2011 - 12th November - Bendigo Swap Meet

The Bendigo Swap Meet has been and gone for another year, and a very long day it was. Grant picked me up at the un Godly hour of 3.30 am (that's morning not afternoon) and we hit Bendigo at about 5.50am, and they were queuing up already. Turned out to be a very enjoyable day. Got off to a good start when a complete stranger approached us outside and gave us free tickets to get in. There was a quick $20 saved, that was soon spent on breakfast. Walked around a bit, Grant picked up a few panels for Monty from Peter Jackson, and we walked and walked and then walked some more. My day was more of a social outing. Caught up with, and introduced Grant to about 8 fellow members of the DVHCC.  http://www.dvhcc.com.au/

Below is a few pictures from a 100 years of Chevrolet car display that was in the main hall. Some very nice cars indeed.

At about 11.30 and we were ready to head home, via Castlemaine, where I had arranged to meet a guy to look at some Chev parts from a deceased estate. This turned out to be my little swap meet, where I picked up a few bits and pieces rusty and dirty as anything. Was it a bargain or did I get ripped off?

I will let you know in the next posting, as the Rust buster has been working overtime since Sunday afternoon.

By the time we left Castlemaine, I was stuffed, and started to nod off, so I was more than happy for Grant to be driving.

In conclusion, a good day was had by the two of us.

There's more important things sometimes than just working on old cars

The following  A chance I couldn't knock back was originally posted by Grant Fowler in http://montythe1928chevrolet.blogspot.com/   I took great delight yesterday (5th November) in sharing Grant's first drive of a restored 28 Chev, a preview to what he can look forward to when Monty is on the road. In just 12 months, maybe a bit more Grant has had a enormous learning curve, and has taken what was a wreck of a 1928 Chev to what is now a running rolling chassis that only awaits a body and a bit of upholstery to be a finished car.

Grant does not need to sit behind the wheel of a 28 Chev at 45 miles per hour on the open road to inspire him to complete the tasks ahead to finish Monty, as his inspiration comes from a much greater source, as you will see if you read his blog.

But I am glad he did, and I am glad it was my 28 Chev. I am sure that I don't need to say it, but at any time in the future, when Monty may seem to be winning the battle against man, if another run down the highway is needed to stoke up the fire and passion, the Red Chev is only a call away.

A chance I couldn't knock back

After our little bit of fun yesterday and before Ray left to drive his lovely Chevrolet back to Melbourne he "through me the keys" so to speak of his 28.... "You have a drive of this", hhhmmmm this will be good I thought, my first real drive of a restored 28 and no rust, just shiny paint everywhere you looked.
All I can say is what a great experience it was cruising at a respectable 45mph out on the Princes Hwy and to Ray's credit it goes great and does everything very well just as I thought it would, steers, brakes, corners, and at 45 - 50 mph the engine is just humming along with a nice feel to it and also a nice note out the back through the tail pipe, we cruised along chatting and laughing about the day we just had.
We soon came to a holt out front of my house after the 20 mile drive and I handed the car back over to Ray who was quickly on his way back down the street again and headed for Melbourne which would be a journey of 66 miles to his house.....Cheers mate and thanks for the drive.

I would be happy with this

What Vintage car fanatic would not want to have a workshop like this. No doubt the shop has long since gone, the building may have been raised and the cars in shot long since pulped into scrap metal, driven off a cliff or pushed into a river.

But the following photo is a snap shot in time for us, and possibly a distant memory for someone else.

2011 - 6th November Tour of the National Rhododendron Gardens

A beautiful day was in store as we meet at Bunnings in Narre Warren and drove in a orderly convoy behind our organizers for the days activities, Les and Jan Francis.

Les had arranged the run for the DVHCC http://www.dvhcc.com.au/ with our destination being the National Rhododendron Gardens at Olinda, in the Dandenongs

http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/melbourne_details.php?id=11115

We were joined there by a few others who had made their own way to the venue.

A few hardy souls walked the gardens, located on a 100 acre property, but most of the group did the arm chair tour in a Mini Bus. The bus tour was made more enjoyable by the driver, who had an excellent knowledge of the gardens and was a great ambassador for the site.

Lunch was at the nearby Olinda Golf House Cafe, which we all but filled the building with our group.

Approx 34 club members took part in both club and modern cars.

I have included a few shots of the day and thanks to Les and Jan for organizing a great run. In my case it was a round trip of 69 k's or 43 miles.

147 Miles or 232k Shakedown Run with new Zenith 14991 Carby

I choose the occasion of going up to Trafalgar to help Grant with Monty's Endurance Run, see last posting  http://my28chev.blogspot.com/2011/11/montys-endurance-run.html to give the new Zenith carby a good first long run.

147 miles or 232 k's. How did it go on a 30 degree Celsius day?

Pretty good, the only thing I had to do when I got home was turn up the idle speed a bit. I think it moved and the Red Chev stalled a few times.

I had a little bit of apprehension as ideally the 14991 should be used with a fuel pump, but hey, I am an old fashioned Vac Tank man, and would only convert as a last resort. My criteria for changing the carby was a slightly faster cruising speed, a bit more acceleration, and if fuel economy improved, a bonus, but not a necessity.

Previously I would cruise at the sweet spot 45 mph or 72 k's and anything much faster would start to sound a bit harsh and a tad noisy. With the Zenith the sweet spot now is at 50mph or 80 k's. These readings in K's are as per my GPS. At this speed the Vac Tank worked OK with no issues.

For the first 20 miles or so I pushed it a bit at 85 k's or 53 mph. It went very well, but after about 20 miles I believe the carby was using more fuel than the vac tank could supply, and we are probably talking about pressure rather than volume. I started to get a miss, backed off  to 80 k's it went away.
The same thing if I hit a hill after a running for a few miles at over 80 k's. The miss would occur, below 80 k's went away.

For the time being I can live with this, will see how it goes, but as a general statement, I don't think I want to push the Red Chev much harder than 50mph, but I know if I do want to, can do it in burst of 15 to 20 mph at a time. If in the future if  I desire to run continuously at over 50 mph (it ain't going to happen) then would consider a fuel pump.

Grant took the Red Chev for a drive from Trafalgar to Moe and back, maybe about 20 miles, and his comment was "You would not really want to drive much faster than 50mph"

Below is a couple of shots of the best view from the inside of a 28 Chev, looking over the bonnet at the road ahead, with the motometer in your line of vision all the time.

Had a bit of trouble finding a parking spot when I got to Grant's place. People had started putting out their hard rubbish for collection a bit early.

Heh heh heh

Monty's Endurance Run

Grant had invited me up to Trafalgar to help out with an endurance run for Monty that he planned to run in private property. Now Grants posting below cover all the details, results and statistics, and says it all. I will just add a couple of comments after you view his posting

http://montythe1928chevrolet.blogspot.com/2011/11/endurance-run-results.html

Great fun was had by Grant and Ray, but make no mistake, Monty was in charge of the whole proceedings. Protesting about having to work harder than he had for over 41 years, he faked several injuries, and after Grant gave him an oil change, and I followed with a well deserved spanking, Monty said that's it, I have a sore Vac Tank, all over, not playing anymore. But man when he ran it was cool, excellent promise of whats to come.

Now I have I comment and a rumour about today's endurance run.

"What's scarier than driving Monty at 45 mph with no body seat belt or other basics such as a floor. The answer is being towed behind Grant at 40 k's at about 8 foot behind the Fowlermobile. You now there is only a split second between either a neck snapping jerk of the tow rope or hoping inside the ute the hard way.

The rumour is the local police, and forensic have secured the industrial complex for tests, as when they heard about the activities, including the skid marks that were made by as yet an unnamed driver from Melbourne, they expect to charge someone. Seems they believe Monty would had to have had a run up from at least Moe, some 15 miles away, to be able to build up sufficient speed to leave skid marks like that.

Heh heh heh

Thanks Grant, very enjoyable day, now get that damn Vac Tank fixed.

2011 - 2nd November - Fitting Front Seat Belts (Again)

When the Red Chev was first put on the road I had the incorrect rear springs fitted.

We would hit a decent bump or drive over railway lines and the kids would bounce around like they were on a trampoline. They thought it was great fun, but for some reason their mother was a bit concerned on a few occasions when they hit the roof.

 I decided to fit seat belts, but being a bit rough in those days they were installed through holes in the floor, bolted directly to the chassis.
When I was doing the mini restoration for my daughter's wedding in 2007 they were removed as I knew they were not correctly fitted.

The road worthy guy told me if seat belts were installed he was obliged to check and test them to modern regulations, including the fitting points. So out they came.

Now that I am doing a lot more miles on the open roads, both myself and passengers (such as my wife, who said she would not ride in the Red Chev again until belts are fitted) would feel more comfortable to have some basic form of restraint.

This time around they are fitted 100% ridgy didge. I have bolted 75mm x 5mm flat steel strip to the chassis, which thems comes up through the floor to be the belt anchoring points.

These photos show the 3 slots in the under seat tray for the 75mm x 5mm flat steel strip to come through.

The raw 75 x 5 mm steel strip is bent with a bit of heat and drilled, and test fitted onto the chassis.

All painted and ready for fitting.

The three seat belt anchorage points run through the floor under the front seat and are attached to the chassis cross member with 3 x 10mm bolts for each anchorage point.

Belts fitted, seat back into position, ready to roll.