The Petrolhead Blog

Fords Out and About

I was out at my local shopping centre, doing my groceries at the supermarket when I spotted a nice station wagon down the hill at the bottom of the car park. Thought nothing of it for a moment but then noticed that the bonnet was up. I decided I would check him out after I had done my shopping.

So 20 minutes later I am loading the groceries in the car and can see clearly that the station wagon has not moved. I decide to cruise on by on my way out and just check if I can help out. There is generally a good camaraderie amongst classic car owners and early Ford owners are no exception.

I pull up in front of the wagon and ask the guy if he needs a hand.
He replies, “If you have a water pump pulley then yes!”

“Well, I just might have one at home!” I reply

I promise to look once I have put the groceries away and come back and let him know, one way or the other.

To The Shed

I quickly put the groceries away and go down to the shed. Now I know it will be in one of the boxes – I check the lids and sure enough the second box I pick up is the one with a few cooling parts – pulleys, hoses and the like!

Yep, there it is one V8 pulley. I don’t use a V8 pulley on my beast as I will explain later.

You Are in Luck Mate

I roll up back in the car park and tell them the good news – one pulley!
We stick it on the water pump and all looks good – except it is just a few mm larger in diameter – the belt sits in the same diameter but the rim is wider. Worse still the rim is hitting the crank pulley!

Now I can’t believe the luck of this poor couple! First the pulley tore apart in the first place (there was no fan on it since they have electric fan cooling) – I have never seen that on a street machine! Then secondly the replacement won’t fit because the engine re-builder has used a larger crank pulley (maybe).

I am not sure if the pulleys on the 289 and 302 are different but at this point it is no help to our situation. I have no more to offer but Dave thinks that maybe he can repair the old one enough to get home.

A Little Metal Work

He gets his tools out of the back and using a little galvanised steel cuts a plate to sit over the old pulley. A few cuts and drill holes later the plate is nearly ready. Oops needs a larger hole in the middle to slip over the pulley shaft!
Luckily I have my tool box in the car and find a larger drill to finish the job!

Ok, now we can fit our repaired pulley and give it a shot. Poor Dave has a injured hand so can’t fit the pulley without pain so I give it a go and eventually get it on and bolted – as good as new.
We fire up the engine and all looks good!

The engine sits at idle with a gentle roar out the back! A stroker! Dave has recently had the motor rebuilt – the 289 was stroked out to 347CI and I can hear a pretty wild rumble.

I always worry about the strokers since my engine guy claimed that the cylinder walls on the 289-302 are a little short in the skirts and prone to breaking if pushed too hard. Time will tell with this one. Another 60CI sounds mighty good to me!

Background

I have a chat with Dave about his cars history. He had the body tidied up some time back and it is largely in good condition. Just a little rust in a door and the tail gate. However, they hope to have the tailgate repaired soon before it gets much worse.

The engine was totally rebuilt and stroked out like I explained above. It runs real nice but he has had overheating problems. Now this is a story I know all too well so I explain the design changes I had made to my cooling system to overcome the problem.

Overheating Early Falcons

I believe that the main problem is one of design in the water galleries in the heads and the exiting of air from the engine bay to give good flow-through in the radiator.
I changed my pulley size (6 cylinder pulley) down to get more revolutions on the water pump and better circulation in the heads at idle and low city speeds.
The V8 pulley is just too big for city traffic and cavitation is not really a problem even at freeway speeds.

I also added a nylon fan from an XF Falcon (fitted with an air-conditioner) – that’s a ten blade fan with a great deal of air draw!

Trouble is of course a big fan sucks horsepower – the nylon is supposed to flex a bit when you accelerate but it still draws more horsepower.

I remember many cruises over the years where the GTHO’s over-heated even on cool spring days as soon as they start dropping below a certain speed. There is little chance of driving one as a daily driver in Perth commuter traffic that is for sure. Most of these guys pick there days carefully when taking the HO out for a drive.

Be careful when cruising in your GT in summer!

Go Electric

I have used electric fans before now and they work well in winter and cruising on the open road. Around town electric fans just don’t seem to keep up with cooling the water. This was Dave’s experience as well.

I have heard that 4, 10inch fans, in a good shroud can boost performance but I am not willing to trial this on my beast. Though I may try a mock up on my old radiator one day and just test the air flow rates. If I can find a manufacturer willing to let me trial 4 of his fans I might give it go!

I hit on the better balance by using the larger nylon fan on a viscous clutch arrangement. This took some investigation and a little luck but it worked for a few years until the summer heat seemed to increase here in Perth.

Maybe I am driving more these days and that’s the cause of the cooling challenge this last few summers.
Anyway, a change in the thermostat seemed to sort that last autumn and I will know for sure after I hit the full Perth heat waves this summer.

The next possibility is to add an electric water pump to supplement the circulation when sitting in heavy traffic at low engine speeds. I am trying to avoid that since I think that the KISS principle works best on old cars. Too many electrical gadgets mean more potential problems – 40 year old electrical systems don’t need extra work!

That’s why I am replacing globes with LEDs as I can – but that is another story!

I have a number of friends and work mates that have pretty cool cars that are not always Fords but I still love the old metal! So this week I share a classic Valiant Coupe. The owner and I have worked together for many years and have the odd chat about our classic cars. This car is a daily driver and does 60 miles a day without any problems!
This Valiant is a 1969 model – VF 6 cylinder – same year as my Green Falcon!
(The round headlights spot it as a VF and not VG!)

Classic maybe the only one of it’s kind in Perth!

Look carefully and you can see the Green Beast in the background!

Cool lines and classic look!

Even the rear looks good!

My thanks to Vince for permission to take a few photos of his old girl!

If you want to check out more Valiants then go to the NZ Mopar Registry for a starter! The first photo is an identical model to the one I drove to school in my last year of High School. Very cool to look at now!

Spongy Brakes

I was at a mates place last week and on the way home I suddenly found that the brake pedal was moving a little too far to the floor!
A little scary – but a quick pump and they worked. Mmmm must check the fluid levels as soon as I get home.
I get home ok and sure enough the fluid is down. Question is now where has the fluid gone?

If there is no fluid on the wheels then the only place a leak could be happening is inside the vacuum brake booster itself. I go see Steve at Steve’s Shed and get his opinion. He feels fairly sure that the booster is ok and I should flush the brake fluid and replace it. Expecially since the brakes are working ok since the scare the other day.

Bleed Them Brakes

So I buy a litre of fluid and make plans to pull the wheels off and check all the brakes thoroughly before bleeding the whole system.

Chock the wheel on the opposite of the car before lifting the axle.

Remove the rim.

Take the drum off and check for leaks around the wheel cylinder. Then clean the whole lot to check next week.

Syringe is used to suck out the old brake fluid from the master cylinder and then it can be cleaned out before adding the new fluid.

Squeeky clean before adding the new Dot 4 brake fluid.

I bought a “one man brake bleeding kit” and proceeded to flush through the new fluid to the rear brakes. I continue this until the clear fluid appears in the clear line.

Front Brakes

I repeat the procedure with the front brakes and start on the right one. Once I take the rim off I can see that the flexible brake line is damp – in fact dripping!

A small hole in the rubber is cause of the spongy brakes and requires a new line!

I remove the line and set off to find a repair.

I go to a brake and clutch store and they cannot help. Makes no sense to me since the brake line is found on thousands of cars both Fords and Commodores! Anyway, off to the next store and the next and eventually Odin Auto Parts. I should have gone there first since these guys have almost everything.

In With The New

The line is in so now to bleed the front brakes.

Here is the master cylinder – all clean with new fluid!

All done rims back and time for a drive.

Brakes are super quick once again – it is so easy for brakes to go off. Little by little you adjust without realising that they are not as good.
A lesson for the unwary!

Until next time – see you on the road!

The Petrolhead.

Had the car parked in the rain at work and noticed a little bit of water on the floor on the passenger side on the way home.

Once the old girl is in the garage I have a look under the dash and could see a drip of water tracking down onto the floor.

Heater Hoses

There are number of possible causes of water appearing on the carpet and the worst is a hose leaking from the heater – I hate them since the whole heater has to be dismantled and it is a big job.

A quick look confirms that the leak is coming from the area opposite the heater! Trouble is there are electrical fuses and a cut-off switch. I get under the dash and with a torch can see all is safe the – water is missing all the electrical gear!

The most likely source is the windscreen. The screen has been there for 20 years so there may be some hardening of the sealant or rust lifting the seal. Only way to be sure is to get the trim off the screen, remove the windscreen wipers and the panel over the top of the bonnet.

First step now is to remove the glovebox and get into the area to clean it up a bit.

With the glovebox gone I can get at the leak and locate it more precisely.
Here you can see the location of the leak and the damp caused inside the dash.

Next I need to get all the chrome trim off the windscreen to get access to the screen edge.

I remove the wipers and the panel that runs over the top of the bonnet. (“cowl top ventilator grill panel” according to the manual!)

There is no obvious rust or staining so that is good news! However the sealant around the windscreen is hard and breaking off and may be the problem. If it loses its flexibility then it may allow the screen to move and lift away from the seams under the screen. A quick check and I can see that this is in fact the case. The sealer is very hard and brittle and has pulled away from the join between two panel seams. The rain has seeped through the cracked sealant and soaked through the seam.

Rust Dissolver

The next step is to clean up the base of the screen remove broken sealant and any rust. Using a steel brush I remove the rust and rubbish and then treat it all with Rust dissolver.

You leave this stuff for 15minutes and then clean it off, repeating as required.

The dissolver actually works its way through the seams that are leaking and I can see it on the inside bubbling away! Now I am sure of the source of the leak.

I repeat the whole process, rinsing in between treatments. I manage to treat the inside of the dash area as well (at the leak) – no need to have rust creeping through the dash!

All done just need to leave it for the night to dry out and then I can add fresh black sealant – I have plenty left from the repair of the rear windscreen a couple of years ago.

Time To Seal

I was up at 6:30am to get this done before work in case it was raining. The sealant was a little hard simply because of the temperature at this time of the day. However I got it moving and carefully filled the base of the screen with the black sticky gunk.

Put It All Back

Ok Repair done so the cowl top ventilator grill panel must go back as well as the wipers and water sprayers. Next the Chrome trim and all is good!

I replaced the trim clips and then proceeded to put the vent cover back after treating all bare metal with fisholene to prevent further rust.

The windscreen washer jets had to be reattached and then the whol cover screwed down.

Trim goes back on over the clips – trying not to scratch the paint! Then the wipers.

Tomorrow I will treat the inside of the dash with rust preventing fisholene and hopefully the carpet will dry out and then the floor will be dry!
I just hope we have no more leaks.

Major Overhaul

It is obvious though that the windscreen needs to be removed and the whole lot cleaned and replaced with a new windscreen and sealant. My screen is scratched and pitted after 20 odd years so it would be nice to have clear new glass. However, this will do for now.

I have plans to remove the dash and the windscreen maybe this xmas to fit new gauges and a new crashpad. That’s a big and very expensive job too.

Anyway happy driving – the Petrolhead is back on the road!

I have been slightly busy lately but have found a few hours to do some repairs and maintenance on the Falcons. That’s right we have 3 XT’s! My old girl (the original Falcon XT) and the BA and BF Falcons that my daughters have bought.
The main job has been servicing brake systems. I did drop the oil out of the Camry and add a new filter so the wife is very happy about that.

No Handbrake

The handbrake on the old XT has always been a fairly suspect device! However, over the last few months it has most definitely faded in it’s strength. So I dragged out the ramps and lifted the old girl off the ground so I could crawl underneath in relative safety. (You don’t want 1.5 tonnes of Falcon bouncing off your head!)

After a little fun getting the adjustment nut to move I managed to get a good bit more tension in the cables. Then I dropped her off the ramps and tested the handbrake – not quite there yet! So back up she goes and a few more turns of the nut.

Check it once more and near to perfect as it can get!

A Little Wobbly

Whilst I had the ramps and jacks out I decided to lift up the front end and check out the small vibration I had felt lately. I ran my hands over the usual suspects and found a lower ball joint loose – the nut had rattled loose and the split pin was actually not holding it in place!

I put some tension on the nut and adjusted the split pin so that it locked the nut on place and all is good!

I took it for a test drive and the wobble was much less but still some movement – oh well back up on the jack!
This time I find the tie rod end adjuster is in fact just slightly loose – looks to me like it may need replacing next time we do a wheel alignment. Anyway, I undo it and move it along a bit and then re-tighten it. Good as new!

Another test drive and – yep still a little wobble at 70kph – only thing it can be is an unbalanced tyre – will have to get a complete balance and alignment next week after I have rotated the tyres. Always something to do on the old girl!

UPDATE: just back from Bob Jane Joondalup – car is almost wobble free – the balancing was out a little but the main problem was a little bit of camber problem.

A Bloody Awful BA Handbrake

My youngest has always complained about the handbrake on her BA Falcon so I decided this week to buy a new set of shoes for the handbrake and have a go at fitting them.

First problem was jacking up the car – I could not find anywhere for the floor jack to lift from on the suspension without the whole lot twisting – the lower control arm is so thin I am frightened of bending it! I have to resort to the cars scissor jack and place an axle stump under the sill as well for safety.

Next problem is how to get the disc off and fit the new pad. I google the problem and up comes the solution thanks to autofix.com.
I get the wheels off and the remove the caliper and then the rotor. The rotor is like a drum brake with a disk on the outside – interesting concept but a shitty handbrake.

Anyway, I get the new pads in and make the adjustments as best I can – I test after each wheel has been done and no improvement! I will have to lift the car up on a hoist to do the final adjustments since I clearly have to be able to spin the wheels as I make the adjustment on handbrake. I have a couple of ideas where I can go to borrow a hoist so will let you know how it all goes later.

The last thing I spot is tha the rear right tyre is actually wearing unevenly and is possibly toeing in! That means that the control arms are not true. Sounds like another trip to Bob Jane for analysis.

I think my old XT handbrake is a much better idea than this bloody awful BA design. I have read a few forums in the last few hours and it is clear that Ford screwed up this design idea and handbrakes are a dirty word amongst the new XT Falcon owners.

Tyred Out

We took the BF XT in to Bob Jane Tyres in Joondalup to get a complete set of tyres.  They had sold out the Perelli tyres we had ordered but as usual they had a replacement brand (better quality) for the same price. Adrenalin Potenza RE001

You can see why I go back there time after time. Tony and the guys have helped us keep good tyres on all our family cars for the last 20 years or more and I always get the best tyres for the vehicle in question.

This is the car just before we bought it – it is now the transport of the most precious package in the family my granddaughter so nothing but the best tyres on this machine!

Here she is safe and snug in her own XT seat!

Until next time,
The Petrolhead is outa here!

If you have a classic car then the last thing you want to think about is having an accident or worse still seeing your pride and joy hooning down the road and you are not driving it!
I have always bought the best insurance I can afford for my cars and for the green machine better than I can afford!
I will gladly go without a takeaway coffee or two every week if that is the difference in having the right level of insurance!

Insurance is not an evil it is the stop gap that may be the difference between having a car worth driving after an accident and not having a car. I often read stories about house fires in the winter months and the sad story often finishes all too often with the bad news that the house was uninsured! $200000 worth of property and no insurance!
Well I value my car more than a house and so I am more than willing to pay what it takes to protect that investment in passion.

Can Safe Driving Schools Really Help Lower Car Insurance Rates?

Everyone is well aware of the fact that car insurance is a necessary expense that must be included in every driver’s budget, and most people feel like they are overpaying for their coverage. Although there are many different types of discounts that may be offered to a consumer by their insurer, few people are familiar with the significant savings that attending safe driving schools can provide. Any driver that is looking for ways to decrease the monthly outlay on insurance premiums needs to consider the connection between car insurance and safe driving programs.

Angry Bad Safe or Unsafe

Insurance companies base their rates on perceived risk, so driving histories that reflect dangerous habits are certainly going to be of concern to the insurer. Safe drivers are certainly the type of customers that car insurance companies would like to have due to the fact that they cost much less to insure, so the savings can be passed on to the consumer. Every individual has probably seen the car insurance advertisements that offer good driver discounts, and virtually every company will reward safe drivers with a significant deduction on their premiums. Drivers without any type of formal training have been statistically proven to be more likely to be involved in accidents, and insurers are well aware of the correlation.

Most individuals believe that they are considered to be safe drivers if they have never been involved in a motor vehicle accident, but the simple fact of the matter is that car insurance companies often like to see more than a simple lack of claims. Safe driving schools teach a variety of different courses that are designed to help ordinary drivers become extraordinary. Defensive driving techniques and other advanced skills do not come naturally to anyone, so they must be learned from a qualified professional instructor. Car insurance companies recognize the fact that the ability to properly avoid an accident is going to prepare a driver for many different driving conditions and hazards.

The cost of safe driving schools varies based on the programs offered and the type of instruction that will be delivered, but it is important for consumers to view it as an excellent investment. Any opportunity to lower car insurance premiums should be taken advantage of and can help a consumer save quite a bit of money each and every year. Most car insurance providers offer discounts starting at 15% for a standard defensive driving course, and additional classes or courses can help provide an even greater level of savings.

What a week the Petrolhead has had!

This week has been a list of disasters and big lessons in safety!
It all started with a decision to deal with a noisy lifter by adjusting the tappets on the second bank of cylinders. You may recall I adjusted the other bank some months ago. Well I had a great deal of trouble since the directions in the manual were not written with the set up of the tappets in cylinder 7 in mind!

Top Dead Centre on Cylinder 1

The whole process begins by getting cylinder one at TDC (top dead centre). You can do this in a number of ways – crank the engine with a wiring setup that runs the starter without the HT lead attached. This turns the motor slowly until you see the timing mark and stop on TDC cylinder one.
You can check that the first cylinder is up by taking out the spark plug and checking the position of the piston. If the rocker cover is off you can see the inlet valve and exhaust valve closed.

I use a socket and the distribitor. Turn the motor at the crank shaft end nut (the one that holds the harmonic balancer) until the the rotor points to the cylinder 1 position, check the piston is up and there is a good chance you have TDC on 1.

Dead Centre is on Top

Well I did this but despite being careful not to touch the alternator with the socket handle my wedding ring shorted the alternator through my finger to the spanner and I copped the full wattage of the battery!
Well you can guess what happened next the gold heated up (the ring actually has two melt marks) and started to roast my finger!

I knew that the hot gold had to come off so I just grabbed the ring and pulled it off my finger before it did more harm – a rather large chunk of the skin and flesh came away with the ring!
(I found later that the spark plug had been cracked by my hasty retreat from the engine bay with the socket still in my hand)!

This is my hand the next day!

A week later!

The only top dead centre is the brain that did not remove all jewellery before working on the engine!
Let this be a lesson to all!

Sleep On It

Well after that rather impressive reminder about safety I left the car alone for the rest of the day and got a good nights sleep before attacking her again the next day.

Having carefully removed sparkplug 1 I checked TDC and proceeded to adjust the tappets on cylinders 5-8.
Cylinder 5 was fine and had the right amount of pushrod give on the hydraulic lifter – now for cylinder 6.

It seems at some point the engine re-builder has used a few washers to space out the tappets on the 6 adjusting nut instead of moving the stud that it sits on. Normally you move the stud in or out to give the tappet the correct play on the push rod. Either the stud was too hard to move, too short or someone was just plain lazy! Anyway, I made the adjustments according to the manual and the car would not start!

I listened to the engine and figured that the valves were in fact too far open on the compression cycle and no compression! So I had no choice but to reset the tappets with the engine running! First thing is to get some fire in the beast so I pulled the tappets back until they were quite rattly and then tried to start the old girl!
Success – noisy tappets but a working motor!

So now I just tighten up the rattlers until they stop rattling and give them quarter of turn more for luck!
That works a treat and we are back on the road!

I am exhausted and a lot wiser about workshop safety!

Breakdown on the road

The second upset for the week was the failure of the distributor cap to stay in one piece!

I had a trailer of prunings to take to the tip and after spending a couple of hours on the chainsaw I was looking forward to the cruise up the coast to the tip.
Just before the turn off I felt a little hesitation in the way the car was accelerating just put it down to a bumpy road. However, as I turned the corner into the tip the engine cut out!
Two lanes of fast traffic bearing down on me and I have no power and just a little rolling force left in the car and trailer! I just clear the two lanes before the cars are on top of me – I hit the gearbox into neutral and try to restart the engine – thinking it had stalled!

Several cranks of the engine told me that there was no spark – it was an electrical problem. I pop the bonnet and look for obvious loose wires – none! I lift the dizzy cap off – look inside – the carbon centre pin is gone – no way this engine is going to fire up. Question is where is the pin?

Now this tip is a very busy centre and before long I have a 20tonne truck up behind me trying to get around the car and trailer – he manages it but I can see that this is not a good place to be broken down!
I quickly remove the trailer and push it up onto the bike path and then roll the car back up and onto the road verge.

Nothing for it I need the RAC and a flat-top to take me home. I also need someone to take the trailer home as well – otherwise you pay extra for the trailer to put on the truck. I ring Jess and get her to come and help me sort the trailer.
I call the RAC and they will be 90minutes – seems everybody chose today to have break down!

Jess arrives after about 20 minutes and we take the trailer into the tip and empty the prunings – well we have plenty of time before the truck arrives so may as well use the time wisely. Jess then takes the trailer home to my place and waits for me to arrive in the truck. Well she cannot really take off the trailer – she is 8 months pregnant!
The RAC guy tells me later that he drove pass on another job as we were putting the trailer on Jess’s car! The office dispatcher did not quite get to him with our pickup and he went to Malaga first and then back to Joondalup and then to us.

Radiator Pops its Top

Well I finally get home and roll the car down the drive and park her for the night – tomorrow I will get the new dizzy top and get the car started.

Saturday arrives and I drive up to the auto shop to collect my parts at 8am. I get home and start fitting the dizzy and I see that the radiator has sprung a leak and water is all over the floor! That’s it – a new radiator and some serious repairs to the cooling system next week!

I hope you had a better week on the road then the Petrolhead this week!

Take care and safe cruising!
The Petrolhead!

P.s. RAC breakdown is worth every dollar you pay!

I Wanna Be Straight

The Petrolhead was out driving the other day and there was a little bit of a bumpy patch in the road and I noticed a little feedback through the steering wheel – felt like a wheel was wobbling! Once I got home I checked the wheels – all the wheel nuts were in place and tight, the wheels had no play, back and forth or side to side.

There was however a little bit of play in the steering just before it picked up the wheels. Nothing else for it I have to get the car off the ground and check the steering arms and ball joints.

Jack Em Up

So out with the floor jack and lift the car up to get the front wheels off the ground and repeat the tests on the steering again. Now I could feel a definite click or bump as the wheels just started to turn. Could not see anything obvious so had to turn a wheel whilst holding ball joints and various steering linkages in the other hand. Much more difficult than it sounds trust me.

Tie-rod ends were ok and the Pitman arm seemed tight. Just one more to check and that’s the idler arm.

I needed to crawl over to the other side of the sub-frame so I used the track rod to lift my back off the ground – just as I grabbed the middle of the rod the whole steering system lifted up towards the floor of the car!

Whoa something major wrong here!

The Idle Idler arm

I looked over at the idler arm as I lifted the steering system – it is no longer holding the track rod down – this was what I felt on the bumpy road – the track rod bouncing up and down! Lucky for me this is not dangerous just likely to cause bad wear on the tyre.

Ok need to get out the trusty workshop manual! I have changed the idler arm before but well over 20 years ago!

No special tools needed just a good set of spanners and torque wrench.

I now need to get a replacement – it’s Sunday afternoon 4:40 and I have 20 minutes to phone Odin Auto Parts and if they have one get down to Balcatta before they close.
Answer is yes – and I am gone!

I get to the store at 5 to 5 and get my hands on a nice new idler arm. The box shows it’s age that’s for sure – may have been sitting on the backshelf for 30 years. I get it for $50 so I am more than happy – good old Odin Auto Parts to the rescue once again!

I jump back in the beast and head home.

Out With the Old In With the New

First step remove the split pin and undo the nut off both side of the idler arm. These come off easily so I don’t need the hammer today to persuade them!

The idler drops off nicely and now I can see the problem – well and truly worn out and not very likely to hold anything “idle”.

Ok, now I just reverse the process and fit the new arm.
Out with the torque wrench and 70foot lbs should do it nicely.
Pop in the split pins and she is as good as new!

Excellent job if I say so myself! It took me an hour from start to finish including collecting the new part!

This is a new area we have added here at the Petrolhead Blog. I think that it is time for me to give back some of the advice and experiences that have been part of car ownership these last 40 years!
To start the ball rolling I have some advice on car insurance.

How can you cut down on the average Car Insurance rate

Many people don’t know that shopping around is the key to save money on car insurance costs. Car Insurance is costly enough even if you don’t overpay on it. However, there are ways to reduce your costs.

12 Useful tips to reduce average Car Insurance rate

Given below are 12 helpful tips that you can use to lower average car insurance rates:

1) Drive less and qualify for a discount

If you drive below 7,500 miles every year, you might be entitled to receive a low mileage discount on your policy. Some insurers might give you a commuter discount if you use public transport throughout the week.

2) Raise your deductible or excess

If you raise your deductible from $250 to $500, then you can lower your premium by 10-15%. Nevertheless, keep in mind that you need to pay that higher deductible amount as upfront in the event of an accident.

3) Don’t use your vehicle for commercial purposes

Some insurers would include a “business use surcharge” or raise your premium if your yearly mileage goes up. However, if it’s absolutely necessary for you to use it for business purposes, make sure to inform this to your company or agent to cover your daily business trip. Remember to let your tax agent know if you are using the car for business you may get a little bit back on your income tax.

4) Keep tabs on your credit report

Your credit history is one of the various risk factors that most car insurers take into account while fixing rates (in states where it is allowed by law). Making timely payment for your bills and keeping a good credit history would help you reduce your rates.

5) Safe driving

If you’re a good driver who hasn’t got into any accidents or hasn’t had any speeding tickets in the last 3 years, you might qualify for attractive discounts. Even one speeding ticket can raise your rates and it is also dependent on the state you live in.

6) Buy a cheap or low-profile car

Car insurance companies also take the type of auto into account when they work out the premium rates. High performance cars, sports cars and other showy cars are assumed as higher risks since vandals and thieves principally target these cars. Statistics show that drivers of these vehicles are more irresponsible.

7) Move to a less accident prone area

Usually, the premium rate would be higher if you stay in an urban locality or accident prone area. If you can shift to a rural area where the rate of accidents is low, then you can save on your premium costs.

Put your car in a garage

If you keep your vehicle in a safe place like a garage, you can enjoy lower premium rates.

9) Install anti-theft or security devices

Car insurers provide a range of discounts for automatic seatbelts, anti-lock brakes and airbags. Likewise, anti-theft devices like GPS tracking systems and car alarms might also help you get a discount since these devices lower the probabilities of your vehicle being vandalized or taken away.

10) Search for discounts

There are good student discounts, multi line and multi-car discounts, safe driving course discounts and other discounts offered by vehicle insurance companies. See if you qualify for any of these discounts.

11) Shop around

Explore various companies and compare quotes offered by them. This would certainly help you save money.

12) Specialist Insurance

If you own a muscle car, vintage or classic then you may get a better deal by insuring with a specialist insurer. Often there are better clauses for choosing your repairer or allowance for you to be the repairer of your vehicle. Often being a member of a car club can have quite an impact on your premium as well.

A Tack of Weld and We Are Done

The headers are in and the technician does his magic on the pipe expanders and joins the new to the old!

Pop on the U-bolts and she is air-tight and ready to start!

Here is the finished product – side view from the drivers side, tight up to the floor and looking great! No more ping down the drive!

The last job for the day is to run the motor for 5 minutes or so until hot. This allows the paint on the headers to harden and as it does this it smokes! Many a driver has taken off from the workshop and been back 2 minutes later complaining about the “fire” under the bonnet!

Sweet Note

So we have moved from this

Factory Cast Iron Ford OEM

to this

Genie 4 into 1

and finally

Pacemaker Tri-Y

with an appropriate increase in power and torque!

Lets not forget the sweet sounds of a clean V8 note!

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Many thanks to Grapnel Carline Mufflers for letting me work alongside – this system is the best I have had in decades of driving the Beast!

One of the challenges of owning and driving around in a 30+ year old car is that the technology in many of it’s systems are old technology and often close to worn out. Plus, as every petrolhead knows, making changes to the engine and raising horsepower puts some challenges on the suspension and brake systems. A point that I learnt very quickly once the V8 was run in and the power started to kick in.

More power needs more brakes

I had come across a web site, RRS, that offered upgrades for older cars – mainly mustangs and the read how they could also be used on early Australian falcons as well. I put the idea on my wish list and got back to everyday life.

Some months later I decide to give it a go and put down a deposit on a new brake and suspension system for the beast! A few weeks later and the whole lot is paid off and the delivery is on it’s way!

The next challenge will be – can I do this on my own? I check the website and find some handy instructions and with these and the handbook I get started.

Here we go……

First step is to jack the car up high and get some stands under the chassis since I cannot use the usual jack points on the suspension – well they will be gone shortly!

Next I get all my tools out and check fittings and make sure I have a spanner or socket for every nut and bolt I will have to deal with in the next few days. Ok, all is well so lets get going!

Springs are Sprung

I take off the wheels and then loosen the retaining nuts off the top of the shock absorber at the top of the strut towers. I don’t remove them yet as I need to compress and remove the springs. This will be a challenge since these are rather large suckers.

They come out alright and so I can now remove the shockies and the retaining nuts.

Upper control arms next..

I undo the two bolts that hold the upper ball joint/control arm assembly and let it drop out from the strut tower.

Now I free this from the lower control arm  and I have everything ready for the next big step.

In with the New

Here are the new coil over shocks. They look great and are so much lighter than the items they replace!

These bad boys are fully adjustable and I hope to get some ground clearance back once they have been fitted.

I just slot them up into the strut tower and bolt them in!

Note the reinforcement plate that is added to the strut tower. There will be a little more pressure in the top of the strut tower with the new geometry in the suspension system. I can now add the new lower ball joint and the new tie-rod ends -  and the big new shiny discs!

I start to get really excited about now since everything has gone well – well apart from the very difficult lower ball joint that I had to remove – I just found a bigger hammer!

Now we add on the the new brake lines and bleed the brakes!

Disaster Strikes

I go to the shed and collect my rims and tyres. I line up the wheel studs and slide the wheel on. Something is wrong here. The wheel won’t turn! I don’t believe this the wheel is rubbing on the brake caliper! These are supposed to clear on 14inch rims and they don’t. This is one pi#### off petrolhead!

I contact RRS and we discover the slight variations that can occur on rims even if the are the same size are significant. I have to find myself some 15 inch rims!

Many phone calls later I find a nice set at Mr Mag – classic Ford rims from the 1970′s just the shot. Using the daughters Corolla I collect them and drive them back home to fit on the beast.

All done..

Here is the final deal – classic alloy rims fitted around modern coil over shock!

The stance is looking really clean now and I am rather proud of my achievement.

Here she is with the new stance and at least another inch of ground clearance!

Today’s post by the Petrolhead is a little different in that it involves my daughters car. The Colt.

One Owner – A Little Old Lady

We actually have the original log book service record of the first owner (a little old lady!).

The Colt has a long history in our family – it started out as my mother’s car and ended up as Jess’s L-Plater.  Jess drove it to University for 3 years until she bought a near new Pulsar. Then the Colt was back in my garage (no one would buy it) until Jess decided to get rid of her new car(Nissan Pulsar) and save money with the old girl!

I will be running through a few of the repairs I have done over the years as an example of the type of things you can attempt yourself. The first is the facelift we gave the paint and a rusty door.

Rrrusty Door has to go

When the Colt arrived from Albany it was basically very sound having completed over 160000kms. Most of the driving it was used for was over long country miles rather than short city, suburb driving. The Colt had been kept in a carport or shed most of it’s life and so the interior was pretty good with a few chips on the paint outside.

In the Chook Shed ….

Having said that I do remember that the last place it was stored was the old chicken shed.  Dad was building a new double garage eventually (for his 4WD and caravan), but in the mean time the old rickety shed that passed as a garage was for the old Subaru station wagon and his motorbike – oh yeah and a tractor. So the Colt was parked under the old chook shed roof. Now whilst there it became a favourite home for a family of mice.

Here is the old shed when it was new – Dad and I built it in 1999.

Now mice like a warm place to live away from the cats and out of the weather. The inside of a car matches those requirements fairly easily. Over the next 12 months of infrequent use the mice visited a number of times and eventually the inevitable happened one passed away. Now the old fellow could not just drop dead on the floor mat no – he had to crawl into the ducting inside the dash!

Here is a shot of the shed in 2003. It had been a chook shed and is now a carport!

We eventually rolled the car out and gave it a clean up and polish and of course the first day out in the heat this dreadful smell rises out of the vents! I am sure it smells like something dead! I volunteer to get to the bottom of the problem and work my way through the dash looking for evidence of the smells source.

Well after half an hour I decide it has to be in the ducting so I pull out the dash fascia and dismantle the vent system. Sure enough the mummified remains of a mouse sits squarely in front of the heater core. I remove the mouse and clean up the best I can before spraying large amounts of eucalyptus oil into the tubing. This covers the bad smell and  eventually no trace of the pong is evident in the car.

I never told Jess about the mouse for a few years since it was to be her first car and you never know how people might react when they know such details! (Like when mum and dad were not told that the house we were renting in the 1960′s, was the scene of a murder – Eric Edgar Cooke was the last guy hanged in Perth)

Shortly after all this dad bought his new Jackaroo and Caravan and so they offered the car to Jessica. We did not want to drive it all the way to Perth so I managed to get it on a back-loaded semi-trailer for $100.  A bargain, considering it would cost $200 to hire a car trailer and move it myself!

A week later the car is in the storage pens out by the airport and we drive out to get the old girl. I park it in the  carport to surprise Jess when she gets back home. She was one pleased teenager that day!

Mmmm I have got a little sidetracked! I will continue the story of the door replacement and paint repairs next post!

Until then,

Happy motoring!
John

This week I wish to share with you the process I went through to replace a rusty door on my daughters little Colt. I have not done this on the Petrolheads Falcon since I have always tried to retain the original metal on that beast. When we had rust in the doors I had the repair done as a metal transplant not a door transplant. Meaning I found a repair guy who makes and reshapes zinc annealed steel for replacement door skins or part thereof! The special part about that is that after making the very rust resistant part he does not weld it. Why not? Well welding breaks the protection of the Zinc and reduces the life of the repair. His trick was to use hi tech glues that join the pieces! I have no photos to share since this was before digital cameras made photography so cheap!

So back to the Colt.

As you may recall this car is a long-term family member. So on presenting it to Jess I had already made plans to fix a few minor blemishes. However. as is always the case with rust, the little spot turned out to be a a nasty case of tin cancer right through the door base. A transplant was the only choice.

Ring Ring Why Don’t You Give Me A …..

So on to the yellow pages to find a wrecker who has what I want. After 2-3 calls I have found a possible replacement and so off in the Beast to collect the door! On arrival at the wreckers it seems the door is still attached to the car it comes with! Anyway the fellow takes me out to check it and it is in good order and will do the job well.

I pay the man and head home!

The removal of the old door is very easy and with the right tools it is off in minutes! I remove all the trim and swap it to the other door. Reverse the removal process and you have the new door on and ready for action.

Here it is a week later. Everything works well and apart from the colour as good as new!
I was doing an oil change and a few repairs in this photo.

Add a Little Colour and Away We Go

The next step in the repair process is the adding of a little bit of colour.

The first thing you do is remove all the trim and anything that may be damaged by overspray or sanding.

Using newspaper and good quality masking tape (cheap stuff can leave marks and interfere with the paint!).

Next I bog up (highly technical term for plastic filler repair) any holes and sand off the whole door – it is essential that no trace of the glossy top coat is left. If you dont mave a nice mat finish then the new paint may peel off!

Clean down the door thoroughly – there must be no dust or grease on the door (even on the newspaper) since both will stop adhesion of the primer and top coat.

I usually sand lightly after the primer is on and add a second light coat. This gives a slightly better finish.
Once the colour has been added (two coats) then I add a clear top-coat to really improve the shine and offer extra protection to the weather and wear and tear.

Allow the door to dry properly and then carefully remove the masking tape. (There is a trick to this and slow and steady is the best way – pulling the tape at 90 degrees to the direction of removal.)
Now just stand back and admire your handy work!

All that is left to do now is allow the paint to cure few a week or two and then I can replace all the trim items that I removed at the start. If you do this too soon the paint may come off with the trim item!

Next time I report on the Colt I will share with you how I repaired the tailgate – it also had a little rust and I gave this a renewal as well!

The Petrolhead had to pop down to Bunbury this week for business and so had a great day out cruising down the highway on Tuesday .
The weather was foul when I left Perth but by Rockingham the wind had dropped and rain reduced greatly.

When I got to Bunbury the skies were blue and the wind still! Amazing travelling weather – the sort I enjoy.
I towed my little Erde trailer (had a load to bring back) and it was very stable with very little bouncing around (the 40kg of blue metal over the axle may have helped!)

I caught up with my friends and had a coffee and then after loading up set back to Perth. At lunchtime I decided that an emu pie might go down well so I stopped at the little store just out of Eaton.

This is a windscreen shot just before heading on to Perth – notice the clear skies!

This is a shot as I entered the Mt Henry Bridge area – I did not focus on the screen that was the auto-focus but you can see the bugs!

New Bypass Not Ready

The big disappointment was the new Mandurah Bypass was not ready! I was really looking forward to cruising along the new road!
I’m hoping the road will be ready in August when I have another trip to Bunbury.

Oil Leak

I spotted an oil leak on the way back from Albany last week so I kept an eye on the oil levels and pressure on the way to Bunbury. Today I pressure cleaned the block and will check the leak over the next few days to confirm my suspicions as to the source.

I will update progress on the Blog next week

That’s it for today – just a short update.
Have a great week!

The Petrolhead

Today the Petrolhead will run you through the steps to doing a little rust repair on an old car. This is the Corolla I bought my daughter so she could learn to drive a manual. I spotted the car in a drive way with a for sale sign and decided to buy it.
It had a very high mileage on an original 1300cc motor. Not much power but absolutely great fun to drive.

The car was basically sound with a few minor mechanical issues which we fixed for about $150. I also needed to repair the rust in the boot and boot lid. This is a pictorial diary of what steps I took.

First Things First

The first thing to do is clean the car and then empty the boot.

So out with the spare tyre.

If you look at the left hand side you can see why this is the spare! The cause is another story!

Out with the tail lights.

These are so old they are perishing around the globe fittings – had to be very gentle!

Take off the boot lid.

Using a steel brush scrub the rusty areas – this usually does two things – strips off the rust and reveals that there is twice as much there than you thought!

Even the tyre well needs some grinder engineering!

Next Step Patch

The next step is now the actual repair work. I used fibreglass and aluminium sheeting to patch the holes and this was a very successful mixture.
The Aluminium gave structural strength back to the boot rim and the fibreglass sticks the whole lot together.
The red area is a finishing compound – it sands easily and gives a smooth finish.

The rest of the boot received the same treatment.

Ready now to start the paint.

On With the Paint

Mask the bumper and then prime the repair areas.

The first coat of colour goes on.

The boot lid goes back on before we start the final colour matching and blending. Need to check fitting.

Here we are all done – unmasked and ready for rebuild.

Lights Camera Action

Put the lights and boot back on and we are ready to go!

Cost = about $50. Not to mention my time!

But that’s what Petrolhead Dads do!

Yep, you read it right the Petrolhead managed to get his classic piece of metal on the TV! The show is called Zoomfactor.

I am very proud of my few minutes of fame – the old girl looks great and I offer a great big thank you to the camera man. He managed to capture the best of the cars lines and show off the best angles!

The Story Begins

Now you might be wondering how I managed to get in the TV in the first place. Easy, actually!

A friend of my daughter told her about another friend of ours appearing last month with her lovely Fairlane and suggested that I email the host and let him know that my car is available. Well I did just that as well as sending them this websites address to see the photos on the blog.

The crew advised me that they would phone me a few days before the shoot and I would need to be ready at fairly short notice on the day. Well I took that all on board and largely forgot about it for a few weeks   until ….. the call came in early in the week asking me to attend a location on the Friday. Well I was stoked and started planning my week of work around the big event. I also had to squeeze in some time to polish the chrome and get the old girl in shape.

Not a big problem really since I love bringing the bling out in the old girl with a bit of Meguiars best!

The Big Day Arrives

Well Friday I am at home working on my blogs and vegetable garden when the phone rings and I have an hour to get down to the beach carpark in Scarborough. No worries!

I get my Ford shirt out and get myself organised and cruise on down the coast road to my rendezvous with fame! LOL

Two other cars are already there a big black Holden Ute and a pumped up yellow Commodore with enormous rims!

The guys have a fair bit of recording to do so I just chill out and wait my turn – this takes about and hour or so.

Rehearse Your Lines

Now it’s our turn and I go through a few rehearsals with the host of the show as he explains the process for the shoot to me. We do a couple of takes – one for the sound track and one for the video. Like most TV and film the finally presentation is not reality but a fusion of different cuts, angles and editing.

Well I do my thing and then camera guy spends a little while taking stills and video as the sun slowly starts to set across the horizon.  I thought that maybe the light would drop out but the final result was a warm series of shots.

Well that’s enough talk here is the video as it appeared on the TV.

A great 15 seconds of fame!.

See ya on the road!

The Petrolhead.

Project 76 Or The Day I Destroyed My Fathers Car

This week I thought I would share the latest addition to my model cabinet. “Project 76″

I am not a great collector of models but I have set myself the goal of owning a model of each of the cars my immediate family has owned and I have driven since I first started my journey as a petrolhead. Most of them are high quality produced by Trax but I have picked up a few in hobbyist stores and collectors markets.

I obviously have several XT Falcon models and a few classic muscle car classics as well (Mustang and GTHO). My father owned a range of brands so you will see everything from Dodge to Leyland.

This week I will show my newest a P76!

The Wedge

Much has been written about the Leyland P76 – most of it critical! This is a shame since it really is quite an interesting car. I loved driving dad’s 6 cylinder – lovely smooth alloy motor and very comfortable to ride in as well. I drove it few times from Albany to Perth so I did quite a few miles in it.

This is the same colour as my Dad’s Wedge! Corinthian Blue!

It was not a zippy car since it was fairly large – they were in fact renowned for the enormous boot – supposedly able to hold a 44 gallon(220Litre) fuel drum.

This was a fact since my Dad did it a few times – oh yeah and once managed to get 3 bales of hay in there! (Mum was most upset about that!)

Driving it around Perth in the heavier traffic was fine and I really enjoyed it. It was a very reliable car and basically went where you pointed it!

Heads from the 3.9 Litre 6

Country Driving

Driving it in the country was a great treat – long open roads and a very easy 4 speed manual gearbox. The torquey motor would cruise at the legal limit without much effort and from memory was a miser on the fuel for such a big car.

If you wanted it to hurry up the third gear was a must – and it would rev quite high so overtaking the road trains was no trouble – in fact a lot of fun!

Family Car

My grandfather bought a white version and the V8 at that. He had a few issues with the finish of the vehicle and had a number of repairs under warranty – problems with dash switches is one I remember. Some just fell off!

A Sad End

The P76 was not a financial success for Leyland. Very few were sold in the end and it hit the market as the first major oil crisis rolled over Australia. Big cars were being abandoned by many families and the P76 was one of the biggest – even though it had a serious weight advantage over Ford, Valiant and Holden cars of the time.

My families car actually finished it’s run in a similar fashion to the company as a whole.
Let me tell the story – a lesson in driving and suspension play!

The Day I Destroyed my Dad’s Car

It was 1979 and I had returned to Perth to collect my stuff before driving home to Albany for a break from University studies. My dad had lent me his P76 sedan and I was enjoying cruising around town doing the few things that needed my attention. She was a pretty car and always drew a few comments – most derogatory! However, anyone who rode in the car was pleasantly surprised by the comfort and tidy layout of the interior. The McPherson strut front suspension and the rack and pinion steering put it miles ahead of the average Aussie car at this stage and so she was also a breeze to park.

Anyway back to the story. I was driving though Floreat Park near the Perry Lakes stadium. Now the road I was driving on (Brookdale St) intersects Underwood Avenue – no big deal, traffic lights and all that jazz BUT some serious road surface issues. You see the road had a series of camel back humps through the intersection – locals new about them and would slow down. Not being a local I had forgotten about these large rolling, waves of bitumen.

Now I was not speeding – just cruising through the intersection – hit the first hump and – she starts to take off! A flash of memory – oh s*** I remember – here comes the second one!
Now the suspension on this car was pretty damn good – but being a young driver I panic and do the silliest and wrongest (is there such a word) thing – I hit the brakes!

Well let’s think a minute – what happens when you hit the brakes? The mass of the vehicle moves forward, compressing the front suspension as the wheels slow down – that is the way the springs work – keeping the wheels on the ground. So here I am – rising up a hump with the suspension already compressed and out of play – only one thing can happen now – BANG – she bellys on the hump!

Oh bugga that must have hurt!

I drive on a little checking steering and listening to see if anything fell off! All good! Or is it?

Not so Good

Mmmm what is that smell – like melting plastic! Oh right it is melting plastic – the dash is dripping plastic onto my legs – liquid plastic! Now I can see smoke – coming up over the windscreen and … flames coming out of the dash!

Time to stop and get the hell outa here!

I pull over into a gateway near the army barracks and pop open the bonnet. Now the flames are pretty large – a guy pulls up with a fire extinguisher! Great I just might stop this – no it’s empty!

Flames really going now and the front seats are on fire – in fact exploding! We all clear out and give it the distance the fire needs – now the tyres are smouldering! BANG – they explode and she is burning fiercely now – no way we will save the old girl!

The fire brigade arrives just as we think the fuel tank must be the next thing to go! They get the fire out and all is well – except for the car! Oh yeah and my bag with all my ID, wallet etc.

Lesson for A Petrolhead

Well I am a mess now. The shock is kicking in and I am dreading the phone call to my dad to explain what I have done to his lovely P76. The police take me to my mate Grayden’s house and his mother gives me a couple shots of Whisky to settle my nerves. I phone dad and break the sad news.

Dad is great – he is more worried about me and just asks if the car is a right-off! “Oh yeah!” I tell him.
Insurance will give us enough to buy a new car.

I learned a valuable lesson about suspension and braking that day and 30 years later I still have clear memories of that experience and never brake on bumps to this day! I also always carry a full fire extinguisher in my car.

What Happened to the Car

Talking to a mechanic at the wreckers they found that the car had caught on fire because of a design issue. It seems that a major battery cable had been pinched as the car bellied and shorted out on the steel chassis. This massive pulse of charge surged through the dash somehow and off she went!

The surge initially just heated and melted the dash (thus the dripping on my legs) and then the plastic caught alight. I am just lucky that no explosive ignition took place as I was driving!

So Where Is The Gearbox

Another interesting note is that in the night after the fire the car was left on the side of the road but checked several times by the local police. However, the next week as we were doing the the insurance claim the company rang up and asked us if we knew where the gearbox was?

This was a strange question since we believed that car to be in the wreckers in one burnt piece. It seems the insurance company were suggesting that maybe my story was not in fact true and we had torched the car after parking it on the side of the road! The only reason we cleared this possible hurdle was that the police had seen the car, with it’s gearbox just after the fire.
The only explanation was that someone had stolen the gearbox during the first night! How they did it no one can explain – but we learned later that the light 4 speed box was a popular part in certain street racing circles.

Dad had suspicions about the wrecker or the tow truck guy but we never found out the truth about that missing gearbox.

“A Stitch in Time …..”

Each season has different challenges for your vehicle and in Australia the summers months mean hot, dry and dusty roads. The petrolhead is a strong believer in maintenance of all vehicles – new or old!

With the change in the weather it is a good idea to start planning the service update for the car. I usually change the oil on a very regular basis but this week I put the car up on the ramps and checked the underbody for rust and damage as well.
It is a useful time to top up the grease points. Being an older car there are still several grease points – I have replaced the tail shaft universal joints with lifetime sealed versions so they don’t need greasing. The steering gear still has several grease points so they need to be checked every 6 months or so.

Step One

The first step is to get the ramps out and back the car up onto the ramps – I like to start by checking the differential and brake drums for fluid leaks and any signs of wear.

I always chock the wheels – even if the car is in Park and hand brake is on!

The petrol filter is fitted right by the fuel tank, near the electric fuel pump. This pump is a push pump so it is put near the fuel tank not the engine. It is not used a great deal since the car runs mainly on gas (LPG) and I possibly change the filter every year or two. A quick visual check of the bowl is all that is needed. (It pays to check the rubber fuel lines for rubbing as well as dampness etc.)

Handbrake Adjustment

I noticed a little too much play in the handbrake this week so decide to tweak the line whilst I am under the car.

The cable is attached to a yoke that feeds tension to the two rear wheels equally. I simply loosen the locking nut and then adjust the other two until I have the tension right.

With the brakes adjusted and everything else checked – all is well so I just add a little friction modifier to the differential and prepare to swap the car around.

Step Two

Swapping the car around I now need to check the front suspension for any unusual marks or indicators of rubbing parts. All is clear so I check the various steering components.

Pitman Arm

Tie rod end

Lower ball-joint

Here is an unusual view of the fan and radiator – just a quick check for leaks and dents etc.

Body Work Check

All is well so I do a quick check of the body work for any new rust or potential problems. I decide that the bottom of the right hand fender could do with a little rust converter since a few stone chips have exposed the metal. This requires a bit of work so I spend the next 30 minutes cleaning and treating the panel.

New Leads and Distributor Cap

All done so now I can just change the oil and fit a new oil filter before cruising up to the tip to recycle the oil and run in the new friction modifier that I add to the oil and the differential.
Mmmm a little bit of a misfire! I find a lead or two shorting out (I just scored several thousand volts to my right hand!) and change the lot -that means new plugs as well! Still running rough – a new distributor cap fixes that!
(This problem took me and hour with Steve at Steve’s Shed, Wangara, to trace and fix. This guy, dare I say it, is more petrolhead than me!)

This is the big mother of a coil that keeps the spark strong and bright! A must when running on LPG – the bigger the spark the better the burn!

Well that’s it – the car has been checked from nose to tail! New oil and filter so ready for another 5-6 months of cruising!

Servicing your car is a very necessary task – especially for 40year old classics – but even your newer ones need regular checks and service. Catching problems before they get big is the best way to save money and to have confidence in your beast when on the road.

Until next time -
the Petrolhead is outa here!

Welcome back to 2010 and the new year is away with a bang!
I have new Pacemaker headers on the Beast at last!

Patience

I have waited for a year to get the dough together and the time to fit new headers. The old pipes have been fun but also a headache in many ways. It all started when I blew a hole in the old cast iron manifold over 10 years ago.

Time and the tin worm had taken there toll on the old girls original cast iron manifolds and a hole blew out on cylinder 6 – no amount of muffler putty could stop the exhaust gases leaking into the car cabin. Replacement was the only option – but what with?

The Muffler Shop

I went and visited my muffler shop guy (Wanneroo Mufflers) Peter and he said he could get me some nice headers from Genie. Left the car with him and headed on home safe in the knowledge she was in good hands!

A couple of hours later I get a call. They are having trouble fitting the new headers as the starter motor is getting in the way! I need to fit a “rat trap” style of starter motor. The car is thus taken over the road to the electrician who fits the new starter motor. The car is then taken back to the muffler shop for the fitting of the headers.

The rat trap is a smaller and more powerful motor with it’s solenoid situated on the firewall, or in my case, near the battery on the side panel. These have a gear reduction so that they have huge cranking power which on a V8 is a great advantage. This starter throws my V8 over very quickly and easily and is not working all that hard and so it lasted over 10 years (160000km). I actually fitted a new one last year

This has of course blown out the price of the whole job and I am looking at no change from $1000! I need a car and I am not going to sell it because of a minor problem so I have no choice!

Today the new headers clear the starter by a great amount so I possibly could go back to the regular starter – but why would I!

Anyway, back to the story!

An Expensive See-saw

I collect the car and drive her home, admiring the rather racy note it has acquired with the large pipes! I approach my driveway and slowly head over the top of our steep entrance – then disaster strikes. The car grinds to a halt and I hear the new collectors scraping on the concrete! The car stops and rocks up and down like a see-saw, we are stuck and sitting on the exhaust!

I get out and look under the car and cannot believe my eyes – she is not going down the drive that’s for sure. I in fact wonder if I can even back up to get her off the pipes! However, I manage to do so with a lot of noise from the dragging pipes!

So here I am with a new set of headers and all ready to roll and I cannot park the Beast in the garage! There is no way she is sitting outside on the drive every night. I have to find or think of a solution. My first thought is – sell the house and buy one with a flatter drive – I threw that idea away since the wife might have something to say about that!
Maybe build a new garage on the top of the drive? No, not enough money in the bank for that right now – and the council would not like that choice.

I decide I have to sleep on this problem and deal with it tomorrow!

Stay tuned to next weeks post – Time for a bloody big saw!

Part 2

So there I am with the Beast on the top of the drive and no way to get her down the hill! I have spent all night thinking about the problem and lost a lot of sleep. This is part of the petrolhead obsessiveness, you just can’t let a problem beat you when it comes to the Beast!

A Big Saw

Then it comes to me – if I can’t change the car I need to change the driveway – and to deal with concrete you just need a bigger saw than usual – like a bloody big diamond bladed saw!
I head off to the local hire store and hire me the biggest petrol powered diamond blade concrete saw!

The first challenge is to mark out the driveway for cutting and also leave enough room for the tyres when the car goes over. I move the car into the edge and crawl under each side with some chalk and draw some marks on the driveway.

I get my biggest piece of straight wood and draw out a square of concrete to remove. That’s done now we get seriously committed and start the cutting!

More Power

I hook up the water pipe (cools the blade) and start the motor of the saw.
The noise is unbelievable! Even my ear plugs are not really stopping much of the noise but I persist – this is hard work I can tell you – the concrete is at least 4 inches thick and steel reinforced!

My wife and kids are looking out the kitchen window in disbelief! Dad has lost it again!

I make several cuts and then take a break! This is hard work!

I try to lift a piece of the concrete and realise I now have a second problem: how do I lift this rather heavy lump of concrete? No choice but to cut into smaller pieces – back to the saw!

An hour later and I have several chunks of concrete of barely manageable weight. I decide that they will make handy garden edging and drag them over to the garden bed I started the week before. (They are still there by the way in my tropical garden area.)

Will It Work

Time to test the effort of the last 2 hours!
I start the beast up and slowly edge her up to the hole and slowly, slowly drive down the driveway! Success!
She scraped out some of the sand but we can drive her over the hump!
I then do the next test, backwards up the driveway!
Now worries!

I can tell you I was pretty pumped by this stage and well pleased with my effort. The wife came out to see my progress and noted that we now have a rather ugly big hole in the driveway. I don’t care, I can get my car down and into the garage -that is all that matters at this stage!

Pave that Hole

Today the hole is a talking point to everyone who comes to visit. It is a lot tidier now since after a couple of months I paved the sand once I was sure I had the levels right for the car.

The lines on the driveway are the guides for getting the car on the right angle when backing up the drive. The blue lines are for the Beast and the white lines mark the end of the drive. You have to do this since when backing up our drive all you see is blue sky as you back up! I now know how to line up the car using the bonnet vents – I line them up with an expansion mark on the driveway and as long as I am spot on there is no ping as the collectors find the concrete!

The new headers have heap s of room and go nowhere near the concrete now so the hole is probably no longer needed – but I am not pouring concrete into the hole! In fact I am thinking of ripping up the driveway and re-pouring a easier slope on the top. A few $$ for that but it would make life easier for all our cars. (Even the wife’s Camry hits the top if you have a heavy load!)

New Headers

Now all this started with me fitting new headers to the Beast after wearing the old ones out from hitting speed bumps and my driveway (if you don’t come in perfectly straight they still ping the concrete!).

I arrived at the shop at 8:15am and waited a while as a little buzz box has a new muffler finished off. Then I park the Beast on the hoist and we are up in the air in no time at all!

First thing is to cut off the pipes after the collectors and then unbolt the headers.

Using the air tools we sand the head to get the old gaskets off!

Then we unwrap the new headers!

Now are they a pretty sight or what!
I would happily hang them on a wall as a piece of art!

Anyway we bolt them in after adding a little adhesive (no gaskets)!

They clear the starter motor and fit neatly up along the block and under the gear box subframe!
I am getting back at least 3 inches of ground clearance.

The width of this collector pipe!

Next week we finish the story with the sweet sounds of a new system!