My 53 Holden Project

At The Bright Rod Run

2011-11-21T01:33:00.000+11:00

Getting ready for the go to whoa

2010-08-08T23:01:00.005+10:00

Went to Heathcote Drags on the weekend
First time over the quarter mile
In the lineup waiting to pre-stage

First time at the drags

2010-02-18T00:16:00.007+11:00

Went to the Ballarat 1/8 mile Drags on the weekend
Had a ball ran 8.76 @ 85.3 miles an hour

Now for some fun

2009-09-10T20:37:00.002+10:00

Well it's finally happened I've got my club plates
Now its time for some serious fun

Getting club plates

2009-09-06T23:09:00.003+10:00

It has always been my intention to apply for club rego
Now that I can drive the car I have had the front end aligned
and have a permit to drive an unregistered vehicle so I can
take it down to get a brake safety test and an exhaust test
These are all I need to apply for club plates. Then its off to
the ASRF rep in Victoria for an inspection and hopefully
the new plates.
Took the car out for a test drive today to make sure
it was all ok and to take some video (thanks to my son)
Every thing went well so tomorrow its the brake test
Fingers crossed.......

Tune up & New Paint Job

2009-08-22T08:34:00.004+10:00

Took the car to a friend for a tune up, had to get
the distributor recurved, and a new coil.
So I decided to leave the car their.
We started discussing the paint job
He made me an offer to do it that
I couldn't refuse.
So here it is finished

Now the paint job

2009-08-08T19:53:00.002+10:00

After a couple of attempts the demisters are now working
I'm using a 12 volt electric heater and plastic tubing
to connect to the ducts.
It's hard to believe all the conversion is finished.
Now it's just the painting.
I'm going to paint it flat black all over like the front
guards and bonnet

The Demisters

2009-07-26T19:43:00.005+10:00

Its been two weeks now since I replaced the chrome oil pan
on the transmission and not a drop of oil underneath, so
thank goodness that's done I hate oily patches on the floor

The next thing on the list is demister vents (cant get rego
without them) so after much indecision on what type to use
I decided to make them myself. I cut them out of a
piece of aluminium and My Son-in-law machined the slot
down the middle, I think they look pretty good.

finishing touches

2009-07-05T21:48:00.003+10:00

Picked up a set of wheel centres and some chrome nuts
this week, sets the wheels off nicely. So the car is pretty much
finished now just one annoying oil leak to fix,
I'm going to replace the chrome transmission pan
with a cast aluminium one that should do it.
Then its ready for the road

Windscreen Washers

2009-06-21T22:59:00.003+10:00

This weekend I finished wiring up the gauges
and connected the windscreen washers
Then we took the car out for another test run
There's still a few little annoying things to do
The exhaust is hitting the back bumper bar
The brake pedal return spring is not strong enough
and one of the exhaust flanges is leaking
so next Saturday we'll fix them and try again

First drive

2009-06-07T21:03:00.002+10:00

Took the car out for the first time today just up and down the street
to check everything out. still a few things to finish but I couldn't wait
any longer.

The Battery

2009-05-17T19:29:00.004+10:00

There simply isn't enough room in the engine bay
for the battery, it has to go in the boot.
I wasn't sure how we were going to run the cable
from the boot to the starter motor.
I didn't want it inside the car, and under the floor
there's a lot going on, I kept putting it off so I
could get my head around it.
Now that its done I don't know what all the fuss
was about.

The Interior II

2009-05-03T21:08:00.003+10:00

Finished installing the shifter this weekend
and put the seats back in
Still a bit of tidying up to do with the wiring
but it wont be long now.

The Story So Far

2009-04-27T18:54:00.002+10:00

Because all the previous posts have been deleted
Here is a brief video of the project so far

The Interior

2009-04-26T20:26:00.003+10:00

Now that the wiring is almost finished I started on the interior today.
Fitted the retractable seat belts and put the back seat back in,
as far as I know its still in original condition, not bad for 55 years
the carpet is half in, the front is not finished there's a bit more to
do shaping it over the transmission hump. Time ran out today
so I'll have to finish it next weekend

New Blog

2009-04-18T22:46:00.000+10:00

Here is the new blog address for my on-going project
(accidentally deleted the old one)

Still working on the wiring. Connected the shifter
the thermo fan and the gauges
The engine bay is finished so today we put the
grill back in. I haven't touched it since I took it
out I want to keep that old look.
And then when you open the bonnet . . . . .