'27 Willy's Salt Racer . . .

Keep your thoughts to yourself. . .Firstly, a look at how the Salt Racer looks now. . .

A quick change of footwear and this is how she looks now. . .

The owner has decided to change the wheels and go for a more 'period correct' look and I reckon he's spot on. This little 'wheelie bin' is sooo friggin cool I reckon we all should be allowed to drive one to school every day. Bloody masterful, but, if you want to comment, ring Hodgey and leave me out of it. When it comes time to drive it, I'm first in the passenger seat!!  Come to think of it, I never get to drive the customer's cars, "What's the go there Hodgey"???

Cliffy's F100 . . .

 Starting up front you can see the open resting place for the bonnet. This would be a really cool way to display the truck at open shows when the public can walk around the rig and also see under the bonnet at the same time . . .

A lot of work goes unnoticed here. The front lip has been removed along with the indicator pods and then rounded. A new panel was then made up to sit below the huge front grill and then a new front bumper was folded to fit snugly between. As I said, a lot of work!

Now down the back we can see the LHS and it sits sooo low and a those big wheels sitting in under those huge rear guards look sensational.

Dave has been busy with the sand paper and spray gun with the subframe and box sections of the tub having been given a good coating followed by the tub itself. Looks absolutely great in flat black. . .maybe a new direction in the paint selection Cliffy???

Driver's side looking forward and this is just more of the great new look and shows that this truck is certainly heading in the right direction. For those of you with the sharp eyes, you will have noticed the '56 USA F100 rear window fitted to the Australian delivered rig. If you don't have sharp eyes, well, now you know. . .dumb arses !!

Danny and Chris' F100 . . .

'D' has been working away in here again and has painted the bottom addition to the dash panel and also started fitting the control system and air vents for the air-conditioning. . .

EH Wagon . . .

This EH wagon is back on the truck to Sydney on Monday morning for a new coat of paint and then she will be returned to be fitted out with the new drive-train that's already sitting here and waiting . . .

Volkswagon Kombi Van . . .

Here's one for the Hippies and 'Tree Hugging Folk'. This Kombi van is in for some serious tin work . . .

The boys are really going to have to put on the thinking caps with this one. The owner wants all the rear windows filled in as well as other structural mods. We'll follow this one and show the mods along the way . . .

HJ Premier . . .

Finally, I have nearly finished the engine bay. Right hand side of motor and you can see the new catch can system that I have made up with must duress and anxiety. . .fuckin thing.

LHS of motor looks just like the right hand side and just as fucking tough . . .

Front view of motor and you can see the custom water feeds running through the TorquePower manifold that then tap into the rear two cylinders that  historically run hotter than the rest of the motor due to poor coolant flow. coolant flows to the rear cylinders but that's where it stops, there is no way for the coolant to return to the radiator and it just sits there getting hotter and hotter. This system allows the coolant to return to the radiator to be cooled and returned to the cycle . .

Cliff's F100 . . .

Andrew and Dave have spent considerable time on fitting the new forward opening bonnet. A new kit supplied by CPP for the F100 is a lovely piece of machinery but required considerable tinkering with the front guards that have been supplied and had to be fitted to the front end. . .

To open the bonnet you pull it forward and then up and open, a supplied stay supports the weight of the huge bonnet while it is resting in the open position . . .

When the bonnet is returned to the closed position a set of rollers (supplied with kit) fitted to the bonnet rest on these chrome plated brackets and then roll backwards and then down to secure the bonnet in its closed position. A truly masterful and carefully thought out system.

Sorry Folks . . .

It seems as if all I do recently is apologise to you good folks for not keeping you up to date with all the comings and goings of 'The Shed'. It's like its own little community in there and everyone pops in for a sticky beak to keep up with all the gossip, why just this morning Hodgey said that he dropped into the roadhouse on the way back from Melbourne last night and four different groups of people came up to say gidday and "What's happening in the shed?' Anyway, back to my apology. All I can say is "Fucken doctors, yep Fucken doctors." Hooroo until tomorrow. . .

Danny's F100 . . .

Front end is off and the 'set-up' motor is back out, this girl is on her way back to Melbourne to have her new drive-train fitted. Yep, brand new motor, gearbox and tail-shaft to be fitted before we expect to see her back for final fitment, can't wait. BTW Dave still has to return the front end to its rightful position and rehang the doors before she gets shipped out. It would be a bit breezy up her skirts on the trip back to the big smoke otherwise. . .

Woody's Wagon . . .

That's a big motor sitting in that gap and the size of the gap makes the motor look small. I've said before that this wagon is one huge ride, it'll look fantastic once she's out on the road. She's out on the road? Of course, all our cars are girls! Dave spent a bit of time on this one today working out how to mount the alternator to match into the wiring loom. . .

Apology . . .

Sorry guys that you didn't get any high quality, glossy prints or updates to look at and read towards the end of last week. Thursday  was due to medical problems and Friday, my camera decided to carry out a 'two-button reset' when I turned it on to down load the pics. Anyone with a digital camera will know that when the camera is set to do a reset the first thing that goes are any stored images on the SD card.
Anyway, a quick update see's Hodgey working flat out to clear out a problematic piece of work that is caught between the Engineer and ANDRA. Dave is working on Woody's wagon and 'D' is off on another journey to 'Pixieland'. Meanwhile, we have two cars out at the painters, Cliff's F100 due to return to Melbourne for its motor and gearbox and the boys are also trying to throw as much time and as many parts into Brad's '29 Model A Tudor that's up for sale. . .For any of you who may be interested, even slightly, MRI scans over the last few weeks have proven that I do have a working brain and a very sturdy spine that is not of yellow coloration. I've got the proof, have you???

'54 Ford F100 . . .

Another one of Phil Taranto's collection has been in residence for a couple of days while the boys carried out some suspension work on her Lovely looking truck . . .

Woody's Wagon . . .

High up on the hoist, Woody's Wagon looks beautiful but geez look how long it is. . .what a beast?

Talking about beasts, here is Dave up to his neck in the belly of that beast. Dave is busy making up some custom engine mounts for the big Mopar. . 

What size Mopar? Well this is the 'Pony-train' that's about to be inserted into the beast as soon as Dave has finished the mounts. How many ponies, too many for my right foot! I'd be shitting myself if I was in the passenger seat and Woody let this bastard loose!

Cliff's F100 . . .

'D' working hard at the front end of Cliff's F100. Apart from some rust repairs, 'D' also had to remove the hinges and fill the holes, this beast is going to have a forward opening bonnet . . .

Just a quick little snap shot to show the rust repairs and the area from which the hinges were removed. . .

If you look carefully at the area just in front of the bonnet, you will see that the old air flap has been hard welded into place and a gap of approx 1cm has been left in its place. This will still allow cool air into the cabim when required . . .

Woody's Wagon . . .

Maximum bang for your buck, Woody has got the paperwork to show this beast is cranking out over the 500HP mark @ 5500rpm. Yippee!

Now if you haven't met this pair before, one's name is Stanley and the other's name is Oliver, that's right Oliver and Hardy. One's got his hand half way inside the guts of Woody's new gearbox while the other bloke is reading the instructions. Good luck on this one Woody. . .

'56 Ford Customline . . .

After a quick phone call Hodgey nnounced that another job was on its way in and sure enough here's all the parts that have been fully restored and repacked ready for installation. . .

More and more, the pile never ends, but there's plenty more to come. . .

Here she is in all her newly painted glory. Something about the old Customlines, they just look cool . . .

Front view shows there's still plenty of work to be carried out before the car is even close to being ready for the road . . .