FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

Hey all, newbie to the forums here.

I've been wanting something that I could take to Chopped with my father. I missed out on a Toyota Tiara a few towns over and asked Dad to keep an eye out for something like a rusty, ratty old FE/FC ute to do instead. Not long after, he turned this up ten minutes down the road. After a bit of a look over, a deal was made and she was on her way home.
(https://i.imgur.com/9Sb57Q8.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/FlXGDT3.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/bAvzhkd.jpg)
Interior needs some work.
(https://i.imgur.com/xzYj4kG.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/x0Z9alB.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/Dy2j9Xd.jpg)
We got it cranking over with some two stroke and start ya bastard, but as soon as we put some fresh fuel in a bottle and hooked it up it started straight away. Not bad for sitting who knows how long?
(https://i.imgur.com/yAhEjYY.jpg)
A few spare parts were included in the tray. We started removing those today and checking the body for rust underneath.
(https://i.imgur.com/07gHsLw.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/CWFC67D.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/eYwu5Fm.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/stJkgrv.jpg)
Both of these floor braces are rusty, but this is the worse of the two.
Came with mags on the rear, but the tires are too wide for them to fit the front. The old man wants to go back to stockies with caps, but I want to get new tires and get these all around.
(https://i.imgur.com/JIlfuiC.jpg)
We got one of the drum brakes off and it looks like it's got the original wheel cylinder on it. Same with the brake and clutch cylinders in the engine bay. Hopefully a new seal kit and a hone will get them like new.
(https://i.imgur.com/54hDWSt.jpg)
It also came with this spare tailgate in slightly better nick then the one on the ute. But the inside panels are different? Would it be FE? Or some old aftermarket replacement panel?
(https://i.imgur.com/RuBTDlp.jpg)

Current plans are to get the underside sandblasted, rust repaired and leave the outside looking as it is. Make sure shes starts, stops, and steers the way she should then drive her.

Cheers all,
S

keep the story and images coming , nice find ...Vern .

That Ute is in very good nick, well done. Looks complete as well, very hard to find as good as that.
FE and FC tailgates are the same. Your spare tailgate looks like an FJ tailgate with that rectangular lock cover.
Interested to see the ID plate if you can get a picture of it. She has a few FE bits on her, maybe a very early build?


Ken

A remarkable find, that . . .  Original gear knob.  Original dash surround.  Original wiper knob as well?  (Fingers crossed.)

When reconditioning your hydraulics, get all the cylinders stainless-steel sleeved.  It'll save you a world of pain later.  And leave the brakes until last, otherwise you'll be doing them twice.

Rob

Body FC/2106-54XXM
Trim 169-648 (Fall Red?)
Paint 253-7700 (Granite Grey?)

I think the chassis number was FC4XXXX or FC4XXXX. Can't remember sorry.



I'll try adn get some photos uploaded later tonight for you.

Nice find. Agree with Rob on the brakes. You won’t get away with a hone. Interesting tailgate.  Could also be Vauxhall?

I like the hustler mags as well.


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Got some pics for ya mate.
(https://i.imgur.com/1VfJ9Wk.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/NxeEgaX.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/rwyjOYJ.jpg)


By the way, what were the FE parts that caught attention up above? my knowledge of these old girls is fairly basic.

Thanks,
S

The door trims are FE and they seem to match the front seat. Maybe the seat and trims were swapped out of an FE.
 Also the front guards have FE script badges on them. The paint looks original though, and the guards don’t look like they have ever been off the car.  Your ID plate indicates it’s not a real early Ute so I guess it’s just one of those odd things.

Ken

Probably right there Ken , spares thrown in , in the tray are FE , so its a mix FE X FC , no real surprise there , but never the less a nice looking find , great project , ya gotta do it justice now mate ...

Wind lace looks more like FE as well.?
Looks like a great find, great pictures as well.

Cheers Stewy   8)

So, been puttering about the last week or two and got a little bit of cleaning done.

(https://i.imgur.com/BbZfvuY.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/9qU6K8L.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/dK2kv0d.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ssk8MR6.jpg)

Followed by the interior and glass. Was so glad for a shower afterwards.

(https://i.imgur.com/5kmEkRT.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/8J2umkP.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/WaetgLs.jpg)
Just cleaning the glass with a bit of water made a huge difference. Not too big to admit that I sat in it just looking at the window at the other side of the shed after this hahaha.

Had some extra goodies left over in the glove box including an old school sharpening stone for a straight razor.
(https://i.imgur.com/cU8vbs7.jpg)

Now, these were the blocks between the seat and the floor pans. From my reading they were some sort of plyboard block from factory? And these are aftermarket?
(https://i.imgur.com/VUfZecT.jpg)

Dad and I messed around with the Brake and Clutch master cylinders. The bores are surprisingly good. Dad reckons same with the seals. Unfortunately couldn't say the same of the clutch slave and have ordered a kit for that. As I was packing up today though, it kinda looked like there might haeve been a leak at the base of the brake tin can? I get that she's a little older, but was this common for them? And the seal that seals the tin can to the cylinder, is it an oring or a special flat seal? I couldn't really tell from the pictures of kits online and the one on these could probably do with replacing.
(https://i.imgur.com/qWaxB78.jpg)

And last but not least, found this sticker on the back of the rocker cover and have spent the last night or two doing research online to mixed results about it. Needless to say, this ute isn't as original as we may have thought. Can anyone shed a little more light on these Repco Gold Star replacement engines?
(https://i.imgur.com/g5xyzWU.jpg)

I've got a tonne more questions guys, but it's been several years since I used forums. What's the etiquette here? Can I just ask a tonne of questions about my ute/rego/legalities/etc? Or should I be posting individual posts for these things in different areas? Obviously googling/search barring things first where possible.

Thanks all

This is your thread, so it's the place to ask the ton of questions.  Put them all here.

Master cylinders - the reservoir-to-cylinder seal is an O-ring.  It comes with the seal kit.  Corrosion and leaks are now standard with the metal reservoirs.

To remove the reservoir from the cylinder, you'll need permission to use the oven, and leather gloves.  Preheat oven to about 100 degrees, put the cylinder in the oven, let it heat up.  Then unscrew the reservoir (this is where the gloves are handy).

Repairing a leaking reservoir is trickier.  Wire-brush it well, but gently, on the outside.  Block the bottom hole with your finger and hold the reservoir up to a light, while looking inside.  Note where the pinholes are, and solder them up.  Test the reservoir for leakage: seal the top opening up against your palm, and suck the air out from the bottom.  If the reservoir holds vacuum, it won't leak.  Good luck.

The seat spacers are original.

Repco had an engine reconditioning division, which was a major business.  They offered a same-day, drive-in, drive-out replacement service.  Or you could buy a reconditioned motor and fit it yourself.  Judging on the style of the Repco logo, this motor would have been installed in the 60s, or possibly early 70s.  The engine you got would have come from any Holden model up to EJ.  What's your engine number (or the prefix letter)?

Ask away . . .

Rob

You can ask as many questions as you like, everybody very friendly here. Probably not best to have a whole heap of questions in one post as responses get confusing and some questions will get missed altogether.
Re the seat spacer blocks- in my experience the plywood ones are found on very early production FE and the plastic ones are what would be commonly found in nearly every other car you find. I’ve found about three sets over the years all in 1956 FE’s
On the other hand I’ve probably had 20 or 30 sets of the plastic ones from other FE’s and FC’s I’ve wrecked
The parts book for FE lists 7410401 as the spacer for the front seat. 4 are required which implies they are all the same shape (this is generally what you see with the plywood spacer)
Later parts books list 7410401 replaced by 2 of 7412926 rear and 2 of 7412927 front. These must be the plastic spacers.
I don’t have a firm date for when they were changed in production, but I assume in late 1956 somewhere.

Regarding Repco engines. Back in the day, Repco was more than just a parts supplier like it is now. Back then they had a serious workshop and they would rebuild engines on an exchange basis. This would mean that your engine is most likely not the original engine for your Ute.
I can date your vehicle / engine if you would like more info on this.

Ken

As above, you will also find a lot of questions answered previously, however the search function and therefore finding them can be tedious. My solution to this is to use internet browser search function, only prefix your topic with fe fc Holden forum.

Well done finding the ute. It looks like a great basis for restoration.


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buy a workshop service and repair manual.

Squissy .. i worked for Repco 1960'-70's ..The Repco exchange engine system offered long , short and 3/4 engines . all were rebored, new pistons and rings ,cranks re ground , new bearings right through , rebuilt oil pump , new bushes , welsch plugs , head completely serviced you could have your engine reconditioned , or purchase an exchange . long motor was rocker cover to sump , same day fitting service ..short engine was just the block , 3/4 was same but with oil pump and sump but no head , reason being a lot of engines had heads re done maybe more than once before the engine needed an exchange ..in NSW the letter ' P " was stamped on end of the engine number as all sales had to be recorded in the police register .that would confirm yours...theft and joy riding was a young bloke pass time back then ..Most Repco Gold star engines were painted blue ..go figure ..Ford V8 and 6 cylinder , Valiant 6 cyl , Cortina < Morriss , Austin , Hillman engines ,Perkins 6/354 were all in the exchange system ..also exchange , water pumps , king pins , cyl heads , camshaftes, clutches,crankshafts with bearings , yella terra heads ,carbys , starters, the good old days , when Repco was a true parts company ..all the parts in a rebuilt Holden engine were made here in Australia ..cheers Vern .

Repco was also a formidable engineering company. V8s, crossflow heads, Irving, Brabham, Australian Grand Prix, Formula 1, Elfins..... they had their fingers in a lot of stuff.

Cheers,
Harv

Righto, thanks Rob. We didn't have any trouble with removing the tin from the cylinders, they just came apart. I work in hydraulics, so getting an oring in the correct material if I need shouldn't be too hard. If I find that it ends up leaking, I'll just get the whole kit and be done with it.
Hopefully, the tine doesn't leak. I'm kinda digging the aesthetic of it all.
And as for the engine, I don't have a number at the moment. Had a bit of trouble seeing it below the oil filter.



Thanks Ken, I'll try and make a list of things I'm most interested in soon and post it up. I'd love to get a better idea of what year my ute was made, but everything I've read surrounds dating the engine. Any ideas where to go from here? What information will I need (with what's left over of the original bits) to figure this out? Thanks.


Yup! Google has been very helpful with the site: prefix. Hoping to not restore it too much. Just fix up the rust and stuff underneath and drive it. Dad did joke about putting it on a prado chassis we have here since it turns out they have the same wheel base. Although, the wheel track front and rear are about five inches shorter. I hope he was joking anyway lol

Yep, this just came in on Saturday. Haven't had a chance to read through it yet. Ironically it was the last thing I ordered and other parts nad books still haven't come in. Oh well, hopefully they'll turn up soon.



Hey Vern and Harv, thanks for the info. Hahaha, yeh, when I popped the hood I was excited as I thought someone had replaced the engine with a blue way back. It was what I had originally wanted to do with the blue out of my other project car since it's no longer needed hahaha.

So, was the service not just exchange? I had thought that they were all exchange motors, but you say that you could keep your motor and have machined/serviced? That's pretty cool.
Nowadays they just charge too much for parts hahaha

Thanks everyone for replying. I'll try and get a chance to get some more work done/pics taken/questions asked soon.

Thanks!

Engine number is on a machined face just forward of where the distributor goes in
Ken

yes if you wanted your own engine put through as if it were and exchange that was done , it worked out a little more costly , but you kept your original engine ..I cant recall for sure but I think when we started 149 and 179 exchange engines they were painted correct Holden red ..and to get the ball rolling we had to have reconditioned engines in stock ready to go , so engines were bought brand new from Holden and put into the system as an exchange engine ,all the pistons , rings , and bearings were Repco anyway ( ACL actually ) then owned by Repco , and of course we bought many from wreckers to put into the system ..and every man and his dog who wore out his 149 wanted to exchange for 179  .company policy NO !! ...when you pull your engine down the pistons will have a part number stamped on them and the oversize it was bored and honed to , you will need that if you are going to order rings ..also the big end bearings will be 6B5001 and the undersize ,that was the standard copper lead bearing , if it is 6B5001AL that is the Alluminum lead bearing , a stronger material developed when blokes wanted to  increase compression and power ..you may find the pistons are ACL , or genuine Holden , if we ran low on pistons we would buy back from Holden  .I will be interested to know what your engine is inside , if and when you pull it down ..cheers Vern ..

Got in the shed after work today as Dad wanted the ute out of the way, and while I was there I got under the hood and found the engine number. L3851XX. From my own research that would be out of an FE? Sept-Oct 57? Such an oddball this ute hahaha.

Looks like Repco fitted a reconditioned motor whose number wasn't too far removed from the original.

Rob

gents ..I am trying to recall accurately just what was the procedure for an exchange Grey Holden engine , I don't recall any specific attention paid to the series of the engine number , for sure we had to record all sales in the Police register , and it was for police not the DMR as it was a police matter to trace stolen cars and therefore engines , the onus was on the registered owner of the vehicle to advise DMR ( the then Motor Registery ) of a new engine number ,because that old engine would go into the system and go back out again into another car , and there would be 2 cars with same engine number if that was not done , it also covered Repco as to how that engine came into their possession. I seem to remember the Repco in house part number on the engine would determine which model it fitted ...at Waitara , Brookvale or Chatswood there would have been about 10 engines in stock at each branch , so if a service station or fitting station rang up , " long motor for FE please ,plus a clutch kit ,and we will give the flywheel to driver to be surface ground to come back on next delivery  " he would have got any engine in stock,If a customer was fussy he could choose one from what was available.The old engine coming back in had to be reconditionable , a rod thru the block would cause a forfeit of deposit .cheers Vern .

Hey all, so the other week, we got the clutch unstuck and Fink has his first drive around the yard. Now, I figure a 1L bottle of petrol sitting loose in the engine bay probably won't pass RWC, so I was wondering what the best solution is for fixing the rust/holes/etc around the fuel tank. I'm not sure how airtight this fuel tank is. It has a few gaps around the edges, where the two pieces meet/are pressed together, it might work. I've heard of some people putting in commodore floorpans and fueltanks for efi engines, is there a certain model, say the vs ute that's a bit neater to weld in? Or is there a replacement piece available aftermarket to suit the fe-ek ute? I haven't found one so far.

(https://i.imgur.com/ssk8MR6.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/dK2kv0d.jpg)

Any and all advice is welcome, thank you. I'll try and get some better pictures soon.

I was going through the forums again today, looking at all the nice cars here for inspiration when I stumbled on this thread again. I thought I had posted these vids last time, but apparently not. Back when I first picked the old boy up, we put some fresh fuel down his throat and he started straight up. You'd think I cut this vid short, but it's literally turn key and straight into this.
https://youtu.be/Abz9aFqY6DE
https://youtu.be/pE1BeDuvWEk
A few weeks later, after we had redone the clutch cylinders, we got the old girl to move. Still no brakes though hahaha.
Haven't really done much since, just trying to find the motivation to get back down there again.
https://youtu.be/UBDG8DQQmaI

S

Repro early mustang tanks seem to be popular lately. The just fit, making the exhaust an issue, and you have to relocate the filler inlet.

I think Neil (Firecracker) used a VS ute tank in his EK ute, but with V6 up front.


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I use VN VP tanks as they’re metal and easy to move filler neck etc I believe the later ones were plastic.
I use them as Clay says because of the V6s that I have fitted and I can use the standard in tank fuel pump makes parts cheaper. Even with these tanks you have to put the exhaust up and over the diff and in between the spring and body to keep it away from the side of the tank.
I probably have some photos if anybody was interested 😜