Thank you 

Thanks Trevor. I wasn't aware that you could do a cut-out with concrete. That is definitely worth investigating. Several companies appear to have "extension kits" that support the posts but I do like the idea of locally thickening. I'll talk to my concrete man about that possibility. My slab is around 110mm.

Well done scoring all that gear Vern. I got fed up trying to buy a decent drill press so I went to Manheim's Auctions at Moorebank and picked up an ex Defence Dept drill. It's a "Parken" brand, made in Australia, fitted with a beautiful Jacobs Chuck and runs superbly. I'm guessing it's around 30-40 years old and it is so solid that I needed the engine hoist to get it up onto the bench!! Drills 9/16" through mild steel and doesn't even raise a sweat!!

Thanks, Ken 

Thanks Vern. Hadn’t considered the volts. I already have 3 phase power to my shed for the compressor. Is that 415V? I rang two companies yesterday and left messages saying I was interested in purchasing a hoist and to please call me back. Neither did!! 
Trevor…thanks for the info. Much appreciated. I’ve decided on the 4T clear floor version for the reasons you cited. I’ll have the height but the concrete slab is not the recommended thickness of 150mm @ 32 MPa rating. One company offers reinforcing plates to compensate for a thinner slab and they look the goods although I’d need to be absolutely sure they’re a sound engineering solution. The thought of the FE or my FJ crashing to the ground is the stuff that keeps me awake at night. As you’ll glean from my comments at the beginning, a major issue for me is to buy from a reputable company with good customer service and support. Particularly as I live in rural NSW where help isn’t always readily at hand. There are around four or five companies selling hoists. All Chinese made but they will meet my needs. I’m guessing they’re all of a similar quality anyway so customer support, servicing, warranty and spare parts are what I’m mostly concerned about. The search continues 
Cheers, Ken

Hello all. I am thinking of purchasing a two post hoist but not sure which company to go with. Any advice on brands, installation, after sales service and reliability would be appreciated.
Cheers, Ken 

Hi Doug. These were available a few years back.
Cheers, Ken

Saw this at 2013 All Holden Day. Might give you a few ideas.
Cheers, Ken

Sitting rugged up at home and down with a head cold, I thought I’d search for the ad on this forum for the two-previous-owners FE Special that I purchased in in 2006 for $7500. Having found the ad, I was surprised to see how many cars were for sale back then when compared with today and the reasonable prices (by today’s standards). The “Cars for Sale” section on this forum is a fairly lonely place these days. Here’s a breakdown for one page covering the period April 4th - July 9th 2006:

Utes: 3 FE
Vans: 1 FE (windowless) 1 FC
Wagons: 5 FC
Special Sedans: 1 FE & 5 FC
Standard Sedans: 1 FC
Unspecified Sedans: 4 FC

Crikey.....how times have changed.
Cheers, Ken

Hi Rodger. When I bought my FE in 2006 it still had its original motor. I removed the generator for a rebuild and there it was....a long rust stain where the block was cracked and had been leaking water. Same area as yours. These were early days when I was fairly trusting so when I was told the crack could be welded up, I paid to have it done. Got the block back, had it bored and the engine rebuilt only to find two new cracks after the primer was applied to the block prior to engine enamel going on....one above the original crack and one below. Luckily I was able to get hold of an FE block L326...earlier than the original L372... but I grabbed it without hesitation. I was very disappointed to lose the original motor but after reading the posts here, I don’t feel quite so unlucky. Seems if they’re going to crack, that’s the spot. I wonder why??
Cheers, Ken 

Thanks Rod. You’ve started an interesting discussion. I note in the sales figures there were no standard station sedans sold.
Cheers, Ken

PM sent. Cheers, Ken 

Thanks Rob. 

Thanks Glenn. A plausible explanation for it possibly being engine oil. I hope you’re right. If it’s gear box oil it should have had that distinctive smell and more worryingly, where did it leak from?   

Thanks for the picture Chis. Nice car and welcome to the forum. You’ll find lots of help and good advice here.
Cheers, Ken 

Thanks Rip and Rob 

Thanks so much for the reply Rob. Unfortunately I only have a 0-1 micrometer but using verniers on the yoke I’m consistently getting 1.375”. Measuring the inside of the bush is a little more problematic as I had to make do with a telescopic gauge which I then measure with my verniers. I’m getting around 20 - 22 thou more. My main concern is that a worn bush may put more pressure on the functioning of the seal thus causing oil to leak from the back of the extension housing.....again  . It’s interesting to note that the parts catalogue gives cut-off serial numbers for the deletion of the bushing during the FJ series. Mine is a March 56 build still with original engine, #261443, and the box number begins with #262... so I’m pretty sure it’s the original box as well.

Re the ball question. If you look at the photo of the bell housing, the welch plug(?) at the bottom of the picture has a small hole with the ball blocking it off. Just confused as to its purpose.
Cheers, Ken.

With my FE now running well I’ve turned my attention to the FJ. Motor and box almost ready to go back into the car.
I note that FJ boxes are fitted with a bronze bush in the rear extension housing and the FJ workshop manual states that an acceptable clearance between propellor shaft yoke and bushing is between 0.002” - 0.004”. As I only had my FE manual with me down in the shed later on that day, I opened it up at the exploded view of the gearbox and low and behold...no bushing in the diagram. According to the Master Parts Catalogue it was only used in the 48 and 50’s and some FJ’s. To remove the bush requires a couple of specialised tools and I’m assuming I’ll have to get bush and tools machined up somewhere. Questions... why was the bush deleted from the extension housing? Should I leave the old bush in situ (which has a clearance of around 0.022”) because it was found to be unnecessary? Also, I found the inside of the bell housing coated in sticky old oil which required a stiff brush and petrol to remove it. It seemed too thick for engine oil but it did not have the distinctive smell of gear oil. The rear main was definitely leaking so I’d appreciate suggestions as to likely causes. Lastly, one of the retainer plugs in the housing has a hole below it with a small ball evident. Why? Thanks for any suggestions or opinions.
Cheers, Ken 

Hi John. I too have experienced the same issues after I was talked into replacing the original (leaking) boot seal. The first seal was a solid rubber unit and the boot lid sat high and was hard to close...had to be slammed shut. As the boot had always been easy to shut and well aligned I wasn’t prepared to live with it. So I ordered one from Rares and when it arrived I noticed it was hollow in the centre....unlike the previous one. I dry fitted it and when the lid was closed it aligned well but bulged along the entire length of the bottom edge as well as on the lower sides. I played around with it and found that if I sat the seal at a slight angle along the bottom edge as well as half way up the sides (rather than squarely in the channel) it no longer bulged when closed. I bit the bullet and glued it in like this, fully expecting that it would look right but leak as it did before. As the car rarely gets wet, this was a compromise I could live with. To my great joy, I found it not only sits correctly but does not leak either. Hope this helps.
Cheers, Ken 

My FE had its original wood spacers that had split. The aluminium ones I purchased from Pete were great. Installed without any issues. Recommend!
Cheers, Ken 

Thanks Rob. I will definitely check the shaft for pitting. I replaced my FJ rear seals a while back and the axles were so bad that I had to have them built up by metal spray followed by machining. Should not be required here though. And I agree about the quality of seals these days. Unfortunately this relates to a lot of products, not just seals.