I am slowly putting together many new tips from club magazines collected by our club over the last 20 years.  They are from a number of different clubs, but many of the new ones are courtesy of the 48 & FJ Holden Owners Club of NSW, in particular contributed to their magazine by Stan Bennett and other tips from my online guru Barry Black (from Melbourne).  If you find any errors in these articles (or anywhere else) please contact me and I will attempt to check/correct them.

Car Production Year - (Helping you work it out)

Electrics / Gauges / Lights

Engines / Gearboxes

Wheels / Brakes / Suspension

Body Exterior / Interior Bits

Nasco Accessories

Other Accessories

Other Interesting FX-J Technical Bits

Other Historical & Interesting Bits

Technical Bits - Other Auto

Humour and General Interest

	Holden 48-215 (FX) Year of Introduction: 1948 Engine: 2.15 litre 6 cylinder Power: 45kW Transmission: 3 speed manual Performance: 0 - 100 km/h 20.0 seconds; Standing 400 meters 20.5 seconds Production: 120,402 Price: $1,466
Holden FJ Year of Introduction: 1953 Engine: 2.15 litre 6 cylinder Power: 45kW Transmission: 3 speed manual Performance: 0 - 100 km/h 20.0 seconds; Standing 400 meters 20.5 seconds Production: 169,969 Price: $2,046

Chassis Black

Q: Can anyone advise me of the finished gloss level of front end black areas ie. front chassis & inner gaurds, cross member, springs etc. for an FJ '54 original restoration project?

A: "It is a Satin Black which varied a lot, as it was a mix of Gloss and Flat Black on the production line. Holden has a Chassis Black that is very close."
(Thanks to Barry Black)

Boot badges - how many holes?

Q. I have an FJ but on the boot there is 4 Pin holes just above the light for a badge. All the badges I can find ( special ) or (holden ) have 3 Pins Can you tell me the badge I am looking for with the 4 Pins.

A. There are two badge sizes. FJ Standard & Ute use a large 6 pin HOLDEN Badge that goes above the Tail-light on the Standard & on the tailgate on the ute.The FJ Special has HOLDEN SPECIAL written above the Tail-light which is two smaller badges each with three pins each. So you need to drill two extra holes if it is a Special. Note: Rare Spares Repro Badges have larger pins and may not fit the factory holes I have been told! - (Thanks to Barry Black)

Bodycloth / headlining

Q: I have a 48-215 style sedan that I am currently restoring. According to the plates the car was made in March 1951 and was painted newmoon blue
with 184 grey coloured leather seats. I was looking at your website and found that it had a 191 blue coloured body cloth. I was wondering if you could
tell me what the body cloth covered in the car and if this was the colour that would of been used for the headlining? If it wasn't how can I find
what colour the headlining was?

A: The 48 Series all had the same Grey felt headlining no matter what the interior colour, available from Rare Spares. Only the Ute's and Business sedans had the Grey Imitation leather Headlining. 184-Grey leather on seat facings only and Imitation Leather on the rest of the trim eg doors, pillars, seat sides and back, etc. 191-Grey pattern bodycloth on seat facings only and plain Grey bodycloth on the rest of the trim eg doors, pillars, seat sides and back, etc. See Norm Darwin's book 'Holden since 1917' for Photos of seat trim design. (Thanks to Barry Black)

Are your back door handles chipping the paint on the door or drooping?

(It will take you longer to read this than walk to your car and fix the problem - don't believe me - read on!)

I recently fitted the handles and locks to my Fj and saw that the handles were hitting the paintwork at the bottom. We had discussed this many times at outings as it is a common problem and we all agreed the only way to fix it was to modify the stops as it was obviously due to wear at the stops. I looked at the locks and worked out that where the handle stop was. I folded up a little ring out of stainless and wrapped it around the pin, tack welding it in place to stop it turning. I fitted the lock and then found that I had fixxed the problem of it travelling to far and hitting the door, but now the handle wouldn't travel far enough to open the door! The inside handle worked perfectly. What to do? I had another close look as the lock didn't appear to be worn yet the handle travelled too far.

Then I thought, why not bend the handle's square pin to lift the handle up? I stuck the handle back in the lock and noticed that the handle was hanging down slightly in the door. Even when I lifted it it didn't actually get back to level? I had an old handle and thought - bend it to reverse the twist, chucked it in the vice and boy did it bend easily! The square pin is only a soft mild steel and obviously slowly bends in use when leaned on hard to open a tight door! I got very brave then and grabbed the fitted handle on the other back door and gently twisted it up while in the lock - problem fixed and you don't even need to remone the handle!

There you go - go fix them up!

Fitting overiders to Fj bumper bars

Q. Can you advise me on shaping FJ overiders so that they sit without a sizeable (3/32") gap existing between them and the centre part of the
bumper bar please? Was there originally a rubber beading under them to take up the gap? I can't imagine they were a perfect fit even when new were they? The sides
of my overiders were rippled because the previous owner had over-tightened them onto the bar but now that I've had that problem repaired I
realise he'd pulled them on tightly in order to reduce/eliminate the gap. Is it a matter of just carefully filing them to suit or what? Or is some form of beading still available/adviseable?

Thanks for any advice you can offer. Kevin.......Darlinghurst.

A. Kevin, I am assuming you are talking about the rear overriders as the fronts can't be installed wrong. The back ones are left and right, which is marked by a dot on the plate
holding the bolt. There is no rubber bead. The quality of fit is average but most of the time I find that they are on the wrong side or that people have two left or rights.
I have had bumpers that have been repair and rolled into the wrong shape or overrides that have been over tighten and spread each side. This can also can happen on the front overriders.

Grey Motor Paint - where do you get it?

The Grey Motor paint is available in aerosol cans at most car accessory stores (such as Autobarn). It's PowerPlus brand, colour # PP427.
You could buy a can and have it computer matched in 2-pack at the paint shop.

Paintstripping - Beadblasting, Sandblasting, Acid dipping etc

Hello, I have an unrestored fj holden ute. I was wondering what the best way to strip the paint and surface rust of the whole car? Would you recommend sandblasting whole car at low pressure? Thanks

Sandblasting is the cheapest ($500) for the outside, but you risk panel warpage if they are a bit slack and heavy on the gun. Acid dipping is the safest - but you have to completely strip the car (I think it's $700). Beadblasting or acorn blasting are the safest if you don't want to strip the car because they use lower pressure. If it's just surface rust (because the paint was thin or nonexistent, you can just lightly sand it with an orbital and hit it with deoxidine) You can also do it like I did with an angle grinder and sanding disks if it's thicker, mine had been spray puttied but not undercoated and left for 3 years so it had surface rust under the paint. If you have visible rust coming through (holes, bubbles etc and a screwdriver goes through -not just surface rust) - do yourself a favour and get the paint properly removed by one of the methods I mentioned before you start repairs.

Removing Rust from smaller parts
To remove rust from old car parts an easy method is to mix up a solution of 1 parts MOLASSES to 8 Parts WATER. Use hot water initially as it helps to dissolve the
rather sticky molasses from the tub. Molasses can be purchased in small or large & pails' from places such 'City Farmers', a small pail costing approximately $9 -
$10.00. Depending on the depth of rust the item will be clean and free of rust in 3 days to a week. Any items that have oil or grease on them will not work so these will
need to be thoroughly degreased prior to placing in the solution. Some old paint may dissolve in the solution but chrome or rubber will not be affected. After removal from the solution wash down the item with clean water and sometimes brushing with a stiff brush will clean up the surface to a bright finish. Cast iron will come out dark grey or if it's been in the solution a long time it will go black but after washing/brushing will clean up to a dark grey natural cast iron finish, which is ideal for exhaust & inletmanifolds. Once cleaned the item must be immediately treated or coated with a rust preventative such as RenexTm or alternately paint the item. If this is not done the item will rust again very quickly. (This paragraph from DICK's TIPS - WA FX FJ Holden Club Newsletter).

Where did the model letters for FB to EH come from?

Have you ever wondered where the model letters for the Fb, Fc, Fe, Ek, Ej and Eh came from? When Holden built a new model, they used a year code that related to the units' year that they made the prototype in. The table shows this more clearly. Note the letter I was not used as it could be confused with the number 1.

For example, the FE prototype was built in 1956, 'E' equating to 6, EH prototype was built in 63.

Door Knobs, Mufflers, Radiators

	Early Door Knob   Used in 48 - 50, some FJ	Late Door Knob   FJ Only
48-FJ Muffler
48 - 50 Radiator		50 - FJ Radiator

(Pics and info c/o Fx-Fj Holden Club of Australia - Melbourne Chapter)

Fitting a Red Motor and Celica 5 speed to an Early!

I recently had a question from New Zealand regarding fitting a Red Motor and Celica Box to an Early.  Here's an answer from Ray Halls of Cambelltown.

"In answer to the question about the conversion the easiest way to do it, and get it past the engineers, is a 186 fitted with an adaptor kit from American Auto Spares at Parramatta Rd Homebush,the kit is $190.00 last time I looked.

Clutch is the same (Holden) adaptor plate goes between the bell housing and motor. The rear cross member is simple if you use a Celica and drill it to suit. Cut the floor to suit , there is a template
with the kit.

If your member decides to go 192 this adds to the requirements, ie extractors, carboration has to be increased, and it is a good idea to increase the braking capability. Mine has 1 3/4" SUs Triples, Stage 3 head, extractors, 35-60 cam, balanced crank, and power boosted disc brakes."

Thanks Ray!

Rubbers gone hard - try this trick!

If the rubber seals and bumpers etc have gone hard with age and you still think they're good enough to use, try giving them a good clean in hot soapy water, a soaking in AmorAll and wet storage in a sealed plastic bag for several weeks.   Amorall is also a good lubricant for installing rubbers and window into tight seals.

FJ Spark Plug Leads

The FJ's original sparkplug leads were unique because they had metal connectors at the spark plug  with the Gmh logo on them.  If you can find a set of old ones with these ends you can carefully remove them and fit them to a set of new leads that are a similair style.  (from Bob Harris)

Spring kits for Fx/j (Clutch Brake & Acc Pedal etc)

6 Volt Flash Units

I was recently approached about where to get 6 volt flash units for the old 6 volt electrics.  Any motorcycle shop will sell you a 6 volt flash unit ($8 new) but check the wattage against your flash bulbs.  They come in various sizes, the one I had at home handled 10watt bulbs (stamped as 2x10W on the case).  The one I got at a local bike shop/wrecker was 2x17watt for $8 (available in 2 or 3 prong).  If this mechanical one doesn't work with your system, they have electronic ones that handle any wattage variation for $20

Changing an FX/J over to 12 volts (Eddy)

(This was another recent question I was asked.  If you know the info is wrong, or have more details please do not hesitate to contact me to help.)

The basics are as follows:

If you want to keep the original headlights with the funny fittings, use 12 volt Yamaha motorcycle headlight bulbs. The other option is you can get 7 inch inserts and fit quartz bulbs, then you can actually see something at night (but the only way I have managed this is using EJ/H buckets)!

That's it - contact me if you have more info!

BTW - if you're after Halogen Bulbs for special old headlights, 6 or 12 volt, 25 to 55 watts, single or double filament,
I've come across a contact, Ph/Fax 08 8278 4393 (SA) - from $11.  (Don't know what they're like though - email me if you know)

Getting rid of Rust on Chrome (Eddy)

If you have some rust on your chrome bits on your car, it may not be as bad as it looks.  Unless it's bubbling or flaking off, you can most likely clean it up with something like 'Ranex Rust Converter & Stain Remover'.  This product has a yellow label and should be available from most hardware stores (Bunnings carry it).  Another version of this that I have used is Deoxidine (available from auto paint suppliers at about half the price of Ranex) which is what spray painters use to clean rust off metal before spraying. Follow the safety directions and wear gloves as they both both contain Phosphoric Acid.  I am not sure if Deoxidine is stronger so be careful, but it is 220g/litre and Ranex is 35% so the concentrations seem fairly similar.

I used this in '98 on some chrome mags of mine that looked heavily rusted and beyond saving.  I researched first and found out that you can very easily damage the chrome if you use a fine abrasive such as steel wool.  I was absolutely wrapped with this stuff (it's a clear liquid) as it didn't turn the rust black like say Kitten rust converter (which is fine if you were painting - but not for chrome!).  After using it I cleaned the area with lots of water, then polished the wheels and they nearly looked brand new!  Regular polishing will protect the chrome with a waxy coating and stop the formation of rust.  And remember - under no circumstances use steel wool! (unless you are polishing very dull alloy - unchromed)

I have since received feedback from Peter Waterson of Victoria and he was wrapped in the way it cleaned up his FX grille.  Peter said, "I was in real trouble trying to get rid of the rust from my FX grille, I didn't want to have to pay to get it rechromed.  The Ranex product worked a treat, you wouldn't know it was the same grille!"

So there you go, try it - Phosphoric Acid based products.

c/o Street Machine Mag

Floorpan tar paper inserts - where do you get them?

So where do you get the 3mm bits of tar board that sit in the reinforcing panels in the floor to level them up? The best way is to get them from an old wreck you see around the place. The second method is to get them from a not so old Holden (but you will have to cut them to shape). The last way is to buy some similiar stuff from a VR commondore. Part No: m40384, 1220mm x 610mm x 2.3mm (about $30).

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