fbekholden.com

Hi all,

It has been a few hectic years since I bought my first ek and the old girl has been sitting idle for the last 2 years or so. Other cars, a career change, life in general and just recently, a baby have all meant the EK had taken a backseat to other priorities. However, the time has now come for my pink and plum ek to finally get the love I have been meaning to give it the last few years. I have been encouraged to document it on here for extra motivation. I am hoping to have this thing back on the road in time to make it to the nats next year. Lets see how we go....

Here it is when we first bought it a few years ago. It is a Brisbane car that spent most of it's life in Toowoomba. It had been registered and on the road most of it's life and the previous owners had done a great job in keeping all the documentation on it. It had a reco EJ grey motor slotted into it in the 80s and it was a little tired mechanically. It also had the battle scars and touch ups here and there during previous ownership. A quick going over of the brakes, a height adjustment, white walls and some crusin skirts saw it become a good weekend crusier for us for around 18 months or so. This was until the engine starting having a few oil pressure issues, so I decided to pull it off the road and give it a tidy up in December 2012.

At around the same time of taking the EK off the road a car came up for sale that had a bit of family history. A 65 Chev Belair that my partners old man put together and her and her sister grew up in. A few years prior her old man had traded it for a Corvette. The girls were a bit devo'd when this trade took place and upon the news of it being on the market we made a bit of a spur of the moment purchase. This is one of the reasons why the EK had been a bit forgotten about. The new owner of the Chev had neglected and slightly butchered the big old girl so a fair bit of time and money went back into it to make it a reliable crusier again. This is a photo of it when her old man bought it is a stripped down basket case and below is it now with most the issues sorted and a bit of a cosmetic freshen up. The panel and paint is still a bit rough but when I look at the list of things I have rectified and the $$$$ I have spent on parts it is a little scary. With this car having some history, a V8 and being auto the old ek didn't get a look in.

Towards the end of last year I was getting the shits with my job. I was doing FIFO to WA and the shit construction rosters and the loss of benefits as the employment market tightened meant it was no longer worth the sacrifice of time away from the family. I pulled the pin and landed a normal Monday to Friday job. This happened fairly quickly, and when you actually get to spend time with your MRS the inevitable happened, she fell pregnant and we just recently had our first child. With my parents being retired and the lure of their first granchild they packed up the van and moved to Brisbane. With my old man being around and plenty of time up his sleeve the plan was hatched to build the pink car together and hopefully get it to next years nats for the first family holiday with our little fella.

Plans for the EK are as follows:
Warmish grey with the usual fruit, steel timing gears, mild cam, some head work, triple strommies and a few other bits and pieces
Trimatic conversion kept on the column
Strip the floors and fix the bit of rust it has
Paint the floors, underbody and engine bay
EJ diff and brakes
Panel and paint will remain untouched

Over the years I have collected the bits and pieces I need to make this happen and have had a fair bit of help and advice from a heap of guys off this forum (thanks fellas)

So far, not including the time to strip it and get it on the spit we have about 20 hours of wire wheeling in on the floors in order to get to the rust and get it ready for repairs and paint. Anyone who has been here before knows how much of a shit job it is. I did the Chev on my back under jack stands. Never again. The spit makes it heaps better and easier to do but man it is still a shit job. Yes it would have been easier to blast it but so far this has cost me about 30 bucks worth of wire wheels and strip it discs and a few man hours. This build is getting done on a pretty tight budget and basic tools.




This is pretty much where we are at now. We are hoping to have all this shitty work done by the end of the week so my panel beater buddy can get a run on it in the coming week or so.

Nice read mate, and she is looking good!

Keep the updates coming! I am back over in qld at the end of the month, but I don't think I'll have time to come check it out...it should be finished by the next time I am over hey

Hey woody. No worries. Let me know when your in town next time for a few quiet ones. Beer fridge is always stocked.

Finished wire wheeling it and dropped it down the road to restoprep for a quick tidy up and to get some of the spots we couldn't get to properly. They will also blow on a coat of epoxy before the fun starts.





Probably should have taken it there from the get go had I known they existed close by. I have had no luck with finding a keen blaster in the past. I found them by accident and I am glad I did. Super nice guys and passionate about what they do. Get it back Saturday.

your dog can jump,love your car,most the time when people cut out a rusty floor ,for a few pin holes
they create many more areas of rust,you think you are doing the car good ,even all those grinding sparks are resting
better to live with some 50 year old pin holes than to start a Quake
lovely car ,lanolin

Thanks Jase.

I love lanolin too and I ain't even a kiwi. Smells real pretty.....

I also agree with fingering these old things as little as possible too. As u say creates future potential problem areas and worse of all costs friggen money.

Same old story. Low oil pressure ends up in and engine rebuild too nice to put in a shitty engine bay and nek minnit it's on the rotisserie.

In all seriousness though i had to cut the tunnel out anyway to fit the waddingtons tunnel for the trimatic. The old girl has also had a bit of a bingle in the past. Some amazing panel beating skills on show but the old materials and repairs have broken down over time and need some attention to ensure the old girl lasts another 50 years.

Bit of a sneak peak from the blaster. Get her back tomorrow. Just a tad excited. As you can see tried to stuff with as little as possible.

You can see a bit of the old repair on the front subframe. All looking pretty sweet though. So far...

I don't know it I should tell you this ,but I think your car is trying to hide from you
from when it was wrapped up

Picked the old girl up from the blaster today. They did a kick arse job and could not be happier with their services. Anyone in SEQ wanting blasting done go see A1-Autoblast in Yamanto. I highly recommend these guys and I wish I found them earlier.

All good though, even if we wasted a bit of time wire wheeling everything first it gave us a good indication of what we were in for with no surprises post blasting. It also allowed for a few beers and bonding time with the old boy so cannot really complain. All finished off with coat of epotec 408 ready for a few repairs and tidying up.

Keep the pics coming!!!

Things have been a bit hectic of late. Lots of time on the road with work. Being away from my lady and 11 week old son means that spending the little time I have at home with them has taken priority over the car. Man kids grow quick!

Anyway, this weekend getting back into it with some help from my good mate Dan. Lots of cutting and grinding yesterday. Hopefully a bit of welding and more grinding today to get the front floors and associated bracing done and back in epoxy. More pics to follow.