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Bumper C ristmas Issue
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The Magazine ofthe
Constructors Car Club Inc
On th Cover:
30 Club Images
December 1997
Issue 11 Volume 10
In This Issue
Coming Events
Meeting Minutes - Nov 97
Letter to the Editor
New Members
Tul Saker Profile
10 Best Tools of all Time
My Christmas Present
President's Report
Henry's Affordable Christmas
Members' Cars
The Zev that Nev built
Of Fords and Other Beasts
November Mystery Car
Concrete Roads
The Link Rally
Kit CarsPhoto Tour
If You Have an Itch - Part 7
for all mechanical engineering
172 Eastern HuH Road
Ph 5676 652
(opposite Taita Station)
Brake & Chassis Specialists
Custom ... made Radiators & Repairs
Custom Part Manufacturers
Alloy & Steel Welding
Drive Shaft Balancing
Exhausts
Steering Systems
Engine & Gearbox Conversions
all other Engineering Work
Mag Correspondence to:
Editor Alan Stott
Ph & Fax: (04) 528 7203
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Well is there a Santa Claus
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Club Information
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Village Veterans Rally
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Tri Via Dec 97
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Widgets, Fidgets and 250Fs .......
Monthly Quiz car
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The True Cost of Building
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For Sale
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More from a Car Widow
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Scorpios Year
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A Brief Foray into Competition ......
Indoor Grand Prix Results
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Batteries for Vehicles
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Ramblings of Barstool
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Coast to Coast MkIII
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Who's Who December 1997 .......
WWII Military Vehicles
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Club Correspondence to:
The Secretary
Constructors Car Club
Box 45-064
Epuni, Lower Hutt
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Typesetting, graphics and
printing by:
NSServices
Silverstream, Upper Hutt
Ph 8/.. Fax: (04) 528-5056
e-mail:[email protected]
Coming Events
Constructors Car Club Meeting Minutes - November '97
Monday 22 February Event
Tuesdav 9 December Club Night
A big night tonight. Last club night of 1997 The battle at Battle Hill. Yes thanks to our John
and first club night in our new rooms. CCC Bell the very popular grass gymkhana is on
Awards night plus not one but two speakers. again at Battle Hill on the Paekakariki Hill
Road. It's family fun for all. If you've never tried
Mr Ron Vink a specialist in lubricants is here it put a ring around Sunday 22 Feb and be
to give us the good oil (Oops!) on this there. You'll love it. More details in the
important subject. And Mr Mike Tarrant who February mag.
has imported a number of exotic automobiles
from the United Kingdom (Not a
Saturday- Sunday 28 Feb - 1 March Event
straightforward task) is here also to give us
"Janet's Jaunt", the mystery weekend devised
the good oil on this mysterious subject.
and rune by ace organiser Janet Robinson. If
Sit back - it'll be a good one.
you're not yet in you are probably running a
little late, but get on the phone now and plead.
Tuesday 10 February Club Night.
Skite Nite.
This is the night to show off. Bring along your
club car, finished or not, driven or trailered.
Show your mates how it looks or how it's
getting on, and for those who haven't started
putting it together yet, bring the plans or a
model. Don't worry about big John bringing
along the Mandermobile, there is still plenty
of room left for you.
Guilt-edged motoring pleasure is certain (or
so the rumour goes!) (Mysterious Eh!)
Next Committee Meeting
At Dave and Sandra Bray's House
2 Findhorn Street
Papakowhai
7.30pm Tuesday 27 January 1998.
FROM MARGARET PRIEST:
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CAN SOMEONE HELP ME. A CAR SHOWROOM ON
CAMBRIDGE TCE. IS SELLING A GRIFFITH 500 - - - PLEASE CAN SOMEONE GO
AND BUY IT!! ANDREW IS DRIVING ME NUTS ABOUT ADDING IT TO HIS TVR
COLLECTION - ITS ONLY $75000!
[I have not, well O.K., I just sort of mentioned it a few times. - Andrew]
Did you enjoy the Christmas Lunch run in the Wairarapa?
I am sure we all had a great time, and if you would like to see more of the same area but
over different roads with different challenges and hopefully lots of fun thrown in contact:
Janet on ph 233-1445 or Fax 233-1205!
2
Apologies
I Macrae
NTubb
J Mander
R Lowe
D Preston
P Wilcock
Visitors
George MacDonald a former club member, brimming with renewed enthusiasm, working on
a Corvette Stingray replica, fibreglass with a scratch built chassis
Previous Minutes
The previous minutes, printed in the
magazine, were taken as read.
Events
Go Karting at Kaiwharawhara was much
enjoyed and well attended with around 21
people making 7 teams of 3 drivers. Thanks
to S Strain for organising this event.
Contributions are welcome as always.
The Xmas magazine is again intended to be
a bumper issue, and articles are being sought
for this now, particularly those that reflect the
season with a motoring flavour.
Additionally we would like to have more of the
The MG Classic Car weekend at Manfield saw ladies pOint of view included in the magazine,
attendance by several club members including so encourage your partners to contribute too!
M Boven, R&J West, P Cottier and S Strain.
The weather was a little inclement with high Mystery Car
winds, but did not deter the large fields of cars The previous magazine's mystery car was
racing over the weekend.
indeed a TVR, as guessed by J Hadley, A
Priest,
M Boven and J Wright, but no one had
A reminder of the Xmas run, planned for
successfully
picked that the model was the
Sunday 30th November as a day trip to the
Wairarapa, via Martinborough then to north Grantura. Sorry, no chocolate fish this month.
of Masterton. Details in the magazine.
Guessing at the current months car was
noted.
Committee Report
The relocation of club meetings to new Technical Committee Report
premises is confirmed. From the December J Mander has provided copies of the LVVTA
club meeting onwards our venue will be the draft code of practice, for general review. This
Vintage Car Club rooms, Halford Place off the is a move to set standards and practices for
eastern end of Jackson Street, Petone.
scrutineering,
including
minimum
qualifications for scrutineers. We, of course,
Correspondence
wish to see that any such rules do not limit
Routine correspondence has been received our ability to scrutineer our own vehicles.
Comments are invited.
and dealt with accordingly.
Magazine Report
Editor, A Stott, noted the increased advertising
revenue being realised, allowing for expansion
of the magazine and insertion of more articles.
R Hoare noted that J Manders project had
recently been road tested, and other than a
minor issue with brakes had run very well. All
credit to John and we look forward to seeing
the vehicle on the road very soon.
3
D Halford recalled J Manders first visit to the
club with model in hand. There was some
scepticism that any project might progress
faithfully from a model to a road-going vehicle,
but the results were now at hand and John
deserves all credit for having completed the
ambitious project.
place your order now with Pat.
Guest Speaker
There was no guest speaker for this evening
Vehicle
New (relatively speaking new) member
Comment was made on the use of a model in Andrew Priest brought along his '82 TVR
place of drawings (on the builders excuse that Tasmin.
one's drawing skills were lacking). Additional
comment was made on innovative full-size This vehicle is a two-door convertible sports,
vehicle construction, such as bolting together with wedgy lines and flat panel styling. The
metal straps to form the framework for a hand- long nose conceals a European Capri 2.8i
built mudguard, and unbolting the straps and motor, producing 160bhp and 0 to 60 times of
reassembling them back-to-front to obtain the around 8 seconds. Later models were
base for the mirror-image opposite-side available with the Rover 3.5litre V8 shoehorned into the engine bay, capable of
mudguard.
producing 320bhp and 0 to 60 times in the 5
second range.
Technical Item
Having trouble getting a wire to thread through The car used many common parts from other
a concealed cavity and come out the other manufacturers, and consequently is
reasonably easy to maintain. The front end
end?
is Ford Granada/Cortina, and the rear end a
If you can use gravity to help you try a washer modified Jag independent with inboard disks.
on the end of a thread. The washer falls
through the cavity pulling the thread through, The downside is some of the custom
and once it drops out the bottom end you have assemblies such as the wiring loom.
a draw-string (or draw-cotton) to pull Originally colour-coded with coloured rubber
rings around each wire, these rings have since
something heavier through with.
perished and dropped off leaving the wiring
loom a mass of black wires. Add to this that
Wanted / For Sale
some portions of the loom were cobbled onto
For Sale from P Harlow at the club shop:
other manufacturers equipment by soldering
wire
on wire and covering the joint in insulation
Radio hats to keep the sun off while
tape.
Wait a few years, watch the insulation
listening to the radio and mowing the lawns,
tape
drop
off and wait for the electrical faults
as proved by scientific testing related to us
to
start.
by Pat - he tried the hat while the lawns
were being mowed (by Heather?) and found
no problem with achieving good reception, plus
Lots of 'Which Kit' magazines, from 91
thru 97, plus
• Orders are being accepted for the
commemorative CCC tenth anniversary
trophy, a green Dodge Viper 1/43rd scale,
with engraved plaque, cost around $10,
4
All this clad inside a fibreglass shell moulded
in two pieces, joined at the waist. Note the
removable hardtop panel and folding fabric
rear quarter to the roof (very similar to the
Sabre). Quick and easy to get up and down.
The car performs well and cruises at 80mph
(legally on a British motorway) returning
31 mpg. The engine uses Bosch mechanical
fuel injection, and this works really well so long
as it is set up right.
The car came to NZ with Andrew, as did its okay for wet clutches and two-strokes, but not
support kit amongst 22 boxes labelled 'car okay for vehicles with older rubber (seals) (a
parts', even a spare engine! Well you've got la the 96 unleaded fiasco) and presumably
to be careful when you go to the colonies, not for automatic transmissions!
don't you?!
Many notable motoring personality
endorsements are offered. If you have
Tech Item
experience of the product we'd like to know.
Our attention was drawn to Mecacyl chemical
ceramic lubricant.
General Business
This product is purported to reduce internal The floor provided the suggestion that
motor friction by 92% to 100% and produce occasionally we should do a 'roll call' at club
8% to 16% improvement in fuel economy.
meetings, in order that we all become familiar
with what names belong to what faces. This
The additive penetrates metal surfaces up to
suggestion may be taken up at a later date.
1 micron and coats the surface with up to 0.25
micron of ceramic finish. The additive does
Raffle
not replace oil, but modifies the metal
surfaces. The additive should be introduced The raffle prize was an oil-change pan, won
for up to three oil changes, following which by B Worboys with number 31 (same as last
month!).
the treatment is complete.
The literature suggests that this treatment is
Letter to the Editor
Thanks!
To Roy and the other members of the cec who responded to my frantic plea
for help on the 5th Dec my very grateful thanks.
Brian was about 3 hours overdue on a trip home from Greytown, towing a car
over the Rimutaka hill in VERY windy conditions. For those who experienced
the trip home after the Christmas trip in wind and rain, you can hopefully
understand that I was getting very worried. I needed to find the phone number
of a non-member, who the club had visited on a previous trip. Roy knew who I
was trying to contact, and very kindly did all the phoning to get the phone
number for me, so it left our phone free in case Brian was trying to contact me.
Brian did turn up, safe and sound but I had, after Roy's call with the appropriate
number, been able to get some news.
Once agian, my grateful thanks to all those who helped. You really are a
wonderful bunch of fellows!
Janet Robinson
5
New Members
FORD
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~
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:r:;
NEW &: USED PARTS
a Engine Parts
0 Radiators
a Suspension Parts o Oil Packs
o Gearboxes
0 Mirrors
a Diesel Engines 0 AlIBody Panels
a Petrol Engines 0 Headlights
o IGuaranteed &
0 Tail Lights
Tested)
0
o Rear Spoilers
0
o Brake Parts
0
o Tyres New &Used 0
o Wheel Trims
0
oMagWheels
6
Batteries
CV Joints
Tools
Clutch Sets
Accessories
The Constructors Car Club warmly
welcomes the following new members:
David Pattie:- (ph (04) 527-7313)
Fraser 7
David saw a club display in Upper Hutt
Mall eighteen months ago. Decided to buy
a Fraser just on twelve months ago and
now it is almost finished. Currently it is
being upholstered. It should be on the road
for Christmas.
John Cumming:- (ph (04) 476-2822)
Fraser 7
John has been building his Fraser for two
years. The car has progressed well and
he is currently working on the motor which
is almost ready to go in. He actually heard
about the club through David Pattie. (see
above)
Welcome Back
Bruce Turnbull:- (ph (06) 329-2923)
Saker SV1
Bruce is the builder, designer of two kit
vehicles. One is a an off roader four wheel
drive ute based on Subaru mechanicals
and the other is the low slung road racer
the Saker. His Saker profile sheet is
re-printed opposite on page 7.
Builder/Designer: Bruce Turnbull
Year Started: 1988 Year Finished: 1990
Type:
Prototype
Profile Date:
Sept '90
SAK&
SPECIFICATIONS
Engine:
Length:
Height:
Track:
Seating:
31 Granada V6
155"/3.94m
38.5"/.98m
60.5"/1.54m
2
Mid mounted
Width:
Wheelbase:
Brakes:
Curbweight:
98.5"/2.5m
98.5"/2.5m
Disc Front/Rear
20001bs/930kg
PROFILE
The Saker SV1 is a stunning looking car designed around Group C and Formula 1
cars. Bruce has designed and built many cars including the chassis and suspension for
the Countess.
This car has a space frame chassis with the motor driving through an Audi 5 speed
Transaxle. There are twin side-mounted radiators, vented front discs and the prototype
features a tilt-across steering column to ease driver entry and exit. The windscreen is
laminated and comes from the Montage with poly carbonate side screens.
George MacDonald:- (ph (04) 298-8267)
Corvette Replica
The Saker has lapped Manfeild in 23.9 seconds, been electronically timed at 230 km p/
h and has covered the standing start 400m in 14.3 seconds.
George joined the club just over a year
ago after recently purchasing a Corvette
kit. He has decided that it has been
languishing in the garage long enough and
intends to get into it.
The next step is to turn it into a kit car and it is now available in kit form. The kit comes
with chassis, front and rear suspension including hubs, discs, calipers etc. as well as a
gel finished body with seats, dash, inner doors, glass and perspex, hinges, catches
and alloy panels.
7
10 Best Tools of All Time
Forget the Snap-On Tools truck; it has
never been there when you need it.
Besides there are only 10 things in this
world you need to fix any car, any
place, any time.
enough, an integral part of these sprays is the
infamous Little Red Tube that flies out of the
nozzle if you look at it crosseyed (one of the 10
worst tools of all time).
4. Margarine Tubs
If you spend all your time under the bonnet
looking for a frendle pin that caromed off the
Not just a tool, a veritable Swiss Army
pertal valve when you knocked both off the air
knife in stickum and plastic. It's safety wire,
cleaner, it's because you eat butter. Real
body material, radiator hose, upholstery,
mechanics consume pounds of tasteless
insulation, tow rope, and more - in an easy to
vegetable oil replicas just so they can use the
carry package. Sure, there's prejudice
empty tubs for parts containers afterward.
surrounding duct tape in concours
(Some of course chuck the butter-coloured goo
competitions, but in the real world, everything
altogether or use it to repack wheel bearings.)
from LeMans-winning Porsches to Atlas
Unlike air cleaners and radiator lips, margarine
rockets use it by the yard. The only thing that
tubs aren't connected by a time/space
can get you out of more scrapes is 20c and a
wormhole to the Parallel Universe of Lost
phone booth.
Frendle Pins.
1. Duct Tape
2. Vise Grips
5. Big Rock at the Side of the Road
Equally adept as a wrench, hammer,
Block up a tyre. Smack corroded battery
pliers, baling wire twister, breaker-off of frozen
terminals. Pound out a dent. Bop noisy knowbolts and wiggle-it-til-it-falls-off tool. The heavy
it-all types on the head. Scientists have yet to
artillery of your tool box, vise grips are the
develop a hammer that packs the raw banging
only tool designed expressly to fix things
power of granite.
screwed up beyond repair.
3. Spray Lubricants
A considerably cheaper alternative to new
doors, alternators, and other squeaky items.
Slicker than pig phlegm, repeated soakings
will allow the main hull bolts of the Andrea
Doria to be removed by hand. Strangely
working model of the Brazilian Rain Forest recommended for concours contenders, since
into something remotely resembling a wiring it works so well you'll never need to replace it
harness. Of course it works both ways. When with the right thing again. Fencing wire is a
buying a used car, subtract $1 00 for each zip sentimental favorite in some circles,
particularly with the MG, Triumph, and flathead
tie under the bonnet.
Ford set.
7. Ridiculously Large Screwdriver
Let's admit it. There's nothing better for
prying, chiseling, lifting, breaking, splitting or
mutilating than a huge flatbladed screwdriver,
particularly when wielded with gusto and a
big hammer. This is also the tool of choice for
all filters so insanely located that they can only
be removed by driving a stake in one side and
out the other. If you break the screwdriverand you will, just like Dad and your shop
teacher said-who cares, it has a lifetime
guarantee.
8. Fencing Wire
Commonly known as MG muffler brackets,
fencing wire holds anything that's too hot for
tape or ties. Like duct tape, it's not
9. Bonking Stick
This monstrous tuning fork with devilish
pointy ends is technically known as a tie-rod
separator, but how often do you separate tierod ends? Once every decade if you're lucky.
Other than medieval combat, its real use is
the all-purpose application of undue force, not
unlike that of the huge flat-bladed screwdriver.
Nature doesn't know the bent metal panel or
frozen exhaust pipe that can stand up to a
good bonking stick. (Can also be use to
separate tie-rod ends in a pinch, of course,
but does a lousy job of it).
10. 20c and a Phone Booth
See tip #1 above
CHEVRON SPORTS AND PERFORMANCE CARS
For more information call at or write to:
6. Plastic Zip Ties
Chevron Engineering Specialities Ltd
After 20 years of lashing down stray hose
and wiring with old bread ties, some genius
brought a slightly slicked-up version to the auto
parts market. Fifteen zip ties can transform a
hulking mass of amateur-quality wiring from a
55 Victoria Street Onehunga Auckland
PO BOX 13 571, Onehunga
ph 09 634 3328 fax 09 636 9342
Web page http://www.webdesign.co.nz/chevron
TYREPOWER HUTT RD LIMITED
BALANCING
TYRES
WOF
MAG WHEELS
PUNCTURE REPAIRS
BRAKES
WHEEL ALIGNMENT
LUBES
MUFFLERS
SHOCKS
Sat 9am -lpm
MOD - Fri 7.45am - 5.30pm
108 HUTT ROAD, PET ONE
8
PHIFAX 04 568 3428
9
My Christmas Present
by Janet Robinson
Brian has promised me a very special Australia in March 1996.
Christmas present. He is going to redecorate By then it was too late to get anymore of the
the bathroom for me! It's not such an odd outside of the house done, as the good
present as it sounds, as you will see from the painting weather was over. Brian had also
following saga.
decided that Alice should have some
Before we retired some 3% years ago, the modifications done to "really get the best
stock answer to the question "Will you please possible performance" from her. As this
fix ....." was "Put it on the list. I will do it when included putting in a Datsun SSS motor, Alice
I retire!" This became quite a family joke and had to be disemboweled, "But it will only take
about 3 weeks" said Brian. Three weeks
the list grew longer and longer.
turned into three months (and more) but finally
But when we retired, Alice Almac was at an Alice was back on the road (and admittedly
"interesting" stage in construction, and when going better than ever!).
I inquired "When are you going to fix ......." the
answer was invariably "Next week when I have Brian then re-started painting the outside of
got this bit on Alice finished!". After 6 months the house again. It was a big job as the old
I gave up and decided that as the house was paint was in a bad condition so it took even
not actually falling down around down our ears longer than anticipated. In fact most of the
so nothing was terribly urgent, I would wait summer. But we did finish it and that was
another job crossed off the "Do it when I retire"
until Alice was finished.
list. This list had grown considerably in the
"Happy 4th July 1995" . Alice was finally given intervening 2 1/2 years I might add.
the liberty to be ~ driven on the road.
Now, I thought, some of the jobs would get In May this year I was called to UK to see my
done, and indeed a couple did! Only little jobs. mother who was not well. One telephone
Nothing major as it was cold and wet and conversation when we were at opposite ends
sitting in front of the fire was a much nicer of the earth included "By the way I have bought
option. Brian pottered for the next couple of another car project." "Its all in bits, but I have
months and then decided that he should really got two chassis, 2 motors, all the plans, lots
start painting the outside of the house, as the of other spare parts, and a plywood body, I
weather was getting warmer and the rain got it real cheap!". Stunned silence on my
wasn't coming down day after day. He did end of the phone! "Oh No!" "Doesn't this guy
manage to get one side of the house done by ever know when to quit?"
the beginning of December, but then his father The last 6 months have been spent working
, George, arrived for his bi-annual 3 month on the new project (a JC Midge).
visit. We had decided that as George was 85
we would spend as much time as we could Two years ago we looked at new Riotone
with him, and not be forever "working". After paneling for the bathroom! The pattern we
all, we could not be sure if George would be liked then is now out of production so when 1
fit enough to come over again in another can spare time from my needlework we are
couple of years. That summer passed in a going out to look at paneling for the bathroom
flash and we spent all our time out and about. yet again and then Brian will start the
We even managed to visit the South Island redecorating, ..... sometime, ....... soon. After
for a few days. George returned home to all I did not say for which Christmas the
10
bathroom would be finished! I suppose that's presents rolled into one, at least until he's
one of the joys of being retired, we can do finished playing with his latest constructor set.
things when we feel like it, and when we can
Merry Christmas to all you other garage
find the time!!!
widows and may next year see all those dream
As for Brian, well he's had all his Christmas machines out there completed.
Brian's favourite car joke.
Man walks into a pub, and to everyone's amazement, he is holding a steering wheel
in front of him with the column disappearing into his open fly.. He orders a drink at
the bar, and after serving him, the barman says "Excuse me sir, but we couldn't help
noticing that you've got a steering wheel and column sticking in your fly". "I know".
said the customer. "Its driving me nuts".
PRESIDENTS REPORJ
The final meeting of 1997 and at new
premises too. It is funny how the wheel turns
full circle. When we realised that the staff
room at St Bernards College was becoming
to small for our monthly meeting, we talked to
the Vintage Car Club and the Hutt Valley Car
Club about sharing premises, before settling
with the first room we had at Silverstream
Christian Park. Now here we are at the
Vintage Car Club's rooms after all. More room
then we have had of late and a proper kitchen
for Allan at last!
switched on Michael! Yes, the Pioneer
Museum was open, and a real fun place to
visit.
The journey back across the hill was not so
much fun with very high winds and torrential
rain, but we survived although I did feel for
the guys with softops. I bet that wind caused
them to flap about a bit. The weather in
Wellington had not been to nice all day, so
the place to be was right where we were.
Thank you John, great job. It amazes me that
people continue to find places of interest to
For the first time I managed to join a number
visit that are so close to home that are news
of club members on Sunday for the Christmas
to most of us, Jack Hadley being a real expert
lunch drive, organised this year by one John
at this, followed by Alan Stott and now John.
(back page) Hill. Very pleasant day out, the
How do you guys do it?
drive over the Rimatuka's was conducted with
decorum and in sunshine, well except for one I will close this brief report with the usual
or two who could not wait and metalled the advice for this time of year, enjoy the break
pedal whenever given the opportunity. First but be careful out there, we want to see all of
stop was Martinborough for a coffee and cake you back here next year.
break. The line up of cars in the square
So happy Christmas, I hope you all receive
certainly attracted a few onlookers. Out of
what you are looking for. See you at the
town on Princess Road to the country garden
February meeting complete with project, even
lunch stop, so far so good. The next
if it is a sketch of what you want.
instruction left a bit to be desired however,
just North of Masterton meant different things Be happy and enjoy.
to different people. This is where cell phones
Derrick Halford
do really help, especially when they are
11
Henry's Affordable Christmas.
thought Henry as he
recalled the extra fifty
quid he had paid under
the table.
John Hill
There were no cars in the district when Henry
Farmall was a child, none that is except the
big green Napier owned by Colonel
D'Ridgible. The Colonel did not mix readily
with the 'locals' who called Mrs D'Ridgible
'Lady' and said "Oh, she always does her
shopping in Christchurch, you know" in the
special way that showed they were realy
slinging off at her. Henry knew his father
didnt like the D'Ridgibles as he was always
saying things like"We left the old country to
get away from the likes of them" then his
mother would say "I am sure they are realy
nice folks once you get to know them" and
Henry's father would just grunt from behind
the Auckland Weekly.
she went to stay with her aunt in Staverly. She
was back a year later but now she was married
to Rodney and had a baby daughter. The
Colonel and 'Lady D'Ridgible' went to live in
Christchurch while Rodney took over the farm.
Rosy never went into Hannah's again and
always did her shopping in Christchurch.
There was another war and all the young men
at the works joined up. Henry came back
years later with both his legs and 20 quid. He
went back to the works but got lucky and was
awarded a 'rehab' block soon after he had
married Doreen Paterson. Henry and Doreen
worked hard and took particular care of the
stud flock they were building up. Soon it was
1953 and there was a coronation in England.
Henry's parents didnt try to stop him playing Flags went up and the kids got a day off school
with Rodney D'Ridgable though that didnt last and it was a very good year for the district as
long, only until Rodney went off to boarding the price of wool went up that year, and next
school. When he came home for the holidays year too. Henry's efforts with his flock were
he had no time for Henry and everyone said realy paying off.
Rodney had become a real snot
Henry was sitting at the kitchen table eating
Henry's Uncle Harold had been a soldier in his chops and vegies when he heard the
the war and came home with only one leg and distant whistle of the tired old "Ab"that brought
a Ford called 'Lizzie'. The black car with the the mixed goods up from the junction every
brass radiator was the most wonderful thing evening. Henry dropped his knife and ran to
Henry had ever seen and Harold said it was the window. "Sit down, it's getting cold again"
the only kind of car he could drive because of cried Doreen, "you've been like this all week,
it 'epeleptic' gearbox.
why don't you just let it come when it's ready?".
But Henry didnt hear, there was a glint of
Henry's long time school friend was Rosy
evening sun from something shiny on the third
O'Bryan. They sat together at school and had
wagon that flashed between the willows as
even held hands, rather shyly, a few times on
the train made it's way along the river bank ..
the walk home. Years went by until Henry
Henry was sure that must be 'it'.
left school and got a place on the chain at
the works, Rosy got a job in a shop. One Next morning he was up early, he milked the
year Rodney came home from 'varsity' in a cow and fed the chooks. He washed his hands
red Riley Nine. Henry's mother saw Rodney and changed into his 'best'. He practically
and Rosy out it in one day but she didn't ran out to the old Essex and cranked until it
came to life. He didnt care about the torn
mention this to Henry.
hood, the bald tyres and the steaming radiator,
Rodney was only home for a couple of weeks
he just drove flat out down the gravel road
but soon after he left Rosy threw up over a
into town and up to the place with the big blue
customer in Hannah's and the very next week
12
They drove back into
town, "Better take her to
the bowsers eh?" said
the manager. The crowd
moved closer and stood
around as he bought a
full tank of Visco-Static.
They watched as the
magic needle moved up
the gauge and the
bowser "dinged " twenty
times, "Struth, she took
it all that" exclaimed a
sign. It was Christmas Eve and early but the
manager was already there along with a
crowd of locals. Everyone was looking at it
and Henry was welcomed as a hero. "It's a
beauty" said the manager "it'll be the first new
one in the district in nearly 15 years".
Henry hesitated, had it realy come at last?
Yes, there it was, big and black and shining.
'Customline' was written on the sides and
'V8' on the front. 'Climb in, I'll show how it goes'
said the manager. The door opened at
Henry's touch, the seats were beautiful
modern plastic and Henry was glad he had
changed into his best clothes. He sat inside,
someone shut the door. The manager showed
Henry how the key was also the starter and
'look, it even has a place for a clock and a
wireless'. They went through town and out
around the back of the works, they went past
D'Ridgible's place and and saw Rodney and
Rosy. Henry waved but the couple just
continued to stare.
freckled kid whose father had a Morris 8.
Then the manager took it over under the big
blue sign and Trever from the Clarion took a
snap of him shaking hands with Henry.
At last Henry sat alone behind the gleaming
plastic wheel and vaguely heard the
manager's "Do nt' take her over 30 for the first
thousand miles".
He turned the key but there was a harsh
crunching noise and someone sniggered as
he hadnt noticed the engine was already
running. The audience, his excitement and
embarassment caused him to misjudge as he
let out the clutch to the roaring engine. There
was a brief squeal from the 600x16 tyres on
smooth concrete as he lurched past the
forgotten Essex and onto the road. Soon the
cheers were behind him as he adjusted to the
unaccustomed comfort, the sensation of
power and that special smell that he had never
smelled in a car before, somehow fresh and
clean and new.
The manager went on and on, "120
horsepower", "easy column change gear Henry carefully drove back to his farm where
lever", "I could get you a heater for 30 quid" Doreen was waiting on the lawn .. "Get your
etc etc. "You know you are real lucky to get hat" he called, "We will do our Christmas
shopping in Christchurch".
this one, Doctor Byron cancelled his order
when Mrs Byron left", "You smug bastard",
13
i
I
arne
B John Bell *#
Car Name
Type
TRI-VIA
Special
B Max Beauchamp Lynx
B Peter Brown
Kit
Engine Size
Honda 500cc V Twin
Toyota 160
Kit
Special
VW 1600
Chassis Development
Finished
M Ian Macrae
Widget&Fidget
Special
M John Mander#
Napier Ruxton GT
Special
Finished
Kit
Triumph 2000 6Cyl Registered
Special
B Allen Birchcer
J.B.A. Falcon
Kit
B Graham Brown
Locost
Special
B Neville Barlow
Eureka
Kit
B Phil Bradshaw
Leitch Supersprint
C Noel Cheetham
Swallow
Kit
C John Cumming
Fraser 7
Kit
Finished
Rolling Chassis
'X'
Almac TC
Trikes
Ford 2.0
Almac Sabre
B Mike Boven #
B Neville Baxter
Kit
M John Marechal
VW 1600
Kit
Almac Sabre
M Alex McDonald
Special
Chevron
L Ron Lowe
Rolling Chassis
356 Speedster
B David Beazer
Special
Leyland 4.2 V8
B Dave Bray*
Special
Sphinx
Percentage Complete
Countach Replica . Kit/Special Chevy 454 Cubic Inch Rolling Chassis
B Albert Bossward Roadster
Design
K Carl Klitscher
Finished
Toyota 1600 4AGE Chassis Development
M George MacDonald Corvette Stingray Replica
Kit
M Richard Mills
Special
Fiat 600cc
Finished
M Harold McCarthy JBA Falcon
4x2
Kit
Ford 2.01
Finished
M John Moynihan
Meridian
Special
Honda 2.0 Vtech
Chassis Build
M Geoff McMillan
JBAlUrbacar
Kit/Special
P Trevor Parrant Springfield Debonair Special
Design
Kit
P Matthew Porritt
Lotus 7 replica
Kit/Special
P David Pattie
Fraser 7
Kit
Beginning
Triumph 1360
Finished
Toyot 3SGE
Almost Complete
P Andrew Priest TVR TasminlTuscan Production Ford 2.6 V6/??
Finished/Being Restored
P Alan Price #
Sabre
Special
Toyota 2.01
Chassis Development
Toyota 2.01
Finished
Toyota 3SGE
Almost Rolling Chassis
P Frank Parker
Almac TG
Kit
C Peter Cottier * Leitch Super Sprint Kit
Toyota 1600
Finished
R Ron Robertson
RR James II
Special
C Darryl Cooley
Chevron
Datsun 1200
Finished
R John Richardson Almac 427 S.C.
Kit
Ford 429 V8
Finished
C Dave Clout*#
Leitch Super Sprint
Kit
Ford 1600 Finished
R Brian Robinson* Almac TG
Kit
Nissan 1600
Finished
C Lee Cook
Swallow
Kit
R Liam Ryan
Special
D Philip Derby#
Special
Special
Subaru 1600
Chassis
S Alan Stott
D Jim Doherty
TBA
Special
S Ron Stroud *
McRae Spyder
VW 1500
Rolling Body/Chassis
D Tom Davis
Lotus Replica
Special
S Steve Strain *
Stratos HF 2000 Kit
Lancia 2.01
Finished
E Bruce Eyre#
JRC 27ITaipan
Kit
S Bary Scott
Aristocat XK140 Kit
Jaguar 4.2
Rolling Chassis
F Neil Fraser
Fraser 7
Kit
Toyota 3SGE
Finished
S David Saxby
Snafu Seven
Kit
Toyota 1600
F Evan Fray
Chevron
Kit
Rotary 13B
Finished
S Neil Selkirk
Electric Hybrid
Special
H Patrick Harlow
Almac Sabre
Kit
Ford 2.3 V6
Registered and Painted
T Bruce Turnball
TVL Saker
Kit
Rover 3.5V8
Beginning
T Nick Tubb
Almac TC
Kit
Chassis
Kit
H Tim Hutchinson # "Heron, Lotus 7 Replica"
H Derrick Halford * Terrapin
H Roy Hoare#
H Ian Howie
Porsche RSK Replica Kit/Spcl
H Jack Hadley
H John Hill *
J Brian Jenkins
Almac Sabre
Kit
Kit
Complete
Finished
T John Thomson
"Lotus 7A, Mach 7 Tomcat"
Rolling Chassis
U George Ulyate
Monoposto
Special
Mitsubishi 2.01
Rolling Body/Chassis
VW 1835cc
Rolling Chassis
W Brian Worboys # Road Rat
Special
VW 1600
Rolling Chassis
Chassis
W Paul Woodfield
Saker SV1
Kit
Finished
W Andrew Worth
Lynx
Kit
Toyota 1600
Rolling Body/Chassis
West 42
Kit/Special Pontiac Fiero
Triumph 1360
Kit
Mitsubishi 1600
Finished
W Rob West
Kit
Rover 3.5 V8
Rolling Chassis
W Brendon Wilson Sylva Striker Mk IV Kit
: : I
Design
Mitsubishi 3.0 V6
Special
Almac TG
H Steve Hutchison Chevron x2
14
Kit
Heron/Urba Car Kit
Marcos/Scimitar Production Ford 3.0 V6
Kit
Toyota 4AGE
Chassis Development
Rolling Body Chassis
15
THE ZEV THAT NEV BUILT - Part I
Neville Watkin
The story begins over 20 years ago when I 2. What is the "available" global volume of
was just a kid - a very idealistic kid who knew air over populated land up to an altitude of
he had to build a ZEV. Well actually the term 1km?
ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) hadn't been
Very
rough
answer:
about
coined back then - what I was going to build
240,000,000,000,000 cubic metres (give or
was an electric car.
take a bit)
I can't tell the whole saga in one go (because
3. Therefore, how many 2-litre IC engines
I'm in the midst of moving house, can't find
doing an average of 2000rpm for 2 hours a
most of my files and have a zillion other things
day would
breathe all the available air
to do including marking a pile of exam papers),
everydav?
so I'll kick off this month by answering this
Answer. about 1 billion.
question:
Why did NEV want to build a ZEV??
A
The answer: I wanted to save the world!
fairly modest ambition I'm sure you'll agree,
but what was I going to save the world from?
That nasty invention, the internal combustion
(IC) engine of course!
OK, hang on. Before you yawn and turn the
page, remember I said I was a teeny bit
idealistic back then (who can remember the
Values Party in the 70's? - I must confess I
was a member!). I had decided the IC engine
had got to go because our planet could not
sustain it in the long term, and my electric car
was going to show that there was a viable
alternative! But before I get on to that I'd like
to digress a little and tell you why I thought
the IC engine had to go.
4.
How many cars are likely to be in use
globally by the year 2000?
Estimated answer. about 1 billion.
Holy Smoke!! (or should that be Holy Smog?).
Surely there must be some mistake?
Well, actually there is a fairly major sort of
error in the interpretation of these figures, and
I'll tell you what it is in the next issue.
Meanwhile see if you can spot it! I must also
admit these simple calculations are very
questionable and ignore numerous relevant
factors, all of which will be flooding into your
mind right now as you leap to the defence of
your most cherished piece of machinery!
However to a young lad keen to build an
electric car they were all the encouragement
I needed!
Some more questions:
research indicated only about 60% of the total
emissions
came from the exhaust pipe 5. What does a well-tuned petrol engine
another 20% was estimated to come from
breathe in?
direct evaporation from the fuel supply system
Answer. About 93% air and 7% fuel and the remaining 20% from the crankcase.
vapour.
Although they total less than a quarter of a
(assuming a typical air:fuel ratio of 14:1) percent by weight, it is those last two
If the air the engine breathes in is "fresh" and emissions, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons
dry, the relative quantities in weight order are which are now believed to be the major
ingredients in the atmospheric soup we call
therefore:
smog. These two compounds react together
chemically in the presence of sunlight to
• nitrogen gas N2 (about 72%)
produce the familiar brown haze.
• oxygen gas 02. (about 20%)
Note that all the oxygen is used up because
a
well-tuned engine runs slightly rich - a slight
• hydocarbon vapour HxCx (about 7%)
excess of fuel, or to put it another way, a slight
• trace gasses including argon (about 1%). shortage of oxygen. This ensures all available
power is extracted from the fuel. (The
theoretically "ideal" air:fuel ratio is actually
slightly over 15: 1)
6. So what does the well-tuned petrol engine
breathe out? In weight order the exhaust
emissions are:
•
unused nitrogen gas N2 (about 72%)
•
carbon dioxide gas CO2 (about 18%)
•
water vapour H20 (about 8%)
•
carbon monoxide gas CO (about 2%)
•
nitrogen oxide gasses, mainly nitrogen
dioxide N02 and nitric oxide NO (about
0.2%)
My reasoning went something like this:
1. If a 2-litre IC engine does 2000 rpm for 2
hours, how much air does it "breathe"?
Simplistic answer. 2 litres x 2000 rpm x 60
min x 2 hours = 480,000 Iitres
Divide by 2 because there's only 1
intake every 2nd rev in a 4-stroke engine
= 240.000 litres or 240 cubic metres
16
•
hydrocarbons HXCX from unburnt or
Of course these exhaust emissions vary
considerably depending on the actual air:fuel
ratio, and other factors like operating
temperature, compression ratios, ignition
timing and so on - more on that topic later!
Well that's it for this month folks - next time I'll
delve into the controversial subject of
greenhouse gasses (also to be discussed at
an imminent international meeting in Japan),
and I'll probably digress again into how the
oil companies and car makers had their own
ways of saving the world, and funnily enough
neither of them involved electric cars! I think
this saga is going to be a bit like one of Ronnie
Corbett's stories in which the digressions will
overwhelm the original topic.
Enjoy the Christmas break!
PS. How do you like the new clubrooms?
partially burnt fuel (about 0.1 %)
Even back in the 70's many of the world's big
cities had major smog problems, and research
was tending to point the finger at emissions
from cars with their internal combustion
engines as the major culprits. And the
17
Of Fords and Other Beasts of Mythology
November's Mystery Car
Brian Worboys
OK Alan, here's a real life spooky story for
you.
I pride myself on not being a superstitious type
of person, but there was one time when I have
to admit that rational thought evaded me
completely and I was 100% convinced in the
existence of the supernatural. Read on ..... .
It was a dark and semi-stormy night, about
8:00 p.m., and I was driving my father's new
Mark Two Zepbyr round a twisty back road.
One curious feature of this model is it's ability
to go round corners to the left much faster
than it could go round corners to the right.
However, if the driver had two friends sitting
along side on the bench front seat it would
corner equally well in both directions. The
reason for this was the very slippery nature
of the plastic upholstery. This was in the days
before seat belts you understand. On this
particular night I was driving on my own, and
having just negotiated a right hand bend I was
of course in the process of regaining control
down at me with its huge eyes, long body
glistening, smoke streaming from hidden fires,
and at that instant it roared at me with a deep
throated spine chilling primeval cacophony,
as it rushed at me to make me its meal. It was
a dragon. I knew it was a dragon. In that instant
there was no doubt in my mind that this was a
dragon, and I was supper.
Fortunately, the Ford stayed on its own side
of the road, and so did the dragon. Because
as events turned out, curiously, within a few
seconds the dragon metamorphosed into a
road grader returning late from its appointed
tasks. The dragon eyes became lights
mounted on the top of the cab, and the long
shining body assumed the form of the lights
and metal flanks of the line offollowing cars it
had collected as it came up the hill just before
the crest in the road that had enabled it to
spring on me so suddenly. Its roar was of
course the noise of its engine and
mechanicals as the driver did his best to make
it home before his dinner got even colder.
When I saw this picture in the Magazine on Club
night, there was something definitely familiar
about it especially with the whitewall tyres, but
the penny didn't actually drop until someone
mentioned it's likeness to the Nash Metropolitan.
Click! It's a Nash-Healey - chocolate fish please.
Page 86 of "A - Z of cars 1945 - 1970" lists under the heading of "Healey",
and accompanied by the exact same photograph:
"NASH-HEALEY. 1951 - 54 (PROD ALL TYPES 506) Sports 2 - seater,
coupe. FIR (front engine/rear drive) 3848cc/4138cc (S6 OHV)
US-only hybrid with SU carburettor Nash Ambassador engine, and
Nash
three-speed and overdrive 'box with floor change. Early ones with British
bodies and horrible grilles; Pininfarina took over from '52, when bigger
engine used. The odd mixture of British and US instruments on '51s is
almost certainly authentic"
Dave Bray
Perfect answer Dave. After your explanation and
Barstool's, Ed has nothing more to add
AUTO MAGIC
CAR SERVICES
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17Waiu Street, Parkway, Wainuiomata
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And for Mechanical Repairs and Service
The moral of this story is that not only can a
good seat belt help a Ford cope with right
handers and save your life in a crash, but very
of the car which had dumped me, 15 year old importantly, a seat belt also keeps dragons
bum first, into the passenger door window out of your life.
winder. As my line of vision returned above
dashboard level suddenly there it was, staring
18
e Exhausts
e Tyres (0 Drive Belts
e Clutches
e Mags
e Lube Service
e Spark Plugs e Brakes e Oil Packs
19
CONCRETE ROADS
Some notes about how they work, and their pros & cons.
Nonnan G Major (G Major's Dad)
People often wonder why we don't use more
concrete roads, and the answer that ordinary
chipsealed ones, or asphalt surfaced ones are
a better bet raise all sorts of questions about
sloppy logic. "After all, I can point to concrete
roads that are still there and working well
when they were built in the 1930s." So this
brief technical note aims to explain how
concrete roads work, and what their
advantages and disadvantages are.
(typically 20 to 30 years). And in so doing,
the pavement is expected to retain its own
shape (its nor much use if the foundation stays
unaffected but the pavement itself goes all out
of shape and gives a rough ride). Further,
the surface has to retain its skid resistance,
and because foundation soils generally lose
strength if they get wet, the pavement will be
expected to be almost waterproof so that the
foundation doesn't get softened by water.
And the first point to make is that the
proponents of concrete versus asphalt roads Kinds of Pavements
can get just as passionate as the proponents We'll limit ourselves to pavements that present
of supercharging versus ordinarily aspirated a dust free surface (that is we'll skip unsealed
engines. They're both right in their particular roads this time around). Within the range of
sealed surfaces there are three main
circumstances.
pavement types. They are:
What a Pavement Does
1) Flexible pavements.
First lets define a road pavement. For this
article, a pavement is a structure built over a
natural soil, that provides a surface of suitable
shape, skid resistance and visual uniformity
to carry an expected stream of vehicles for a
given design life, without deterioration below
predetermined standards of shape, skid
resistance and appearance. Most pavements
will be held within acceptable quality
standards by periodic maintenance.
Eventually most pavements will reach a
condition where simple maintenance
becomes uneconomic, and a rebuild (usually
called "pavement rehabilitation") is a better
bet. An analogy would be replacing all your
roofing iron instead of continuing to locally
patch it.
Typically a flexible pavement is made up of
layers of unbound crushed rock or gravel, of
good enough quality and thick enough layers
to allow the foundation soil to carry the traffic
without going out of shape. In New Zealand
and Australia this sort of "unbound granular"
pavement is surfaced with a waterproof, layer
of bitumen that's sprayed on in an even layer
and then has stone "sealing chips" embedded
in it to make it wear resistant and give good
skid properties. We rely on the shear strength
of the granular material to spread the load.
And because the stress decreases with depth,
we can use less expensive lower quality
materials.
The job of a pavement is to spread the loads
applied by the wheels of passing traffic so that
the natural foundation soil doesn't get
significantly distorted by the number of
wheelloads that happen during the design life
For some heavy duty pavements, or to look
good, orto give a surface that's more resistant
to surface shear (whether from drag racers or
from sharp turning by heavy trucks) a thick
layer of hot mix asphalt is used instead of a
20
2) Semiflexible pavements.
chipseal. This hotmix, called Asphaltic
concrete, will be between 50 and 200mm
thick. In layers of more than 1OOmm, it is about
twice as effective as the same thickness of
simple basecourse. (In some countries that
make very little use of chipseals, these
asphaltic concrete constructions are called
"flexible" pavements.)
3) Rigid pavements.
A pavement where a concrete slab is used
for the main structure is called a rigid
pavement. For conventional road use it will
need a layer of crushed granular material
underneath it for two reasons; first to avoid
water that may condense on the underside
"puddling up" the foundation, and second to
provide a layer that can support construction
traffic, and can be trimmed to the exact
levelness to produce a uniform thickness
concrete slab.
For 95% of situations, any of these three types
of pavement can do the job. So the choice of
pavement type ends up being a question of
total costs over the service life (construction
plus maintenance), versus the quality of
service that you get. We will look at examples
of pavements built for different traffic loadings
(light and heavy) and for different foundation
soils (weak and strong).
Definitions: traffic & subgrade
routine maintenance will be becoming
uneconomic so that we'd be better to do a
rebuild or replacement.
Because the wearing out is a progressive
thing, some vehicles cause more wear than
others. For flexible pavements, the main effect
of traffic is to cause the pavement to go out of
shape enough to affect the motorist - giving a
rough ride, or occasionally causing wheelpath
depressions that don't give a rough ride, but
can hold water when it rains. Since this is a
cumulative process it's not surprising that the
heavier the wheelload, the greater the effect.
What may come as a surprise is the extent to
which increases in wheelload increase
pavement wear. For practical purposes, an
increase of 10% in wheelload increases the
wear caused by that wheel by about 45%. So
it's the trucks that dominate when it comes to
working out loadings - not surprising when
you realise that a 14 tonnes two axle truck
causes over 30 times as much wear as one
weighing in at B tonnes. For ease of working,
the axle loads of the traffic stream that we're
designing for are converted to equivalent
standard axles; we end up with loadings
measured as so many ESA (equivalent
standard axles). We use a typical loaded truck
axle as the reference; one ESA is the
pavement wear caused by one pass of an
B.2tonne twin tyred spaced axle (B.2tonnes
is currently the legal maximum for such an
axle). We have to deal with a fair range of
loadings - for a residential cul-de-sac it might
be under 200 ESA per year; for a main rout
carrying industrial traffic 50,000 ESA per year
would be common. Later on when we make
comparisons, we'll use a light traffic stream
like that on the johnsonville to Makara road
and a heavily loaded one like State Highway
1 at Paekakariki.
Before going to the examples, we'll have to
do some more defining, and for traffic loadings
we'll have to say something about how loads
affect pavements. It would be possible to
design pavements that would last almost for
ever - but they would be like Roman roads,
very thick and strong, and very expensive. So
its usual to design roads for an intended
service life (like engines). For our roads the
design life is usually 20 years, occasionally The other main factor that determines how
up to 50 years. At the end of this design life strong we have to make the pavement is the
they don't suddenly snap or fall apart - rather
we expect that by the end of the design life
Continued on page 22
21
--Continuedfrom page 21
foundation. Clearly on a gravel plain like some
parts of Canterbury or Hawkes Bay what's
there will almost take the load. But a fill typical
east coast mudstone has about the same long
term supporting power as well compacted
clay, and you can lose a crowbar in some
volcanic ash deposits and river silts. These
day foundation support values are measured
by their stiffness (as elastic modulus in
megapascals, MPa). A soft silt might have a
value of20MPa, a firm clay say 70MPa and a
gravel embankment say 250MPa. For our
examples we'll use 30MPa as weak and
200Mpa as strong.
Comparisons
The sketch opposite (page 23) shows the layer
thicknesses of eight pavements covering
flexible and rigid pavements, light and heavy
traffic, and strong and weak foundations.
expensive. Their main disadvantages are:
they are usually higher first .cost; they are
difficult to modify or rebuild; if they develop
roughness it's difficult to apply a durable
smoothing layer; and they're not particularly
suitable for roads (other than those with only
slow traffic) where you have to dig trenches
to get at services like water mains, sewers
and cables.
So you find concrete pavements widely used
in continental climates where the spring thaw
results in very soft foundations (parts of USA,
inland Europe), where foundations are poor
and stone is expensive (Belgium,
Netherlands), where heavy wheeloads and
high surface shear have to be handled
(container storage and handling areas), where
asphalt or bitumen surfacings would be
softened by oil or fuel spillage (garage
forecourts and airport refuelling areas), and
in small areas with low speed traffic (like
service alleys where the simplicity of just
pouring concrete cuts total construction cost,
and can handle tight turning traffic and
spillage).
Compare the difference between pavements
needed for light and heavy loading. For the
weak foundation the increased loading
requires a 62% increase in thickness for a
flexible pavement (basecourse and subbase),
against a 40% increase in concrete slab It all comes down to value for money. When it
thickness (and only 27% thickness increase came to the choice for the relatively heavily
in total slab plus underlying basecourse).
loaded runway pavements of Auckland and
Comparing foundations. For the heavy Christchurch international airports, the very
loads case the change from strong to weak soft ashes under Mangere led to concrete,
foundation requires a 125% increase in total while the gravel plains at Harewood led to a
thickness for flexible, but only a 52% increase flexible pavement with a relatively thin layer
in thickness for rigid (the concrete slab only of asphaltic concrete.
has to have 18% extra thickness, but you need Which all sounds very simple. Howeverthere
to thicken the layer of basecourse under it to are a few problem details like joints in concrete
handle traffic during construction).
that seem to end up causing bumps, the loss
of skid resistance on both concrete and chip
seals, and what you can do if you want to
All of which results in concrete pavements widen concrete. But that's another article.
having advantages for large loadings (lots of
trucks) and for soft foundations. And since
they usually need less total thickness, they've (Thanks Norman for giving us the underside
also got advantages where costs of aggregate point of view - Looking forward to "Another
(crushed rock for basecourse and graded Article" Ed)
stone for making concrete) are relatively
EXAMPLE PAVEMENT CONSTRUCTION THICKNESSES (mm)
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Valley Platers Lilnited
162 Gracefleld Road, Lower Hutt
Phone 04 568 5924
Chrome, Nickel & Zinc
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22
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23
friend were also there
with his Bentley R.
Needless to say, the
conversation
did
include the possible
use of VCC clubrooms
in
Petone
by
Constructors Club
members. A simple
Chinese meal seemed
to fill the bill that
evening.
liOn holiday with a travelling museum of cars"
The "Link All-British Car Rally" proved to be
well-organised, non-competitive, lots of fun
and, from my point of view, it was a great
holiday.
I think the convoy out of Stanley Street was
the biggest, 292 cars. We left in our Daimler
soon after 11 am; it must have been some time
later when the last car reached the motorway.
What an experience for someone like myself
whose previous involvement in car rallies was
at best a weekend run over relatively nearby
roads with about 50 cars.
Our destination was Tauranga and once we
were well clear of the Bombay HillslPokeno
area the rain eased - much to the relief of
soft-top car owners who had experienced a
few leaks.
We left home early on Friday 17th October
and I drove to the breakfast stop at Flat Hills
near Hunterville. It was a fine sunny day with
little traffic until we were father up the island.
Dave drove up the Westem side of Lake Taupo
to lirau where it was my turn again; it was
then his responsibility to cope with the
motorway into Auckland, where we were soon
relaxing at our bed and breakfast
accommodation.
The Karangahake and Athenree Gorges
made the day's route very interesting, but a
bit tedious at times when following slower rally
vehicles. At Katikati, we spent time visiting
some old friends (he was MC at our wedding
nearly 40 years ago) before heading to
Tauranga.
Mills Reef Winery provided dinner that
evening, during which Dame (call me Cath)
Saturday was a leisurely start, especially as Tizard demonstrated why she doesn't wear a
it was drizzling on-and-off with typical kilt these days. Just one of many amusing
Auckland humidity. We worked out the best moments from her during the rally.
route to Sunday's start (about 5 minutes) and
Seven am Monday our B&B host provided a
then joined the crowds shopping on Broadway,
great breakfast before we left for the assembly
Newmarket. Yes, I bought a shirt.
point, Grey St., right in the middle of the
That evening we had a lovely meal at a nearby Tauranga shopping area. The street was
restaurant where we were encouraged to closed from 7 am to 9 am, cafes and shops
make requests to be played by the pianist. were open; there were street stalls and a few
Felt like we had our own personal musician musicians. The rally had its own musical trio
as other diners didn't seem interested.
which seemed to perform wherever we
stopped, adding to the "British" atmosphere.
We were one of the first cars to arrive at the
Domain about 7.40 am and everyone was Stops en route to Gisborne included Te Puke
heading for the grandstand or standing under Autobarn and a mass gathering at Matatua
umbrellas - Auckland!
Park, Whakatane. A picnic lunch was enjoyed
in really warm sunny weather - 252 cars were
Lots of handouts for the day, several
said to have gathered there.
speeches, meetings with folk we knew and
greeting those we didn't know - all in all a We followed a specific route through Opotiki
sample of what was to follow each day.
town centre before attacking the Waioeka
24
Absolutely Positively Sandra
and "The Daimler"
A full breakfast was
enjoyed
while
conversing with the
Ferners before leaving
for Hastings A&P Show
to display most of the
cars; another hot,
Gorge, at one point we had a close encounter
sunny day with a typical show day crowd.
with a small landslip which threw rocks at a
Daimler Sovereign two cars ahead of us, and Then there was time after lunch to wander
caused others to stop suddenly.
around the area including Havelock North, Te
Mata Peak and Napier shops. In the evening,
We were at the same B&B in Gisborne as an
there was a Mayoral reception at the Civic
Auckland Daimler couple, and enjoyed the 51
Centre, followed by a showing of the movie
10 minute stroll together to the dinner venue
'Genevieve'. Most rally folk were dressed up
that night. The other couple at our table were
in art deco or similarly appropriate gear for
the Corbetts (no not Ronnie) from Paremata,
the evening. Dinah Sheridan gave an amusing
who drive a Morgan +8. Good food, good
speech about the making of this film, and
wine, good company.
knowing a little about it beforehand made the
According to my (lack of) notes the journey
from Gisborne to Hastings
was uneventful, although
as quick as we could
make it, having been
asked to help 'muster the
troops' on their arrival at
the Hastings Racecourse.
Fortunately some local car
club members were
already on the job when
we arrived about 3.45 pm.
On finding our B&B for the
two nights in Napier, we
discovered we were in
good company. Martin
Ferner, his wife and a
Jags and Things at the "Link"
25
, I
I
movie itselfthat much funnier, and caused the Christchurch. The first activity was to join the
ladies in the audience to laugh much more display of cars on Queen's Wharf - most of
which had driven over the Rimutaka Hill from
than the men.
the Wairarapa that morning. Rally cars sailed
Example" My husband only thinks about his on several ferries to Picton that afternoon,
car and ....the other thing" u~h, mine
gatherings at the terminal being just another
only thinks about his car!')
chance to meet and talk. Being Labour
Thursday morning, another great breakfast weekend the ferries were full to capacity, but
with the Ferner's who were in the event from we had two great crossings.
Napier to Wellington but only just made it that Saturday morning, breakfast/brunch was at
far. South of Waipukurau where we stopped Alan Scott's Vineyard near Blenheim - the
at a park to pick up our daily lunch packs (fund meal being staggered to accommodate
raiser for 'Save the Children Fund') we came everyone before the cars left in small groups.
upon the Bentley about to be hoisted onto the
Kearney's truck which travelled with us; a Stops en route to Christchurch included lunch
problem with the petrol pump meant that at Kaikoura, afternoon tea at Cheviot before
someone had to get under the car, and that most of the cars gathered at Waipara Winery
needed a garage hoist or a pit. The car was for the convoy into Cathedral Square.
taken to a Dannevirke garage, and we carried What a finish - even a rally finish archway in
the two passengers to the same destination. the Square, crowds of people, a band playing
and cars everywhere. For the last time,
Princess Anne's message was read and the
scroll which had been carried all the way
through from Auckland was handed to the
After leaving Dannevirke we stopped briefly Deputy Mayor.
at Queen Elizabeth Park Masterton, to have
our passports stamped and hand in the day's That evening, the whole thing was wound up
question sheet - regular daily activities. Then with a round of speeches and presentation of
it was home for the night to throw some awards - a highlight of which was a poem by
washing into the machine and to sleep in our one of the travelling musicians entitled ''The
Rallyman" and dedicated to Ross Church who
own bed.
had put the whole thing together.
Friday morning we picked up two Daimler Club
Sandra Bray
friends who were to travel with us to
This was the lunch stop and side streets were
closed off to park the cars while we picnicked
in the sunshine.
BALANCING
TYRES
PUNCTURE REPAIRS
MAG WHEELS
WHEEL ALIGNMENT
BRAKES
SHOCKS
MUFFLERS
LUBES
MOD -
Fri 7.45am - 5.30pm
Sat 9am - Ipm
FRASER CARS
MEMBER COMPONENT CAR MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION OF NZ
(Inc)
1/2 Kahika Rd, Beachhaven, Box 34610, Auckland 10, New Zealand
Fax: (09) 482-0516
Telephone (09) 482-0071
,. Whftl alignment
Stftring & SospClnsion SpcKialist
Shock a!nor"r Tvsting Salvs and Service
Brakvs & Exhaust Servicing
Race (ar SospClnsion
Dvsign & fabrication
62 Victoria Street
Lower HuH
I
Ph: 04 587 0015
26
27
KIT CARS
WHO? WHAT? WHY? WHERE? HOW MUCH? GOSSIP & FACTS!!
& TALL STORIES
Dave Beazer
This section of the magazine is for general
interest relating to existing and prospective
Kit car owners and others.
Suggestions, updates, contributions, from club
members and manufacturers, is both welcome
and essential and for those who have already
contributed, a big thankyou.
As always, information can be phoned/faxed
to me 04 5685235 work, or 04 5643943
home.
Well folks it's that time of year again,
A big welcome to
& naturally
from
my department, a very Merry Xmas and a
Happy New Year.
Well wasn't mighty Manfeild great, a bit chilly
but it was truly another great meeting.
As for a certain Mr Evan Fray, a brand new
member ofthe CCC Club, did he enhance his
reputation!!
At the recent Classic meeting at Manfeild, I
noticed he was summoned to the officials
room after his wild and erratic driving display.
The club continues to grow both locally and
nationally, and I am pleased to welcome new
members almost every month from the Kit Car
section that I have focussed on over this past
year. This section has become and will remain
a very important part of the CCC Club.
Rumour has it that the officials not only breath
tested him, they even offered Evan free driving
lessons. Why??
We now have on board as fully fledged
members, as well as advertisers, the major
players ofthe Component Car Manufacturers
Association.
200 BHP at the back wheels he tells me
serious he says!!
'
Neil Fraser
FRASER CARS
Evan Fray
CHEVRON ENGINEERING Auckland
Alex McDonald
ALMAC CARS
Bruce Turnbull
SAKER CARS
has indicated he will rejoin the club.
Auckland
Lower Hutt
Bunnythorpe
Well if you weren't there at Manfeild you
missed something!
"More like 400BHP Evan."
Now Evan, when us Southerners put you on
the back of the grid for every race, don't you
understand we are trying to tell you
something?
True folks he doesn't understand, all Evan
Shoemaker Fray wants to do is pass everyone,
ducks this way and that, sneaks past at
obscene speeds, and when someone cuts his
water off he just throws it onto the grass infield,
then comes back again, throws it this way and
that, scares the shit out of other drivers and
us spectators, and then folks I! I! he gets bored
with that so he throws a big 180 and backs it
to a smoking stop on the start finish line.
And he still had that silly grin on his face, mind
you I did notice a leak coming from
underneath the car below the drivers seat.
Barbara seemed somewhat off color after that,
I don't know if she was worried about having
to pay for some driving lessons for Evan, or
perhaps she was concemed at the funny smell
coming from Evans trousers!
And someone told me that Evan has religious
convictions, doesn't drink alcohol etc, but you
should have seen him snatch that bottle of
bubbly from the officials, no wonder they
breath tested him.
Now if you folks don't believe me, have a look
at the photo Leon Smith from Wgton took, and
that was before all hell broke loose.
LEITCH INDUSTRIES
Invercargill
Barry Leitch
has shown interest but yet to join.
perhaps
Phil Bradshaw could assist here ??
=
Deane Preston
McRAE CARS
Levin
been busy, but yes send info, he positively
wants to join the club.
Who else
Don't worry I'll find you.
Now that you are an important part of our club, and most important, " keep up the good work".
you have our ongoing support for your
On that note I hear a rumour that Alex
activities so keep us informed. "We can't tell
McDonald is off to the UK shortly to promote
anyone what we don't know".
the Sabre. Look forward to results of that trip
Race results, technology changes, funny Alex, and don't forget your camera.
stories, new models, whatever I want to know
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
LIFE CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD BACKWARDS,
BUT WE MUST ALWAYS LOOK FORWARDS
28
Evan showing off his driving display. Apparently the
Manjeild track is only just wide enough jor the Aprisa!!
29
Leon Smith from
Wellington giving Evan
some friendly advice,
"Evan, the officialfella
over there said to teZI
you that this is not a
gymkhana.
Please stay on the
tarseal and can you stop
trying to do doughnuts
in the middle of a race"?
Thanks to Naomi Bray of both MG & CCC Club for following info re lap
times.
WHITTAKERS CLASSIC MANFEILD 8th /9th NOVEMBER 1997
25 FASTEST LAP TIMES as supplied by MG Car Club.
1.
Bill Farmer
Dome F3000
01.07.19
2.
Bill Fulford
Porsche 911 Turbo
01.10.46
3.
Carl Hansen
TVR Tuscan
01.10.83
4.
Paul Higgins
Dome
01.11.34
5.
Graham Sims
Swift DB4
01.12.08
6.
Mark Porter
Mazda RX7 - RZ
01.12.86
7.
John Williams
Mallock U2 Mk18
01.13.32
8.
Andrew Whittaker
TVR Tuscan
01.14.18
9.
Dean Perkins
Ford Falcon
01.14.57
10.
Dean Fulford
Porsche 911 RSR
01.14.77
11.
David Glasson
Nissan 300Z
01.15.42
12.
Neil Fraser
Fraser Clubman
01.15.56
13.
Garry Doyle
Chevrolet Camaro
01.15.84
Sefton Gibb
Almac Cobra
01.16.00
14.
15.
Malcom Udy
Ford Mustang
01.16.09
16.
Richard Giltrap
Porsche Carrera Cup
01.16.29
Dean Fulford
Porsche 911 Cup Carrera
01.16.62
17.
18.
Andrew Whittaker
Porsche 911 Carrera RS
01.16.97
01.17.02
19.
Philip Mules
Concept Sportscar
20.
Rodin Wootton
Brabham BT 18
01.17.18
21.
Morris Turner
Triumph TR7 V8
01.17.28
22.
Evan Fray
Chevron Aprisa
01.17.61
23.
Maurice O'Reilly
Porsche 911 Carrera Cup
01.18.08
24.
Mark Ross
Ford Mustang GT350
01.18.24
25.
Mike Booth
Morgan + 8
01.18.26
Note these are times as supplied to me. I did however hear rumour that Evan was timed
considerably quicker than his already impressive time as above, but there was a hicup with
official times and some were misrecorded for some reason. Maybe Evan can confirm what
was his fastest unofficial lap, as until he was slowed with turbo pipe failure, he was certaintly
going very very quick.
30
Also going even quicker was Neil Fraser in the Fraser Clubman, until sidelined by a failure of
the rear suspension. Absolutely awesome you guys, look forward to the next race meeting.
NZ Kit Car Component class Manfeild 1997
The following times may be of interest to readers. Some of the times reflect various problems
that some of the competitiors were having on race day, and also the obvious difference in
performance / dollars spent on bigger engines and degree of modification.
I guess if a $40,000 plus car doesn't go considerably quicker than a $20,000 car, then as an
owner of a more expensive model, I probably would be somewhat upset!
It was really great however seeing the great turn out of the Lotus Seven breeds and other kit
cars racing each other, look forward to seeing more of that.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Neil Fraser
Sefton Gibb
Evan Fray
Eric Stansfield
Steve Cox
Steve Ginders
Steve Ward
Gavin Bateman
Richard McCarthy
Hamish Paterson
Chris Munn
Bill Cottle
John Corbett
Glenda Gorton
Geoff Houghton
Dave Comber
James Coup
Doug St George
Paul Dickens
Mike Creswell
Paul Gregory
Robert Fowler
Gary O'Keeffe
Chris Mclean
Chris Allen
Alistar Martin
John Coates
Keith Lane
Steve Hutchison
Gus Smith
Adrian Penman
Brian Mannering
Tony Mannering
Huw Allen
Geoff Houghton
Fraser Clubman
Almac Cobra
Chevron Aprisa
Fraser Clubman
Chevron Sports
Fraser 7
Sylvia Striker
Rhubarb 2
Lotus Super 7
Fraser Le Mans
Lotus 7
Lotus 7
Lotus 7
Fraser Clubman
Fraser 7
Sylvia Striker
Fraser Clubman
Lynx 7 Sports
Chevron Sports
Piranha Super 7
Lynx Sports
Almac Cobra
Chevron Sports
Chevron Sports
Chevron Sports
Fraser FC7
Lynx Sports
Almac Cobra
Chevron Sports
Lynx Mk2
Almac Cobra
Chevron Clubman
Chevron Aprisa
Chevron Aprisa
Fraser 7
01.15.56
01.16.00
01.17.61
01.18.31
01.18.78
01.19.20
01.20.14
01.20.27
01.20.69
01.20.80
01.22.44
01.23.59
01.24.12
01.24.37
01.25.11
01.25.56
01.25.79
01.26.25
01.27.43
01.28.00
01.28.43
01.29.01
01.29.15
01.29.45
01.29.58
01.30.07
01.30.18
01.30.48
01.31.36
01.31.50
01.32.10
01.33.99
?
?
?
31
ANOTHER PHOTO TOUR FROM DAVID BEAlER
Ex club member Gavin Bateman's fabulous Rhubarb 2,
McLaren body with Nissan engine
Unbelievable Fraser atManjeild.! visited the owner in Graeme Bluett, in
H ami/ton recently, the car has to be seen to be believed, 4AGE 20 valve
fuel inject, finish is to top hot rod standards. He built it himself, $45000
plus, nothing but the best, a flagship for Neil and unlike some hot rods, he
drives it everwhere except on the racetrack.
Replica Ferrari's at Manfoild, ! asked one chap if they were kit cars and did
he build his car himse!p Should have seen the funny look he gave me, no
sense of humour at all !!
Our bean counter, whoopps, sorry! mean our no} best Treasurer, "Steve Strain",
was spotted recently testing air brakes on the Stratos, apparently has some
traction problems at the rear under severe braking!!
I£
B~u
have. tite. I~ch
Par't 7.
go
Sccrtch ftT
John Mander
Well we now had something that looked like
a Motor Car. It is surprising how illumination
brings a car to life. The horn is, of course,
most impressive - to look at that is. It makes a
sound reminiscent of what might be expected
of a sick cow. I will need P.R. (post registration
that is) to implant a pair of 'proper' horns
behind the grille to give the machine an air of
audible authority.
the night was balmy, and a bright pink sunset on
the scattered cloud overhead made a memorable
journey complete.
The drivers weren't too bad either!
This all culminated in a trip to the VTNZ testing
station a few days later.
Two things upset these good people.
The seats, Honda Civic to the front and Fiat Firstly, I had peeled back the rubber gaiters on
132 to the rear (courtesy Bruce Penlington) teh S/rackiTie rod connectors so that these
are recovered by the in-house trimmer which couplings could be approved, and had omitted
is me, thereby reflecting inexperience but to reattach them. Believe it or not this is a no no
forW.O.F.
undeniable originality.
Doors are trimmed, seat-belt covers fitted, the Secondly, a trunion ball-joint on the lower A-arm
front ones to a unique design, the rears kindly was allowing more play than the examiner was
donated by Patrick Harlow via his Cortina happy about, and it would have to be replaced.
donor.
The interesting thing about this was that on
There is still some trim to be completed and returning home I jacked up the offending arm and
the rear compartyment is to be eventually I could discern no play whatsoever. Muttering
equipped with t drinks cabinet, (soft that is) under my breath I went back to be convinced.
and a pair of speakers. I would love to The gentleman proceeded to show me that
duplicate the instruments that are on the front testing for play in a lower ball joint is a skill all on
dash into the rear one. But have them reading its own!
differently for obvious reasons.
So, ball was replaced and gaiters re-attached.
A low reading speedo to ensure the calmness
of the rear passengers (female) and oil
pressure and an oil pressure gauge that
doesn't move off its 'stop', plus a temp gauge
that hits the 'stop' at the other end of the scale
for the men.
Car passed inspection,
•
Registered,
•
number plated,
•
and all achieved in only 6 Y2 years .
•
Outstanding Eh!
It is time for the final check and road test.
The car being a four-seater allowed me to
accompany the three 'certifiers' on their
journey. Whilst they worked, checking the car's
performance in all shades of 'Go, to 'Whoa', I
was able to sit back in my self-designed and
built luxury and take in the evening air.
It was a delightful experience. The car ran well,
34
Many people both from within and without the
club have helped me in this endeavour.
Of the outdsiders, of which there have been
quite a few, other than personal friends of
course, I would give special mention to Dave
Alan Price for donating welding skills where I
Palmer who can be found at Brockelsby's.
needed them, for structural reliability.
Nothing in the way of mental work is too much
Derrick Halford for odd items and a Fiat heater trouble (and he has had years of practice on
peoples' vintage cars to prepare him for what
(installed but as yet unconnected).
he has done for me!) Such as the fluted bonnet
Roy Hoare for helping me sort the machine
and various other panels which grace the car.
once I had it mobile (uncrossing plug leads
and redefining "braking") were two major I will stop this listing before it starts to look
like the yellow pages. There have been just
examples.
so many suppliers who have been helpful,
Then there is Darryl Cooley, a good man with often beyond the call of duty.
coil springs, and Tim Hutchinson with advice
from time to time, and the responsibility of the As for the 'all weather' protection stuff, I have
road test procedures (with Roy) which has set aside next winter to devise a soft top ( a
hard top would be so much easier) and side
brought me to this happy result.
curtains. But we will be open until then. Hope
There have been many others over the last
the weather holds.
6~ years who have helped in 'putting things
straight" on a variety of aspects, and I thank Cheers and Merry Christmas
them all.
lots of bits and pieces from radios to cutting
out the top of his 132 for my boot lid.
Thanks John for a marvellous series. We look
Alex McDonald has been tremendous with his forward to the 'Winter's Report' - Ed
wisdom on GRP.
Total Tyre Care Service
New & Used Alloy Wheels
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Suit Your Budget
045685989
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Finance available to approved
customers on New Alloy Wheels
Wheel Trims - alloy wheels - new tyres used tyres
Fitting & Balancing in store
Some with materials and advice. Some with
generous donations of their time.
Club members such as Bruce Penlington, with
35
i "
:',:,',:d;-V,'\"
, ;}.!"~"
1.
There is no basis for assuming reindeer can fly
Although it is said that there are over quarter of a million species of living organisms as yet
unclassified, most of these are members of the insect world. While this does not completely
rule out the possibility of flying reindeer, Santa Claus is the only one to claim to have seen
one, at least while still sober.
Nowthe 62 million households aren't laid out in a nice straight line, and the wee bit of zigging
and zagging could well involve the old boy in having to cover something like 75 million stopf
start kilometres in the 31 hours available - ignoring the stopping and starting, that's about
672.04 kmsfsecond or about 2006.09 times the speed of sound (335 metresfsec at sea
level).
To put that into perspective its about 15 times the speed of a space shuttle which wanders
along at about 45 kmsfsecond - and that's not at sea level like most of Santa's trip would have
to be.
4.
Now how about the size of this operation?
Assuming that the load to be left at each ofthe 62 million houses is no more than a kilogram,
the payload is some 62,000 tonnes, plus the weight of the sleigh itself and an amplyproportioned Santa, which on land would require something like 496,000 'non-flying reindeer,
each able to haul about 125 kilograms over land. If the flying variety were to be even ten
times more effective in view of their unusual characteristics and working conditions we would
still need 49,600 of the beasts, weighing say 200 kilograms each, adding another 9,920
tonnes for an all-up weight of about 80,000 tonnes.
5.
2.
There are some two billion children in the world
It is generally understood (but by no means proven). that Santa doesn't cater for the Muslim,
Hindu, Buddhist or Shinto members of the population or for a number of other groups, so an
assumption can reasonably be made that his workload is only some 10% of the total- say a
mere 200 million or so. Assuming an average of 3.25 children per household this means
some 62 million households needing to be visited.
3.
Santa would have 31 hours of Christmas to cover his territory
Due to the rotation of the earth and assuming that he does the logical thing and flies east to
west, this works out to his having to cover 555.55 households per second - or in other words
he has about 0.0018 of a second to find somewhere to park, grab the presents, dive down
the chimney (and that can be a problem with all this new-fangled central heating) fill stockings,
grab the mince pies which have been left out, scramble back up the chimney, dive into the
sleigh and move on to the next place.
Air resistance and re-entry
We now have 80,000 tonnes of sleigh,
reindeer and payload needing to travel at 672
kmsfsecond, and ignoring forthe moment the
gradual lightening of the payload as the
presents are distributed, this little lot creates
an enormous amount of wind resistance, and
in turn an enormous amount of heat. It has
been calculated that the nose of the lead
reindeer (doubtless named 'Rudolph') would
glow briefly as he and his partner absorbed 45.2 million kilowatts of heat before
vapourising and exposing the next pair to the same fate. At the speeds envisaged
and with the traditional two-by-two make-up of the team, the whole lot would slow
down as each pair dissolves in turn, but
nevertheless the entire 49,000 odd will have
disappeared within less than one-tenth of a
second, leaving Santa all on his lonesome,
being shoved back in his seat by something
over 10,000 Gs.
Perhaps the Club Technical Committee
could have a look at this, but it seems to
me that if Santa ever did deliver presents
at Christmas by what must have been a
high capacity but Low Volume Vehicle, the
poor old bloke doesn't do it any more!
36
37
RGAONOGR
No meeting in January, but bring your cars in February.to
the new club location
Club Officials
President
Steve Strain
Prospective members or others
interested in building their own
cars are welcome to attend. (The
club does request a donation of
$2 towards running the meeting.)
Meetings generally include a
guest speaker or demonstration
followed by general discussion
and supper.
Club Meetings
Club Magazine
The Constructors Car Club Inc
meets at 7.30 pm on the second
Tuesday of each month at The
Vintage Car Club, 3 Halford Place,
Petone (Eastern end of Jackson
Street)
No meeting is held in January.
The Club Magazine "Spare Parts"
is produced monthly from
February to December each year.
Contributions and advertisements
are welcomed. Contact the Editor
on Phone or fax: (04) 528 7203.
Derrick Halford
Secretary
Grant Major
Treasurer
A note from the Palmerston members. The next meeting will be at
Noel Cheetham's house (garage) on Wenesday 10th December to
check on the progress of the Swallow build, Wellington members
welcome I would think if they can make it. The Palmerston guys also
FOR SALE
Terrapin chassis and suspension arms plus a complete set of drawings for this
historic mid engined English sports racing car.
Including 1098cc Mini engine, re-built but not used for 6 or 7 years.
~ Cook Super Trophies
For all your Trophies, Medals, Shields,
Tankards and Engraving
Our European Trophies are Unique to
New Zealand
Ph (04) 566-8801
Fax (04) 566-8802
49 Victoria Street
Alicetown
Lower HuH
Phone or Fax for
and Price List or
AlmacCars
I[LMRt!
P.O. Box 40483
Nicolaus Street
ALMAC
CARS
UPPER HUTT
Tel/Fax: 04 528 8680
$350.00 ono.
5644016 Home
38
Contact Derrick Halford
3820143 Wk
dh@wang,co.nz
Contact: Alex McDonald for Brochure
39
VILLAGE VETERAN RALLY
John Hill
Czech magazines are cheap and worth the dollar or two even if you cant read them. I bought
one titled 'Oldtimer' which was obviously devoted to old cars. I spent a while with the dictionary
decoding a few of the adds and found a 'veteran rally' to be held in a village just out of Prague
that week end.
We got there without too much adventure to find a tiny village square crammed with 40 or so
mostly Czech 'oldtimers'. Praga, Aero, Wiclov, and of course quite a few Skodas. The most
numerous were Skoda roadsters with engines, instruments and light fittings that would be
familiar to any Trekka owner. A few bikes came along especialy sidecar outfits some of which
(Russian I think) had a shaft drive to the sidecar wheel, one entertained the crowd by doing
wheelies!
Blindfold driving event
Part of the programme included a blind-fold driving competion. A course was marked out in
cones and a few chalk lines. Then each driver was blind-folded and with another person in
the car tried to drive around the course and stop on the chalk line. Some drivers were pretty
good and others made me wonder if the passenger was also blind-folded!
Trekkas in fancy dress
A late arrival was a Velorex, an intriqueing three wheeler, apparently Jawa mechanicals at
the back and two wheels at the front, this is a two-seater with side by side seating. The body/
chassis is light gauge steel tubing covered by a number of clip on leatherette pannels. It
gives the vehicle a sort of Zeppelin appearance but no doubt it is very light and the vehicle
appeared to perform OK. This was a two-seater but I have seen photographs of four seaters
and light delivery vehicles apparently from the same stable.
"Aero" 1938
40
41
i
, j
TR.I'VIA. :Dec 1 9 9 7
John Bell
Another month slips by and almost another
year with the promise of a pretty lousy
summer. However it has been a bit warmer
so have managed some reasonable project
progress . Upside down with about half the
plywood skin in place. A bit of fiberglass and
its turn over time.
dropped were mostly 1000 pounders with a
four foot length of three by three tent pole
sticking out the front. All designed to burst the
thing above the ground. Quite an effective way
of making clearings in the jungle. Our bombing
was usually followed by Smoky directed
straffing runs.
I have tried to think of some Christmasy All very impersonal as I never saw the enemy
experience to write about, but no joy, so I'll or their equipment. It was also difficult to
just box on with the Pacific Saga.
believe that we had accomplished a
Our major task on Bouganville was bombing worthwhile war effort. However debriefings by
and straffing in support of the Australian Army army liaison staff were enthusiastic and
which was battling away in the jungle towards claimed our efforts enabled them to advance
and saved lives. Surprisingly, at one
the south end of the Island.
debriefing, a Colonel on crutches spoke in
The success of our operations was due glowing terms about our efforts in spite of the
entirely to "Smoky Joe" who was a lean, lanky, fact that we had bombed him out of his
wrinkled, pipe-smoking Australian in his late observation post up a tree.
40's. He had been a plantation manager
before the war and because of his enthusiasm Not long after our arrival on Bouganville we
for exploration was familiar with the were briefed for a mission to bomb the
countryside. Smoky Joe flew an Australian Japanese held Airstrip at Rabaul about 200
designed and built Boomerang fighter plane miles to the north west. No circling here. Fairly
which looked a bit like a Zero but being heavier close line astern and straight in and my first
experience of visible flack. The 650 pounders
and with less power was not competitive.
were all more or less on target. Out to sea
Smoky preceded us to the target area, circled and back again at a different angle to drop
at tree top level and when we arrived dropped the second 650. The flack looked a lot thicker
one of his smoke bombs. We would be flying and a lot closer and I didn't like it one little bit.
at about 2000 feet in a wide left hand circle. The caper had ceased to be fun as I flew
Smoky would then direct each bomb dive through a dirty brown puff, heard a bang, felt
indicating left or right, under or over shoot by a jolt that set me on my beam ends and saw a
so many yards of his smoke bomb. Your turn hole appear in my left wing. To my immense
came as the target disappeared under the left relief everything seemed to be working OK
wingtip roll over and dive aiming the reflector but I was still shit scared.(not literally).
bomb sight according to Smoky's instructions.
450 to 500 Knots, about 45°, press the button When I formated again on my Flight
on the top of the stick, bomb away at about Commander (a veteran who had managed to
500 feet and hope you could pull out without shoot down 4 Jap aircraft whilst flying P40's)
collecting some tree tops or Japanese light I noted that he had a lot of holes in his tail."Now
we straff the buggers" he told us and my heart
akak.
gave an awful thump. Out to sea again and
The system was surprisingly accurate which down to sea level throttles wide and in pairs
was just as well because the Australian army the twelve of us screamed down the length of
was never very far away. The bombs we the runway spraying the buildings on either
42
side with our six O.5's. The smoke and flames
and enemy gunfire was awful. Fortunately
most of us had used most if not all our
ammunition so we only did one run. What a
relief it was to be on our way home all more
or less in one piece.
From then on opposition to our activities
steadily reduced, and so, with the arrogance
of youth , I started to enjoy the whole business
again. Even so I was always grateful for the
thoughtfulness of the Chance Vought
designers who had provided a wooden knob
on the throttle lever.
At somewhere about dawn and dusk most
days two aircraft circumnavigated Bouganville
and Buka Islands at sea level looking for
targets of opportunity. Great fun. A surprising
amount of small boat activity. Even fellows in
swimming which in retrospect was not fun. Of
course after a couple of weeks the targets
became much more discrete and seldom
presented themselves. Surprisingly the Able
Charlies continued but now at odd times
during the day.
Happy Christmas.
Widgets, Fidgets and 250F's
From Ian Macrea
things to do but they can wait. Talk about
having a foot in both dinghys - while the Widget
has been in the garage the Fidget has been
in the rumpus room and is slow-Iy coming
together and the Almac TC sits in the carport
The Widget should be back on the road looking very forlorn. My normally
December 1st, after a most frustrating tidy- understanding and placid better half, Marie
up. It all started when our son Neil, who was has started to remind me about the state of
using it, told me the battery was stuffed. After the carport. I'll have to do something about it
a couple of months I gave in and bought a soon.
new battery. The motor won't turn over he said.
At this stage I had to get involved. Cylinder 2 With the Widget out of the way, the pedal car
& 3 full to the brim with water. There didn't for our grandson can be finished It was
appear to be an obvious reason for this as supposed to be a 250F Maserati but ended
the gasket looked OK. When the block was up a go-kart (no time to build the body). Next
stripped and honed there was what looked year I'll build another monocoque
like a pin hole in No 1 so it was thought prudent construction, complete with body. Perhaps I
to replace the motor. At this stage the wiring could write a book on the Trials and
was being tidied up by a friend so it was a Tribulations of a Fidget Builder, but I won't.
while before the new motor was fired up, and Suffice to say, that even now there is a
what happened, oil pressure, that's what! So possibility that the Fiat engine will have to be
that motor was pulled out, rebored and the replaced or the body will need more surgery.
good bits from the original put in. Still don't Should know soon. Completion date hopefully
get a very good pressure about 25 Ibs per sq in time for May outing.
in. cold idle, but it will have to do as I'm going
I wish you a Merry Xmas, drive carefully.
to use it and get pleasure from it over the
P.S. Come on Ed - it's just gotta be worth a
summer.
brownie point - where's your Xmas Spirit??
I had the wishbones and headlights replated
while all of the above was going on and one Would have been 2 points if article was
or two other bits tidied up. There are still some supplied on floppy disc. - Ed
Alan the Ed wanted an article for the Xmas
issue, unfortunately not a lot has happened
on the special building front but here's an
update.
43
;pt
POWDER COATING .lERVICEr LTD
Christmas Double Banger Quiz
(Good for two chocolate fish)
Epoxy and Polyester Powder Coating
Specialists
Automotive componentry, wheels, chassis,
suspension, both old and new our speciality
Sorry no end views. That would be too easy, but tell us what you know
about these cars.
J
Zinc and Iron Phosphate pre-treatment
for superior adhesion and corrosion
resistance
J
Chemical stripping of rust and old paint
or powdercoating for restoration projects
to preserve service finish
J
Sand Blasting service if required
Contact Jim Longstaff or Dave Beazer
Unit 8, 155 Gracefield Road
LOWER HUTT
Would you like to be on the CCC committee in 1998?
PhonefFax (04) 568 5235
Mobile (021) 675235 or (021) 680165
Mter Hours (04) 564 3943
I will be happy to resign my role as "weekend away" organiser! I am not even on the
committee but was seconded to try my best to fill the shoes left vacant by Jack Hadley,
who who organised so many wonderful weekends for the club. If you would like to
take on this task, come along and see some ofthe challenges that make the Wairarapa
weekend in March a happy one and then add your own personal touch. One's
imagination is limited only by what is feasible in the course of 36 hours.
Try this weekend by contacting Janet on Ph 233-1445 or Fax 233-1205.
44
45
THE TRUE COST OF BUILDING A KIT CAR
Phil Bradshaw
When I first built my Leitch I made a list of all components and worked out it could be done for
$18,000. This tied in pretty closely with what I had been told by an owner. Imagine my surprise
when I ended up 5 grand short. I had never built a car before, and my experiences since
would enable me to save a little money. Bottom line - I really do not believe you can build a
Leitch or a Fraser to a good standard and reasonable spec for less than $30,000 on the road.
I decided to publish this list as it gives an itemised account of all the parts in my car - very
few people have an accurate list, and estimates always compare poorly to actual cost.
This listing covers well over 99% of what is in my car. It also demonstrates the cost of not
doing things right first time. Please note that my car was built from the outset to be used
every day (100,000 km in under 5 years) and to live outside. I was also on a tight budget,
but wanted the car to be done properly and to be durable. I did not include tools I bought,
and I did basically everything myself except wheel alignment and exhaust.
I hope you find it useful as a guide.
DATE
20-Mar-90
12-Dec-91
16-Jan-92
7-Feb-92
1-Mar-92
2-Mar-92
2-Mar-92
3-Mar-92
6-Mar-92
18-Mar-92
21-Mar-92
21-Mar-92
24-Mar-92
24-Mar-92
27-Mar-92
27-Mar-92
30-Mar-92
30-Mar-92
1-Apr-92
1-Apr-92
4-Apr-92
4-Apr-92
4-Apr-92
6-Apr-92
27-Jun-92
8-Jul-92
20-Jul-92
46
INITIAL BUILD 1992 (4AGE 16 Valve EFI)
ITEM
COST $.
Headlights and 100/90 Watt halogen bulbs
153.60
Kit deposit
1500.00
5 x Mk I Rostyle wheels 5.5 x 13 (ex Cortina)
155.00
2 x Rostyle centre caps
10.00
Brake/clutch pedals (100E Prefect)
25.00
1983 AE 86 Toyota Levin wreck ($1100 less parts sold for $600)
500.00
Wreck delivery
45.00
EFI warning light
5.70
Accelerator pedal/instruments (Mk " Triumph 2500 PI)
35.00
6 x dash rocker switches
150.00
Toggle switches/warning lights
85.95
Horn switch
18.95
Front indicators
53.25
New rear axle bearings (Escort - fitted)
180.25
Instrument lights/ignition switch
40.95
Paint - hammerite
118.60
4.44 Escort diff head
60.00
Toyota 4AGE engine manual and AE 86 Corolla owner's manual
110.25
Shot blasting - brake back plates, wheels, pedals
95.00
Reverse lights
86.35
Cam cover gaskets
29.95
Fan pulley washers
0.40
Brushes/paint stripper
22.15
Build insurance
159.68
AE 86 Body manual
46.00
Windscreen washer kit
29.00
New sump, oil seals, cam belt
224.35
62.65
Rear calliper kit, cam valley seal
24-Jul-92
121.15
30-Jul-92
Front calliper kit, disc machining x 4
23.80
Postage - uprights and inlet manifold to Invercargill
31-Jul-92
33.30
Inlet manifold gaskets
1-Aug-92
11500.00
Kit purchase
9-Aug-92
27.00
10-Aug-92 Radiator overflow kit
33.00
27-Aug-92 PA 10 primer
9.95
29-Aug-92 Satin Black paint
25.55
3-Sep-92
Sealant - body and engine
667.00
3-Sep-92
5 x 185/70 x 13 Dunlop Daytonas
20.00
4-Sep-92
Paint for underside of guards
Heater & oil gauge(Mini), steering column(Herald),tie rods(Cortina)
6-Sep-92
168.00
brake master cyl (120Y), wiper assy (2500), fuel sender (1300)
328.63
7-Sep-92
Tie rod ends, ball joints, steering boots, rack bushes
25.00
7-Sep-92
Oil pressure gauge connections and tubing
18.71
7-Sep-92
Diff seals
28.60
7-Sep-92
Gearbox oil, brake fluid, kerosene
109.40
8-Sep-92
Distributor cap, water pump gaskets, clutch cylinder kits, grease
125.95
8-Sep-92
18 x Peugot 504 suspension bushes
70.00
8-Sep-92
Escort steering universal
8-Sep-92
130.65
engine mount, brake master cylinder kit, tie rod ends, fan belt
10.00
8-Sep-92
engine mount
147.12
8-Sep-92
dip switch, fuel filler, interior lights
14.50
10-Sep-92 fuel filler pipe, spare wheel studs, brake master cylinder caps
112.50
10-Sep-92 Triumph 2500 Mk II PI instruments
10-Sep-92 3 x Peugot 504 suspension bushes
18.65
10-Sep-92 Injector seals
46.20
11-Sep-92 nuts and bolts
25.25
9.50
11-Sep-92 foam rubber for heater rebuild
11.95
12-Sep-92 wrinkle finish black - injection manifold/cam covers
33.00
14-Sep-92 wheel spacers
15.95
14-Sep-92 Rear wheel studs x 8
35.00
14-Sep-92 Spring fitment to shocks
270.45
14-Sep-92 Radiator
35.50
14-Sep-92 nuts, bolts, tap, drill bit
8.50
14-Sep-92 cardboard for heater templates
18-Sep-92 nuts, bolts, air horn hose
10.00
18-Sep-92 chrome plating - roll bar, sway bar, front suspension arms
300.00
26-Sep-92 nuts and bolts
26.35
26-Sep-92 guard rubber
26.00
28-Sep-92 12 x wheel nuts
21.74
28-Sep-92 engine hoist hire
31.50
28-Sep-92 VHT exl1aust paint
24.00
28-Sep-92 nuts and bolts
1.80
29-Sep-92 oil pump gasket, antifreeze
26.00
30-Sep-92 heat shrink, cable covers, spade terminals
14.00
1-0ct-92
gear lever welding
10.00
1-0ct-92
front indicators
19.35
1-0ct-92
rear view mirror, stud lock, sealant
61.45
47
paa:s
1-0ct-92
5-0ct-92
5-0ct-92
5-0ct-92
5-0ct-92
5-0ct-92
5-0ct-92
6-0ct-92
6-0ct-92
6-0ct-92
6-0ct-92
6-0ct-92
6-0ct-92
6-0ct-92
7-0ct-92
9-0ct-92
9-0ct-92
9-0ct-92
10-0ct-92
12-0ct-92
12-0ct-92
12-0ct-92
12-0ct-92
12-0ct-92
12-0ct-92
12-0ct-92
12-0ct-92
13-0ct-92
13-0ct-92
13-0ct-92
2-Nov-92
2-Nov-92
5-Nov-92
5-Nov-92
6-Nov-92
6-Nov-92
9-Nov-92
25-Nov-92
26-Nov-92
26-Nov-92
30-Nov-92
2-0ec-92
3-0ec-92
9-0ec-92
16-0ec-92
temp gauge sender, cable loom cover
22.00
brake master cylinder banjo fittings, braided fuel hose and fittings
199.11
K&N air filter
56.19
Fuel filter connection fitting
1.80
battery leads, clamps, terminals
61.15
nuts and bolts
15.75
3 x rubber grommets
1.75
brake and clutch hoses, line and fittings
309.75
fuel tank sealer
14.45
fuel tank welding/pressure testing
60.00
oil, fuel return hose, vacuum line, cable ties
61.75
air filter oil
10.06
grommet, neoprene rubber for heater
10.65
nuts and bolts
16.45
brake nuts
10.90
certification preliminary visit
20.00
rear brake hose mounts x 3
10.00
scuttle wiring bulkhead connection box
25.15
4 x relay connection blocks
33.45
tube nut for brake lines
10.85
wire, fuse box, heat shrink
34.85
diodes, heat shrink
12.00
fuel line hose clip
1.30
radiator hoses and clamps
53.15
nuts and bolts
9.10
trailer hire
21.00
stainless steel exhaust system
522.56
button head cap screws
2.35
radiator overflow hose
7.90
driveshaft inc 1 new universal & balance(Toyota & Ford shafts suppl.) 219.35
1.30
2 x grommets
pedal modifications
100.00
Hi stop tail light
50.00
nuts and bolts
5.70
relays, terminals
20.00
nuts and bolts
1.15
wiper arms, fuses
37.70
wheel alignment
45.00
nuts and bolts
3.20
speedo & rev counter calibration incl speedo cable & angle drive
438.15
Unsuccessful computer fix - 'experts'
300.00
registration
356.33
certification
180.00
fix computer repair done by 'experts'
177.22
sump bash plate
56.25
TOTAL ON ROAD COST OF INITIAL BUILD:
22441.75
MAY 93 MODS (Build and fit heater, replace diff pinion seal)
15-May-93 hoses and clamps
48
37.65
15-May-93 heater tap cable
13-May-93 diff pinion seal
TOTAL COST OF MODIFICATIONS:
i0-0ct-93
22-0ct-93
22-0ct-93
11-Nov-93
16-Nov-93
17-Nov-93
21-Nov-93
24-Nov-93
27-Nov-93
27-Nov-93
12-Dec-93
12-Dec-93
12-Dec-93
OCT-NOV 93 MODS (scuttle area, brake master cylinder)
180B brake master cylinder
panel sealant
cardboard for panel templates
brake line fittings
paintldiff head gasket
brake hose for rear axle
fuel tank filler hose, wiper blades
oil gauge line and fittings
clutch master cylinder reservoir
brake fluid
3 Dunlop mag wheels (second hand)
fitting and balancing of tyres on to mags
mag nuts and lock nuts
TOTAL COST OF MODIFICATIONS:
5.35
24.91
67.91
162.00
11.39
16.14
15.12
9.39
23.55
32.95
6.94
28.15
10.45
285.00
51.25
81.00
733.33
20 VALVE REBUILD JUN-NOV 94
1.00
spiral wrap for coil lead
325.00
4 x Dunlop mag wheels (second hand)
66.00
2 x Dunlop mag wheels (second hand)
31.45
reversing light lens
2.20
blanking bolts for brake vacuum line on manifold
27.00
stainless fasteners
19.50
reverse light switch
7.50
brake fluid
10.00
mudguard welting
10.00
remove tyres from second hand mag wheels
11.10
28-May-94 dip/main relay
300.00
14-Jun-94 insurance excess
127.75
22-Jun-94 terminals/wire etc
6-Jul-94
20 Valve 4AGE inc!. loom, comp, alt, AFM, coil, igniter, wiring diag. 2500.00
34.65
6-Jul-94
terminals etc
31.80
7-Jul-94
heat shrink etc
93.80
11-Jul-94
spigot bearing, oil, filter
13.50
11-Jul-94
exhaust gasket
18.00
12-Jul-94 fan belt
13-Jul-94 sump shortening & bash plate, oil cooler & sandwich plate, indicators 513.00
10.45
25-Jul-94 wire
30.00
26-Jul-94
15 psi oil switch
122.63
28-Jul-94
K&N air filter
65.55
29-Jul-94
engine/gearbox paint
30-Jul-94
10.67
paintbrushes
30-Jul-94
engine paint
25.00
8-Aug-94
19.00
accelerator cable
11-Aug-94 diff head gasket
2.80
49
1iiiiP'
11-Aug-94
18-Aug-94
1-Sep-94
1-Sep-94
2-Sep-94
8-Sep-94
9-Sep-94
10-Sep-94
10-Sep-94
10-Sep-94
11-Sep-94
15-Sep-94
16-Sep-94
17-Sep-94
25-Sep-94
1-0ct-94
3-0ct-94
12-0ct-94
12-0ct-94
12-0ct-94
13-0ct-94
19-0ct-94
19-0ct-94
24-0ct-94
25-0ct-94
25-0ct-94
27-0ct-94
31-0ct-94
1-Nov-94
3-Nov-94
4-Nov-94
7-Nov-94
12-Nov-94
14-Nov-94
14-Nov-94
17-Nov-94
21-Nov-94
21-Nov-94
21-Nov-94
22-Nov-94
23-Nov-94
23-Nov-94
23-Nov-94
24-Nov-94
24-Nov-94
24-Nov-94
5-Dec-94
17-Dec-94
19-Dec-94
50
panel sealant
12.32
new rear guards, nose cone, taillights, guard mounts
562.86
brake lines
26.70
trailer flex
25.49
gearbox gaskets/ lever boot
44.55
sealant, stud lock, paint
31.85
terminals etc
30.45
gearbox snap ring
5.50
fuel hose, vacuum hose
226.62
polishing cloth
19.95
wire, grommets
8.45
leather
67.60
electrical misc
10.55
sandpaper, glue
17.00
electrical misc
14.00
engine paint
26.80
wire, heat shrink
8.20
stainless fasteners
15.82
gearbox oil, gearbox clutch hub
157.40
stainless fasteners
188.50
electrical misc
121.23
clutch release bearing
37.15
release bearing carrier (tray of beer)
26.00
misc
1.60
autosol polish
9.15
terminals
8.12
polishing cloth, autosol, oil filter, oil
99.25
front guards
247.50
terminals, wire, heat shrink
69.26
stainless steel fasteners
33.20
circuit open relay
28.12
underseal
24.75
wire
6.57
terminals
14.70
thermostat
28.70
ignition switch
42.05
Dunlop mag wheel powder coating
118.13
polishing wax, insulation tape, autosol
43.60
tyre fitment, locknuts
70.00
coil lead cap
3.45
stainless fasteners
16.70
underseal, chip protector
72.00
grommets
3.10
stainless fasteners
11.10
p-c1ips
1.20
stainless fasteners
9.63
stainless steel exhaust tube for radiator return above exhaust manifold 30.00
oil pressure switch
11.20
oil gauge tube
1.80
19-Dec-94
19-Dec-94
19-Dec-94
21-Dec-94
21-Dec-94
17-Jan-95
8-Mar-95
braided line and fittings for radiator hose
brass fittings
exhaust mount
pressure gauge t-piece
insulation tape
3 x radiator hose clamps
oil cooler braided hoses and fittings
TOTAL FOR 20 VALVE REBUILD:
222.21
11.50
4.60
15.41
4.65
75.33
233.22
7686.14
30929.13
GRAND TOTAL:
(Try arguing with that Lads - Ed)
FOR SALE
Tyres:3x Dunlop 205-515-13 slicks, done 1 meeting. $50ea. Buy 2 get 1 free 3x Dunlop
185-550-13 slicks, 114 worn, $40ea. Buy 2 get 1 free
Contact: Gavin
Bateman
Ph (04) 477-0880 home
(04)
232-4954
work
e-mail: [email protected]
Rhubarb 2 Sports Racing car. Built in 1974 Engine: Nissan SR20 21 16 valve alloy
block DOHC, fitted with Kelford cams, 48DCOSP Webers, belt driven dry sump system,
aluminium flywheel, AP racing twin plate clutch, Aeroquip oil and fuel lines, stainless
steel muffler etc. Gearbox: Hewland Mk8 5 speed magnesium case, with spare ratios,
and dog rings. Front suspension: Spax gas adjustable coil overs with Titanium or steel
springs, fabricated double wishbones, Lotus F1 magnesium uprights, Jack Knight
magnesium housing single seater steering rack, selection of springs and adjustable anti
roll bars, adjustable ride height. Spare wishbones. Rear suspension: March 722
magnesium uprights,Nissan 260Z driveshafts with Porsche CV joints, large base double
wishbones, Spax gas adjustable coil overs with selection of springs, adjustable anti roll
bar and ride height. Chassis: fabricated aluminium monocoque with steel rear subframe.
Aluminium fuel & oil tanks with twin Facet fuel pumps, aluminium ground effect venturis,
full roll cage, Lotus F1 fabricated aluminium pedals. Brakes: 4 pot JFZ calipers all round
mounted on JFZ and Telstar vented discs, inboard rear outboard front, Carbon Metallic
pads, cockpit adjustable brake bias, Aeroquip lines. Wheels: 3 piece Formula Libre wheels,
fully polished halves 13x9" front 15x14"rearTires: Dunlop slicks for dry weather, Goodyear
and Dunlop wets, all mounted on wheels. Body: Fibreglass shell with Lexan MR2 windows,
carbon fibre wings, spare nose and mould. Trailer: Supplied.
51
More from "A Car Widow"
Margaret Priest
You would think having run a club for 10 years,
for 6 of those as editor as well, I would know
not to volunteer. Allan used the usual line and
I fell for it "Everyone loved your article would
you do another one, please". So here we are
again. I tell you it feels that we are trying to
take over 2 pages last month, 1 the month
before and 2 again this month. No, that is
definitely not a hand going up to volunteer it
is a cry of "Someone else must have
something to say".
I decided to share experiences of owning a
kit car. In August 1983 we finally completed
all the paperwork and got a registration
number for the Marlin. " What the **** is one
of those," I hear you cry. 1930s style front and
a very short end. You sit about 4 inches off
the ground over the rear wheels looking down
a 50 foot bonnet (well it feels like 50 foot the
first time you try to drive it). The boot room is
enough for a tool box and chilly bin all other
luggage sits on a luggage rack on the back or
on the running boards. A true open top, no
doors and no side windows. Cosy, definitely,
it has been referred to as like wearing a durex,
difficult to get on, impossible to get off, but
incredibly snug once in place!!!
We had missed all the shows in 1983 and so
the cars only outings had been normal rounds
to friends and rellies. The first BIG outing had
to wait until the next Easter when we went to
visit friends in Torquay. Torquay is on the south
coast of England some 400kms from
Manchester where we lived. The weather in
England at Easter can be unpredictable but
the trip down was wonderful, not so hot as
you would get burnt but warm enough for only
2 jumpers instead of 4. The only casualty of
the trip - our bums which took hours to get
the feeling back. Andrew and I have what you
might call cuddly physiques and the seats that
came as extras on the kit were a little too snug
so we decided to make our own. Furniture
grade foam for the seat and covered hard
52
Scorplo's year 1997
board for the backs. More room but not enough
bottom padding!!
After a pleasant weekend we said our goodbyes
and set off for home. Torquay is a lovely place,
it has its own Riviera type climate as it sits
behind a ring of hills (Wellington without the
wind). Only problem was the rest of the UK is
over those hills and the temperature dropped
about 10 degrees in the first 50kms. No panic that's what jumpers are for. A quick delve in the
suitcase and we were back on route. Then it
turned green, you know that stormy green that
says thunderstorm. We thought we might outrun
it but unfortunately it was in front of us. So we
got wet, very wet. Next came the HaiL ... boy,
does that hurt when it hits your face, arms, legs
etc ... at 70 mph.
The top on the Marlin is for decoration only. It
takes up the "room" in the boot and the frame is
none collapsing so almost impossible to carry
except with the roof on. The sidescreens were
solid and just as difficult to carry. Vision with the
top on? Forget it if you are Andrew's size.
After hail, came snow. By now we were past
caring we just wanted to get home into a hot
bath and then a warm bed. Being so cold is
tiring. I have to say that was probably the most
miserable journey I have ever been. But we kept
and used that car for another 11 years.
The soft top got a folding frame, the side screens
were replaced with wind deflectors (remember
those your Dad had them in the 40s), we even
bought crash helmets to protect us from the
flying debris on UK motorways (and hailstones).
I became the best packer of a Marlin in the
business.
We had our adventures, broken water pump
300kms from home on a Stat Holiday in a rain
storm, camping in the snow, getting very wet
going to the Church for a mates wedding - posh
frock and suit etc .... But that is all part of the fun
of driving an alternative car.
Well what a year it has been, flying to the UK to be surprised too easily, but John, you have
in the early part, another winter holiday in the really surpassed all expectations with this one.
Northern Hemisphere, next time I will make
Having had word that the final drive check was
sure of hitting the better weather. This meant
taking place, I hopped on the bike and rode
that I did not get the chance to visit any kit car
over to John's place, to be informed by Vicki
makers, shows or even contacts any kit or
that I had missed the off by a good 15 minutes.
alternative type car clubs. In fact, it was all a
Knowing the route, over Haywards and back
bit rushed. Never mind, next time!
down the motorway, a pleasant evening, the
What really made the year for me, well it really temptation was too much so off I went. A quick
is the end of a story, so may I take you back blitz through Haywards and around the bay, I
to the beginning, please bear with me.
spied a T Car (Registration 'CREAMY") in the
Mobil petrol station at Plimmerton. A casual
Some years ago, about five or six from
look around the car, followed by a quiet
memory, a chap arrived at a meeting at our
cigarette, but no sign of the troops. On the
then clubrooms in St Bernards College. Of
bike and down the motorway back to John's
advancing years, he did not strike one with
place. Just on a half hour after I arrived,
being the sort that would be into building a
waiting outside on tenterhooks, I heard the
special, a kit possibly, it had been done before,
(very) quiet rumble of a V8 and scurried up to
but a home design, no. Well several meetings
the corner, to watch in awe as the Napier
later he turned up with this box. We looked
Ruxton GT hove into view with four gentleman
and wondered whatever? As the evenings
ensconced within.
official bits were finished, the box was opened
to reveal a rather large but splendid model of What a shame that one single fault, a ball joint
a rather large car, with the words, "this is what on the front suspension, made it miss the
I am going to build". The reason for the model, weekend run, but it is now on the road,
he was not very good at drawing!
officially, with plates attached.
Well, having been bitten once by a certain
Bruce Pennlington, a retired clerical worker
who declared he was going to design a car
and build it, which he did in a remarkably short
space of time, I was not the one to cast the
first aspersion. To myself I must admit I thought
'yes, well, right'. The quality of the model
should have pre-warned me. For the last five
years I have been fascinated by the progress
that has been made in bringing the model to
life in a full sized version, and I do mean full
sized. To say imposing is an understatement.
Having watched the birth, so to speak, of Alex
McDonald's Sabre, from the original plaster
mock-up to the finished article, I am not one
Congratulations John, I did doubt you in the
early days, I apologise. The things you did to
bring this to fruition have taught me a thing or
two about perseverance, how to look at
problems from a different perspective but most
of all, if you really want something, you can
achieve it.
Several club members assisted in various
ways and all can bathe in the reflected glory,
with special mention to Roy and Allan. Isn't
this a great club to belong too. Where else
can somebody dream a dream and see it
come true, simply reach out when help is
needed and get it? Where indeed?
53
A Brief Foray into Competition
Peter Cottier
In the past few weeks I have ventured twice
into motorsport in my 1600cc Leitch Super
Sprint, and at the behest of our unrelenting
editor I have agreed to record my impressions
of these events. Both were street sprints, (ie
run on closed sealed roads with only one car
on the course at a time), the first in Levin and
the second at Port Road, Seaview.
The Levin event was held on 19 October. It is
an annual event and has been held for several
successive years by the Levin Car Club. It
comprises a rectangular course with one
extended leg, two laps for each run - total
distance about 3 km I think. The course is sited
in the industrial area of Levin just east of the
Railway Station. The cars were divided into
four categories by engine size (0 - 1300cc,
1301 - 1600cc, 1601 to 2000cc, and over
2000cc with the capacity of turboed and
supercharged cars being multiplied by 1.7)
and a fifth category for open wheelers and
sports cars of all capacities into which I was
placed. Of the 40 or so starters quite a number
arrived on trailers, which suggested a
seriousness of intent I found a little
disconcerting. The usual format for these
events was followed, with compulsory drivers'
briefing, a drive around the course in convoy,
a timed practice run and then three timed runs
proper. The best of the last three determines
the result.
The event was well run with little drama
(though I suppose if my car was one of the
three or four which had "ofts" into the
unforgiving concrete curbing I would think it a
little more dramatic). Not unexpectedly the
faster cars there were the four wheel drive
turbo Mitzi's and Subarus, together with
several very rapid Escorts (not running 1600
crossflows), Datsun 1200s (not running 1200
engines), 260Zs and Toyota Corollas
(supercharged and otherwise). The extended
leg of the course provided a reasonable
54
straight (interrupted by a kink and three sets
of railway lines) where I had a speedo reading
of 160 kph and the faster cars no doubt
somewhat more.
I left after the second of the proper runs to
make a commitment at home. At that stage
when I checked the results board I was rather
pleased to see myself about in the middle of
the pack. However, when the official results
arrived through the mail, the time keeping
clock must have slowed down forthe final runs
(that's my view anyway) because a number
of cars recorded significantly improved times
and I finished up about three quarters of the
way down the heap. Weather for the event and
the return trip to Wellington was cloudy, windy
but dry. All in all good fun and good
experience.
The Port Road event was held on 30
November by the Hutt Valley Motorsport Club.
It attracted 37 entrants, this time divided into
four groups by engine size, ie, no "open
wheeler and sports car" category. Again a
disconcerting number arrived on trailers, with
some of the cars from the Levin event
attending (the two events were apparently
held as a series). Same format as Levin but
with dire warnings at the drivers' briefing about
being sensible during the first procession
round the course - apparently last year
someone managed to ram another competitor
during the initial familiarisation run in convoy!
Class B in which I competed (1300 -1600cc)
was the largest with 12 vehicles, mainly Toyota
Corolla variants and Escorts. None of these
are standard cars of course, a number of them
being stripped out and beautifully prepared
race cars. Class D (over 2000cc) was the next
largest with 10 entrants - turboed 323s,
supercharged Corollas, a couple of fairly new
4WD turbo Mitzi's, well presented Datsun
260Zs and one V8.
Classes A and C were not so numerous but became rather slippery and times fell off
they also contained some very quick and well noticably. It was clear the weather was not
presented machinery. (An interesting aspect going to improve and I called it quits at that
of these street sprints is that on the tight short point. I was quite pleased with the good run I
courses, smaller cars prove highly competitive had, however, which was nearly five second
- the fastest cars on the day at Seaview were improvement on my best time in this event
a 2000cc Escort (running a 6 cylinder Toyota last year (must be those sticky tyres, Dave).
twincam), a 260Z and a 1200 Datsun (with a This put me 4rd in Class B and 17th equal
rather warm 1600 engine).
overall with plenty of room for improvement
next time.
The weather was forecast to be overcast and
windy in the morning with rain in the afternoon, Again I enjoyed the event. You actually get
and somewhat surprisingly, that is what very little time out on the course in these
happened. I got in the practice and one events, but talking to other competitors,
"proper" run on a dry track but it started raining inspecting their vehicles and watching them
shortly before I commenced my second run. tear around the circuit make for an interesting
The track, which is hardly the "smooth black day.
ribbon" of a race track proper before the rain,
Indoor Grand Prix Results
from Steve Strain
Thankyou to those that turned up to make the Go-karting night a great success.
Everyone was put into a three man teams in a fairly random fashion by our host for the night
Tracey. After the usual pre-race briefing and two lap warm up it was all on. 40 laps each in ten
lap lots.
I! never ceases to amaze me just how our club members can transform themselves from
polite how do you do types into the get out of my way yelling and screaming aggressive
speed freaks and back again all within the space of 90 minutes. I cant count the number of
times I was hit behind by those who forgot where the brakes were. Special thanks must go to
Dave Clout and Tim Hutchinson for bending the steering in the best car I had all night. Like
Michael Schumacher their hands must have slipped just as I went down the inside of them
into the hairpin. In the end, judging by the number of stories and excuses for putting one and
another into the tyre walls (some original and quite believable too) I would say that everyone
enjoyed themselves. The team results as best as I can remember were as follows.
Blue
Peter Cottier, John Thomson, Nigel Lawrence
2
Grey
Peter Hoare, Tim Hutchinson, Matthew Cooley
3
Yellow
Steve Strain, Ron Stroud, David Saxby
4
Red
Roy Hoare, Neville Baxter, Mike Boven
5
Orange
Richard Mills, Darryl Cooley, Brian Morris
6
Green
Dave Beazer, Fin Smith, Tom Davis
7
Brown
Mel (fiance of Richard Mills), Derrick Halford, Dave Clout
55
Batteries For Vehicle Electrics and Propulsion
by Neville Baxter
Our editor has asked me to contribute an
article to the magazine on batteries, so here
goes.
The humble car battery is something that we
tend to take for granted: if it works well, we
ignore it, if it doesn't, it's a pain. Every modern
car has a lead-acid battery, which is of the
SLI (starting, lights, ignition) type. This is good
for brief bursts of high power (for starting
engine), general light duties (lights, stereo,
windscreen wipers etc), and ignition. It saves
having to use a crank handle to start the
engine and vacuum-operated windscreen
wipers that stop working when you accelerate.
Compared with the power required for
propulsion, the electrical demands are very
small and can be met by a vee belt-driven 12
volt generator and 5-10kg lead-acid battery.
An SLI battery cannot tolerate deep
discharges, which will quickly destroy its
capacity, however in normal operation, the
alternator will prevent this happening. The
battery also serves to smooth out any
variations in supply and demand, acting like
a smoothing capacitor.
Battery-powered vehicles require a battery
construction that will allow repeated deep
discharging. Forklift batteries contain tubes
instead of flat plates, and various other
features. Per kg, they tend to cost more and
put out less peak power than SLI types, but
can be run down much more deeply, delivering
more energy per charge without damage.
Lifetime is of the order of 1000 cycles.
For normal-type cars, I am unaware of any
urgent reason to change to an alternative type
of battery, because the weight savings and
performance improvements will be minor eg
spending several hundred dollars extra to
change from a 7.5 kg lead-acid to a 2.5 kg
lithium-ion battery in a 1000kg steel-bodied
car does not make a lot of sense. It would be
56
better to invest the extra money in replacing
100 kg of iron and steel with 50 kg of
aluminium and plastics, for ten times the
weight saving.
For battery-powered vehicles, however, weight
control is very important, as the batteries
make up a large proportion of the total weight
and energy is limited. As examples, gel-cell
lead-acid batteries made up 395 kg of the
1100kg empty weight of the 1989 GM Impact
experimental car. The limited production
version, the GM EV 1 carries about 500 kg of
batteries and has an empty weight of about
1250kg (The Impact, incidentally, had a
structurally-efficient glass-fibre body, and the
EV 1 has an aluminium body, both with much
better strength-to-weight than ordinary steel
bodies. Even so, the genuine real-world range
of this car in Californian traffic conditions is
only about 100 miles (161 km for nonAmericans), often less. If the battery pack is
too small, the power and range will be poor. If
the battery pack is made excessively large,
the vehicle weight will increase, requiring
larger tyres, brakes, suspension and
bodywork (and cost), which will increase the
energy consumption per kilometer and not
deliver much more range than a well-sized
pack. To improve power and range, it is
necessary to store more energy without
excessive weight. Lead acid batteries are
improving, but for significantly longer ranges,
other types are being developed, which
contain more energy per kg eg nickel-iron,
manganese-zinc and ultimately, lithium
batteries, of which Lithium-ion is currently the
most promising. (Metallic lithium went out of
favour a few years ago after a cell phone
exploded while a wealthy Arab gentleman was
using it. Lithium metal has half the density of
water and burns or explodes when it touches
it. The ion types do not contain metal and are
enormously safer.) Sodium-sulphur was
regarded as promising for many years, but had
the disadvantage that the sulphur had to be
kept molten, so the whole battery lived in a
large "thermos flask" housing. It has now
dropped out of favour.
zinc) will only deliver 100 to 120 Wh/kg, 1/10
as much as petrol. The main advantage touted
for battery vehicles is that they use energy
more efficiently, creating less pollution and
using less fossil fuel.
The advantages of lead acid compared with
the higher-energy batteries are that they are
cheap, readily available, long-lasting, reliable,
well established and come in a wide range of
varieties. It has been discovered that these
batteries can be worked harder and will last
several times as long as previously if you
simply squeeze them. Normally, particles of
lead sponge gradually fall out of the plate grids
and accumulate at the bottom of the cell.
When enough of this is present to short out
the +ve and -ve plates, the cell will be useless,
immediately discharging itself. Squeezing
prevents the lead sponge falling out of the
plate grids. Another factor is that once the top
part of a plate dries out due to loss of battery
water, that part of the plate will be ruined,
resulting in a loss of capacity. A good way to
design a battery is therefore to place the
plates horizontally, on top of each other, so
that the weight of the cells above provides
most of the compression and a thin layer of
acid electrolyte can easily be maintained
above the top plate. The electric buses used
at the 1994 Los Angeles Olympics used this
type, large packs for pure battery power and
smaller packs with diesel generator sets for
the hybrid-power buses. (The idea was good,
although it would have worked a lot better if
they had organised the routes and traffic jams
better.)
Electric motors and controllers have advanced
enormously in recent years. The torque curve
of a good electric traction motor can make a
diesel or petrol engine look sick in
comparison. The main problems are cost
(improving) and electricity supply. Average
efficiency can be well over 90%, which allows
electric vehicles to be very efficient and
economical (energy-wise, if not necessarily
cost-wise). When braking, some energy can
be recovered in batteries, capacitors or
flywheels, to be re-used.
A very specialised area of electric vehicles
that I have had some interest in is solar race
cars and solar-hybrid cycles. Private
individuals, sponsored teams and
corporations field entries which use electric
motors supplied by batteries and solar panels.
The batteries used include lead-acid (very
cheap, about 30 Wh/kg, easy to manage, long
life), nickel-zinc (fairly expensive, shorter life,
60 Wh/kg), Silver-zinc (extremely expensive,
life of 1 to 10 discharges, 90 to 120 Wh/kg)
and more recently, nickel-cadmium (fairly
cheap, 35-40 Wh/kg), nickel-iron (40Wh/kg)
and lithium ion (slightly cheaper than silverzinc, 106 Wh/kg, easier to manage, more
robust and last 500 cycles or more. Top of the
line camcorders use these). The electric
motors used range from salvaged brush
motors with simple chopper controllers to the
latest high-tech brush less motors with state
of the art electronics.
The real problem with pure battery vehicles
is that the energy yield per kg is very small
compared with petroleum or alcohols. A kg of
For high energy efficiency combined with
petrol can be burned to release 43 megajoules
range, performance and rapid refuellingl
(MJ) of energy. Even though a typical car will
recharging, the real answer, of course, lies
only average perhaps 10% efficiency, this is
with hybrid-powered propulsion. For a high
stiIl4.3MJ, or 1200 watt hours (Wh) per kg of
performance, long-range vehicle, the energy
fuel. In contrast, a good quality lead-acid
can be sourced from a mixture of petroleum,
battery will yield about 30 Wh/kg, ie 1140 as
much. The very best batteries (lithium or silverContinued on page 58
57
Continued from page 57
mains electricity, solar etc. An on-board
generator set can convert petroleum to
electricity at an efficiency of 25 to 40%,
reducing fuel consumption and nasty
emissions to a fraction of current levels. A few
years further down the line, fuel cells will be
used. These run on hydrogen, obtained from
methanol or natural gas using an on-board
reformer or stored hydrogen and can run at
60 to 90% efficiency. These are almost
practical now, having made huge progress in
the last few years, and experimental cars and
buses are running on them.
In a later literary spiel, I will introduce some
new ideas. I will also have my little solar and
pedal powered tricycle back from the land of
Oz by next February. It is a miniature hybridpowered vehicle which can be fitted with
engines, motors, fuel cells etc in micro-scale
with a real driver on board. My typing finger
has almost run dry for now, so if you have
bothered to read this far, fair reader, I shall
now bid thee anon.
RAMBLINGS OF A SINGLE-MASTEl) BARSTOOL
Another month, another article. Thankfully the last for the year. It's not that I
find doing this a chore it can be a lot of fun if you are tuned in at the time. At
the moment my mind is on other things and it is a little difficult to get the right
motivation
I bought a copy of New Zealand Driver the
other day. There were several interesting
articles in it and it caught my eye in the
bookshop. VW have produced a new car with
a W12 motor in it. Not an entirely new concept,
but certainly unique in the automotive world.
Imagine two V 6's with a common crankcase
and you have a W12. It is short enough to fit
most cars and not really all that wide. The
exhausts would be a bit messy, and the
intakes would he interesting to say the least,
but just think of that power. The engine is
5.7. litres in capacity which puts it in the
category of superpower. It develops 420 bhp,
or in modem parlance,295 kw at 5800 rpm.
Impressive. The car it is fitted to is a run of
the mill styled mid engined two seater and
the featured model was a bright yellow. OK
for some I guess.
be based on the 507 of 1956. This in itself
was a futuristic animal when it appeared. The
concept car, called the Z07 is illustrated, with
and without a top fitted, and in both cases is
a gem. It has that 1960's look, a hint of MX5
in the hindquarters and in many respects
mirrors the 507. It has an all aluminium V8,
just like to 507, fitted to a sequential 6 speed
gear box.
As it will never go into production we will never
know the price, but whatever it would have
been I think the motoring, serious that is,
public have been deprived of what might have
become a true classic sports car.
The other thing that truly caught my attention
was an engine conceived by Powerbeat, the
battery people led by a one time colleague of
mine who had the brains to go on to bigger
things.
This engine is made of alloy and uses
Also featured was a BMW concept car, which
unfortunately does not seem to be destined extrusions for the major components. The
for production. A pity, as it is one of the prettiest engine has rotary valves, four inlet and four
cars I have seen for some time. I do prefer exhaust. What's so special about that you say.
pretty cars to all out grunt cars. I digress, the Well these valves are on either side of the
BMW is a design concept which appears to bores and not above as might be expected.
58
The engine therefore has two camshafts
which drive the valves via gears, just like the
distributor drive in most overhead valve
engines. The whole packet makes for a
compact unit. I wait in anticipation for
developments.
and became American Motors I have no idea
if this company is still in existence. I could go
on but that would be plagiarism as I have a
copy of the hook on Healey and his car in
front of me.
I have not spent much time on the beast over
the past eight weeks or so. Double trouble at
work and much tiredness to follow. Too much
gallivanting at weekends and starting now, too
much late night cricket. Nice to see the
Aussies getting a pasting from the South
Africans on Thursday night. I did enjoy the
Now to the mystery car. On club night several
mystery tour of the Wairarapa. Thanks to John
people correctly identified it as a Nash Healey.
Hill for organising the jaunt. The only downer
This unlikely union occurred after Donald
was meeting up with an example of the first
Healey met one George Mason of the Nash
motor mower I ever owned. It was a diabolical
Kelvinator Corporation while crossing the
piece of equipment and caused me much grief
Atlantic in 1949. Strings were pulled and
The motor eventually ended up in a model
Healey met some of the heavies in Detroit
boat.
leading eventually to production of the car to
be known as the Nash Healey. The cars were Well thats it for the year. Have a happy time
used in both Le Mans and the Mille Miglia over the Christmas break may 1998 bring you
where they performed with distinction. The first all good fortune in both health and well being,
prototype was produced in 1950 and and may you all come hack in February with
production continued till 1954. The Nash renewed vigour and interest.
Kehrinator Corp amalgamated with Hudson
This month sees us having our first meeting
in what may become our permanent home. I
look forward to the next decade of our
existence, the first having, been one of
progress and positive outlook.
Mystery tour and fun weekend!
When 28th Feb & 15th March 1998
Where: ( so the cat is out of the bag) in the Wairarapa.
Cost: Minimal
For more details Contact Janet on Ph 233-1445 or Fax 233-1205.
For Sale
Lancia Stratos Replica
Body moulds. body frames, suspension 1800 Lancia. Reconditioned engine
and gearbox. Wheels, and various other parts.
Phone Vic Middleditch on (04) 385 8470 (025) 577 333
59
,....
COAST TO COAST MKIII 29-30 NOVEMBER 1997
Jack Hadley
Yes, the Mklll has been carried out by the Palmerston North, our president left us
Central Districts Triumph Owners Club, I know intending to join us later. Margaret said there
this has no relevance to the C.C.C. but this is was no way she wanted to go up the main
being related at the request of our illustrious road route there was no excitement in that!
editor (who of course was the instigator of the
Five cars set off for the Pahiatua Track, by
coast to coast run).
now it had stopped raining but when we get
The Mklll, yes indeed, MI and Mkll were to the Manawatu lookout Manawatu has
carried out by the Constructor Car Club and disappeared in the mist, it is now one of those
the Scimitar Owners Club, this trip by the sort of days when Ansett aeroplanes park on
Triumph Club was by far the biggest thing top of hills in this area. The run through to
attempted yet by this fairly new club (just over Pahiatua is uneventful and on arrival we had
12 months since inception).
morning tea at the Wooden Spoon Cafe where
we
are joined by the others who came via
Saturday 29 November started very early for
Woodville.
me, up at 5.30 am, made a pot of tea and
gave my co-pilot navigator tea and biscuits in More discussions were entered into regarding
bed, that way I thought she would think she the route from there on as some thought it
was having a lie-in! ! It didn't work, there were was metal road, consultation with locals
too many clocks around and she realised she assured us it was surfaced right through. So
was getting up earlier than if she was going this time six cars set off on the route God (or
to work!
should I say Alan Stott) intended, with one
car
going via Dannevirke.
So very bleary eyed and yawning we set off
Margaret and Jack at Herbertville Pub
There was one problem for some people and
that was the Welsh/All Black test on Sunday
morning (there was no sky TV in the hotel).
Luckily someone had noticed a TV dish
outside the Wimbledon tavern so some of the
crowd went there at 7.30 am on Sunday, I
preferred to stay in bed then have a leisurely
breakfast and a look at the local area.
for our 7.00 am meet at Plimmerton Weight By now the weather was beautiful even though
Station (1 think most car clubs meet there). we had a downpour of rain during morning
Yes, I did say 7.00 am as we had been told tea, we went via Pongaroa, Weber and
the trip was to leave Himatangi at 9.00 am Wimbledon. The road was good with the
because some of the Palmerston North exception of about three k's which was being
members were intending to return the same repaired and was exceptionally muddy, which
day
certainly changed the appearance of what had
By 7.30 am four cars were at Plimmerton so been some fairly pristine motor cars. There is
we set off for the run (or should I say race) up some wonderful scenery out that way and with
to Himatangi Beach. The Wellington cars were the improvement in the weather we got the
first there, I didn't actually see the sea or full benefit of this. We arrived at Herbertville
beach as it was blowing a gale and pouring at lunch time and of course went straight into
with rain, eventually other cars began to arrive, the bar (I got the first pint) which set the trend
two more from Wellington and five from the for most of the day, some time was spent
walking and picnicking on the beach
Palmerston North/Levin area.
unfortunately one's bald head got rather sun/
Off we go, the journey has begun, about wind burnt, but it was a good time to get to
twenty "k's" down the road we stop at the Opiki know people better.
turn off, by now we have lost two Spitfires ( I
found out later they had only come to see us The food served for dinner and breakfast was
off), two others want to go through the gorge very good wholesome tucker and very
to Woodville and one family went shopping in reasonably priced.
The route home was discussed and decided
on, it was to be Highway 52 through Pongaroa
and Alfredton and then through the back door
into Masterton. We were assured by the
landlady that it was surfaced right through (it
wasn't, there was still six k's of metal).
The return journey started but when we got
to the Wimbledon Tavern (12 k's) it stopped
again because the tavern also had a petrol
pump (most unusual for a pub) and some of
the thirstier cars needed more fuel. We had
plenty so we carried on quietly, expecting to
be caught by the flying squad at any minute,
we got to Weber then Pongaroa, then
Alfredton and on to Masterton and they still
hadn't caught up which really surprised us.
We had been able to take in the scenery,
admire some of the houses and gardens and
60
also the wild flowers, very nice part of the
journey.
Our weekend of excitement was almost over
when we reached Grey town as we had
arranged to have afternoon tea with friends.
Whilst walking along the main street of
Greytown (in the rain) one of our friends said
"I'm glad I'm not riding around in that in this
weather" and he indicated a sports car coming
down the road, the car was a Leitch Super
Sprint being piloted by Captain Clout of the
Constructors Car Club, who waived
nonchalantly as he drove by. It was later when
Alan Stott rang me that I found out that Dave
had got lost on the CCCs Christmas run
between the lunch .stop and the museum and
was on his way home. I'll lend you a good
map next time Dave!
By the time we came over the Rimutakas it
was raining hard and blowing a gale but it did
wash a bit of the mud off the car.
I think I'm safe in speaking for the Triumph
enthusiasts who made the trip by thanking
Alan Stott for the original idea of the coast to
coast, absolutely brilliant, thank you.
61
_.-
..•
WWII MILITARY VEHICLE FANS
John Hill
One of the reasons for choosing the hotel where
we stayed in Prague was that it is just a few
hundred metres from the "Jeep Bar". This is
very small public bar in a leafy suburban
neighbourhood.
O.'.'T'.·'O·R··. .
~.
for all,. . cillcll,brakl&
atOlDative
parts DledS,Pllsa
rllleailrllier
.arg.
C.....IIIS
The special interest of this is the owner who is president of the WWII military vehicle club.
This fellow is big enough to quell any bar room brawl and his hair cut and clothing is that
ofaWWII G.!.
There is a German field gun on the front lawn, fragments of Jeeps decorate the walls and
garden. A German half track, named 'Matilda', rests to one side of the driveway. A GMC
6x6 is in perfect condition and shares it's shelter with a prestine GMC 3 ton army truck..
Somewhere among all this is a Lada in USAAF colours.
There are only about three tables inside, and a green field tent on the lawn for summer
evenings. The walls are decorated with old Jeep parts, books and large scale drawings of
the famous vehicle. The main bar area is a converted cellar and part of the floor, walls and
table tops are very obviously recycled marble slabs. Not the Ritz but hard to imagine a
more pleasant place when it's very late in the evening, the temperature in the high 20's and
it still bright sunlight outside.
"
caU af eitnet of out two focatfoos
towel' Jfllff
27 RaJtwayAvQ
Ph 568 S070
.Upper :u'utt
2~ Montgnmety ~~
Ph 528 $?RSO
Opefl CZ.OO~5~tn weekday!!
There is a growing collection of foreign number plates and a few firearms, old pistols, rifles
and light machine guns. These are not musuem items, rather in the category of junk as the
firearms especially have obviously been buried for a long time before being discovered.
~~gO.. H?~nl5!QtutdaY9
My Czech friends expressed reservations a this generally excentric estabishment but all
agreed this was an important freedom that could have been only dreamed of until a few
years ago.
Although this is a genuine neighbourhood bar where
very little English is spoken the welcome message is
very clear. There is no TV or loud music and the
available food is pretty much soup, stews, bread,
microwaved pizza and pickled sausage (pink and raw).
The Jeep Bar is open eleven to six, that is, 11 am to
6am!
This is the last in my series of reports from my visits to
The Czech Republic, North Korea awaits and
somehow I dont think it will be quite the same.
64
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