100 Miles travelled This Week

Gidday

This morning my son Codi and I installed a new simple freestanding sign for a church in Moe, but I made a little spelling error, Buggar!!, which I found out about when I got back to the workshop so I decided there and then to correct it asap, so I jumped in the old Chevy for its first official "on site job" and proceeded to then racked up a further 30 miles bringing the weekly total to 100miles travelled and btw it very much hates a strong head wind but is purring along lovely just the same.

SUNDAY

Pulled into the servo to fuel up the ole Chevy today after another 27 miles and once again weird looks and stares from fellow motorists, with people bee-lining straight over for a chat and a closer look which is a little funny as they fire questions at you, "What is it?", "How old in it?", "Hope ya heaters working mate", "Where'd ya get that from" and "How fast it go", I have a laugh and throw back some curly responses as I fill up the tank and walk in to pay for the fuel, then the attendant starts asking more as I pay.... But today as I came outside, to rug back up and jump in, there are 3 more people with cameras hovering around clicking away and the questions start over again. Soon I am on my way and off the down highway and headed to Yarragon for a run and by 12.40 the latte brigade are out in full swing and all logoed up as I pull into a only spot left in the busy street right outside the pub and when I returned from the cafe it was on for young n old, I just had to stand back and have a laugh as I watched peoples faces looking at Monty and this is when all the hard work from the resto is worth it as old cars like this should be out on the roads for all to see again and I said to dad under my breath "What have we done pop".... I soon walked over to jump in after a minute or two and this lady came out from the pub with her young son as I hit the startor button as they wanted to sit in it and get a photo which they did as I stood to the side and then they went off happy. - It's all just a little silly folks, its just a bloody old rusty car. Cheers

127 Miles travelled now..

Fowler Sign Company

Gidday,

After driving Monty around for the last few days and witnessing first hand the amount of attention it creates out in the traffic and basically everywhere I go, bloody ridiculous really, I sat down today beside the wood heater in our signshop with the two front doors and quickly hand-painted in flat black enamel paint some very old washed out looking signs then rubbed then back a little with a very mild scouring pad, the effect looks fantastic and it is now our official promo vehicle on weekends.....

Oh and please don't ask about the two different coloured doors, thats just how they came and will stay :)

Cheers Grant

Resto: New Clutch Installed

Gidday,

Well we don't muck about around here and come 8.30am Ray and I find ourselves standing in the resto shed for another Sunday morning working bee on Monty, make that another cold windy Sunday morning which Gippsland has kindly turned on for us again.
Like I mentioned in the previous post, yesterday while out on my first official "test" drive the clutch decided to stop working altogether without any warning to me, although I suspect there were some small warnings but I was untrained to notice these, but not any more after discussing this with Ray, but the clutch literally just through in the towel.

So now on this windy cold Sunday morning, we both stand there chatting and begin weighing up our options for the hours ahead as the clutch and gearbox are to come out, cleaned up, repaired and re-installed by 5pm..... so we begin.

With the floor timbers removed we begin to dismantle parts like brake linkages, leads, many nuts and bolt from this and that and with Ray calling the shots while busily working from one side for the car, I follow them from the other, all the while watching and learning as we go and once again his years of knowledge with 1928 Chevrolet"s and technical advice comes into it own on a jobs like this as we soon get into a groovy and making great time....

The tail-shaft is next unbolted and pulled back and few inches then raised up and sat into a position to give us enough room to unbolt and pull the completed gearbox, cross member and clutch cover back all in one go... 

With the gearbox, cross-member, and clutch cover now moved back and lowered down onto the padded trolley we could now get into the clutch housing and have a look about, but first we located the gearbox up onto the workbench so that I could get to cleaning up some parts..

While Ray was inspecting the damage to various parts, I got to cleaning out the inside of the clutch cover, which once again as with everything on this old car when pulled apart is covered in crud and dirty black greasy shit

Below is after a quick clean and soaking with degreaser, so next I used the air compressor attachment with a small wire bush attached, it came up really clean and nice and with a quick inspection and once over by Ray it was ready to be re-installed back on.

Now's a good time for a hot cuppa around 11ish and we're making good time.

With that all cleaned and ready to go it was now back to the car, and get a look at all the reddish fine dust inside and covering the flywheel, time for another clean up by the look of this.

After some compressed air and a good going over with the wire wheel which works a treat, we soon had the new clutch plate installed and ready to be all bolted back together.

We had it all installed and back together by 3.30pm which was the time when Ray headed off down the driveway and up the street for a good test drive, I then stayed back and started to clean up the shed, pack all the tools away and sweep up the floor and it wasn't to long before Ray came driving back in with a smile on his face and declared that Monty was now fixed and ready for the road once more.......

Listed below are the items that needed attention as list by Ray.

Replace the clutch plate.

Replace the carbon thrust washer.

Retighten all casing bolts, one of which had come loosen and allowed the actuating lever to mover and ream out the carbon thrust washer.

Very sparingly lube a very dry spigot bushing.

Clean up both the pressure plate and flywheel surfaces.


As always Ray I cannot thank you enough to your help, each time you having to travel out from Melbourne for the day which is a 3 hour round trip in itself... I've said it before and I will always be letting you know mate, that your help is very much appreciated... Cheers

BTW here is quick video of how to finish off polishing the Flywheel, it's not the safest but it certainly is the quickest.

Unregistered Vehicle Permit

G'idday,

With the wet weather holding off but still very overcast I quickly had breakfast washed down and I was out the door on this gloomy Saturday with the unregistered vehicle permit in my hand and I was headed right for the resto shed.

With a few tools thrown in the back it was time to give ole Monty a bloody good test drive and sort out the bugs if there were any to sort out.
First stop was the local servo for a fresh tank of fuel and the first full one in quite some years and by now I was starting to worry a little at the amount of WTF looks it was attracting as we sat in amoungst the modern vehicles.

I now had one destination in my mind so it was onto the main Princes Hwy, where we headed east as we made our way out of town for the shortish drive up to the cemetry on top of the hill.....

Then it was back down through Trafalgar where I quickly called into Mums house for a chat and showed her the Chevy again as she likes to keep up to date with the resto and then I was onto the touristy township of Yarragon before the crazy weekend traffic arrive where I parked Monty in the main street, grabbed myself a hot coffee and by this stage I was grinning from ear to ear...
As I sat across the road enjoying the cuppa I was a little taken back by the amount of people that would slowly cross the street a wander over and have a good look at Monty as he quietly went about his business of pissing hot water onto the road from the radiator overflow outlet as you can see in the photo...... Love it :)

With the windscreen coming a little loose on the way home and me having covered 20 miles already I quickly headed for the resto shed where some running repairs were sorted and then I was off again.
In total I had covered 48 miles before my day came to a sudden stop, I pulled up at a corner and went to take off and nothing happened, I had no clutch at all, I could dump the clutch in 1st gear and not move anywhere..... BUGGER and 12kms from home.

I give Ray a call from the side of the road and I am soon told that "You ain't go'in anywhere sunshine, Ya done a clutch"........Hmmmmmm SHIT!

I quickly give a mate a call who lives around the corner and within 20 minutes I am sailing down the road under tow behind his V8 Jeep and we headed straight for the resto shed.
Once home I ring Ray back and have a chat about it and run through what and now the car was travelling up to the point of nothing.....
Ray tells me that he has all the spare parts to replace the clutch, "what doesn't that bloke have in his spares shed" and so now it is planned for a another good Sunday in the resto shed tomorrow.

So looking back on the test drive, yes the motor goes very well, starts great, will sit on 45 -50 mph easily, the brakes are good and getting better, even though it was a cold 10c degree overcast day, I had on my good BMW motorcycle riding jacket, beanie, and gloves and it was fine in behind the windscreen but it did not rain and that would be a different story

I keep you posted.........

Resto: Let There Be Light

Gidday,

"Let There Be Light".......

Well indicators, tail light and brake light to begin with, headlights, cowl and dash lights are to come.

Yes today which being our traditional Sunday working bee day on the Chev, Ray and I installed the indicators, taillight and brake light, well mainly Ray done the bulk of the work as electrics and myself are not a good combination as I hate the stuff .
We ran all the wires as old Monty had never had indicators fitted before in its life so it was a little fun and time comsuming job, 7 hours in fact to lay it all out and thread it all around, over, under and through all the tightest of places but in the end we have it all working great and the little "Hella" amber lights look neat and will also provide some much needed safety when out in the fast moving traffic once we are registered and all set to go...

Hmmm, there's an orange wire left over...

The small "Hella" lights below really suit the era of the car

One working nice and bright brake and taillight

Quick video below of our days work....

Many thanks once again Ray, your help and knowledge around these old vehicle is priceless.

Another Year Passes.........

12/02/1939 - 14/06/2010

"Dad, when you became a memory, that memory became a treasure.......

I knew it would happen.... and it did

Gidday,

The weekend just past meant something a little special to me as it marked 12 months to the day that Ray and I dismantled Monty to begin this restoration that you have been following, so it was only fitting that I take Monty out for its first "serious" test drive of approx 7 miles round trip to my uncles (dads brother) and back and yes they were all driven on no traffic country dirt roads and the old Chev went very well and did not miss a beat as we cruised along at 35 - 45 mph.....

Yes I still have quite a few little jobs to finish off and tidy up here and there but it is very drivable and travels along well even on the dirt roads, considering I was just sitting on my rolled up camping swag as there is no "plush" interior installed besides all the bare timbers and seat frame that I made, I could of kept driving it all day with the warm sun on my back....

Anyway I had fun, it was a real confidence booster in terms of Monty's reliability and something that I just had to do, I had no back up for a tow home or my trusty mechanic Mr Ray Dean riding shot gun if the shit hit the fan which I knew it wouldn't at the end of the day..... I just go that feeling about this old car :)

I now have the Hella indicators and wiring ready to go so that will be the next thing to install when we have a Sunday in the resto shed soon, also I have the 6 volt windscreen wiper motor pulled apart so I am working on repairing that or sourcing another "used looking" one, I have my feelers out :)

In 12months We Went From This to This

Gidday,

One year ago today, my friend Ray Dean and I dismantled all the body panels off the old chevy to reveal the tired looking running gear and chassis covered in 83yrs worth of mud, grease and oil.... When Ray left that sunday afternoon to head back to Melbourne I sat on the back step of our house just staring at the mess and work that I had created, the stack of panels, the rotten timber sections and thinking WTF have I done and how the hell am I going to get this car back together again... I had allowed in my mind when we started this resto that it would take 3, maybe 4 years to complete if we just keep chipping away at it on weekends, Oh how wrong was I....

Yep in 12 months we went from this photo below, to the last photo....But it looks the same after all that work I hear you ? Well yes it does but everything in between was cleaned, replaced, repaired, renewed, you name it, it was done and it was done right....... Brakes, seals, bushes, bearings, fuel lines, wiring, leads, belts,  timbers, nut and bolts etc etc etc.

Next is the interior and hood...... Hmmmmmm should be interesting..