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!
... 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).
).
. 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.
