My FC station sedan just passed 100K (well, thats what the odometer says) and to mark the occasion the driver seat dropped, sprong!, when I went over a bump this week.

I'd take a picture, but all I know is what I can feel under the seat and it seems like a couple of the rear links of the bedspring-like rack have simply broken.  Its not terribly uncomfortable, but I'm sure the added strain
will claim a few more springs, and pretty soon I'll be sitting on the floor.

I once tried to repair a stuffed Hillman Minx seat with beach chair webbing and turned it into a trampoline so bad that it was difficult to drive, so I'm thinking about getting professional help.

Would an upholsterer be able to fix this, or do they assume the structural bits would be in place?

Has anyone had any experience fixing these bedframes, once they snap off, can they be mended or welded?

Anyone know of a shop in the Melbourne area who can help with this?

My FC isn't a show car, or even a restoration.  Its just a much-loved daily driver.  My youngest calls it "The Bouncy Car", but thats another thing to fix up...

Thanks,

Dave

Harko,
Thanks for the offer and for taking the trouble to post the photos.

But mcl1959 is right.  I'm looking for a full rack, with the
rounded sides and everything.  Looks almost like a bed frame!

Every once in a while they apparently show up
on ebay, but maybe I'm using the wrong keywords.

Cheers,
Dave

I've been trying to find a roof rack for my '59 FC Station Sedan.

Does anyone have one they'd be willing to part with?
Or maybe knows a good place to look, or perhaps knows
a good description and/or dimensions of what kind of
racks they tended to kit out the old FC wagons with.

I'm after the old fashioned kind that almost look like a bed
frame across the top of the car.  Any leads appreciated!


Cheers,

Dave
Melbourne

Thanks, I think you're right on that.  That would explain why the unit doesn't match any of the FC workbook descriptions.




I think it will take a while to work out the vintage of all the different parts of my FC!

Thanks

This is probably a dumb question, but can the voltage regulator be removed from an FC altogether and still run?

Either I can't recognize a voltage regulator from pictures, or my 59 FC station sedan is missing it altogether.  I'm assuming it should be a bosch unit, probably mounted along the right side of the engine compartment.

The generator light on the wagon came on last week, and I figured I'd take a look before taking it to the garage, worth a shot since this is the first car I've had a fighting chance of understanding under the hood for 15 years.  I was just starting to unpack the voltmeter when the neighbor poked her head under the hood and pointed out that the generator mount had loosened so the fan belt was hanging loose.

Chalk one up for the neighbor, she left feeling pretty good.  But I'd already noticed that the voltage regulator I was going to spend the next few hours testing didn't seem to be there.

I've only had the car a few months, and I'm discovering the good works (and not so good) of previous owners.  Perhaps cutting out the regulator was one of the not so good things.

If so, should I be in a hurry to scare up a replacement?

Thanks,

Dave
Hampton

Sorry for the vague "crashy" description.

When stationary, pressing down at the corners and letting go
sees the care come back up promptly, but without any
"boingboing" sustained bouncing.  The front drivers side has
a lot more give than the other corners, it seems a bit soft.
But none of the corners bounce more than just a little.

From my limited understanding of suspensions, this might
mean that the springs (coil & leaf) are being properly damped
by the shocks, but that they don't have enough strength
to fight off a sudden jarring road event (like a train track
or a speed bump)  and  so they give too much.

It seems that regardless, I should put some new shocks in.
But I'm worried that this won't be enough, so I'm fishing with
stories of people who have gotten their Holden to an acceptable
ride quality and how they ended up doing it.

Sarge, I'm not sure I'm up to lowering the car, though it
would be pretty cool!

Ken, thanks for the advice, I'll get it checked out.

Thanks again for your help.

Dave

PS. Searching around got me some additional info on FC suspensions
http://www.hoppers.com.au/stoppin%20holden.htm

I'm trying to work out how to sweeten the suspension on my '59 FC Station Sedan a bit.  It cruises well, and takes the turns fine, but if I hit a railway crossing at any speed it tends to knock everyones fillings
out.  And dealing with the 17 speed bumps on our suburban street without spilling my coffee is quite difficult.

I'm getting some conflicting advice on this.  On the one hand I'm told to just get new or stiffer shock absorbers.  And then I've also been told that these are just band-aids, and that I should get my leaf springs
"re-tempered" (and probably get new shocks too).  I don't know if coil springs can get similarly revived.

I've always been pretty terrible at judging running gear problems and usually just lived with the ride I got, but my wife would like to do without some of the road surface drama.

If anyone has any advice on the best way to smooth out the ride of an FC wagon, I'd appreciate it.

Cheers,
Dave
Hampton, Vic.


PS, the car is a recent arrival, and the first order of business has been to get it waterproof.  Many thanks to all of the helpful folks who've posted about door seals, windlacing, and similar topics on these forums. They've really helped me get that part sorted out!