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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Timber Spoked Wheels Arrived..

Gidday,

I couple of months back I brought two 1920s timber spoke wheels with rims and a matching front axle to go under my trailer that I will tow behind the Chevy to car shows and local swap meets, well yesterday they arrived on the back of a truck from central NSW so now I can finish off my old rustic looking wooden trailer with a new timber floor and some 6 volt lights, no hurry but it will happen!

Many thanks once again to Charlie in Dubbo for his help, it was very much appreciated



Sunday, October 20, 2013

Some Photo Effects Of The 1928 Chevrolet


Gidday,

A few photos with some "old time" effects added..





1928 Chevrolet at Flinders Street Station Melbourne

Gidday,

After our morning race down the Princes Hwy, dualling and pushing our two Chevys along at a cracking pace (mind you the judges decision has still yet to be finalised in regards to speedometer accuracy with either participating automobile) while getting the crap beaten out of us by a vicious northwesterly head on/side gale, we soon approached the point on the Monash Fwy for Ray to exit off to the left and head out to his home via the EastLink Fwy, so very quietly and gleaming as always without a speck of dust on it to be see anywhere, I watched the Red chev fade off into the distance and head down under the Fwy ramp, cheers Ray was good fun mate!

Here is a link to some more pix and info from Rays Chev blog, always a good read..
http://my28chev.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/monty-and-red-chev-out-cruzin.html

Ok so I was now headed towards the city of Melbourne, about 25 kms out from the CBD and flying along the 5 laned Monash Fwy with the sunshine on my back and wind in my hair while making a beeline for my brothers place in Malvern, the traffic was busy being around 10.30 Sunday morning but as usual they were polite, they kept their distance and no tailgating, plus  I have yet still to find a grumpy "bird giving" city driver if I have been a little slow along the road.


I roll up onto the front grass nature strip and pull up outside of my brothers place, I park here so as to hide the evidence of the excessive dripping oil so that no marks are left on the leafy suburban driveway, greetings and the normal friendly bullshit and banter are soon exchanged with all the family and shortly afterwards we are both back in the Chevy and headed into the CDB for I have always wanted a photo of our old Chev outside the front of Melbourne's iconic landmark building, the Flinders Street Station and after running it past Stuart he was up for it and it was perfect weather also.

Before we got there we had a slight hiccup at a busy intersection while waiting for the green arrow, directly opposite Albert Park Lake, bloody Monty just stopped, no warning but for the over powering smell of petrol, I jumped out and ran around to flip up the hood and sure enough the carby was pissing fuel, ole Monty was flooded, first time in 2500 miles that he had let me down.
I switched off the main fuel tap on the vac tank and when the arrow turned green we pushed it thru the intersection and over along side the kerb, ya gotta love lightweight old vehicles, the carby bowl was quickly unscrewed and emptied, the carby and float given a few taps and then all assembled and tightened within a minute or two, no tools just hands and yes he fired right up and we were on our way sailing down leafy, beautiful St Kilda road soon after, mind you my hands stunk of petrol..


Is smooth sailing in this city traffic


Now we had to briefly plan and then time this tactical photo shoot at the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets in Melbourne because you only get one chance at it for it is a long drive back around again so with stealth like precision I pushed Stuart out the passengers door and told him to run along to the stations opposite corner as I slowly made my way up towards the station, stalling the traffic a little and then I had to quietly lurked in and around the busy taxi rank for a minute, making out the car had broken down ( I pulled the main kill switch and then sat there winding the engine over a couple of quick times with a concerned look my face, all the while watching the traffic lights ahead and also looking to see if  Stuart was his spot)...


The lights turned green and surprisingly this time Monty now fired straight up :) taking a few tourists who had stepped out onto the road for a closer look by surprise also,  I held the cars back a little and then rolled down towards the intersection and very slowly went around the corner under the famous row of clocks.. PERFECT TIMING!!..... Stuart quickly rings, "flip and u-turn and come back up flinders and through the intersection, then park outside the church",  HHmmm how many law breaking maneuvers can Monty perform in one afternoon was my thinking to be honest? but ok, here goes, so a u-turn I did, mind you right in front of a tram as the driver waved and smiled and without any warning ding dings so I was now sitting outside the famous "Young & Jackson" hotel.




 Again the lights went green and I was soon through the intersection and sitting outside the large Cathedral at the busiest corner in Melbourne with my brother snapping away with the camera, we got what we came for so thanks for that, its was good fun and you got some great shots Stuart, Cheers mate







Again perfect timing with the old W Class tram passing at the same time although that bloody red bus should not have been there,




Our next stop was the Melbourne Cricket Ground or MCG to which I have still yet to step foot inside and watch a game of anything, I'm just not that sporting type but one day I would love to see inside this complex.





With darkening and threatening clouds above plus a very good warm strong tail wind to push me along a little quicker we decided to head back to Malvern where I dropped off Stuart at his home, said goodbye to his family, wisely filled up my water drinking bottle then made the short inner suburban street trip down onto the Monash Freeway and this time heading back home to Gippsland with 120kms to travel.

I stopped at the large road side service centre at Officer South for fuel and a sandwich and by now the dark clouds had thinned out, it was hotter than in the city out here but now the wind was stronger which made for good driving but it was bloody hot, so hot that next time I plan on removing the two front doors to allow for the heat around my feet from the engine for escape quickly, highly illegal but who would notice.

On existing the centre with my lunch in hand, again Monty was surrounded by on lookers taking the odd photo and leaning over the doors for a look inside, I sat back and ate my lunch quietly with a little grin on my face..



255 kms was travelled for the day and apart from the small fuel blockage the Chevy went very well cruising along at a comfortable 45 - 50 mph




Cheers
Grant






1928 Chevrolets - Monty and the Red Chev run to Melbourne

Gidday

Yes I had a run down the Princes Hwy towards Melbourne with Ray in his Chevy on this hot windy Sunday, much fun testing speeds and trying out the cars side by side on hills etc, have a read and more photos on the link below, a great few hours Ray and that car of yours goes extremely well and pulls away on the hills from mine surprisingly well, slightly jealous I am!

My 1928 Chevrolet: Monty and the Red Chev out Cruzin: Met up with Grant Fowler and Monty at Longwarry this morning for a breakfast run back to Melb...



Friday, October 18, 2013

Another Chicago 1928 Chevrolet made contact

Gidday,

Contact was made again today from around the other side of the globe via an email from another 28 Chevy enthusiast over in the USA and again from the city of Chicago.
Ryan finished his restoration about 12 months ago he said in his email, he has entered it in a few local car shows and won prizes for his efforts.

I love the look of the hard top sedans and this one is no different, you've done a great job Ryan.

Cheers Grant






Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Filling Stations - featured customer vehicle

Gidday,

We made it onto the front pages of "The Filling Stations" newsletter under the heading "featured customer vehicle" over in the USA for October 2013 - they are a major supplier stocking over 23,000 different reproduction parts for 1916 - 1964 Chevrolet passenger cars and 1918 - 1987 Chevrolet and GMC Trucks and I can say that old Monty has a few bits and pieces hanging of him that came from over there.

Many thanks to Max from The Filling Station for the initial contact and write up about our 28 Chev.

Cheers Grant




http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Vintage-Chevrolet-Parts-Newsletter-from-The-Filling-Station.html?soid=1106246342643&aid=0W7hRgfD-fg


Saturday, October 12, 2013

Gippsland Car Club Breakfast Meet

Gidday,

The Chevy's parked in the driveway all polished up with its rusty, patina covered paintwork throwing off a nice dull glow all in readiness for the "Gippsland Sporting and Classic Car Club's" breakfast gathering in Warragul this morning, hopefully timed perfectly before the skies open up and the heavens do piss down upon me from above as forewarned by the weather presenter. 

Is always on the lookout for more patina fanciers of older vehicles, not hot rods, not rat rods, just older genuine "barn find" type vehicles which always proves difficult, but they are around the area.Enjoy your Sunday morning.

Update:

Well what a good gathering that was, a nice early meet 8am -10am with a variety of sports and classic cars and also a great bunch of friendly blokes as well with a few of them that I knew through my work over the years, not to sure where the term "classic" starts in years but I was made to feel very welcome indeed when I rolled up in the old Chevy and the usual amount of interest, curiosity and questions that Monty attracts was present once again, anyway after a coffee and a meander around the collection of fine highly polished and maintained automobiles I was on my leisurely way home again just in front of the black lurking clouds which btw I bet but only just... Enjoyable








OCTOBER BREAKFAST CLUB – Warragul CBD, Sunday 13th Oct.


http://sportingregister.org.au/?p=788




Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Chevy Driveway Bound

Gidday

The Chevy only made it down the driveway last Sunday, no it had not and did not break down! it was just that the lawns needed mowing and other yard duties were calling me and then one thing lead to another, you know the deal.So hopefully this Sunday will be a different story out Lardner Park way..