Chev 350 running!

Last weekend it was time to start stripping the donor ute, but before we started we decided we should try and run up the 350.

Edward, our intrepid camera man, caught the action and I've included the short video here.

The engine fired up and ran, although it was missing on one cylinder which we think may be a stuffed plug. At some point we will give it a thorough check and assess the health to see if any work needs to be done.

Thanks to Ed for his help in stripping the ute, and to Dave for helping with the pickup and storage.

Donor Ute

Thought I'd share with you some picture of the ute I picked up from Canberra earlier this week.

It has a Chev 350, Turbo 350 Transmission and Ford 9 inch diff. Many of the parts will go into the van (eventually) and the stuff I don't need will be sold off.


A big thanks to Harro for driving up with me in his Pajero to pick up the ute. Diesel power!

Win some, lose some!

Sometimes things don't always pan out the way you expect. As you know, I'm changing the interior colour of the Panel Van to black.

Many items have been done, and it was time to do the visors., however I thought I'd put a vanity mirror in while I was at it. Easy, right? Well, not so easy this time.

I pulled the visor off, and cut the hole - that wasn't so much of a problem. The problem was trying to get a neat finish around the mirror. The old thick vinyl used on the old visors meant that I couldn't fold it to get the sort of finish I was after.



I decided to give up, and look for some replacements. I asked my friends at oldholden.com, and I got lucky. Michael (who lives in Geelong) had a spare pair which would suit - and they are black! I picked them up and fitted them - minus the vanity mirror.

Overall, I think I came out ahead. Thanks Michael!

Van and Ute Gallery

Happy new year everyone! Over the break I did something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and I've put together a Van, Ute and Pickup gallery.

I've uploaded over a thousand picture already, mostly a collection of Holden vans I've picked up from the 'net.

You can check the gallery out at http://gallery.perryr.com

Feel free to register and add your own pictures to the public albums, or your own private album.

edit: Now over 2,000 images on the site. Thanks to those who contributed!

Van Nats 2008

Well, paid the money, and we are off the the 2008 Van Nationals in South Australia over the Easter weekend.


This will be a first for us, and if previous years are anything to go by, there will be some fine machinery on display.

We plan on travelling over with some of the folks from the Western Districts Club (Warrnambool). You've been warned folks!

More details on the Van Nats 2008 can be found here:

http://www.infresments.com.au/VANSw3/index.html

If you are going, look for the yellow van and say hi!

Sunday Drive and Tailgate

Tailgating

Put a new tailgate on the van a couple of weeks ago, and learned something interesting:

When you buy a new ute tailgate (reproduction, made in Taiwan as they all are), you will need to so some modifications to get the tailgate to fit a panel van.

The mods need to be done at the top right corners of the tailgate - the corners need to be cut out to fit into the rear pillars of the van.

Fortunately, I did a trial fitting before I painted the tailgate and everything is cool. Could be a trap for the unwary though.

Now I just need to try and get some shine into the painted tailgate - acrylic out of a can isn't the easiest stuff to work with if you want a nice finish.

Long drive

Last weekend we took the van to Traralgon (about 500k return) and she ran beautifully. That was the good news. The bad news is that my in-laws were moving, and it was payback time for when they helped us move. I'm getting too old for this....

Click on the map to enlarge

There's nothing quite like an old Holden V8 which is running well. Quite a few people waved to us - exactly what does one finger mean? :-)

It was a warm drive, and it reminded me that one of the major projects I have lined up is to put some air conditioning in the van. I've got a second hand unit out of a Statesman, and most of the bits, but it still looks like a big job.

If anyone has any hints, please let me know!

Geelong November Cruise

Took the WB out to play with some friends last night - the November Geelong Cruise at the Showgrounds.


I took quite a few photos, you can see the collection of old holden photos by clicking here.

Leave me a comment if you'd like to see any of the other cars that were there.

The simple things

As part of the interior colour change, I did a small job (about 20 minutes) which makes a big difference. Pinchweld is the stuff which goes around the doors to create a nice finish.


I bought 6 metres of the stuff from a Holden Spares Store on eBay (again!) for about $30. If you are planning on changing your pinchweld, it's best to buy new, as once it's been on the car for a while it retains the shape.

The before and after pictures are shown below.

before (brown)

after (black)

The only other tip I have is that the pinchweld has small metal hoops embedded all the way along - which are used to clamp onto the edge when you push it on. When you cut the pinchweld, it's so much simpler if you cut between the metal hoops!

Also, I used a rubber mallet to ensure that the pinchweld was on tight.

Project: LED Brake light

Installed a new LED high mount brake light today. The unit is from Hella, and fits flush into the top of the tailgate.

The job took about 4 hours, with most of the time spent in cutting and filing the hole in the tailgate.


Full details of the installation can be found in my old holden shed.

Old Holden Meet

Went on a meet and greet today with some people from the oldholden.com site. Great day!