Charlie the Aussie 27 Chev

Charlie the Aussie 27 Chev resides in the Dandenong ranges in Melbourne Victoria and was purchased by Holly and Devron Schwind through Rainsfords in Collectable Cars in SA in February 2018. 

Previously he was owned by Mr Phil and Mrs Joy Stolz. In the 1920s, Joy's grandfather owned a servicestation in Crafers, SA, which was also a franchise for new motor car sales. He sold the new Chev in 1927 to a family living in Hahndorf, who owned it until the 1970s. 

It was then purchased by Phil and Joy who were able to drive it from Hahndorf back to their home in Roseworthy, where it stayed in the shed until 1985. About that time, Phil expressed an interest in driving the Chev in the Bay to Birdwood, and enlisted his friend Rolf Eidem to complete the restoration. 

Not much was needed, it was in original condition, 100% complete, and had travelled less than 40,000 miles. The motor 'required no more than a change of oil', and was still running the original spark plugs. 

The following is the work that Holly, supported by Devron have put into Charle in the last 3 years with the most recent being an engine and gearbox restoration.

The attention to detail of the "mini restoration" is a credit to them both with Charlie now a reliable weekend drive and car club rally car.

A great "show and tell" when Holly took Charlie to Selby Primary School to show her students.

How many teachers have a 1927 Chev?

Charlie's first club event, a Fuel Economy Run and came home with a trophy.

Holly taking her Grandma for a Christmas Day drive.

Grandma was the inspiration for buying a 27 Chev, as she told Holly stories of family outings in her dad's 27 Chev when she was a child.

Christmas party with the car club

A very productive day working on the Chev. The radiator is out and ready to go off to be repaired.

Holly installing a new radiator (original tanks with new core) in December 2019

Following few pics are a brake and wheel restoration during COVID lockdown July - October 2020. After months of being on axle stands Charlie finally has all 4 wheels back on the ground. New Brake drums, linings, bearing and seals.

Lower windscreen repair, repainting and new rubber in October 2019

A new Holden water pump was adapted to fit in March 2021

Before

And after

The need for a rebuild of Charlie’s engine eventuated following a ‘night trial’ drive with the car club which consisted of over 100 miles of driving around Melbourne (after the initial 20 mile drive to the starting point) which ended with Charlie limping home at about 2:30am and running very poorly. Examination of the spark plugs showed number four was very fouled and number 3 wasn’t much better. A clean and it was running again – for a short time.

Eventually, a quick trip in April 2021 to see a mechanic with extensive knowledge of 27 Chevs resulted in the advice that the rings are most likely the culprit so it was decided to undertake a full engine rebuild.

In early May 2021, the task began. First on the list was trying to turn a tiny garden shed into something that would be suitable for an engine rebuild – yellow tongue flooring over dirt. (photo 7 May 2021 Holly’s facebook)

Removal of the engine went well with every nut, bolt, washer and part being labelled and placed into storage. The engine and gearbox were in the shed by 16 May 2021 and no time was wasted in stripping them down.

As the gentleman who was going to rebore the engine block and do the Babbitt bearings had gone on an adventure in his 28 chev (from Melbourne to Gulf of Carpentaria and back via Alice Springs), the gearbox was first.

Some replacement gears were sourced from a generous car club member and the gearbox was filled with a better second-hand input shaft; better second-hand second and third gears; new counter shaft and bushings; new reverse idler shaft and bushings and new bearings including an upgrade to an aluminium main gear drive bearing retainer and modern seal. 

While the engine was out a few other bits and pieces were restored

New clutch and brake pedal bushings were installed while the pedals were off.As am sure happens often, when things are pulled off a car, they get cleaned and painted and, when the engine and gearbox get removed, there are a lot of parts that can be cleaned and painted. This includes the gauges and, as the speedo wasn’t working properly, the speedo was sent off for repairs. After several trips to the speedo repairer and a couple of trips with the great club member, enough parts for a complete working speedo were sourced and the gauges were looking great. A new speedo cable was also made up at the same time. Now we will be able to see exactly how slow Charlie is travelling. (more important is the fact that we will see how many miles the new engine has done).

Still waiting on the engine meant plenty of time to get everything else done – the Carter RAXJ-O carburettor was next up for an overhaul. The carby looks great with its new jets, brass bowl and polished brass connectors. 

The vacuum tank also got some attention, and it was decided to move the vacuum tank on the firewall away from the engine to allow easier access to the number 4 spark plug. This then necessitated new fuel lines to the tank and from the tank to the carby and inlet manifold.

 With the engine back from the machinist with new main and big end bearings; cylinders bored out 0.060”, new “high compression” (LOL) pistons and rings and a cylinder head that was decked and modified to accommodate Holden 308 valves which have a thicker valve stem. The valves were shortened and modern valve spring retainers are used. The camshaft was reground to standard profile so that it no longer resembled a horse saddle. Of course, the engine needed to look good so it was cleaned, sanded and painted in enamel.

A decision was made to use the original rocker gear as it seems ok and can be replaced at a later stage if needed without pulling the engine back out. 

 New head bolts were installed as well a new timing gear, and camshaft thrust plate.

 The oil pump was tested to make sure that is pumps the oil into the splashers (not a lot of pressure is needed) and the dippers on the end of the big end bearings were measured to ensure that the oil system would work as intended. The sump was slightly bent where it had been previously overtightened so that was straightened and painted. A real challenge was encountered trying to get the sump gaskets and seals to stay in position while the sump was bolted on (using new bolts). 

A one piece replacement clutch was found to replace the standard 1927 clutch plate which has the friction material separate from the plate. The clutch plate appeared to be brand new so it was cleaned and installed. A minor problem was encountered when a bolt broke when tightening the pressure plate. 

Thankfully, it came out easily and new high tension bolts were installed. An upgrade was made to the clutch throwout bearing to replace the standard carbon friction type to a ball bearing type. The flywheel didn’t need any work except a clean and very light sand with some emery paper. The ring gear showed no signs of wear so that was reused. A new clutch pilot bushing was installed.

Before the engine and gearbox were refitted to Charlie, a new bushing and seal were installed in the driveshaft.

With the engine rebuilt and attached to the gearbox, it was time to reunite them with Charlie. 

The installation was reasonably straightforward but it required a bit of manoeuvring before it finally sat in place. The trickiest part was trying to get the driveshaft on the correct angle.

Once the engine was sitting in, there was only everything else to finish and the process of ensuring everything went back where it was supposed to was made much easier thanks to the thorough labelling process done when it was pulled apart. Nevertheless, there was still many times where things had to be undone and looking at the photos taken during the dismantling demonstrated that there is a lot to be learned and you don’t know that you don’t know until you need to know.

New spark plugs, ignition points and rotor and a distributor cap were installed – the distributor was checked for excessive play in the shaft and appears to be ok. New pushrod felts were installed above the cleaned and checked pushrods and new oils in the engine, gearbox and uni joint were added. During the rebuild process, assembly lube was used extensively.

 Finally, after nearly 9 months, Charlie fired back into life. It was only a quick run to check for massive fuel or oil leaks and to check that the timing was close. Surprisingly, fuel was fed to the vacuum tank quickly even though the fuel tank had been emptied and the timing appeared to be spot on.

An electrical problem showed up and, although the ignition wasn’t affected, the single fuse (behind the light switch) kept blowing intermittently. After four or more hours of back breaking circuit testing under the dash, the fault was traced to the horn that had been dismantled and painted. It seems that it had been incorrectly assembled for many years and there was a thick layer of dirt and grime that was acting as an insulation. When that was all clean, it the incorrectly installed insulation wasn’t working and the horn was shorting out. This is why the problem was intermittent – the fuse only blew when the horn was pressed. With that problem identified, the horn was further dismantled and the motor contacts and brushes cleaned up and the horn has never sounded or looked better.

With the electrics sorted, it was time to look again at the engine and to start some running in procedures. First up was to adjust the clutch and make sure that the newly refurbished gearbox were working. Unfortunately, the clutch appeared not to be engaging. As you can imagine, this was most disappointing. Several hours were spent contemplating this problem before it was decided that the gearbox had to come out.

With the gearbox out and the oil in the uni joint slowing leaking out, a spare bell housing was used to investigate the clutch. It appeared to look okay and the dimensions were (again) measured against the original. It was suggested that a different pressure plate was required before the problem was finally identified. The replacement clutch plate was hitting the bolts holding the flywheel to the crank. As the pressure plate presses the clutch plate against the flywheel, it was only possible to identify this problem when the clutch pedal was installed. A second replacement clutch plate was found in the cupboard and It cleaned up well. The gearbox was reinstalled and filled back up with oil and lube (in the uni). The pedals were reinstalled and the gearbox top (with the gear selector) was installed. With the car still on stands another test of the clutch and gearbox was made. Although the clutch pedal appeared to be moving normally, the gear stick could not move to select gears.

This time, only the gear selector needed to be removed and it was found that the gears had moved inside the gearbox before it had been reinstalled. Finally, the gear selector was placed back with the gears in the correct position and everything was bolted back.

As the gearbox and clutch now appeared to be working properly, it was time to run the motor in. Five minutes running with two very nervous people looking for leaks and listening for strange noises. A couple of small water leaks have appeared – one form the outlet on the cylinder head and one appears to be coming from the water pump adaptor that is used to mount the modern Holden water pump.

A major fuel leak has appeared which occurs only after the car has been stopped and the fuel tap it still on.

Once the pedals and floorboards were replaced and the clutch pedal adjusted it was time for the first drive – about a mile up the road and back. Success!

Although first and second gears sound louder than previous, the engine appears to be running nicely. Some minor timing adjustments and the valve clearances were done and Charlie is now back on the road.

Thats the story so far, more to follow I am sure, with a few videos

For more details on Charlie the 27 Chev Holly can be contacted at 

schwindfamily4@gmail.com