I don't disagree with Gree (so to speak), but I'm not volunteering to do the work either!

Great to see some pix of the beast - I look forward to more of them.

cheers
RET

Brad,

The FE-FC Holden Nationals are held every second year.  The last one was in Sydney (2001), and the next is on the Gold Coast, organised by the FE-FC Holden Car Club of Qld.  After that we're off to destinations unknown (somewhere in southern NSW, probably), for the 2005 event to be run by the FE-HR Holden Owners Club of ACT.

So if FranCine is not ready by next Easter, it will be another two years to wait......

Note that you need to be a member of one of the FE-FC Holden Car Clubs of Australia to participate:

• FE-FC HCC of NSW
• NSW Mid North Coast FE-FC HCC
• FE-FC HCC of Qld
• FE-FC HCC of Vic
• FE-FC HCC of SA
• FE-HR HOC of ACT

Other clubs are invited to participate, so if you are a member of one of them you are also welcome.  These include:

• Southern Sydney Early Holden Car Club
• FE-HR HOC of Tasmania
• Holdens of Age (Vic)

If you are a member of another club who would like to participate, you will need to contact the FE-FC HCC of Qld VERY SOON to discuss an invitation for your club.

cheers
RET

I just got a call from Alex a few moments ago, who had been to empty our club's P.O. Box.  And guess what he found in there?  Application forms for the 9th Nationals.  So expect to see them at your club soon!

Yay!

RET

Dave,

Please feel free to get as carried away as you like!  I've had questions along these lines asked of me before, and I don't know the definitive answer.  I'd like to, though.

For what it's worth, whilst the FB-EK speedo looks different to the FE/FC one in operation (it has a moving bar rather than a needle), it bolts up exactly the same, and they're quite interchangeable - I have an EK one in my car, as it happens.  When idle, it looks like an FE one with the needle missing!  If the EK auto one is different inside the speedo unit itself, then that is an interesting wrinkle.

It's also worth bearing in mind that these speedos are calibrated to suit cross-ply tyres, which have a considerably wider diameter than equivalent radials, so even a correct setup is not going to give the correct speed.  (Why do some people insist on calling cross-plies 'conventional tyres'? They're certainly not the convention in this day and age!  Do these people refer to a bus as a 'charabanc'?  Of course not.)

Anyway, I'm interested if anyone has an opinion or more knowledge on this subject.

RET

Ken has clearly described the components and process here:  http://www.fefcholden.org.au/techinfo/tech002.html
To quote from the article:

3. Adapting the HR crossmember.

At this stage either a changeover crossmember must be procured from any of the various retailers, or a competent welder may prepare his own.

First the outrigger must be carefully removed and replaced with one suitable for the FE/FC. An EJ/EH outrigger has been found to be ideally suited for this application. The outrigger must be securely attached to the crossmember.

cheers
RET

Since you've mentioned back doors, that's at least narrowed it down to a sedan or wagon    Let us know whether it's an FE or FC, and if it's a standard or special as well, as the quantities and types of clips obviously differ.

cheers
RET

You can find out about proxy voting here: http://www.fefcholden.org.au/vic/proxy.html

The draft list of lots for the auction is available here: http://www.fefcholden.org.au/vic/auction.html

cheers
RET

Harko,

I've never heard of PhotoStudio, so I can't help you with that.  Sorry.  There is a process I have tried with reasonable success to convert a photo into a charcoal-style drawing, which might be some help.  It might be possible to do it with your software, but the instructions I had are for PhotoShop.

See here: http://www.dsigning.com/photoshop/tutorials/pencilsketch/ for one way of doing it in PhotoShop.  You might be able to bend this to suit your software.

fe_buster: You know I never even noticed that the photo had been reversed until you pointed it out! Doh!  Blame the SLV for that...

Ken:  Isn't that fascinating?  We've all learned something.  I found that same text appears in the FE brochure as well.  As far as the pix are concerned, all the images in the TechInfo section are from that Accessory book.  I've linked all the images here:

"Come back" Mirror (p/n M31323)
http://www.fefcholden.org.au/techinfo/nasco/trimstyle/mirror_cb.html

Door-Mounted Mirror (p/n 7404690)
http://www.fefcholden.org.au/techinfo/nasco/trimstyle/mirror_dm.html

Fender Mounted (p/n M31933 (LH) M31934 (RH))
http://www.fefcholden.org.au/techinfo/nasco/trimstyle/mirror_fm.html

All the Nasco accessories can be found at http://www.fefcholden.org.au/techinfo/nasco/index.html

cheers
RET

[edit: I don't know why those images refused to show, so I've changed the links to the pages instead of the pix]

I'm aware of Holden Clubs in NZ, Indonesia and the UK.  I've just discovered that there's one in The Netherlands as well .  Check out this page of links at oldholden.com: http://www.oldholden.com/link/index.php3?category=6

But in the US?  None that I know of.

cheers
RET

Steve,

Glad you like it.  At the recent MotorEx exhibition we had it set up as part of our display on a touch-screen, so passers-by could play with it to their hearts' content.  It certainly attracted plenty of kids

CraigA is quite willing to make versions of it for other makes and models, at quite a reasonable hourly rate  You should be warned there were many hours spent in this FE/FC set........

cheers
RET

I remember people having this exact discussion a while back on the boards, and it's less than a year ago.  The long and the short of it was that RS outlets would look at you like you had two heads if you asked for this stuff, but it was available from the Campbellfield RS HQ by the truck-load.

Give the head office guys a call.

cheers
RET

...your amazing graphical presentation...

Yeah, who needs PhotoShop when you've got a fixed-width font to make ASCII art with  

RET

I find this very odd.  I'm not doubting Ken the Guru, but I've seen heaps of utes without side-mirrors.  I understand the logic of making a side-mirror standard equipment on a van, since as Ken says, they didn't have a rear-view (internal) mirror fitted.  But the utes had the internal mirror, did they not?

Take this image here as an example:

from http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/a/4/3/doc/a43600.htm

This thing is an FC ute, as bog-stock as it can be, judging by the painted tail-lights etc. It has no wing-mirror.

Curious....

RET

Rod,

I'm replying here because you asked, but by no means am I a guru on this topic!  I flicked the grey motor out of my car years ago

Tony (IhadaV8 ) has written some pretty serious stuff about modifying the oil galleries in the grey motor - do a search for a thread in the modifications board about this.  He certainly sounds like he knows what he's doing!  Having said that, of course, it's your motor, so you should only do with it what you're comfortable with.  After all, they are bloody expensive to rebuild!

That's really all the help I can be, I'm afraid.  Hopefully others (like Ken, who actually is an engineer ) can offer more.

cheers
RET

Ken,

This is not in answer to Howie's question, just time-wasting semantics.

Are we talking about sides as in the perimeter of the door-frame, or as in how many physical pieces of rubber get glued together to make the rubber?

I would have said that an FE/FC rubber had 5 sides, and an FB/EK one had 6, ie:

Code:

FE/FC
+---+
|....\
|.....\
|......|
|......|
|......|
+------+

FB/EK
+---+
|...|
|...+--+
|......|
|......|
|......|
+------+

The grub-screw mounting mirror that fcvan referred to can be seen at http://www.fefcholden.org.au/techinfo/nasco/trimstyle/mirror_dm.html

I think they're a better idea than the fender mount, as you can adjust the height of the mirror by mounting it further up the door-frame if that turns you on.

They also don't require any drilling.....

cheers
RET

Howie,

You're panel-beater is right, although the scuff-plate (as they're called) is not originally chromed, but zinc.  The rubber is a one-piece unit.  This picture (hopefully) makes it more clear:



You can buy the rubbers, windlacing and scuff plates from RS if/when you need them.  At this stage they only have FC scuff plates, not FE ones.

cheers
RET

PS - Credit where due:  this picture of Kevin Woolard's car was taken by Hewart

Thanks everyone who came along to MotorEx over the weekend and made our stand the success it was.  We talked to a lot of prospective new members, as well as forging new friendships with other clubs.

A big special thank you to Gary (zulu) for all his help - lending us many of the props, putting the stand together and taking it down again.  Thank you also to CraigA for his efforts in getting the computer equipment organised, it was a great attraction to the stand.  Thanks to Steven Macdonald, for coming through with the monitor and video equipment on such short notice.

Alex, John and Wayne lent their cars for the whole weekend, and Siggy and CraigA were there to do the heavy lifting before and after.

Thanks again.

Here are some pix from the event:

For what it's worth both these organisations have quite extensive websites, that include pictures of the components they sell, and the prices.

• CRS (Rod Hadfield's Castlemaine Rod Shop) http://www.rodshop.com.au
• RSA (Rare Spares) http://www.rarespares.net.au

Hope that helps,
RET