My FE Holdens

[Steve Reason]

Greetings all - having been an avid reader of this forum for quite a few months now - and I would like to take the opportunity to thank all contributors for the information they provide - some of it has been extremely helpful - I thought I might make myself known to the group and share a few photographs of what I am currently working on.

My personal goal is to have an original Special FE (or as close as I can get) - utilising the Standard FE on the right as a donor - fit for the road - to enjoy driving around the Gippsland area on weekends.

cheers

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Great pics Steve, but I'd forget your original plan and fix up both cars 

[FC0058]

Hi Steve
Hows sunny down town Sale these days (my Home Town) A couple of great looking cars you have there, If I was you I would put my efforts in to the standard every man and his dog has a Special.

Thanks for sharing your photos hope to see more as you start your rebuilds.

Cheers Jim

[Spinner]

Steve,

They're a great pair.  If I were you, I'd be listening to what the others have said.  That Standard is too good and unique to use for parts. 

Restore your Special, like you want to, then, get stuck into your Standard.

Cheers

Spinner

[oldjohnno]

Beaut cars Steve, I tend to agree with the others though; to me that Standard looks too good to use as a donor car.

[Geoff_K]

Keep the Standard, by all means temporally swap common bits, it looks much better than a lot of the restorations being undertaken at present.  The trim even looks pretty good.
What are the car colours ie ID Plate details.  Apart from the indicators, and chrome around the windscreen, what other extras does the standard have.
I bet a lot of guys wished their cars were this good to start with.
Cheers, Geoff_K

[Damo58]

G'day steve keep both of them mate the more the better and by the look of it the kid wants one too

                                          Cheers Damo58

[Steve Reason]

Thanks for all the advice and comments so far - it sounds like it maybe a little sacrilege to utilise the Standard to improve the Special. I did not realise the Standard was somewhat of a rarity. So in the end I think I will have two projects to keep me busy.

All I need now is a bit of a cash injection - hopefully one Saturday night in the not to distant future I may get those numbers right.

cheers

Steve

Plate Info for those interested

*************************

FE-225-23438-A:
  Vehicle is an FE Special Sedan, the 23,438th manufactured in Adelaide, SA.

355-465
  The Exterior Trim Code (355) describes this car as Single-Tone: Ascot Grey.
  The Interior Trim Code (465) refers to: Fall Red & Parchment Ivory.

253-7773
  The paint colour is Ascot Grey (in DUCO Lacquer)

**************************************

FE-215-3760-M:
  Vehicle is an FE Standard Sedan, the 3,760th manufactured in Melbourne, Victoria.

184-673
  The Exterior Trim Code (184) describes this car as Single-Tone: Shoreline Beige.
  The Interior Trim Code (673) refers to: Fall Red.

256-7484
  The paint colour is Shoreline Beige (in DUCO Lacquer)

[Geoff_K]

Good decision Steve,
I'm glad I asked about the colour of the Ascot Grey Special, because it looked quite blue in the photo.
Take your time and get the Standard up, you won't be disappointed with the attention (I'm not, my FE 217 stands out from the crowd).
Cheers, Geoff_K

[customFC]

Nice to hear from you Steve, and to see your projects.
I am sure anything that you were hoping to 'pinch' from the standard could be obtained through the guys/gals on the forum. All you have to do is ask.
Good luck on the project(s) and keep us posted.
Regards
Alex

[mcl1959]

Good stuff Steve, I remember the standard - it was for sale in Ballarat Victoria and was registered as FE 1957
Is this right?

Ken

[Steve Reason]

Evening Ken

I wasn't really sure of the history of the car - but after reading your message I braved the downpour we are currently experiencing - and went looking through the car and found an old certificate of rego - according to that it was last registered in May 1999 (as you mentioned) as FE 1957 in Enfield Victoria (out the back of Ballarat) - gee your good.

I wonder what happened to the plates - they would be worth a fair bit to the members of this forum wouldn't they?? I would have liked to have got them with the car.

I personally picked the car up a few months ago - through Ebay - from out the back of Traralgon - to use it as parts for my Special - as I previously mentioned - until I read the comments that have been posted - now I will be hanging onto it for a while for a possible future project. I think the seller probably held onto the plates - a wise thing to do as a good investment I would be thinking.

On a side note the Standard has had a very hard seven years - it passed for REGO in 2000 with no problems mentioned - now it wouldn't pass a magnet being placed over the body (actually it is not that bad).

Cheers

Steve Reason

[mcl1959]

Thanks Steve, my comments about restoring the standard are possibly a little opposite to what others may say as I don't think it is worth trying to restore a car that is more trouble than it is worth. Rusty guards and doors are one thing, but cars that have major rust in floors, sills and other structural areas need to be treated with caution that you don't end up spending more time and money than what you intend.
By all means if the standard has a fairly good straight shell and not much rust, then restore it. But don't restore it just because it is there, your first instincts may be right and that it may be only good enough for parts. The other option is that you take the parts you need from the car and then pass it on to someone else who may wish to restore it.

After all - we're just looking at a photo. And cars always look better in the photos than what they really are.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Ken

[Martin]

Now you've really confused the poor bugger.   

I like the Special with its extra bits - in any model.  Match your project to your skills and bank balance, and sell what's left over.

Welcome to the forum, Steve.

Martin