fbekholden.com

Brett,

I've replied to your PM. The groove on the neck of the ball stud is the product of wear.

Rob

Vague memory as I said. Apologies in advance for a bit of a ramble here. More than one of the same part had the same wear but was deemed serviceable by consensus! I think some guys on the humpy forum talked about getting bits machined up but I lost interest and went to HD. It is a very practical alternative notable only to early Holden nerds and completely bolt up reversible. The main link is obtainable brand new or refurbished about $170 or original are generally perfectly good. Inner tie rod ends are often ok as well or good brand can be had about $25 per side. Outers are per original. Pitman arms are a bit light on the ground however, so best is to get a complete assembly from a HD or hr. Just an idea of course and there is nothing wrong with a refurbished original unit. Finding decent cups can be an issue for these as I recall.


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

Sort of a comparison I think between clinker grey dash colour and original column. Couple shades lighter where it is unfaded. Dash is freshly painted in Dulon acrylic clinker grey satin.

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Thanks Clay. I am trying to get Wilma pretty faithful to original, but with all worn bits replaced so it will operate as good as new. Therefore I will try to source a better standard one. However for Project 2- the hopefully slightly modified EK ute, I will go down the modern route you suggest.

Thanks for column picture as well Clay. Rosco mentioned a colour for the column called Monument. I'll chase it up and have a look.

Thanks to you and Rob for your continued help

Had a look in parts catalogue tonight and if I'm not mistaken the left and right are the same part number. Given the other side wasn't worn, maybe I'll be lucky and the other one on parts ute will be OK too. Tomorrow will reveal my options.

Keep up the great work Brett, happy for your progress and it is all fantastic reference material.

Glad to see you didn't get washed away over the weekend.

Dave

Shed didn't even leak this time.

Bit of work on horn buttons this morning. Wire had broken on mine so looked up forum and found where someone had used de-soldering braid as a replacement. I tried this but its very fine filaments frayed after a few test runs. What worked for me was using a spare electric drill brush set. I did two button sets with one for each car. Pictures show activity.

Can't think why turning the carbon brush down to button shape wouldn't work for anyone missing the brass button. Replacing the insulator would be a simple machining of a nylon blank as well.

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Fiddly job well done. I’ve found if I’ve got the brass cylinder, spring and the contact that fits inside with the springy legs, contact is achieved.


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

Hi Clay. Yes my earlier built FB ute had that set up, but the later built sedan had a wire (broken) and not the 2 leg set-up inside the spring that you are noting. Given the horn draws 5 amps, I decided to go down the wire route for both. Its only about 10 minutes work and I had the bits handy.

If I was going dual horns, however, I'd definitely use a relay to handle the current and not pass it all through the horn button circuit.

Brett,

I'd often wondered about using an electric drill brush trimmed to fit. How did you make it cylindrical - lathe, or by deft file work?

Rob

Hi Rob, I didn't use the carbon on these as I had good brass buttons- just the wire, spring and brass end plates. In the post I was musing that there would be no reason not to use the carbon if you had nothing else. A file would do it - a bit of a fiddle but easy filing. Carbon would be quieter and self lubricating as well

Mucking around with steering column paint. Tried clinker grey and flat black. Have settled on a matt/gloss 50:50 black mix - satin

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Nice. Satin is great. Have to be sure it is well mixed and what you spray is what you get. So it is s bit darker than the dash?

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