the risky shortcut to jindabyne (FCCOOL Tidy up)

[HARKO]

my balls are not actually balls but a flat knob, not completely flat but maybe like a squashed ball.

You must be married too lol

[Fast_Eddie]

As for my own balls, they are massive big huge things.

A fascinating insight!

[NO NAME]

OK F#@K this, its time to call it quits.
anyone know the number for sims scrap metal so i can get this mess out of the yard

[NO NAME]

ok, so the sun is out, all I need is is the following-
4 sandpaper operators
a 2nd mig and operator
a big sewing machine
a carton of v drinks
a spanner operator
a custom bodywork expert
then there might be a slight possibilty if the sun holds out.
otherwise maybe a few weeks extension.

[Tailshaft_Tim]

Leon, you poor, poor bugger...  that is a sad sight indeed with the poor girl on her side in the rain, goodluck mate.  We're all still cheering you on down here.

[HARKO]

I hope you make a movie about all this oneday Leon...

[NO NAME]

I didnt really plan t o take it this far, 1 day was planned to patch up the floor. however my uncle who has a big grudge against rust went wild with the grider and just about got rid of the entire floors and sills so after all this time I am still stuck at day 1.
after hacking it to peices he decided to that the car should be reinforced with 50mm box section on each side, this is probably a good idea as the low suspension and hot six stress the poor girl out from time to time but I really wanted to just give it a quick hit for the nationals.
the box section sits pretty much were a chasis kit would.
I have started to avoid the floor section for a scares me a bit.
I started off over a week ago by filling in the hole were my manual shifter was and looked at the floor and thought it was nearly done, now it is just about all that exists under the car. as I am doing all the welding and he is doing all the cutting it seems never ending.
Just about every part I have removed from the car is broken., eg the pedal box is cracked in for different places, handbrake lever tube split, column tube split etc etc, everytime i got to clean something its stuffed.
I have just about finnished the subframe with seven patches so far, one side of the radiator support panel is done, some one has gone crazy on this thing to with the drill but it has come up extremely stiff compared to the old subframe.

[FC_Driver]

I don`t know what to sayat this point other then please please don`t throw saftey out the window. Please make sure that your car is safe to drive . Better miss the nats and  finish your car to a safe standered. You can travel to the nats in another car this year and treat us to seeing your car at Phillip Island in 2006. I do admire your determination.

[NO NAME]

I dont think it could ever be any more dangerous than it was as a few repairs have been done here and there.
here are a few things i found when pulling it down-
front right shock broken from shock tower.
pedal box broken everywhere.
firewall cracked.
subframe cracked.
cow vent hinges non existent.
hanbrake cable clip missing.
handbrake lever tube cracked all yhe way and spread.
subframe bolted to a loose floating peice of steel on bottom right leg.
front rail in subframe that was replaced 7 years ago is so rusty you can almost fold the subframe in half.
wiper motor seized.
radiator top tank brackets are both seperated from the radiator.
steering column outer tube almost cracked all the way around.
about eight wires were found melted together.
the plate holding the shifter was severly cracked explaining the floppy shifter.
sway bar link rod snapped.
handbrake cable braket missing.
speedometer seized

I could probably list alot more but this is what comes to my head at present.the body matches in fatigue and cancer.
the car has well and trully been run into the ground and run in hard.
I bought this car ovet 10 years ago as a parts car for a FE sedan i had, the day i went to pick it up i found it had 9 months rego so instead of putting it out of its missery then i painted it up, chucked in a hot red and flogged it for another 10 years.
It has been pouring for the last couple days and evrything is saturated and rusty, the ground has turned to muddy puddles and working on the car has become to unpleasant to continue for the time being.
when I applied for holidays to do my car i had a bad feeling the weather would be crap and man has it.

[customFC]

Hey Leon.
Looks like Murphys Law.
Take your time and do it right. Remember the kids have to travel in the ol' girl.
Hope we still see you at the Nats regardless.
Regards
Alex

[Hewart]

Hey Leon....
Sorry to hear about your car... I don't reckon the rain has stopped all week which was bad timing for you!!
I remember the first time I saw your wagon... if this is it, back in July 1997 at the Camden Valley Inn... she sat a lot higher then too eh...
You had a nice looking ride before the pull down I reckon...



Hope to see you at the Nats anyway...!
Cheers
Les...

[NO NAME]

wow I think I had better save that pic as I hardly have any in all white, it was like that for about a year.

currently it's on it's death bed after a attempt to remove cancer that had spread throughout it's body, there is shitloads of welding and patching to go and I have given up on gas as it is costing a fortune to keep replacing those silly little cylinders. perhaps it's now time to disconnect the life support (earth lead) and say my goodbye's so it can go were it belongs. (FC HOLDEN HELL)

man this car should be called murphy's law.
everything I go to do the worst happens or is it just bad luck.
I have learned one thing out of this-
EASTER SHOULD BE IN APRIL NOT MARCH

[NO NAME]

ok the FC is dead.
time has run out and finally the weather is perfect.

[Sarge]

Never say die and never give in. You gave it a shot, but the weather sounds like it had a lot to do with the result thus far. So sit down have a breather for a day them start planning for Phillip Island 2006. Look forward to seeing you and your car there.

Cheers
Sarge

P.S OK the breaks over now you have work to do

[-KIWI-]

FC COOL
dont ewe dare give up now back outside and start grinding welding etc  
remember what hilda looked like when sarge started  just goes to show nothing cant be fixed and fixed well
you now have 364 days and 16 hours to complete it
which means you probablly still finsh yours before mine is finished  
dont make me n sarge come down there or there will be big  trouble  
ps thanks for the weather now we got severe thunderstorms torrential rain and 5 people dead on the roads allready yep just another normal easter weekend
in kiwi land


cheers kiwi

[NO NAME]

ok, i went back out, I have found the problem with the mig gas consumption, the handpeice is leaking pretty bad. not bad for a mig I bought new a few weeks ago.
I was going to go today but I might be better of taking advantage of this perfect weather that has come way too late.
Its hard to decide what to do after paying for entry and meals for the family.
I will take some pics and stick em up here today.
it's pissing me of knowing everyone is out the having fun with there FC's down in FE-FC heaven at jindabyne.
if I bring this thing back from the dead it's gonna have to be going sooner than next year as after 6 years of begging for a drag racing run we finally have one coming up in a couple of months.
after that is winter sun, I went last year in my wifes calais and felt pretty out of place so this year it has to be in a 50's custom.
hey Kiwi, if you and sarge want to come over and jump in on the job I will put up with the trouble, as long as it doesnt mean losing more than one arm or leg. be warned that there is a bit of modyfiying and custom work happening with it as some restorers would cringe at what I am doing. if you are that way inclined I also have another FC wagon that is going to be more stock, even grey powered, it will recieve alot of parts from the FCCOOL car like the recently chromed grill.
I might start on that one 3 weeks before the next nationals instead of two.
As for the short time I gave myself I thought i would make it easy.
I spent three days getting the car ready for a formal once that included body repairs and a full respray.
for our wedding I was given less than 3 weeks notice that one of the wedding cars was not going to make it due to new odd coloured panels and primer patches, I gave it a full respray and was still buffing half an hour gefore the wedding started, some of those that went would remember how late I was but the EK looked good.
any way, I better go out there fire up the mig and see what I can do.

[NO NAME]

Here is a pic from the other night when the rain stopped for a while, this subframe has taken a bit of work and is now about half way there, it is the only part of the car I worked on today.
It has had about 35 holes filled, 9 patches, wire tabs removed, new tabs on the underside, radiator support opened up to accept the bigger radiator, front cut and tabs formed for the new custom grill as well as some straightening and tidying up.
see how much crap I have to cart out to the front yard everytime I do something, I use 2 grinders, one to cut and one to grind but I want a third to run the cup brush, if you are doing up a car and you haven't used a cup brush you should give one a try, they are excellent on subframes and door jambs or any were rusty, they remove paint and polish up the steel without ripping it away. don't be scared of the hard feel of the brush as it is quite gentle. you will notice a power board full of leads, you can only see one in the photo but I had two running, you cant run the mig ona board with the lights as it near instantly trips out the circuit breaker.

[NO NAME]

here is a pic of one of the holes waiting to be filled, notice the inner, outer and guts are not there

[NO NAME]

here is a pic taken from under the rear were a bunch of bits of steel come together and have tuned to flakes of rust, one of those repairs I am not looking forward to but am going to have to just eventually grit my teeth, jump in and do it.

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

The more I see of your car Leon (and Emu's), the more convinced I am that I can eventually revive the old FC wagon I have in the back paddock.
Keep it up and keep posting pics of the good work.