FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

G'day There, I just wanted to introduce my self to the forum. I have always loved old holdens and have owned quite a few in my day, they have been HG, HQ, HX and HZ Kingswoods. I wanted some thing more old school and really wanted an EH wagon but every thing I saw was either out of my price range or was in too poor of condition. I have been scouring the classifieds for the last 2 years and finally some thing come up that perked my interest and was affordable to me. It was an ol 59 FC ute with 202, trimatic, lp gas and repairable rust spots in sub frame and floor pans, B post and sills. This Item was customized and at the right price. I flew from Brissy to Sydney to secure the sale and was disappointed with customizing and rust, I managed to talk him down $800 and was really worried about driving her home but I took the punt and got a pink slip and permit to drive her back to Redcliffe. I was lucky to have some mates in Kurri 2 hrs north of Syd to whack her up on stands and assess the likely hood of getting her home. It was a slow trip from Syd to Kurri as we were only getting about 1/4 throttle, there was a knock and rattles every where and the local constabulary seriously doubted me getting to Kurri...lol. Any ways we got there and I was amazed at all the dodgy band aids holding this thing together. I called her Rosie early on as not to lose my patience with her and to establish some hope that she would treat me right if I treated her right. After fixing the throttle (bodgy), draining 2 litres of excess fluid from transmission, greasing all nipples, new set of plugs, re configuring timing as it was reversed 180 degrees and replacing the nylon cog on dizzy as that broke when we got full throttle, easy outing a couple of bolts snapped in head, re seating and sealing rocker cover (2 days later) set out for brizzy. was still a slow trip, I kept pulling over to adjust timing trying to get rid of the knock. I knew the exhaust was hitting the trans so in the end figured this was the culprit. The diff didn't help either and cruised on about 70 km/h all the way home pulling over every so often to let cars and trucks behind me pass. The good news is that the motor is very healthy, she got 150 psi on no 1 cylinder and lpg made it a very cheap trip about $80 worth of gas. She didn't over heat or smoke and after getting pulled over 2 more times by the fuzz and once when I got over the border by Transport made it home. phew.

I whacked her straight on stands when I got home and attacked the rust. Made some discoveries about her conversion to 202. No proper conversion, they have left the motor in the wrong spot and extended the front,,lol. have posted photos on Photobucket to give an idea. The sump is just fitting between cross member and steering arm, the front guards and bonnet are customized badly to make her look OK but front wheels also give her away. I am looking to do it properly and already have some help from the forum about fitting EH sump to accommodate moving motor back. will chop out tunnel and have to customize motor and trans mounts and all the other fiddly bits. It is a daunting job as I got this for a daily driver and I guess that is put off for a while. Not so daunting if I tackle it one day at a time, have already tackled about 50% of rust and used my favorite rust converter and painted as to arrest the cancer. Anyways, thanks for reading my long winded rant, had to blow off steam and will get back in to it today tackling sub fram and getting her ready to move donk where it should be. Here is the link to Photobucket. http://s1314.photobucket.com/user/bl00dnut/library/?sort=3&page=1

Has been good to read all your posts and check out your pics. Cheers to ret and john for helping me get on the forum.

 ;)

Well that sounds like an adventure and a half to save Rosie. In my humble opinion it may be a FE, but will let the experts have their say. Maybe if you post chassis numbers etc. Ken will be able to give a better idea.

If you were going to brush paint a rust protector you cannot go past POR 15 but as you say there are heaps of idea's on the forum so I say good luck and hope it all goes to plan.


Regards

Wayne b (Old Mt Isa Boy)

Well it looks like you have your work cut out for you fixing Rosie.

Cheers Jim

Mate I've been on this site for about 6 yrs and i to say i have never seen anything as ugly as that before :o, some people just have no taste, you got it for a great price though and by the sound of it she has finally found a decent home with someone who is going to restore her to her former beauty, good on ya, and good luck with the build.
   Pedro

Whoa interesting looking machine there. FE bonnet emblem for sure but don't know what the rest is meant to be. Hook in and build it the way YOU want it.
Cheers

Sounds like the guys that built mine did yours as well. Looks like a little Bedford from the front! Sounds like you are on a similar track to me too. All the best with the build. I'm not a long-time member but I've found the people on here to be a great help already. Regards, Martyn

All I can say is WOW!

I hope the price was right bloodnut.

Looks like you are on top of the problems!

Scary cool,an offspring from MadMax maybe !Now you've greased Rosies nipples :P it's time for a complete ''make-over'' ;D :o

I live 2 minutes from Kurri i thought word would have got to me this ugly duckling was in town. ;D



Cant complain at least you got an extra number plate surround and dash grille.

Someone must  have been absaloutley off their chops during that conversion.

Thanks for all your comments, yes she was bastardized but I cant complain, she will be looked after with me, first thing I thought too was Mad Max crossed with a mad Mexican any ways I will restore her, I doubt she will ever be original being red motor, trimatic and lpg but I just want a daily driver any ways, not a show car, just an ol Holden. I am glad she didn't see that ugly duckling comment I don't want her to get a complex.
, then again the ugly duckling became the graceful swan. Cheers.

If you need any help, advice,parts ect.i'm local to brissy and am watching with interest.

Thanks HSV,,  I appreciate that.  And she is an FC according to compliance plate and I believe S stands for standard not sports.

It could even stand for Sydney...

Good to see you made it home with Rosie, and got yourself on the forum. It's hard to believe something that... unique could have been getting around unnoticed for so long.

Best of luck with it, and we look forward to seeing Rosie's progress. Like her AC/DC namesake, she's certainly been pumped up and pumped out here and there...

cheers
RET

Just read your post and before i looked at the photo i knew which vehicle you were talking about. I know you will do a good job of making it your own but i also hope you took lots of photos of rosie as she was when you bought her. i must have looked at her on ebay at least 20 times, and each time, i noticed something different that i hadnt noticed the previous time. She certainly had an original personality.
 good luck and happy rebuilding
 best regards
Ian

I have seen your ute around Liverpool on occasion.
I think it's had a mention on the forum before, but only in passing.
Don't take away all her personality.
Remember, if we didn't like different, we wouldn't be driving 45 year old cars.
Regards
Alex

Interesting.. I saw this in Maroubra not long ago.

sounds like a fun road trip!

Cheers

Ed

It was a fun trip, i get really nervous when I am out of my comfort zone but I am no stranger to adventure and the butterflies soon disappear when you get honked and hooted by Holden supporters, it was like I had my own team barracking for me all the way home, even the coppers and transport authority wished me well. For those who have seen her before you will understand that she does have character, being a country boy I have seen many ol Holden's customized in similar fashion and I am not wanting to change her character just make her road worthy and install the motor properly. In my opinion the fc off the show room floor has character and I would like to get her as close to that as possible. Pulled those classic running boards off today to get deeper into the repair, I pulled the t-bar and tunnel out today, measured how much motor has to go back. 90mm. Measured the sump depth which is 180mm, the steering arm sits at 160mm so I need a max of 150mm sump depth, hopefully the eh sump will come in around that. I am sure some one will know. There are some for sale on ebay, will make sure its all good before I purchase. anyways thanks again for your support. Cheers, ;) Juddy.

Hi mate
Put a post on the forum for a sump it WILL fix your problem.
If using HR front end engine mounts need to go to the rear of the crossmember.

Pete

Thanks Pete, The sub frame needs serious attention before I do anything, just got the tape out to try and settle my mind a bit. I notice sub frames up for sale, may invest in a new one, it would be nice to have fresh steel that hasn't been patched I will watch the market for a while, chop out the cancer and take it one day at a time. Hopefully it will all come out in the wash. I appreciate the advice and if ever you wanna come have a look I will put on the beer and barby.

If i seen you were at kurri i would  put her on the hoist for a look .

Depends how far you wanna go .
If you want a restoration done strip her to a naked shell and have her blasted only way to see what your working with.

Pete

 :)

That ute has been running around the Liverpool area over the last five or so years.  I first saw it in grey primer, then it disappeared for a few months before coming back in that yellow.  The owner used to use it for doing deliveries I think, because it had what looked like courier type loads in the back.  I haven't seen it for about two months, used to see it twice a week.

Brave with that rust in it..