FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

http://carsguide.news.com.au/news/story_page/0,8269,11212646%255E21822,00.html

Hope this worked.

Jim,

Glad you like it ;)  Much of the text comes from the NSW Club's "Media Info" sheet.  But that's OK, because the club gets plugged in the article.

I can post a copy of what we send to the papers about the cars/club if others are interested.

cheers
RET

Ret
117.9, you have to be joking. Currenly fuel price get to about 97.9 late in the week and then back to about 92.9 during the week.
I tend to refuel mid week as it is cheaper.

i just filled up...$121.9/L.  I'm not out in the mulga, just country WA on a major highway...wish i could get fuel at your prices.....anyone paying more than that.
cheers trev
ps  ret..you may have to shift this to rants & raves

$1.27.9  north island major  provincial city bout 20ks from oil terminal at mt maunganui  but has been up to 1.37 couple of weeks back  but on the positive side diesel only 74 c plus $ 24.80 PER 1000ks road user charges

world price

cost breakdown

my sister is in New York and was spitting chips because they increased from $1.35 a gallon to $1.70 early this year  so i think your comparisons are a bit off Kiwi

those graphs are from the bp nz web site

I don't want to be seen defending a Kiwi  :o, but those figures aren't too far off once you convert them.
3.8 litres in a gallon, 69 NZ cents to the US $1.

$1.70 US per gallon = 64 odd NZ cents per litre.

I used to live at Ayers Rock a couple of years back and we had a constant rate of up around the $1.20 per Litre so this is nothing new to me!
But I did find it funny to move back to the "real world" and hear complaints about .70c per litre back then
Matt

Yeah, I had to take a snap of the bowser for posterity.  I could not believe it.  I've owned a lot of FEs and FCs over the last 20 years, and there's always been at least one daily driver amongst them.  So I've filled a few tanks in my time, and never has it cost me $40, let alone closer to $50 to fill it up.  (If it wasn't for that dent in the tank, it probably would have been $50 ::)  There's a silver lining...)

I'll prolly dump it as an avatar shortly, so here it is for posterity:
(http://www.fefcholden.org.au/YaBBImages/avatars/private/bowserwowser.jpg)

cheers
RET

A dent in the fuel tank and 39 litres. You must have pushed it into the servo!

For purists, clean fuel goes down like a leaded balloon

By Michael Bradley
November 15, 2004
(SMH)

Joe Green has never owned a car designed to run on unleaded petrol, and he has no intention of doing so.


Mr Green is the president of the Leyland P76 Classic Car Cluband knows what he likes. He has lost count of how many of the much-maligned 1970s classics he and his sons own.


"We've got quite a few, more than 10," he says. "They're a beautiful car, an under-rated car from the start, and people who criticise them have never been for a good drive in one."


Mr Green and the other owners of Australia's 1 million cars made before 1986 face a problem. Many Sydney petrol stations have stopped selling lead-replacement fuel, and in seven weeks a nationwide phase-out will be complete.


About 10 per cent of the country's car fleet was built before unleaded petrol was introduced in 1986. Tasmania has the highest proportion of old cars and NSW the lowest.


Jack Haley, a vehicle policy specialist for NRMA Motoring Services, says about one-third of these cars can use unleaded petrol because they were made in Japan, which switched to unleaded many years before Australia. But this still leaves about 700,000 drivers who will have to use a fuel additive every time they fill their petrol tank.


Engines built to run on leaded petrol have soft valves and valve seats. The lead in older fuel coats and protects the valves; unleaded petrol does not, leading to the valves being inevitably damaged.


The fuel additives now available contain potassium which, like lead, will coat the valves and protect against heat and wear.


Ken Dudley, founder of the Morris Minor Car Club, has been doing this with his 1959 model since leaded petrol came off the market at the end of 2001.


The 74-year-old from Sylvania, who prefers his Morris to his wife's new car, says he has "not had one problem" since making the switch and finds it only a slight inconvenience.


Asked why he did not just buy a new car, he said: "Who knows? I've always liked the Morris. They look like little Holdens, and the only thing wrong with them is they don't go too good and they don't stop too good."

Let's just say I wasn't game to leave it until the following day ::)

Ed (other one),

I read that article in the paper this morning.  I particularly like the last line:



cheers
RET