Found Object

[ardiesse]

The exploded diagram starts.



Despite the car's generally run-down appearance, this was the first time the front bumper, apron panel and grille have been removed from the car.  The self-tapping screws hadn't been disturbed . . . up till now.  There'll be lots more disturbances to come.

I didn't realise that there was a rubber gasket between the front guards and the grille frame.

And I can set to work on the holes in the subframe apron and radiator supports while the subframe's still on the car.  When the subframe apron fills up with water and mud, there's only one place the gunk can drain to: the subframe tie member, courtesy the holes for the crossmember outrigger bracket.  The tie member itself will have to wait until the subframe's off, though.

Rob

[Errol62]

Looks like you are having fun Rob.


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[ardiesse]

Yeah.  The bumper bolts, particularly, didn't want to let go.  Good cop/bad cop routine (WD-40/MAP gas torch) was quite persuasive.  After removing all the screws I pulled on the grille.  Didn't budge.  Thought that Holden's engineers might have hidden a couple of screws out of sight (think '48 grilles), but no.  Anyway, bit by bit the grille unstuck.

It's easier having pulled an FC apart already.  When I got my other FC, I knew EKs, I knew humpies, but had no FE/FC experience.

Rob

[Longman]

Got any pics of the grille gasket?

[ardiesse]

I only have fragments of it (the gasket, that is).  I reckon that a piece of truck inner tube cut to shape would do the trick.  And/or mastic sealant.

Rob

[mcl1959]

Not only did the grille have a gasket but the guards had them too. Up near the grille and down the bottom near the bottom of the door.

Ken

[Longman]

Not only did the grille have a gasket but the guards had them too. Up near the grille and down the bottom near the bottom of the door.

Ken

Thanks Jen, so not factory then. I know the guards had lacing along the door end.

[my8thholden]

Gents ..yes please more info and any pics of grille / guard gaskets ..My vehicle had no gaskets around the grille ..The guards ,there is the just the outer door / guard seal ,no other gasket was evident on dismantling ,just bitumen based sealer ..and lots of it  .yes I would love to know what where thanks stay well Vern

[mcl1959]

Not the dust seal, a rubber sleeve over the bottom of the guard edge where it contacted the body at the sill.

Ken

[mcl1959]

These are the guard seals or antisqueak. 1 goes down the grille and one at the bottom of the guard.

They are mentioned below in the workshop manual under installation



Ken

[ardiesse]

The rubber that goes between the front guard's "mouth" and the grille frame appears to be a specially moulded part, in that it has a groove moulded in it so it can slip over the leading edge of the guard and stay there.  I could see the remains of the strip that runs along the top of the subframe skirt, and the part of the front door seal that goes between the rear of the front guard and the body.  But I couldn't find any evidence of a rubber strip between the subframe and the grille frame.

The RHF guard's off.  The inside top bolt (the one that you can't see, that's partially hidden by the upper door hinge, that you have to take the front seat out and lie on the front floor to have any hope of removing) was an hour-long project.  Ken, would I be right in thinking that the factory used Taptite screws at the rear of the front guards?  Because they were tight, and they were tight all the way out.

And under the front seat, I found fragments of the November 2, 1932 edition of the Sydney Morning Herald.  No, I kid you not.  Maybe Herbert George Wells was the first owner of this vehicle.

Barber's Towels: one shilling elevenpence ha'penny per dozen.
White damask luncheon serviettes: one and sixpence ha'penny for a half-dozen.
Striped tea-towelling: five and three-quarter pence per yard.

Rob

[mcl1959]

The screws at the very rear of the guard at the top are the same as the ones that go down the guard along the door edge.
My method to get them out
Get a 3/8 socket kit and two long extensions with the 7/16 socket on it.
If you go straight up the gap between the dash and body the socket will go straight onto the bolt head and stay there.
It won’t work with a 1/2 drive socket set.

Ken

[ardiesse]

. . . pretty much as I discovered.  The best is a 1/4" drive 6-point socket, with a 1/4 - 3/8 adaptor, a 3/8" extension, a 3/8 - 1/2 adaptor, a long 1/2" extension, and a ratchet.

Rob

[Errol62]

Masking tape to hold the extensions together so you don’t lose them?

[ardiesse]

I thought of that only after dropping a 1/2" socket down the cowl.  But I remembered some of Harv's advice and wadded a rag into the bottom of the cowl panel.

The front door hinges need new hinge pins and springs, so it may be more convenient to fit the front guards with the front door hinges out.

Rob

[Errol62]

Fished a few bits of hardware out of the a pillar bottoms with magnet on a piece of tie wire.


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[my8thholden]

I was hoping to find something under the floor or swab of the seats to lead me to original owner ,an envelope with an address or a invoice or a paid receipt ,but no ,there was ,two one dollar coins , part of Tally HO cigarette paper pack ,50c piece ,old shopping list scribbled on piece of paper ,hardly legible ,and a 1941 threepence coin ..Vern

[ardiesse]

Here's the right hand front guard.



It's a curious mix of the rotten and the sound.  The lower sill section is basically just air, but yet the headlight peak is good.  The lip of the guard at the top of the wheel arch is paper-thin, where it had been bent out of the way, and then left to rust.  Judging on that and the flattened webbing on the brake drums between the stud holes, I think that the car once had a set of widened Torana rims.

The stratigraphic record (as the geologists would say) is quite revealing.  First was underbody schutz under the headlight peak and along the rear inside of the guard.  Then somebody wadded up some rags and jammed them into the rear of the guard.  Then came something which looked for all the world like spray concrete.  The front indicator/parking lamp holder had been coated liberally in white mastic, and then painted over black.  Over time, of course, the underbody schutz separated from the metal in places, and the metal mice started gnawing.  With all that crud stripped out, the panel's much lighter than it was.

I set to work on the rear upper guard, but made the rookie-level mistake of too small a patch, and had to weld air in a few places.  Then I needed to put in another postage-stamp size patch.  Anyway, it came good.



I've got a Rare Spares lower front guard repair section to graft in over the weekend.  Says it's for FB/EK, but it will do the job.  The main drama will be in working out where to cut in order to avoid rust-pitted sections.

Rob

[Errol62]

Pity I cant lend you my fancy crimping tool over the back fence Rob or are you going to butt it? I did one on the FB recently, Was the large extended one. After I wished I'd gone smaller.

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[my8thholden]

Rob.so welder is all good again ?