Original FE

[oldholden]

Howdy Folks, this is my first post 

As old GM dealers my family has a few old Holdens in storage requiring some love. I have commenced with an FE sedan sold new by us with an original 16,000 miles and books that has been poorly stored for about 20 years.  (not my fault!!) It had paint many years ago which is still in good condition and the interior of course looks and smells like new.

I have almost completed the mechanical tidy up inc manifold gasket, radiator recore, clutch slave cylinder o'haul, brake bleed etc and the machine starts and idles like new. (no carby adjustment was made at all!) Everything works well, I have not even replaced a globe.

The let down however is under the bonnet as the rocker cover, air cleaner and inner guards are requirng attention to due lack of paint/rust. (I have already sand blasted/painted the rims and ordered new tyres). Additionally the chrome, being 52 years old, presents well but has some pitting.

My question is, how far should I go? My gut feeling is to sandblast the rocker cover/air cleaner and paint in the original colours and sand and paint the engine bay with the engine in situ (it has never been apart).
The ancillaries (starter motor, coil, alternator) can all be cleaned up without removing I reckon.

Also, can I obtain another plastic trim the fits along the drivers side of the front seat? The trim exists but has some cracking.

Cheers

[FC427]

Hi oldholden and welcome would love to see a few shots of the old girl 16,000 miles it is just run in you are one lucky person to have that kind of car in your possession A piece of  our motoring history...........FC427..........

[KFH]

If you want paint the engine bay- inner guards and do it properly you may find it easier to completely remove the engine and gearbox as well as the wiring, cutout and all other parts.  Clean it up and spray it.  I think you will find you will get a much better looking finish.  I am in the process of doing the same with an FC.  I couldn't really justify a short cut.  Mine has surface rust on it in places.  For more time and effort and very little extra cost I think it is worth it.

A car like you describe is worth putting some money into to get it back as close to original as possible.  I trust all goes well.

Keith

[Johns]

Hi Oldholden, welcome, the car sounds nice. How about some pics?

I assume from your description the inner guards are black? I had the same problem - the firewall, being body colour was fine but the inner guards and engine were terrible, so I reluctantly did the whole engine bay.

On such a low mileage car I'd be inclined to do the absolute minimum. It is being increasingly recognised that originality and the patina of age are more valuable than shiny paint. As the old saying goes - you can restore them as many times as you like, but they only build 'em once.

Cheers
John

[HAD 708]

In my opinion i would as John has said do the very minimum to the car at this stage as its low milage etc make it a truly unique vehicle. Please put some pictures up so we can have a look and to try and establish with you the level of work needed but if the car were mine keep it very low key at his stage. The plastic seat sides are available as a quality repro fit from the Vic FE FC CAR Club or from rare spares.
Look forward to some pics
Brett

[ridgey_didge]

Welcome to the forum.

As the owner of an unrestored FE I add my vote to you doing the very minimum. My car has blemishes aplenty, but they do not in any way detract from the charm of authenticity.

Now, we are hanging out for some photos, details of the compliance plate and a chance to the car in real life.

Cheers,
David

[FC0058]

Welcome to the forum
There is one thing most Aussie males wish their parents owned "A Brewery". But to have a family with a GM dealership and some cars stashed away "Envy" is the work that pops into my head.

Cheers Jim

[Spinner]

Oldholden,

When doing conservation, as opposed to restoration, the rule that you want to follow is:

Do as much as is necessary, do as little as possible.

If you keep this in mind, I think that you'll retain the charm of a low mileage original whilst having something safe and attractive to put to (limited) use.


Cheers

Brett

[oldholden]

Hi all

okay I have sent a few pics to Alex (thanks pal) so hopefully you'll see them sooner rather than later (if I posted them myself).

Things I have done to date:

removed wheels, sandblasted, painted and fitted five new tyres
removed manifold and fitted new gasket and flange gasket
cleaned and re-packed front wheel bearings
removed brake and clutch master cylinder and clutch slave cylinder and had them renewed
recore radiator
sandblasted and painted rusty rocker cover and air cleaner
fitted new battery
drained 30 year old fuel from tank and lines

car runs beautifully, starts first pop and idles well. Can't wait to get it on the road. Will throw it on the hoist and do grease nipples before I do. Unsure if I should clean the original 50 odd years of grease and dirt from under vehicle but knowing me well think I will. Should look like new underneath.

body and under hood as yet untouched, will get onto that this week. So yes, doing the bare minimum to get it rolling without "restoring". Only painting those items that were rusty. Will polish up chrome and see how it looks. Good fun eh!!

Keep you posted!!

Tom

ps should oil filler cap be holden grey as per motor or black?

[mcl1959]

Oil filler cap should match fan and breather stick. They were either all grey or all black

Ken

[oldholden]

Thanks Ken

I will therefore colour the ambigous coloured fan the same grey and leave the rest original..

Tom

[customFC]

Here are the pics sent to me by Tom.
Looks like a very tidy Standard FE.








Regards
Alex

[customFC]

Hey Tom
How about sharing the numbers with us.
Regards
Alex

[ridgey_didge]

Now that is a sight for sore eyes - what a fabulous car.  So what are the other old holdens in storage?

David

[zulu]

What a great looking old girl, your car is a scarce variety, as Standards generally had a hard life and died early, taxi cabs, businesses & the like.

Or was it because fewer were made? Ken (mcl1959) will know approximate build numbers as opposed to Specials.

Post your numbers from the firewall plate, engine (near distributor) and subframe (near battery) and this may let us know approximate build date.

Your fortunate to have such a nice example, nice interior too.

Good luck with it, regards Gary

[hardman]

Hi oldholden... What a beautiful, original old car. ( I wish it was sitting in my shed) Keep us posted with what you do to it. I wonder how many more old FE's & FC's like yours are still out there hidden in sheds. Like ridgey_didge said earlier, what other old holdens are in storage?

[oldholden]

Howdy Guys

Glad you like the FE. As discussed it is one of five old holdens inc a 48, FJ, HT and HK that have not been well loved by the family so I have taken it upon myslef to get my hands dirty. The FE was sold new by us to a local bloke who didn't use it much and returned to us during the 70's. (it still has his handwritten shoppig list amongst the books in the glove box).

My time has been spent on a 1928 Buick Sport Roadster we also sold new with 17,000 miles on it. Lives in my shed and comes our most weekend. Runs like a charm and again, everything works. Those old timer guys are pretty anal about originality so I will head that advice with the FE. I will do the bare minimum and only paint what is required.

The numbers on the FE: Body FE215-5315-A and Eng L416740. (I couldn't find the sun-frame number but will have another look when she's cleaned up. I am focusing on the mechanicals at present and eagerly await the radiator back to get it moving. I'll drive it home a few times (the car lives at work at present) then start on the body in my own time at home. (I am meant to be selling cars during the day but am mostly getting dirty in the back shed!)

So yeah if someone can give me an approximate date of build (dad reckons about '56 as the rear window rubber has the indent for the chrome strip that was deleted in '57).

Hey if you want to see some cool pics of an FC that Dad took around Australia in about 1961 give me an e-mail and I'll forward them. No sealed roads to Alice from Adelaide back then so makes for a good story.

Thanks for your interest, keep you posted!!

Tom G

[Johns]

Tom, its a January 1958 engine, if is original that would indicate build date around that time. I don't know enough about standard production to know if the body and engine nos correspond. Its a lovely car, i'd just give the paint a wash and polish it with non abrasive polish.

I assume you are a Gilbert of John A Gilbert? If so I'm sure there are some stories you could share with us.

If you send your pics to either RET or Custom FC (sorry guys ) I'm sure they can get them on here for you.

regards
John

[Spinner]

That car is in magnificent condition.  What a starting point!!!


Spinner (wiping the drool off the keyboard) 

[Geoff_K]

Tom,
I like the look of your FE Standard Sedan, great trim.
The colour is similiar to my 1956 Desert Tan Business Model (trim Copper Brown), but the interior trim is red.
On the ID plate my Trim No is 167-488, what is yours (It could be Maize Cream, Frankston Cream, or Lockhart Cream.

Geoff_K