FC Baby Wagon Finally Back on the Road

[Tailshaft_Tim]

G'day Fellow FE-FC Holden Enthusiasts

Sorry I've been so quiet lately.  I've been on a slow-motion race against time to get our white and grey 1959 FC Holden Special Station Sedan back on the road.  My wife Bec has been using our red 1958 FC Holden Utility as a daily driver, but with our first baby on 3 June, it's been driven on borrowed time.  I managed to get our wagon ACT-engineered and re-registered on 2 June, with 24 hours to spare.  Ironically, there is still no sign of our baby boy, but we're told he's due any day now.  I was grateful for the delay, as it meant I was able to take my 1965 HD Holden Standard Station Wagon to the HD-HR Holden Nationals which our club hosted here in Canberra last weekend.  We also managed to take our original two-tone green 1959 FC Holden Special Sedan to Grey Pride in Berrima NSW.  I bought the sedan in 1993 (at age 17) and used it as my daily driver while I looked for a modified FC wagon.  During the next four years, I went all over NSW and Victoria and ironically found my wagon in Canberra, just one suburb away.  It had a 179 red motor, HR front and rear end, plus seat-belts and child restraint bar already fitted. We drove the wagon for a year including many camping trips to go hiking and mountain biking.  In 1998, we left it with a fellow club member for 18 months while we drove a Kombi van from Alaska to Europe.  We returned in 1999 and travelled in our wagon some more before being rear-ended by a Suzuki Swift in 2000.  The panel repairs were done but within weeks of being back on the road, the diff, gearbox and engine all had major failures.  Sadly, the wagon was garaged unrepaired and during the next ten years, we did all of our travelling in a series of 4WDs.  Of course, we still had our sedan for club runs and FE-FC Holden Nationals (missing just the 1997 Nats as we were in Alaska).

After we got married in 2007, I bought a ute as I knew I only had a short window of opportunity before we'd have kids - I bought Ray Hammer's ute (QLD Club) which I'd loved since the 2005 Jindabyne Nats.  I'd given up trying to find a replacement FC wagon with late model Commodore running gear.  So last year, once a baby was on its way, fellow club members Colin Tierney (aka Colt) and Michael Pilger helped me drag the wagon out of retirement.  We replaced the 179 with a rebuilt 186 with mild cam, rebuilt the seized brakes, gearbox and replaced the diff.  When I first took it to the official ACT inspection station, they were happy with the result but wanted an engineers certificate for all the modifications.  I tried the usual 'but it was already ACT registered with these modifications when I bought it' but as it had been out of rego for so long and they had no record of me even owning it - it was treated as a new vehicle.  The engineer found a few fiddly things for me to fix including rounding the edges of the backing plates for the seat belt mounts.  I also had to swap the 205/60R13s tyres on my 13x7 inch rims for 205/65R13s as the rolling diameter was too small.  The wagon failed what I hoped would be its final registration inspection due to a seized lower control arm pivot nut - which had unfortunately been missed during several previous inspections.  A final days scrouge for a replacement lower control arm and then actually replacing it made for an exciting finish.  The cherry on top (or on the side I guess) was within 24 hours of getting the wagon officially back on the road - I was t-boned by a reversing p-plater in a car park.

The three FCs pictured below are now the only cars we own.  I'm proud to have an exclusively FC Holden family and I'm looking forward to taking our son home home from the hospital in our wagon (any day now).  The wagon will be our daily driver until we take it to the Nationals in Orange next year.  The sedan will remain on historic rego and I'll keep the ute as a workhorse for club outings until our FB Holden club trailer is restored.  In the meantime, if anyone knows of an FC panelvan for sale, please let me know as I'd really love to complete the set.  See you all at the Nats!

Cheers, Tim.

     

[EffCee]

Tim,

Great to see that you have your wagon back on the road. There would be too many that could claim that they exclusively have an FE or FC as their sole means of transport.

I hope that everything goes well for your wife and you with the upcoming birth of your child.

Keith

[ridgey_didge]

Tim,

It was great to see your wagon in the flesh over the weekend, and fortunately its only a flesh wound from the carpark incident. Your garage and driveway look great.

I see you started this post at 4:05am.  You must be getting ready for the baby disburbing your sleep - there's plenty of opportunity to get used to that AFTER the baby arrives.  Grab your sleep while you can!!!

Cheers
David

[Ed]

Nice work Tim,

Exclusively FC.. I'm impressed

Cheers

Ed

[zulu]

Congrats on the wagon Tim, nice line up you have there, look forward to seeing it at Orange
Gary

[colt]

Tim, congrats on  getting your wagon on the road. It has been a long haul. It is such a pleasure to see it running around. has it got a towbar? Then again it probably wouldn't be rated for a car treiler with EH racer on top.

Colin.

[collecta]

Great driveway pic Tim,
 good luck with the birth, our three boys were cooked a bit longer too. ;Dlol. all good in the end tho.
cheers
Scott

[Johns]

Great story Tim, all the best to you both on the new (and not so new arrival). It was good to have a yarn at Grey Pride, I hope all goes well for Bec and the baby.

My wagon, Thelma, is having rather a long gestation too

Cheers
John

[Bessie_3]

Hi Tim, What a great effort, good luck and we hope the birth goes well for all of of you. Doing your bit for he economy too I see, the property values must be soaring around your place.
See you all in Orange, Derrick.

[Al]

Congratulations and well done Tim, getting the wagon on the road and waiting for the birth of your baby you and Bec must be feeling over the moon (excited and nervous) Hope all goes well for Bec, you and the baby.        Cheers Al

[customFC]

Good to see the wagon on the road....makes a cool trio.
Good luck over the next few weeks with the birth.
Hope all goes well.
Looking forward to meeting your Son.
Regards
Alex

[Tailshaft_Tim]

G'day Guys

Thank you all very much for your best wishes and support.

Australia's newest FC Holden fan, little Erik Edward Miller was born at 12:34:56am Monday 15 June 2009.  He was 12 days late and missed being born on our 12th anniversary by 35 minutes.  Bec's labour was just 5 hours (with only 20 minutes of pushing) and Erik was born 3.6kgs (or 7.9 pounds).  Proud Dad got to deliver the baby (well, catch him on his way out) and cut the cord.  We were home within 14 hours of arriving at the hospital.  Of course, the best part was taking him home in the wagon!

Cheers, Tim.

[graham_fuller]

Congratulations to both of you on Erics arrival.
Cheers,
Graham

[EffCee]

Congatulations Tim and Bec,

May he bring you many many years of joy, I am quite sure that he will become an able assistant for Dad when the car needs work

Keith

[CraigA]

Congrats guys.

Only 18 years Tim and he'll steal the wagon from you 

[NosFEratu]

Congratulations Tim and Bec on the birth of Erik and the "re-birth" of your wagon. 

[Wayne]

Hi
  Congratulations to the both of you. Great that everything went well.
WAYNE

[customFC]

Congatulations Bec and Tim
Great to hear that all went well.
It's the experience of a lifetime, that can not be topped.
Regards
Alex

[RET]

Hi Tim, Bec and Erik,

Everything they said. Congratulations to all. Life will never be the same, but in a good way

cheers
RET

PS: If you don't have it already, Kaz Cooke's "Up The Duff" is the closest thing to a decent workshop manual you can buy.

[hrpremier]

Hi Tim

  I attended the HD HR Nats on the long weekend, and was admiring your wagon parked over near the admin tent.  In particular the concept of the baby bolts and the baby seats. Congrats on the new addition.  We had a little girl on the 1st of May which is why my wife did not attend this years Nationals and why I was sussing out your seat config.  Any way in the original post there was a pic of a FC sedan in the shed, Green is it possible to send me some pics of this car.  I also have a sedan Olinda Green with a Black Flash, but its in poor condition and would like an idea of the colour combo it is capeable of becoming again.

If I had known you were a member I would have found you out and introduced myself.  Anyhow  Congrats again and a word from someone who is suffering now from our 2 yr old.  get Sleep whenever you can. lol

Jason