fbekholden.com

Meet the Old Girl

#519 out of Sydney

A bit of history about her.
I found her for sale down Kingston Tasmania way in the paper classifieds ( when we used to hunt down bargains once a week when the paper came out!)

She was unregistered but compete as per the pic.
Same wheels and all.
Had a hr front end with drum all round

Towed her back to Hobart (yep I don’t recall tilt trays been that common and that’s kind of how you got a vehicle home that couldn’t on its own)

Problem was a cracked block from 1 to 6
So my dad and I hunted around the mechanics in Hobart for a spare block. 2 days later some guy said ‘yep under the bench there, been sitting there for 20 years’. $20 later and a sack trolly (8 blocks home!) I had 1 Ute and lots of cast iron and was keen to learn.

I was very fortunate that no more than 100 m from where we were living, there was an engine reconditioning shop. The guy there was very helpful and realising I was a student at the time was pretty accomodating on pricing ( I think he had a soft spot for the old greys. )

Turns out between the cracked block engine and the new block, with some machining and checking we transferred the internals across, new rings and bearings, plugs and gaskets we ended up with a grey with a capacity of 143 ci. Yep seems we had some repco sports pistons or such unawares.

Next was getting this Ute from the paddock over the pits.
Well, as it was, the servo across the road from the house did vehicle licensing. (Those that haven’t lived in Hobart, places are a lot closer together!). The mechanic there had watched my rebuild with interest and even dropped over to see how it was going. I got to know him and over the time I ended up with a pretty clear to do list to pass inspection!

Come inspection day, he failed it because it had no exhaust (extractors only). But, as he pointed out, I would now be covered to drive the Ute the 1 km to the bottom of Macquarie st to get the exhaust fitted.

So exhaust fitted, passed no problem.


For those in Hobart you would recall a guy just out of Kingston called channel wreckers. This guy had all things Old Holden FX to HZ. Was a good source for bits and pieces.

Also I recall we lived next to the Holden dealer ‘Motors’. I was even able to source a fair amount of NOS. Rubbers and seals and stuff. The parts guy just wanted them off the shelf, so gave great discounts, and yes even some in the little yellow and blue boxes. (Sorry all, back then they were just boxes that went in the bin).

I drove the Old Girl from then on with the grey, single stromberg, extractors, generator and a 3.36 diff ratio. Toured around Tassie during my time there.

I must have been a pretty cool guy with the Ute because I met my wife who was visiting Hobart, and took her out on our first date in The Old Girl.

Not sure still how much was the Ute or me, so to be sure I have kept the Ute all this time!


More to come.

Black dog

2021
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


2002

What a gem of a story, and a gem of a car Black dog. Has to be Wedgewood Blue?


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

Thanks Gents.

I think these vehicles need their story told. They become a part of our lives and what we do. The amount of people that come up to me at the servo, in the car park or at the lights is a daily frequency. They want to share a connection about having one, or grew up sitting in the back of one, or want one! I am sure most owners have found this being the case.

Hi Clay
Yes it is Wedgewood blue. It got a respray and rust repair project 15 years ago when in Qld. In the old photo it was more of a grey than a blue. Kind of like Tassie sky!
I saw the wedge wood blue on another EK and really liked it. Thought with the chrome and the curves it would work well.
Simple as that.

Hi Tim,
EK3483S on the subframe.
Any insights on ancestry.com for her?

Blackdog.

Looks like the guard spear is on backwards in the earlier pic ??? Sounds a bit like my Overlander, I had it registered in 4 different states during my ownership.

Hi Blacky.

Nothing wrong with your eyes!
Perhaps to cut down wind resistance and go fast.
I looked at the original photo. It’s a grainy photo and a midday sun shadow

Yes very similar
Tassie
Victoria
Qld
Wa

Blackdog

Welcome Blackdog great to hear your story and see another Ute hope to see it at one of our runs.
Regards
Neil

Blackdog wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 10:51 pm For those in Hobart you would recall a guy just out of Kingston called channel wreckers. This guy had all things Old Holden FX to HZ. Was a good source for bits and pieces.

I remember old Ray - similarly, when I was a student I used to make the trip to Kingston with my old man looking for parts for my FC. Ray loved a chat and I don’t recall getting any bargains!

I have had my FC for 20 years and it’s always been registered and located in Tasmania, however I moved to the NT five years ago and will endeavor to get it up there with NT rego one day.

Nice Ute!

Thanks Neil,
That’s the plan, timing and the dynamics of covid have impacted but we will get there.
Looking forward to it.


Ol Girl #58
20 years is a long time. Must be good stories to share.

Yep that’s the guy. A quick ‘duck down to Kingston for a widget’ was a good 3 hour venture. The stories, opinions and politics were all covered in passionate detail. His storage system was known only to him and would be classified as ‘bespoke chaos theory’. I think there was about 5 acres of Holden on about 1 acre!

Bargains? Nah not sure that was a known word in the vocabulary down there! Perhaps he was ahead of his time on these old holden parts things? Not cheap, nor into gouging, but he had what you wanted to keep you running and you made sure it’s what you needed.

I remember asking about something and it was ‘see that blue fj, beside that on the rear passenger seat of the white fc you will find the thing you want’. Unbelievable. An era now past I suspect. Not too many of these characters left.

I encourage you to get the FC up the NT. These old ones seem to last best when driven.

Black dog