Time to dust off my EK!

[Marty K Bird]

Had an awesome weekend, cleaned out a shed yesterday so I could finally get my old K Bird locked up.. It has spent the last couple of weeks in another shed that didnt have doors. Gave her a bucket bath and gave the rear end a quick polish ....came up ok! Looking forward to polishing it all up now its out of the weather.

Also found the rear airshocks I put in 20 years ago still work well!

Hope to get the old wheel cylinders out this week and buy a clutch slave.

Diggin it!

[Marty K Bird]

Cleaned my rear seat up using sunlight soap and a chux magic eraser ....came out looking awesome! Hopefully once fixed the front will look the same.

[Devilrod]

sure did.

[Marty K Bird]

A bit of an update and a question on manuals..

Been doing some work on a property across the road the last couple of weeks and doing a bit on the K Bird every afternoon. Love coming home to it and I sometimes go out early in the morning just to look at it as it makes me smile lol.

Managed to get all the wheel cylinders off on Wednesday which was a bit of a challenge in one way..... especially since i still have no manual.
Did the back end first and on the first one I took off the brake retaining spring clips and main shoe spring before removing the cylinder... On the second one i worked out i didnt need to touch the spring bits ....all i needed to do was take out the bolts, nipple and brake hose give it a tap with a rubber mallet then gently prise it up and out...

The first front one was a bugger as at the time I didnt realise the hose only twists on one end... the first one i tried to undo the hose on the frame plate end but it wanted to turn the metal pipe aswell ... so I ended up screwing it around from the cylinder end so much i twisted the rubber hose in half (which i was ok with because i intend to replace them all).
The other side one i worked out the trick .... crack the hose first .... remove bolts ect, prise up and out and unscrew the cylinder off the hose and the hose stays nice .... always the way trial and error stuff.

Ordered a beta rubber boot seal and also a new slave cylinder. The cheapest slave i could get was on flea bay for $62 ... local shops wanted around $90. Also scored another EH hubcap for 1cent ($10 postage) as I figured although they are not the "right" ones..... in my head I always pictured it with them on it so once i find one more i will fit them to repainted wheels and later sell them as a full set once i get a full set of EK ones sorted.

Am sending the wheel cylinders off to be Stainless sleeved on Monday and hope to have the new slave fitted before they return. Need to buy the 3 new brake hoses and a clutch hose aswell and then soon I will be able to take the old girl for a drive. The property i do some work at has a 2km dirt road driveway just accross from my driveway and i'll probably drive it to work and back when work is on.

Also trying to clean up the front end whilst its on stands with the wheels off ...after 3 sessions one side is starting to look better. Would love to drop the front end out to do it properly but i have never pulled a motor before so i might just persevere.

I need to get a manual sorted soon as some bits of the suspension dont look right. Looks like one of the stub axels has bolts from the rear going into nuts on the front of the backing plate and the other side looks opposite.. Theres also another quirk that i see that i need to investigate further.

This leads me to my questions...

I have read the EK manual is a lot better than the Gregory manual that covers FX-HR but i see there is a Brown EK one and a Green EK one ...whats the difference between them?? Eyeing off a green one.

Whats the trick in removing the brake hoses and clutch hoses??

[Blacky]

Dunno about the manuals , mine are green.

As for the brake and clutch hoses , soak the nuts with WD40 and then get a brake pipe spanner and try to get the nut to move on the pipe , quite often the nut is frozen to the pipe and the pipe will twist.

[WayneXG95]

Mine is also green.

[Marty K Bird]

Got my eye on a buggered old green manual ... if the money don't go crazy i should get it lol.

Finally got my wheel cylinders packed up and shipped off to get redone, clutch slave arrived as did the boot seal. Went to trial fit the boot seal but the boot didn't want to close ....mind you i had not trimmed it to length and recently adjusted the boot lid with no rubber in it. Will leave the boot rubber off for a while so it can shrink if it wishes too before i fit it again and cut it to size. I tried a VN commodore one the other week and it fitted like a gem!! ... well sorta the boot wouldnt close either because of the big flappy bit .... now if i trim that off it might just work well for the moment.

Lately i have been feeling that the stage 1 of my dusting off process will be quickly coming to an end, in a couple of weeks I should have all new wheel cylinders and hoses, new clutch slave and hose plus the front end cleaned up to a reasonable level. Still need to paint some original wheels, clean a bit more and give the whole lot a good cut and polish. Then it should be ready for a little drive up my neighbors 2km driveway.... and beyond

I'm now starting to look a little further down the track at perhaps attacking some of the bodywork....
From memory when my dad brought this car it had a different LH guard and was likely in a slight bingle .... the suspension looks cleaner on that side too! One thing i noticed yesterday is the guard is missing 4-5 bolts down the inside below the headlight and it looks like the bulkhead / rad support panel is a bit bent in (slightly), its enough to make the bolt holes not line up .... which kinda erks me lol.

The front bumper bracket on that side is bent a little bit, and since the LH guard is also the one with the crease im thinking about taking the front bar off and then the LH guard. I plan to try and beat the guard into a better shape and not take the paint off. I feel confident i can beat it out so it looks way better then it does now ...heck even if i took it off and put it on the ground and put my size 12 on it.... it would look better. Then i'll try and tap the bulkhead back out so the guard will bolt on properly.

This will probably keep me happy enough for the time being until i get club rego so i can take it to my local "Mens Shed" to use the mig and the knowledge of a retired panel beater who is also a member.

There is rust right in the back section of the boot just to the side of the furl filler .... id say a longer then needed bolt once went through the number plate into it. It looks kinda scary but with the bumper on its not noticable ... so i plan to use this as my first metal replacement area.

Funds will soon be running out to do much more, need to save to get the bench seat fixed and perhaps just get a carpet for the floor (full rubber mats down the track). New tires all round and then the club rego.

I might start doing some work on a HK ute i picked up a long time ago ...it's fairly straight and my plan was always to fix it up enough to sell it to put more bucks into the EK. At the moment i am happy to have spent the money i have on the EK and done the work to get it going again ....but at the end of the day its kinda dead money because i will never sell it ...and when moneys tight im thinking i should put some into something i will get a return on. Currently looking for a donor HKTG because its missing lots of little bits ....steering column, fuel tank, engine bay bits.

Theres plenty i can do to the EK now that wont cost much .... clean every inch lol....

Also had a look at the spare EK yesterday and it does look doable oneday .... worst section is below the battery area where its eaten right through. Has a clean parcel shelf and besides needing a few rust replacement panels and a RHR guard lip and front beaver panel .... it's not a bad candidate for a custom down the track .... but i'll take what i need from it for now and prep it to minimize further deterioration.

Also have a 76 celica that might get a bog and pretty up to flog off to help with funds aswell.

Heres some pics!!


Should of taken a before pic ...was very mucky lol


Should look better on their return


Front seats been cleaned .... and showing its better side lol


Love this interior too much to give up on it despite the front seat
(sometimes the trim inserts seem more green then the door inserts??) Maybe been cleaned more?


Floors are clean, I painted them 20 years ago in rust proof paint. New kick panels and carpet next.


The elephant in the room scares me no more !! Rust is minor.


This i no like!! But if thats the worst it gets im happy


Looks very scary under the rear bumper .... need to know for sure sooner then later.


Wobbly elbow dent guard you erk me too!! Most might not see you ...but i do!!


Meh



Dents in roof you erk me too ....but the original roof paint might keep you there for a while yet...and im uneasy on screen removal and roof lining removal .... stage 12 i think lol


Hmm parcel shelf ok but that dodgy corner needs cleaning and painting!!


A bit i once removed ... wont cost much to fiddle with it lol... investigations to begin shortly ....looks like it needs a tube soldered on top.


Think i will throw the hat back on .... needs a slight straighten and painting.


Old Yella


The front discs and booster are waiting for a 253 ... or my old VK's 202. Lotsa small bits missing.

--------------
Spare car



Eucalyptus tinted window!!

[Harv]

Marty,

When you get around to investigating the windshield washer, this post may help:
http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtop ... 29&t=12061

Cheers,
Harv (chief apprentice windshield washer fiddler).

[Brian Westlake]

Hey marty . I'm exited about your car! Sitting out there in the paddock, it even looks a bit Sporty looking (I see Turquoise EKs as a thinly disguised Race Car!) I just noticed that it has that unusual, Head lining material seat trim. I thought I was onto something until I went back and read that Sunny Tim pointed this out pages ago! My suggestion is to fix the brakes, get the engine and exhaust sorted out, fix some rust and dents ( not necessarily all the dents) and clean the mud out of stuff underneath, and spray some fish oil in the doors and un block as many drain holes as you can, and then, find as many of your old mates as you can (I dug up a lot of mine since i've been into FB EKs again) or grab some new ones, and drive it any chance you get, utilising the fact that it's not an immaculate car, to return to fun times, with no worries, just like the old days. This is how i'm approaching the FB I've just bought. A full resto is really the right thing to do, but not for me, and I dont think your car needs it either. It just needs to be loved!
Tony.

[Sputzwagon]

A full resto is really the right thing to do, but not for me, and I dont think your car needs it either. It just needs to be loved!
Tony.

I have to agree with Tony on this, Marty (and not because we've been mate's since the year Dot! ).
I find the REAL NICE versions are too good to drive every day..and end up on club rego under covers in sheds 11 months out of twelve and then become "Trailer Queens" . True, we need exceptional cars like full resto's to see..but you really have to have deep pockets & space to own this type of car.
If you want a "fun pile the mates or family in" type of car keep it mechanically good but don't get too worried about the little dents or chipped paint or a bit of rust that needs looking at in the future..DRIVE IT & love it.. this make's 'em very reliable as I know first hand..my EK is my only car now and is so much more reliable than the previous Bitzamissin' TRYton I used to drive.
True, I do keep the maintainance up to it regularly but that's what you get owning one of these things....
...so stick to this equasion "Maintain it + Love it + Drive it = FUN!"

Scotty.

[Marty K Bird]

Marty,

When you get around to investigating the windshield washer, this post may help:
http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtop ... 29&t=12061

Cheers,
Harv (chief apprentice windshield washer fiddler).

Hi Harv, I have been checking a few of your manuals ... awesome work ... lots of detail. The Link you had was for the Warmaride heater which i do need to look at, at some stage.... but i guess you meant to link the washer info one.... Just been reading that one and left a comment for you in that thread about the possibility of using a vacuum switch to power the electric washer motor.

Also been reading the stromberg guide .... your work is amazing!!

Cheers man!

[Marty K Bird]

Tony and Scotty, I think these are some wise words
I would love to do a full restoration on it, but yeah money wise its a bit beyond my reach at the moment.
I do plan to over time fix up as much of it as i can myself.... the way i look at it there will always be something i can improve on it.

One of my main focuses was to stop it deteriorating any further, which means cleaning as much as i can... and yep making sure those drain holes are clear is something that thankfully i used to do years ago ....just over time the boot ones filled back up grrr lol.

And you guys are right it does need to be loved .... i guess im trying to make up for all those years of neglect and to get it to a stage where it was as good or better than it was 20 years ago when it was resprayed.. The previous owner was a bit of a rocker and it had a cool Stray Cats sticker on the 1/4 window and tiger print seat covers ... Im looking to make new covers that look the same and even find a new stray cats sticker .... might even throw another foxtail on it lol! So i guess i am sort of restoring it to its 20 year old mark ..... not immaculate just neat and honest.

The club queen versus the drive whenever prospect keeps on running over in my head. I already have mates that cant wait to shoot the breeze in the old girl again and with the club rego that might be a bit limited. My daily drive is a fairly neat, reliable VN, and with the occasional longer trip being needed I am hesitant to just swap in the EK for my daily.
I do also have my Dad's old Hilux ute that's getting rego soon....

Im considering taking the K-Bird over the pits for full rego, mainly so it can get knocked back for things like exhaust and whatever else they can find and i will then be able to drive it to get the exhaust fixed and new tires etc.... closest exhaust shop is a nice 30km drive . At the moment it wont pass the club rego inspection due to the exhaust.

If the funds hold up i might go full rego and love the doors off of it!! If not perhaps just club rego for a year and then see how it fares.

[Marty K Bird]

This is my 100th post .... and suitably long winded

Well yesterday was an awesome day as far as my EK and my obsession for the old rigs go.

The day before, I was driving an escort vehicle for a guy who was bringing his 4.5m wide combine harvester back to town .... job took 6 hours as he can only travel at 33km/h lol. On the way i was keeping my eye out for old tin and I think i spotted one old K-bird in a garage on an overrun farm but i couldn't stop to grab a pic of it..... another day.
One thing i did spot though was an EK Wagon and 3 ek utes parked outside an old workshop that i have been past many times before. At the time i couldn't stop but yesterday since i had to go buy some copper crush washers for my new brakes at a place up the road i called in to have a yack at the workshop with the old EK's out the front.

I asked the workshop man who owns the old girls what is happening with them, he seemed a little hesitant as id say he has been asked about them a few times .... so i told him quickly i wasn't looking to buy anything and I have two of my own .... and then showed him some pics on my phone which is a great ice-breaker.

Had a great chat with him.... he told me at one stage he had 37 FB-EK's ... he collected some of them as payment for work he had done, or other deals to acquire them when there was a lot more of them about over 30 years ago.
He once had some guy from Queensland turn up who was a son of a guy he knew and they arranged for EK's to be sent up there 2 at a time on a truck that was heading that way to pick up timber. The deal was this person would part them out and he would get half the cash. Over 10 cars were sent up and after a month he got $200 and the guy went bankrupt and that was the last of the money he seen for them.

He must have parted with a few more as he said he has around 15 of them now including a nice blue FB wagon and a nice EK Ute. He said he also has an old FB or EK Race car with the original signage that is loaned to some guy. He also has over 30 Toranas and a similar number of HQ-HZ cars ... he seems to be quite the collector and not keen on selling them. He told me he brought a 35 acre block with a big shearing shed on it and he excavated out underneath the shed to store alot of the old cars there. He was also telling me of a guy he knew who had a fully worked ex racing grey motor with a crossflow head (maybe not a repco one???) in something and that he would take me there oneday for a squizz if i wanted

I haven't been to his workshop before but its a work of art .... it's been going since the 60's and is full of so much stuff it isn't funny..... he had a fair few mechanics working for him and a shed full of cars he was working on for customers .... one of those classic old garages where you go to for the knowledge not the freshly painted concrete floor. Someone i spoke to after told me that the guy "was born in a glovebox" hehe.

He does exhaust systems aswell and he said he still has all the jigs or patterns for the old cars... so I have my exhaust fixing place sorted!! The cars he had there an EK wagon and 3 utes were all pretty well stuffed ....especially the utes. He said he had them left on someones property but they kept having parts removed from them so he brought them back to his workshop. He said he drove the EK wagon to where it now sits but since it has had the engine removed. It still looks doable but it would need a lot of work.
Heres the pics








When i came back home i dropped into my local "Men's Shed" which for anyone that hasn't heard of them is an initiative that has sprung up in a few towns around here. The idea is to provide a mens only space for retired chaps to young fellas to gather to share knowledge and work on projects..and share their problems or just have a cuppa....they also have a mens health focus with the occasional visit from some spunky community health worker. It has a fully kitted out woodwork area and a good metal work section. I was steering my Dad towards it before he passed away from melanoma last year.

Anyway I have gotten to know a few of the guys there from my days working at the local newspaper (this might explain my long winded posts:lol: ) ... i sometimes drop in to catch up with them in particular one old fella named Gordon who I get along with really well ... he is a fair dinkum rip snorting classic with quite the ocker vocabulary and is generally top value!!
He is also a qualified panel beater / spray painter but he once told me he never wanted to do anymore panel beating so he put all his tools under the concrete slab of his new garage when he built it ..... i think he really did! I have never spoke to him about cars much for this reason.

Yesterday i turned up to show another member Les, who owns an old FJ panel van that was an old SES van he last had registered 10 year ago...he also has a large collection of other FJ's and early holdens sitting out in the open. He is a mechanic by trade and again one of the old brigade who has mucked about with these cars from back when they were new. I came to show him the wheel cylinders i had had done as he needs some done for his FJ van. I'm hoping to learn a lot from him and in fixing up the K-Bird inspire him and give him a hand to do a bit with his old cars.

Old Gordon was there too and him and another fella Len who has a hotrod and is currently doing a few other cars does up gathered around for a squiz.

Both Gordon and Len guessed what the wheel cylinders were off I showed them my pics and spoke of how i was seeking some guidance on the bodywork and rust repairs.
Old Gordon came alive and we talked for ages.
He said he started his apprenticeship in 1959 (just in time for the FB's ) in a workshop in Blacktown (i think). He was "a one man band" doing all the bodywork, painting and finishing.
Turns out he is also a Holden man, and he owned an EK for a while, as well as a "bottler" EH Premier, a HK with a 307 and a string of other Holdens.
I told him i brought a good worskshop manual .... he told me "they are real good for stools with 3 legs longer then the other" lol.....
I showed him a pic of my rusty bits and asked him if i should just clean it up and bog it.... "Depends how far ya little Spanish dancer (rust) has gone i guess .... and whether you want to do it properly or not", he said.
Properly was my reply.
I've told him i didn't want to bother him with it too much as i know he gave it up years ago, but he has agreed to have a looked at it for me and give me a plan of attack and guidance when needed.
I kinda think he is as keen as mustard and hopefully soon when my brakes and clutch are all sorted i will take the K-Bird down to the men's Shed a couple of times a week to use their mig and work on it.

I've always believed I can do whatever i lend my hand to, but there is only so far reading stuff and watching videos can teach you. Dusting my K-bird off and getting it rolling again is well within my realm but after this its uncharted territory.
I love learning the tricks of the trade and sometimes i don't think you can beat an 'old hand' who has been there done that several times over and i am really looking forward to learning from them.

So yeah a top day and i am feeling excited about the future of my K-Bird.

My wheel cylinders arrived back on Monday and they look awesome!!

I sent them off to Automotive Brake and Auto Re-conditioners in Silverwater after a recommendation from a forum member. Peter from there was awesome to deal with ...also liked a yak and once owned a EK ute, He was very reasonable with the charges and i saved a lot more having them stainless steel lined and new seals (plus new nipples, blasted and zinced), over the price of new cylinders. He also had three new hoses made for me which worked out better than any I could get online.

The four copper washes i got yesterday (and the flange nut spanner) will now allow me to fit the wheel cylinders back up and also put the new clutch slave and hose on. Hoping to have it done by the weekend so i can take it for a spin for the first time in a long time!!!

Good times~

pheww that was epic!

[parisian62]

Hi Marty

pheww that was epic!

and I enjoyed reading every line of it

It's always good to have a yak to the old timers who did their trade back in the day.

Sounds like you have got plenty of knowledgable blokes in your corner

after this its uncharted territory

so go for it!

Stewart

[muza]

good read mate!! you must be stoked at the moment!