Jason,

I finally found the box that had the FE Ute and Van brochure in it in our unpacking.  I really was starting to think it had been lost in the move...  Anyway, I'll scan them this weekend and send them to you.

cheers
RET

Ditto on the request for pix of the supercharger, would love to see that.

As you can see, it's fixed  

Carla,

It's a weirdness of the BB software - avatars in the pull-down list can be up to 128x128 (ie the ones stored on our server), but external ones are limited to 65x65.  If you want to send me the pic I can store it here for you.

cheers
RET

Seems like there's enough of you FE/FC enthusiasts on the west coast to start a club.  It just takes one or two of you to get together and kick it off.

We would be happy to help you with stuff like draft constitutions etc if it's any help.

Holden Together,

Richard Thomas
Secretary
FE-FC Holden Car Club of NSW inc

Furthermore, Shannons have reasonable rates for modified vehicles.  NRMA and Vigil etc won't touch modifieds.

Hope that helps,
RET

Top Gear http://www.topgear.com.au have a tin sign that looks like this:

that you can buy for $24.95 pp&h.  Pity that it shows a 1959 FC, but you can't have everything.

FC posters have come and gone (Hughes Bros had a single-tone blue FC special poster, but heaven knows where you'd find it these days).  Check out the bigger swap meets in your area, there are quite a few blokes that sell posters, badges and so on.

As far as books are concerned, there are none (yet!) specifically on the FC, but there are a stack of Holden books that include that model to a greater or lesser degree.  "Heart of the Lion" is an excellent book, and is available at larger book-stores in paper-back these days.  There are plenty of others that you can find at:

• swap-meets
• your local Holden dealer
• E-bay
• places like "Motorbooks" in Sydney

Hope that's some help,
RET

Thanks Pabs for your suggestions.
I couldn`t find anything in my FE/FC workshop manual about ute diffs being different to a sedan. I assume you meant the ratio is better suited to towing?. The manual says 3.89. If there`s a lower ratio I`d be interested.
Thanks again...(Yes, cool is a big priority!!)
Chow..

All FEs and FCs had 3.89 diff centres.  Utes did have extra leaf-springs in the rear, which might be worth considering.  The EH/HD/HR had 3.55 ratio diffs (typically in autos) and 3.36 ratios in the manuals.  The 3.55 goes well with the grey motor.  IMO the 3.36 puts a bit too much strain on first gear, but YMMV.

And ditto on keeping it cool.

Hope that helps,
RET

If you can modify it slightly, perhaps a trimatic, thermo fan, a oil cooler for your gearbox and disc brake front end.

Modify it slightly?    I shudder to think what you would call hotted-up  

G'day Richard,

If you could scan the brochures that would be fantastic, the only brochure I have seen is that of the FC.

How did you insert that image?

Jason

Jason,

1.  I've just moved house, so I have to find the brochure.  At least I know where the scanner is  

2.  The button 4th from left, second row when composing a post allows you to add an image - but it has to be a URL to an existing image on the web somewhere.  There's no upload facility.

cheers
RET

Jason,

I have the original sales brochures for FE ute and panelvan.  Do you have these?  I can scan them for you if you're interested.

We have one FE panelvan in our club, it's brown (not original colour) and lives in the Newcastle area.  Here's a photo of it:

There are others kicking around, such as the 3-door van originally built by Ken McLean of Victoria (it's living somewhere in northern NSW now as well).

Hope that helps,
RET

Carla,

Further to your wiper problems, your wiper-motor is almost certainly mis-wired.  There is supposed to be an earth-strap on the motor that operates the self-parking mechanism (thanks Ken!)

The wiring diagram for an EK would show it, but it's probably the same in many later models as well.

hope that helps,
RET

In answer to your questions:

1.  Engineer passed the car without heater, only electric demister (Cyplas suction-cup type - absolutely useless  :-/ )  I only have single-speed wipers, according to NSW guidelines they're OK as long as they do 45 sweep/minute or better. Rules might vary in your state.

2. See the thread from Carla about her wipers for info on 2-speed units.  Others might be able to suggest a heater, 'cos my experience with them is limited  

3. I replaced virtually the whole floor, although it has both the remnants of the old x-member and the 'wings' from the HK floor now.

4. There's definitely advantages in getting a long motor with an auto already attached, since you can be sure you have all the bits and pieces like vacuum kick-down and so on you need.    Which reminds me, the p-glide has a manual kickdown, via a rod from the carby to the selector on the LHS of the tranny.  Make sure you get this if you opt for the glide.

cheers
RET

Hi there Carla,

Love your site, took a good look around.  You should speak to Michael about getting your car added to the Queensland club's photo section.

As far as your "Little Fixes" are concerned, your wiper motor is faulty (or possibly miswired) if the blades don't return to the bottom of the screen when you turn it off at the switch.

And Ken McLean (email ken@vic.fefcholden.org.au) from the Victorian Club does a sideline in converting single-speed wipers to two-speed jobs.  I'm not sure if he needs an exchange unit though, send him a note about it.

cheers
RET

By the way, Myrtle is a great name for a green car  

I converted my FE to auto (186 + powerglide) a few years ago; not sure I'd do it again!  The stock tunnel in an FE/FC is too small to fit an auto (or even most 4-speeds) into.  I got my powergide and the whole floor (tunnel and all) out of the donor HK and trimmed it down to fit into the FE.  I already had bucket seats, and so using the HK floor meant the original T-bar fitted very neatly.

The upside of the p-glide is that it is almost bullet-proof.  The downside is the left-handedness, which makes fitting to the column almost impossible (if that's what you want to do).  The trimatic fits just as neatly, and is probably a bit cheaper on fuel.

Either way, you will need to modify the cross-member to hang the tranny properly; generally this mod requires an engineer's report (I know I did in NSW).

Hope this helps,

Richard