Jacko's Project Reply to topic

Yes it does have the radius rods; stay tuned for a write-up on them. They were fitted to both 253 and 350 cars. Part number 7439060 on page 251 of the HT parts catalogue- fitted to 837 (Monaro GTS V8 (edited as per below)) and 1837 (GTS 350) bodied cars.

Wot about 307 powered cars..?

OK, my bad; 837 is a GTS Monaro V8. V8 engines listed are 253, 308, 307. 1837 is listed as a GTS 350 coupe. All on page 2 of what I now know as the HT Gospel.

Are you sure you guys aren't Monaro owners?

9 June
Collected re-sleeved clutch master cylinder. Dropped off slave cylinder for re-sleeving. Collected it a few days later. Here is a shot of the slave and master clutch cylinders:



In the week that followed: spoke to a few people who confirmed underbody colour and various bits and pieces. Via the Fastlane website, got hold of Ben from Holden Historical Society. He stated the VIN suggested the car was made in the second week of August 1969.

Ben also stated that if it was a genuine 253 car it should have a ‘Saginaw linkage clearance hump’ on the passenger side of the trans tunnel where their right foot would go. Jumped into the car to search for a ‘hump’ and viola- found it. This same person noted that all GTS cars had the radius rods fitted to the diff; these were anchored in the wheel well and there should be a plate with two bolts inside the car. Checked for these and she has them- this car is beginning to reveal that she is indeed a GTS- God bless Brendan.

Here is the ‘hump’, on the left side of the tunnel:



And the bracket




Since removing the gearbox and shifter, I cleaned the shifter and linkages and found the reverse detent button was the issue causing the ‘slap it into reverse’ syndrome. When he said ‘slap’ he really meant ‘flog it’ into reverse. Now, the reverse button thing is not a very common item and a visit to a couple of transmission ‘specialists’ could not even ID what the thing was. Here is a photo of the shifter and below it the suspect detent button:








Googling found a spare in the US for USD120. As Rare Spares make new shifters someone must make the thing at an affordable price- they must but I couldn’t find them.

Here is how the detent button works:




Essentially, the large spring goes in the big piston to push the larger assembled piston away from the base.

The other spring goes in the bottom of the smaller piston (as it is oriented in the photo) and the larger ball bearing sits on top of it. While depressing the large ball against the spring, the four smaller ball bearings (there are four I left one out of the shot) are inserted so they align with the holes in the side of the piston while ensuring they do not fly out the holes- we used a stiff bit of plastic as a collar.

You then carefully up-end the smaller assembled piston and insert it into the other bit and push it down until the small ball bearings seat in the internal groove. The big ball bearing pushes (via the spring it sits on) the smaller ball bearings out so they seat in the groove. The action of the shifter lever selecting reverse pushes against the head of the small piston sufficient to over-come the large ball bearing keeping the smaller ball bearings 'expanded' in the internal groove. It then moves down the bore until reverse is deselected and the big spring pushes the piston back up and the smaller ball bearings seat in the internal groove.

I fluked getting it apart in the first instance by 'bouncing' a hammer on the small piston so that the velocity of it returning happened to be enough for the smaller ball bearings to continue through the outer edge of the internal groove. A quick search for the ball bearings and walla - I had it apart.



One of these guys from the ‘dark’ website (Simon from SA) noted that the shifter linkages are now less than $200 whereas before they were over $300. He does not stock the shifters as he cannot beat the Rare Spares price. Despite cleaning the original shifter, if I can’t get the parts to fix it then a new one is the only option. Order the shifter and gearbox mount (that happens to be the same up to VL).

The shifter arrived a few days later. Fitted the lever and reverse is a hell of a lot easier to select and it feels generally tighter, suggesting the shafts on the original were well worn.

11 June
Purchased a new wire cone and began cleaning the gearbox. Noticed one of the shifter bars (that connect the rods to the gearbox) is cracked across. Ian C suggested grooving the crack and welding- will give this a go.



While cleaning the box, noticed the gasket was covering the transmission code plate; I had previously thought this milled surface was blank- but no. Noted the code started with what I thought was a P and set about decoding it further. Unfortunately, the decoding did not make any sense as it came up as a Muncie and I am confident the box is a Saginaw. After a few minutes pondering what was happening, reviewed the photos and saw the little leg of an R on the P. Changing the P to an R made perfect sense and the box decoded correctly as a Saginaw 4spd made on 9 May 1969.


14 June
Sunday
Great winters day to get he covers off and resume dismantling. With Jackson in the boot holding the bolt head with a spanner (he fits easily), we removed the tow bar. The rattle gun makes this sort of thing so much easier and faster. Disconnected the wiring for the tow bar from the loom and removed the lot.

Disconnected the rear tail lights from the housings and unplugged this section of the lock. The number plate bracket (a rubber press through grommet arrangement) was not going to come off easily and I had to remove the brown wire from the multi-pin plug to get it off the rear bumper. I left the boot lamp switch and lamp in place as I did not want to cut the wire leading to these –there is no connector I could find and the power wire disappears up in the roof somewhere (near the rear drivers side courtesy lamp I think).

I used a stanley knife to score the sealant from around the rear tail light housings while Jackson undid the four retaining bolts. Had to show him how to use the magnetic pick-up thingy as we dropped a little nut in the wheel arch. Both tail lights removed without further issue and pleased as these look in pretty good nic.




With the lights out, access into the void in the panels below revealed a golf tee and marker holder thingy that must have been there for years. I could not see it with the assembly in place. Jackson used his new found magnetic extension device to grab the wire loop and carefully remove this artefact from its hidey-hole. Cleaned out more sand/dirt from the drivers side area back from the wheel arch. With the tail light out this was much easier as I could use a long screw driver through the tail light hole.

From underneath this area of the car (drivers side wheel arch) it was evident it had taken a hit/scrap here at some stage and what should have been a nice circular curve was looking decidedly flat. Thor’s hammer obtained (a 2lb hammer and a length of timber) for some remedial (or rudimentary) panel work. A few firm but well placed hits saw the panel resume its ‘happy shape’. This opened up the area under the wheel spacer thingy sufficient to reveal more fine dirt/sand, the drain hole for said dirt and a .22 calibre bullet. Bit interesting to find nowadays but not too surprising when you consider that gun ownership was not unusual back in the 1970’s.



More dirt and crap cleaned out from the drivers side wheel arch and tail light area such that it is now looking cleaner and not like the bottom of a potters wheel. No signs of the dreaded rust.

With access to the bumper now easier, Jackson again helped remove the side bolts (the ones hidden in the wheel arch side panels) that hold on the rear bumper. With these out, the rattle gun made short work of the remaining four bolts securing the rear bumper to the end of the chassis rails. Bumper off and safely wrapped in a doona cover for protection. Looks pretty straight.

To round out the rear dismantling, I removed the four phillips head screws holding on the fuel filler bib- not sure what else to call it.




With the rear dismantled, it was time to relocate operations to the front. Stanley (the guard dog) displaced from the sun and carpet mat.

Started dismantling the front with the side front markers. Only interesting thing here was that the passenger side had the rubber grommet installed from the rear as opposed to the front, where I suspect it should have been. Disconnected them from the loom via the plugs.







Lenses look to be in good condition, as does the chrome on the housings. Oddly, the PO threw in another three (yep not two pairs) housings but no further lenses.

Hood catch assembly removed to allow access to the uprights holding in the grill.



Well this happened to be connected to just about everything else on the front, including the top radiator support and lower valence. Removed the bolts securing the top support thinking this would make access easier- wrong. It appears the radiator needs to come out to make all this easier. But as I did not want to remove it just yet I had to work around it.






Removed the row of bolts securing the lower valance and got this out the way. This allowed access to the little pot bolts holding the number plate in place. Lot of trouble to go to to mount this sucker I tell you. As it turns out, these plates have been reissued twice since this car. They now reside on a nice HQ coupe that is owned by a good guy and his family.



Decided to remove the front bumper with mounting arms and all. It is held on by two bolts through the guards on each side and two plates/arms that protrude back and mount to the sides of the chassis rails. But that bloody radiator prevented complete removal of two bolt holding the chassis rails plates on. Managed to insert them just enough to clear the plates/arms and the front bumper pulled out nicely. All wrapped and secured under the house.

After disconnecting the head light wiring loom, removed the head lights, adjusting plastic clips (they push through a square hole and provide the thread for the long adjusting bolt), washer bottle and a small plastic loom clip from the drivers side inner fender. Disconnected the bumper arms from the bumper before I wrapped it to make storage easier. A good days dismantling.

Are you saying the plates you have in the pic are on your car but actually belong to another guy with a HQ? Sorry, that part lost me. I love your write ups, great work dismantling, great to have the young fella learn and appreciate the older generation of cars, you might just have to build a car with him in 10 or 15 years time

Hi Andrew, the registration was on the car back in the 1990's. Since then and with the passage of time, the rego lapsed and eventually the plates became available to someone else. They are now registered to a HQ coupe.

Ausjacko wrote

Hi Andrew, the registration was on the car back in the 1990's. Since then and with the passage of time, the rego lapsed and eventually the plates became available to someone else. They are now registered to a HQ coupe.

This is why the RTA (and assume it's the same in ACT) want you to hand the plates back in when the car runs out of rego.

you could be correct there BUT they never offer to come around and collect ;-)

My HT with a 307 and HG with a 253 must have been orphans as neither had tramp rods....

Perhaps they were not GTS's Pete.

Grand Touring and Sport both were...

That's why they don't have tramp rods; only the Guzzle That Super cars had them, not the Grand Touring and Sport cars.

Little known fact......

Perhaps they were stolen or otherwise misplaced? I have it on good authority you can get a good partial liver for a set- am setting myself, sorry H, up just in case ;-)

Seriously, I asked a Big Mc equivalent on another site about this last night and he is confident they came with them- paraphrasing here. Having said that, we all know how Mustangs never came with this that or the other thing until we find one that does.

Probably just the town I grew up in, a couple of mates had similar cars and you guessed it none either......