FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

General => General Board => Topic started by: mc54 on January 10, 2009, 11:55:49 AM



Title: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mc54 on January 10, 2009, 11:55:49 AM
Hi all

This post will hopefully give someone the idea of cost before they buy an old car to do up.

I have posted these photos before, but not the cost of repairs. I actually kept a Ledger of all the receipts up to the date of registration.

So this is what I bought for $1000.

(http://www.fcholden59.bigblog.com.au/data/5/28811/image/old1303220090110095517.jpg)

(http://www.fcholden59.bigblog.com.au/data/5/28811/image/oldrear303720090110101458.jpg)

(http://www.fcholden59.bigblog.com.au/data/5/28811/image/oldengone303920090110101458.jpg)

14 months and $7,803.07 in parts etc. later - this is what I have.

(http://www.fcholden59.bigblog.com.au/data/5/28811/image/new1303120090110095517.jpg)

(http://www.fcholden59.bigblog.com.au/data/5/28811/image/Interior303020090110095517.jpg)

(http://www.fcholden59.bigblog.com.au/data/5/28811/image/enginenew304020090110102658.jpg)

Heres what I put into it:

All new brakes - not reconditioned, but new - everything except for the steel line from the junction to the back.
New clutch master cylinder, hose and slave cylinder.
All new cooling except for radiator
All brass welsh plugs except for the one behind the gearbox - will be done when clutch is done unless starts leaking.
One new stub axle.
Five new tires.
Carb overhauled.
All bushes in suspension.
Plus tons of nuts, bolts, wiring, cleaners and lubricants.
Subframe rust repaired. Old cut out and new pieces put in.
The car has no rust in the doors, guards, sills, or boot.
The floor pan has no rust, but the crossmembers at the front had rusted out and been repaired by putting channel over them.
Has a CD/MP3 player with a bridgeable power amp, which means  230 watts of mono from a 6x9 JBL speaker in the dash.
Engine from FB. Compression is 120 - 120 - 110 - 110 - 120 - 120
Drives good.

So for my $8803.07, (this does not include rego). If I were to sell this, realistically at this time I would expect (or like) to get around $7000, but who knows.

Not that its for sale.
It's more a labour of love.

Hope this helps anyone thinking about fixing one up.

Mike











Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: Paul In Ireland on January 10, 2009, 12:02:21 PM
What date did you buy it? Was the interior that good or did you leave that off your list?
 8)



Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mc54 on January 10, 2009, 12:07:52 PM
The seats had 2 sets of seat covers on them - 1 cloth the other plastic - I guess from factory - so the seats were in good shape but the drivers was collapsed. I took all the interior out and fish oiled the floors then put in carpet and underlay. The dash has been partially repainted (the glovebox door and the housing for the gauges) but outside of cleaning the crap out of it, it was in really good shape.

Mike


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mcl1959 on January 10, 2009, 12:40:10 PM
Well done Mike - this does serve as a very worthwhile exercise showing just how quickly the dollars race away.  Just imagine the cost with extensive rust repair and a respray and then new trim. ::)


What colour is your car? It looks lighter than Fountain Blue.

Ken


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mc54 on January 10, 2009, 12:55:38 PM
Paul, I don't remember the exact date but it was around the 23rd of Sept 2007.

Ken, it is Marine blue.
You are right about the cost. The list is long, you go to fix one thing and find two more things that need doing.
Not that I'm complaining. I had the real need to have a car to work on, and thankfully I got a good car at a very reasonable price.

Regards
Mike


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mcl1959 on January 10, 2009, 01:55:42 PM
Mike - what are the ID plate details of your car?

It appears to be a colour I haven't seen before.

Ken


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mc54 on January 10, 2009, 02:58:26 PM
Ken

The numbers off the plate are as follows

Body FC225-360706-S
Trim 312 - 841
Paint 256-7770
Insert 253-7472

Mike


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mcl1959 on January 10, 2009, 04:11:23 PM
Thanks Mike - Royal Marine.  The colour looks much lighter in the photo - especially the interior shot.
There is one too many numbers in the body number though - can you please check again.

Regards  Ken


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mc54 on January 10, 2009, 05:50:20 PM
Sorry Ken

Body FC225-36706-S

Mike


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: graham_fuller on January 10, 2009, 09:28:30 PM
hi Mike,
Top looking car.where in NSW are you? You were lucky with such a great base to start with.
Cheers and well done.
Graham


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mc54 on January 11, 2009, 09:29:28 AM
Thanks Graham

I am in the Sutherland Shire area of Sydney (Gymea).

Mike


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: Wayne on January 11, 2009, 04:44:29 PM
Hi
Well done be good to see it you should bring it along to one of our outings.Are you a member of the club or are you intending in joining.Our next meeting is this Tuesday.
WAYNE


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mc54 on January 11, 2009, 06:18:38 PM
Hey Wayne

No, I don't belong to a club. Haven't really thought about joining one yet.

Right now the car is a little under the weather, running at a bit over 200°.
This weekend the radiator is coming out for a recore. The last thing I need is to cook the engine.

Eventually all the bugs will be worked out but it seems that every time I take it for a drive something goes wrong. I guess what I trying
to say is that I don't trust it yet.

It is fun to drive though, girls screaming, people staring and taking pictures.
I suppose I don't really appreciate the Holden heritage (I'm Canadian). I bought this car sort of by accident, I wasn't looking for an FC.
As a matter of fact I had never even seen one. Nope, didn't even know what they looked like. I had to look on the internet to find out.
I was looking for an EK Ute with a red motor, four speed and disc brakes.

Just sort of happened.
Sometimes you just get lucky.

All the best

Mike



Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mcl1959 on January 11, 2009, 09:30:36 PM
Aha - I know the problem with your engine - Since it is now owned by someone from Canada - it is now officially the first verified Canadian block ;D ;D ;D ;D

he he he he  :D ;)

Sorry - its an old joke not at your expense.  I just couldn't resist

Ken


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: FC427 on January 11, 2009, 09:35:44 PM
Aha - I know the problem with your engine - Since it is now owned by someone from Canada - it is now officially the first verified Canadian block ;D ;D ;D ;D

he he he he  :D ;)

Sorry - its an old joke not at your expense.  I just couldn't resist

Ken  ...................................SAD Ken VERY SAD  ::) ::)...............FC427..........


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mcl1959 on January 11, 2009, 09:39:29 PM
Seriously though. I assume block was flushed really well when all the plugs were removed but some residue may have blocked the radiator.
If the radiator wasn't flushed out as part of the cooling system overhaul, I would expect that it could be quite restricted. A potential problem with block flushing is that some loose particles can remain in the engine and when it is started up these go straight into the top of the radiator.
When you flush the block it is a good idea to put a piece of stocking in the top radiator hose to filter out any rubbish on start up, then take it out before a long drive.
Hopefully a radiator clean will get you going a lot cooler

Ken



Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: FCOV6 on January 14, 2009, 03:22:38 PM
Aha - I know the problem with your engine - Since it is now owned by someone from Canada - it is now officially the first verified Canadian block ;D ;D ;D ;D

he he he he  :D ;)

Sorry - its an old joke not at your expense.  I just couldn't resist

Ken

 So does that make it a windsor ? :o


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: waynos on January 14, 2009, 07:28:51 PM
you didn't know what you were buying?
you are a very , very lucky man


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mc54 on January 14, 2009, 07:56:26 PM
So I've found out. The car has really grown on me. I look forward to driving it.
Would like one day to bring it back to as original as I can. Vacuum wipers, rubber floor mats etc, but no paint.
This is meant to be a long term project. Something to play with over the long term.
Something I can drive and park somewhere without worrying about a little scratch or someone opening a door into it.
The next owner can take it back to metal and do a complete restore. All I want to do is maintain. Which means fish oil from
the inside out. Never taking it out in the rain and keeping it mechanically in good shape.

Regards
Mike


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: zulu on January 14, 2009, 10:42:49 PM
I have seen this car, congratulations Mike on a sensitive resurection.

It would be great to see it participating on one of our upcoming runs, keep up the good work, hope you sort out the temperature issue

Regards, Gary


Title: Re: Cost of getting an FC on the road.
Post by: mc54 on January 15, 2009, 07:22:49 AM
Thanks Gary

Hope to sort the few remaining issues out soon.

Regards,
Mike