My unrestored 1959 FC Holden Special

[dnb]

Thought I'd add this pic, the FB wagon belongs to a mate of mine and was it one of my daughters wedding cars.
My mates father in law bought it new in 1960 and passed it over to his son in law a few years ago. These days it runs a Chev 350 and T-bar auto but looks completely stock.. He refers to it as a sleeper. I hope I haven't overstepped the guide lines adding a non FC photo..

[greyone]

great car love the colors,the greyones the same model reg HAM was serviced by a servo in east bentliegh
all its life,whats the mileage on your car
regards mal

[dnb]

G'day Mal, speedo reads just over 66,000 miles. I don't have books unfortunately but the overall condition of the car and the way it drives indicates it is the original mileage. Darcy

[dnb]

While the brakes were being done I took the opportunity to take a few shots under the old girl.
I only had time to add a few tonight, will post a couple more later..

There is some surface rust but not too bad for an almost 50 year old car.

[mcl1959]

Wow that's really good order for an FC - is there any rust under there at all or is it just as good everywhere?

Ken

[FC427]

It's been many many years since I have seen such a clean original FC WOW for want of a better word ..........FC427........

[sexyfc]

Awesome mate, she's a beauty

[dnb]

Underneath is rust free other than some surface rust in a couple of spots, there is also minor surface rust on the sills under the doors that will be attended to soon. Not a hole to be found.. The doors themselves are rust free  as are guards etc. All in all she is very sound.

Next photo is the worst spot...




Looks pretty good from here..

[EffCee]

What a great car, I too have not seen one in that good condition for a long, long time.

Keith

[dnb]

That's the worst rust in the car, a bit on both sides. Not too bad but I don't want it to deteriorate further...
Hopefully will be fixed before Easter.

[Paul In Ireland]

That's not rust - thats dirt!  ;)

8)

[mcl1959]

I agree - it looks like the paint was a little thin when sprayed and some very mild surface rust has developed which should disappear with a light scuff.
I would be surprised if there was anything really serious there, but best to investigate and fix as you say before it gets any worse.


Ken

[fcee]

Darcy ,nice car ,as you say you cannot compete with big dollar restorations ,but do you want to ?maybe there should be a trophy awarded for unrestored stock cars and level the playing field a bit !cheers   Steve . :)

[dnb]

I had a guy that has done some minor touch ups for me check it out for me today and he says there is no hidden surprises, just minor surface rust. I'll have it fixed next week and than look at getting a good steam clean to get rid of grease etc.

[NascoHunter]

We did this at the last Victorian FE-FC State Titles for best unrestored car and will be doing the same this year at the 3rd FE-FC State Titles. Have told you a few time time Darcy your car looks great and these unrestored FE-FC are hard to come by theses days.
Cheers,
Tony

[RET]

Darcy ,nice car ,as you say you cannot compete with big dollar restorations ,but do you want to ?maybe there should be a trophy awarded for unrestored stock cars and level the playing field a bit !cheers   Steve . :)

We will be implementing a scheme for recognition of 'Authenticity' at the next Nationals. It's been discussed at some length amongst the Nationals Delegates, and the rules etc will be published in plenty of time prior to Orange.

cheers
RET

[dnb]

Thank's for all the great feedback. I've not been able to respond till now as a cup of coffee and a keyboard came into close contact. I could cut and paste with mouse but that's all...
I've had the surface rust dealt with, had it done properly, no hidden surprises found and now all I have to do body wise is give her a good clean and polish.

[dnb]

Over the past month or so the old girl has had a bit of a makeover, to both mechanical and interior.
I asked the advice of Tony Galea from Vic club, his advice and assistance has been fantastic. Thank's again Tony. 
I wanted to tidy her up without loosing her originality and am very happy with how she had come up.
The  radiator and timing gear have been replaced and all brake lines ect checked and replaced where needed. The carpets have been replace with mats and the back seat repadded. Basically the whole car has been checked over and brought up to scratch.

Engine painted and tidied up




Rear carpet removed and replaced with mat


Front mat fitted


Bottom of back repadded, springs were fine and retained origonal material

[DN2168]

Looking good Darcy.

Dean.

[GOA350]

I had the privalige to see this car first hand while Tony was cleaning up the areas that Darcy wanted, and i must say this is a beautiful example of a genuine unmolested FC. It has period accessories but not overdone. You should be proud to drive such an example of one of General Motors Holdens finest creations.
Cheers Scott