HJ Prem . . .

 Bruce's x-mas present, right on time. . .

Full wiring loom for the HJ from Summit . . .

Am I ever going to see your face again. . .

Is it true? Has Hodgeys Mercury decided to leave and take up residence in another's shed?

HJ Prem . . .

Twin Ford AU fans for the HJ front end will assist in keeping the new motor's temper under control. . . we hope?

Ranchero. . .

 Dylan has jumped in, boots and all, with the mods for the Ranchero. Keen to get an early new year start on this one 'D' has tacked in the new floor panels that he made up himself and even strengthened with swage lines, good work 'D'. . .

As you can see, there's gonna be a fair bit of metalwork needed in the back of the old ute. The huge space under the floor at the rear of the cabin is going to provide some excellent storage space to place quite a few 'out of the way' items, so a huge bonus . . .

FE Holden: New day, new direction . . .

Vic Roads has closed its engineering/rego dep't for x-mas, so no rego's until the new year. This means that the FE is now going onto 'H' Plates for a while and all the uneccesary parts are coming back off, talk about a pain in the arse, but what you come to expect from VicRoads . . .

FE Holden . . .

Not what you expect from a big dollar transmission, this appears to be the first release of the new T700R 2speed. someone forgot to hook up the 3 & 4 gears by the look of things. Not to worry, the boy's don't seem to be doing much these days but chasing faults for people trying to get their cars regoed for road duty. Might be simpler if people planned the process from the start?

What next? . . .

Looks like it's gonna be one of 'those' weeks in the shed. Johnny's havin a real shit-fight with his trike at the moment with a constant flow of gremlins pissin him off. At the moment it is constantly overheating and not running right. . .

FE Holden . . .

Don't blame me if there's been no updates recently, it's all because of this monster. There is, and always will be, a hell of a difference between 'H' plates and full rego. This one is going for full rego and has been kicked all over the oval by the engineer. First hurdle is an exemption for the 350 motor due to power to weight ratio. This requires a weigh bridge certificate and dyno forms as well as the engineer's approval. . .

After fitting all new seat belts, the engineer didn't like the mounting point beiing too weak and flexing during a rapid stop. Subsequently the boys had to make new mounts that carried all the way through to the wheel tub. Try doing that and keep both the engineer and show judges happy.
But as usual, the boys have exceeded both requirements with flair . . .

HJ Prem . . .

 After installing and removing about 15 sets of rear springs, we have finally reached the right ride height for the HJ. Sitting low and mean and still plenty of room for the engineer to work with and not low enough to worry the usual attention seeking Highway Patrol. . .

It might look a long way from being finished. . .you're right! hehehe, but it had to be set up properly underneath befre going anywhere else. . .

New Tray . . .

Things don't stay the same around here for long, except if your a HJ Prem? But as you can see this new tray is nearing completion in the fabrication stage. Dylan is now finishing up the lengthy task of stitch welding all the tray plates to the sub-frame. Hodgey has just ducked out for a few litres of etch primer and the next time that you see a pic of this tray it will be all spruced up and painted . . .

'55 Mercury . . .

Vastly different pic from yesterday's, the front end has been completely removed leaving only the front section of the chassis mounted in place on the rack ready to be welded and blocked in. . .

Bert's Drifter . . .

 Window selection time for Bert and his modified Drifter. This style fills the opening completely from side to side and the factory black shading on the glass will cover the frame surrounds . . .

 This time the glass sits in the middle and will be surrounded by metalwork. Note that on both styles there will be a rear mounted wiper and stop light mounted in the metal work above the door . . .

The big boy showing off his newly made up rear door for the Drifter. The door opens upwards and the glass panel will open up seperate from the main tail gate . . .

Your choice Bert . . .

'55 Mercury . . .

Andrew and Dave have fitted up the front panels to line up the chassis and body together so that they can fit the new front end. The boys have been doing it the old fashioned way with string lines and cross-over measurements going in all directions to make sure that the front end is perfectly centred before the Migs are fired up and the welding begins . . .

New Tray . . .

The boys taking a light-hearted approach to installing a new tray onto this old tow vehicle. It's now being set up to carry plaster sheets for its new owner . . .

Bert's Drifter . . .

 Bert has certainly come up with a radical plan for his Drifter. Hodgey has been busy making up the framework for the new one piece rear door with seperate glass opening.

 This close-up shows the new door frame and the depth of the actual design necessary to accomplish the requirements of the owner . . .

Hodgey holding the new tail-gate door-skin in place. Skin was moulded by Wayne Walsh who did a superb job as per usual. Hodgey now has to make up the rear glass that will open seperate to the door and also has to mould in stop light and wiper mount as well as latch for opening. This is going to be one special piece of glass. . .

Johnny's 'Shoebox' . . .

This is Johnny's pride and joy and has just been in for a new fuel tank and guage, new from back to front it's now possible to know how much petrol is in the tank. Beautiful example of the classic Chev . . .

'55 FE Holden . . .

TUFFFE is all finished and just waiting on the Engineer's arrival to sign off on all the work and then it's back to its owner . . .

Show duties or highway miles, it's your decision, this baby is ready for both and will handle the highway like a maniac. It's already proven itself on the show circuit . . .

'32 Ford Roadster . . .

 This is one that the boy's created 3years ago and it's in for a new starter motor. . .

350 chev stroked to 383 and running a supercharger from The Blower Shop and twin carbies, handles beautifully . . .

'48 Buick Sedanet . . .

Big and brown '48 Buick. This one belongs to Marcus from Tiki Beat fame and has been laying around for a while awaiting parts and final fitment. Well time has come and the boys have got it nearly ready for the road, motor was started today for the first time in 10years today. After a bit of a clean-up the big old motor roared into life and ticked over like a clunky old clock, but she now runs and runs well . . .