Found Object

[ardiesse]

I really should know better.  I really should.

The back-story:  http://forum.fefcholden.club/index.php?topic=20763.0

When I "took the FC on", I already had two old Holdens, and didn't really need a third.

Fast forward ten years.  Strewth, has it been that long?  I already have three old Holdens, and I need a fourth like I need a hole in the head.
But today I went and got another FC Standard sedan from a fellow-member of the NSW club.  And just like before, I paid $700 for this one, too.

Rob

[ardiesse]

(Some wonderment at the slooow home internet connection . . .)



It's complete, quite straight considering, but it has rust in all the usual places.  I reckon it has the makings of a good rat-rod.

Mechanically - well, that's another story.  I've been working on it more off than on for the past couple of years.  I re-did all the brake hydraulics, so the brakes work, and I'm amazed that after sitting unused for two years, the brakes still work.  The clutch hydraulics needed replacing; and I got the car to move under its own power.  Just.  The clutch slipped badly.  Then came a replacement clutch and pressure plate from my stores of second-hand parts.  And then I just spent a month of weekends on the fuel system: blocked fuel pickup in the tank (shove a piece of copper wire down the tank outlet until the blockage unblocked), drain and flush tank with about five litres of fuel, many times over, replace fuel pump (valves inoperative), and finally a known good carburettor.  It now starts and runs.  Just.  Number 3 has just about no compression, and I'm suspecting a burnt valve.

Rob

[Corey05]

looks great and would make an awesome ratrod.

Corey

[Errol62]

Need? It is essential to your mental well being Rob.


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[ardiesse]

So maybe I'll have to put "Essential to mental well-being" on the workshop wall as a motivational statement.

There are no visible holes in the floors or the boot pan; but the driver's side is pretty rotten.  The RH outer sill has holes big enough to stick your hand through, the No. 1 body crossmember is rusted for most of its length.  The subframe has "farm-grade" repairs, but isn't all that bad.  The doglegs have had it, just like my grey FC.  And the RHR inner quarter panel is "see-through".

It had had a fairly bad scrape down the driver's side sometime in the '70s, I'm guessing.  Both doors were roughly beaten out and then bogged up.  And as always with body repairs, the metal-mice set to work.  The driver's door had rusted out to make a slot big enough to post an A4 envelope through . . .

A couple of years ago I took the driver's door off the car to try repairing it.  I had a "donor" front door (equally rusty) to raid for patches.  And so -

Inside



And outside (tacked)



I welded it and then dressed the welds down carefully, so as not to take any paint off, primed and painted the inside of the door, and pressure-pak clear-coated the outside.

The quarter window frame had fallen apart, so I replaced it, fitted a new seal and bailey channels.  That's one door done.  I might try the RHR door next before I strip the car down to a shell for the body repairs.

I'm tempted to pull the head off and fix what's wrong with Number 3, but that's just a distraction from the main game.

Rob

[ardiesse]

I compression-tested the motor today, and scored 120, 130, 120, 120, 115, 125.  Definitely no valve troubles.  The problem's probably ignition, and I tracked it down to number 6 spark plug which had an internal short.  I raided my toolbox for an old Holden spark plug, cleaned it up, installed it, and - you beauty.

The engine now runs on six cylinders.

Rob

[Errol62]

That would have been very satisfying Rob.


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[59wagon]

So maybe I'll have to put "Essential to mental well-being" on the workshop wall as a motivational statement.

Good to see you looking after your mental health Rob 😀  There's just something about shed time that appears to clear the mind.

Looking forward to following your adventure.

Cheers,

John

[ardiesse]

John,

Who knows?  Maybe I'll go for a long drive into the setting sun when I get it back on the road.  Best not to get ahead of myself though.  I now have to figure out where I'm going to store the panels, glass, interior and drivetrain before I strip the car down.

Rob

[Corey05]

rob
some have yoga, some have meditation. Like you I have my FC. it has been great and encouraging to see this journey from the start. look forward to seeing more.

Cheers Corey

[ardiesse]

Corey,

It's going to be a lot like repairing the last one.  Good thing I kept all the patterns of the repair sections, 'cause I'll be reusing a lot of them.  And I managed to buy some repro inner sill front sections, which will save me a lot of work.

I'll start at the RHF corner and work my way around, like before.  I know a farmer in the Central West who has an EK sedan that got turned into a "shooting landau" in the late '70s.  Bit of a shame now, because the underbody is rust-free.  I might see about unstitching the front floor pan, complete with No.1 body crossmember.  Hoping the FC and EK manual front floor pressings are the same.

Rob

[Errol62]

Pretty sure they are interchangeable Rob, although there was a slight change in the pressings front passenger corner. The EK floor pan was reworked slightly to somewhat reflect the driver side steering column hole flange. The early build FBs even used the firewall centre pressing from FC, the difference being position of the heater hose hole and around the regulator mounting (FB) position (Useless fact to showcase my obscure knowledge).


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[my8thholden]

G'Day Rob ..So another FC undergoing a resto ,good on you ,looks a nice unit to work on ..I haven't touched mine in 5 weeks ,bit of chrome polishing that's all..been sick also ..back into it next week I hope..Vern ..

[59wagon]

.....,I might see about unstitching the front floor pan, complete with No.1 body crossmember.  Hoping the FC and EK manual front floor pressings are the same.

Hi Rob,

Just had a look in the parts book.  FC & EK front pans have different part numbers (though possibly very similar as Clay says), though FE to EK have the same part number for the centre pressing.





Cheers,

John


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[fcwrangler]

Hi Rob, I’m fairly sure the floor pan I had for my rebuild may have been an EK one. If you look at my build page the photo of the pan shows a U shape pressing on the left side top at the joint seam. When I removed the FC floor it didn’t have that pressing in it. Check yours and the EK one and do some measurements to be sure, would be a lot easier job if it fits.
Jim

[Errol62]

Hi Rob, I’m fairly sure the floor pan I had for my rebuild may have been an EK one. If you look at my build page the photo of the pan shows a U shape pressing on the left side top at the joint seam. When I removed the FC floor it didn’t have that pressing in it. Check yours and the EK one and do some measurements to be sure, would be a lot easier job if it fits.
Jim

As per my post above the U shape is a mirroring of the steering column cut out flange, presumably for LHD export compatibility. The fit to upper firewall seam is not affected by this.


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[ardiesse]

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the excerpts from the master parts cattle-dogs.  I'm thinking that it will probably be quicker overall for me to rebuild the No.1 body crossmember than go out to Parkes, unstitch the front floor, and graft it in.  And I may confine myself to panel repairs first, so the car stays in one piece as long as it can.  They take up much less space when assembled . . .

Rob

[Errol62]

The body member is easy to fold up in the vice as I’m sure you are aware. 20# sheet from recollection.


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[ardiesse]

I need to lodge a warranty claim.

Started the car up on Sunday, and it had a big flat spot off idle, so I "overhauled" the carburettor this evening (clean crud out of float bowl, replace perished accelerator pump plunger and leaking check valve, remove main jet and discharge jet, clean and replace).

I went to start the car, and there was a definite "clunk" in engine-land when I cranked it over.  It didn't start, and didn't sound right when cranking either.  When I turned the motor over by hand, it felt quite lacking in compression, and I couldn't hear it "breathe" through the air intake.  Fearing the worst, I took the oil filler cap off, felt around for a rocker arm with my left hand and turned the motor over with my right.  The rocker wasn't rocking.  And yes, I made certain that the fan belt wasn't slipping.

I've broken a camshaft timing gear.

[Errol62]

At least it happened at home Rob ;-)


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