tank, clean around the holes with hydrochloric and then Baker's fluid; and then with a big soldering iron, solder the holes up. Always with a full tank. But the "fssh" sound that drops of solder made as they dropped into the petrol and quenched was a little heart-stopping . . .

F&%k, Rob! Your old man must've been a thrill seeker and/or had a big set down below - he wouldn't have been far off the auto ignition temperature I reckon! Obviously worked though, so good fix

[Harv]

Grrrrr... damn RTA and old number plates .

My FB had originally been registered with CHO576 number plates, and seems to have held them over the decades. The seller let the rego lapse on the car, but put the plates into storage. Come selling time he got the car roadworthy, then re-registered it with new plates. I bought the car, and the plates in storage... or so I thought.

Went to the RTA with the seller and transferred ownership. Then requested to transfer the plates onto the car (dumb mistake... should have swapped the plates first). No-go, as the RTA believes that plates in storage are non-transferrable... the seller still owned the plates. They would be quite happy for the seller to hand the plates in, and to reissue the plates to me though... as new plates, with an annual fee. No way would they allow the old plates on to the car.

After a fortnight of discussion, I ended up having to pay the annual fee of $105. Can't say I was impressed.

Petrol auto-ignition is around 250ºC, with tin-solder melting around 170ºC. The trick (other than bravery) is to keep the air out of the mixture - 100% full tank.

Cheers,
Harv

[ardiesse]

Harv,

I was the bunny at the power outlet with the extension cord for the soldering iron. The iron was a huge old 300-W job that would have been used for guttering, amongst other things. It took about a quarter-hour to get up to temp, but after that, it was unstoppable. When the tip got comfortably above 180 deg.C., Dad said, "Unplug", and then he set to work on the fuel tank. The trick with the solder was to work just at the melting point, although most soft solders are eutectic . . .

A few years ago one of the youngsters at church came across a UC Sunbird, and we had a fun afternoon at his gf's parents' place dropping the tank out and soldering it up. This time, I was the wielder of the soldering iron.
(And I never quite got to the stage of issuing him an invite to drag-race my 48-215, but it would have been a close-run thing: Torana body and Trimatic would possibly offset the power advantage of the Starfire 4 . . .)

Rob

[thebrotherj]

What you have to do with number plates is what I did with my FX -
innocently go down to the RMS and order plates with the same number. When it comes time to register the car, present your blue slip and attach the plates you ordered to the car. Go home, put the new plates on the wall and the old ones on the car.

ahh Rob, I wish it was still that simple

A quick surf of the RMS site to check plate availability and they come up as "Not currently available" - because I never handed them back. You must've gotten lucky - how long ago did you pull that little stunt?

You can have a look at what I'm talking about here:
https://myplatemaker.myplates.com.au/check/#/home

Joe

[thebrotherj]

Grrrrr... damn RTA and old number plates .

My FB had originally been registered with CHO576 number plates, and seems to have held them over the decades. The seller let the rego lapse on the car, but put the plates into storage. Come selling time he got the car roadworthy, then re-registered it with new plates. I bought the car, and the plates in storage... or so I thought.

Went to the RTA with the seller and transferred ownership. Then requested to transfer the plates onto the car (dumb mistake... should have swapped the plates first). No-go, as the RTA believes that plates in storage are non-transferrable... the seller still owned the plates. They would be quite happy for the seller to hand the plates in, and to reissue the plates to me though... as new plates, with an annual fee. No way would they allow the old plates on to the car.

After a fortnight of discussion, I ended up having to pay the annual fee of $105. Can't say I was impressed.

Cheers,
Harv

Just to confirm Harv, once you paid the stupid annual fee of $105 for what are essentially standard plates (I have done this before and I resent it entirely), did you have to run the new ones they made you? Or did they let you run the oldies?

And with the CHO576 plates - did you 'store' them at home? Or did you have them stored at the RTA? I had to keep GHV 548 with the RTA when I moved myself and my Monaro to Melb for a year, then dig em out for a fee when I moved back home.

[ardiesse]

Joe,

You said you wished it was still that simple.
The FX was last registered in 1979; we bought it in 1982, and I re-registered it in 2005.
Of course - between '79 and '05 the DMT, no, the RTA, no, the RMS switched from paper records to a computer system, which would have prompted a massive departmental case of amnesia.
So when I applied for JX-408, I was told the number was available. And that was when you only had to pay the one-off fee.

Rob