figjam
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This thread could evolve into old farts reminiscing about their old cars, so here is my contribution.
My first car in 1965 was a 1957 Mk2 Zephyr sedan, which I spent way too much money on, with a motor that had just about everything fit-able at the time to go fast.
Never mind the brakes and handling, not important ........... a true WOFTAM story of learning curves and dumb decisions.
I was a trainee RAAF techo at Laverton in 1967-68, and 2 of my mates had Holdens, a HR 4speed 186S, and a HK 4speed 186S. Both of which went like the clappers, and my hot Zephyr was able to stay with them on the Geelong road during late night ‘drives’.
I was also in love ……….. with a Warwick Yellow HK Monaro. I had gone along to a local Holden showroom when they were first released and made a wish that ‘one day’ …….. but the problem was I could not afford the insurance on a hire purchase sporty car. And a V8 was just way out my pay grade.
March 1969, the Zephyr’s gearbox ‘sort of’ broke, and a big decision was made.
And there was a way around the insurance problem, buy a Kingswood, and tick the option boxes.
Off to to Hartwig Holden, Wagga and ordered a Picardy Red HK Kingswood ………….
186S, (for the younger readers, that included 2 BBL Stromberg carb with better inlet manifold, headers, cam, and a stronger crankshaft, giving 145 BHP or about 108Kw, good stuff back then.)
All black interior, bucket seats, heater and radio,
4 speed, GTS style shifter and console.
Power assisted front disc brakes,
6 x14 rims, GTS wheel trims with red-wall bias-ply tyres,
GTS full width ‘tail-lights’
About $3,200 on the road, including 6cyl Kingswood insurance, less $200 trade-in on the Zephyr.
The handling was not initially terrific, which was mainly the fault of the square edged D70 tyres. They had less grip than a MichelinX in the wet and tramlined on the slightest ridge. Fixed with a set of ER70 Dunlop Aquajets, same as what was on the Falcon GTs.
Front and rear Kmac stabilizer bars, with Monroe shocks fixed the body roll and understeer.
After 12 months the warranty was up, so a set of solid pushrod lifters went in. These stopped the pump-up in the standard lifters, and combined with stronger valve springs, made 6,000rpm in the lower gears reachable. The down side was tappet rattle, which was fixed partly with light springs under the rockers, and regular adjustments.
Replaced the fan with a Davies Craig thermo fan.
Even fabricated my own version of a Falcon GT-type front spoiler, which I was convinced worked, because the car no longer wandered across the road when hit by the wall of air from an oncoming semi -trailer. (4 lane highways only existed in American movies back then)
It used to average 28 > 30 mpg on long trips, Wagga > Brisbane, Sydney > Brisbane.
A regular Richmond (SYD) > Williamtown (Newcastle) trip in 1972 usually took about 2.5 hours, and I was able to sit on 60mph all the way, leaving at 4am, no traffic, no cops with radar, no traffic lights, and no F3/M1.
I don’t remember how many miles it eventually covered, but in 1974, its time was up.
There was rust appearing in the front guards, all the doors, and behind the back wheels. Completely unacceptable now, but that was the way it was back then, a 5>6 year old car with rust was nothing unusual.
When it started blowing oily smoke, I discovered a badly scored #6 bore, and that was it.
Highly unlikely that it survived much longer after that, but if it did, it may be worth thousands of $$$$ now in the classic car inflated prices..
I was really sad to see it go. After sorting the handling, it had been a really nice long-distance touring car, which I thought a Torana SLR would be …………. but wasn’t, and that is another story which I have written here about.
My first car in 1965 was a 1957 Mk2 Zephyr sedan, which I spent way too much money on, with a motor that had just about everything fit-able at the time to go fast.
Never mind the brakes and handling, not important ........... a true WOFTAM story of learning curves and dumb decisions.
I was a trainee RAAF techo at Laverton in 1967-68, and 2 of my mates had Holdens, a HR 4speed 186S, and a HK 4speed 186S. Both of which went like the clappers, and my hot Zephyr was able to stay with them on the Geelong road during late night ‘drives’.
I was also in love ……….. with a Warwick Yellow HK Monaro. I had gone along to a local Holden showroom when they were first released and made a wish that ‘one day’ …….. but the problem was I could not afford the insurance on a hire purchase sporty car. And a V8 was just way out my pay grade.
March 1969, the Zephyr’s gearbox ‘sort of’ broke, and a big decision was made.
And there was a way around the insurance problem, buy a Kingswood, and tick the option boxes.
Off to to Hartwig Holden, Wagga and ordered a Picardy Red HK Kingswood ………….
186S, (for the younger readers, that included 2 BBL Stromberg carb with better inlet manifold, headers, cam, and a stronger crankshaft, giving 145 BHP or about 108Kw, good stuff back then.)
All black interior, bucket seats, heater and radio,
4 speed, GTS style shifter and console.
Power assisted front disc brakes,
6 x14 rims, GTS wheel trims with red-wall bias-ply tyres,
GTS full width ‘tail-lights’
About $3,200 on the road, including 6cyl Kingswood insurance, less $200 trade-in on the Zephyr.
The handling was not initially terrific, which was mainly the fault of the square edged D70 tyres. They had less grip than a MichelinX in the wet and tramlined on the slightest ridge. Fixed with a set of ER70 Dunlop Aquajets, same as what was on the Falcon GTs.
Front and rear Kmac stabilizer bars, with Monroe shocks fixed the body roll and understeer.
After 12 months the warranty was up, so a set of solid pushrod lifters went in. These stopped the pump-up in the standard lifters, and combined with stronger valve springs, made 6,000rpm in the lower gears reachable. The down side was tappet rattle, which was fixed partly with light springs under the rockers, and regular adjustments.
Replaced the fan with a Davies Craig thermo fan.
Even fabricated my own version of a Falcon GT-type front spoiler, which I was convinced worked, because the car no longer wandered across the road when hit by the wall of air from an oncoming semi -trailer. (4 lane highways only existed in American movies back then)
It used to average 28 > 30 mpg on long trips, Wagga > Brisbane, Sydney > Brisbane.
A regular Richmond (SYD) > Williamtown (Newcastle) trip in 1972 usually took about 2.5 hours, and I was able to sit on 60mph all the way, leaving at 4am, no traffic, no cops with radar, no traffic lights, and no F3/M1.
I don’t remember how many miles it eventually covered, but in 1974, its time was up.
There was rust appearing in the front guards, all the doors, and behind the back wheels. Completely unacceptable now, but that was the way it was back then, a 5>6 year old car with rust was nothing unusual.
When it started blowing oily smoke, I discovered a badly scored #6 bore, and that was it.
Highly unlikely that it survived much longer after that, but if it did, it may be worth thousands of $$$$ now in the classic car inflated prices..
I was really sad to see it go. After sorting the handling, it had been a really nice long-distance touring car, which I thought a Torana SLR would be …………. but wasn’t, and that is another story which I have written here about.