Yards And Yarns

[bry3500]

I' have been playing in a band here in Melbourne for a few years with a well known guitarist of Maori extraction.
He has kept me amused with stories of his exploits of him and his mates growing up in Oakune in the mid 1960s.
We were in the band room waiting for showtime last week and discussion somehow turned to us, as little tackers, going to the Ohakea races and what a highlight of the year it was and also of going to the Stratford Stock Car races on a Saturday night , which is what my yarn is about.
It seems he and his mates travelled in 2 cars. A Mark 1 Zephyr ( he swears he had 2 cousins in Auckland named Mark 1 and Mark 2) and the idea was to get 5 of them into the Mark 1 so that you couldn't see through the cars windows from behind because of the Afro's.
The other was a Ford 10 "Flaggon Wagon".
One Saturday before they set off to Stratford the boys decided the Ford 10 could carry more beer if they turned it into a ute so they borrowed dads axe and removed the roof ( and structural integrity) from behind the drivers head back.
What happened next you can imagine..
Traveling down the Parapara the Ford hit a large pot hole and folded up like a jackknife..glass and beer everywhere ....
lucky no one was killed , although the 2 of them in the car ended up requiring attention from the friendly Staff at the Wanganui hospital...

[Oldfart]

Good story, but seems a bit strange if it was a Ford 10 cos the body had pretty much nothing to do with the integrity, they had a separate chassis often used for Ford 10 specials with a pretty rudimentary body, there is one in my shed!
The second photo from Ohakea has a car now owned by new member GeeBeeNZ #45.

[bry3500]

Good story, but seems a bit strange if it was a Ford 10 cos the body had pretty much nothing to do with the integrity, they had a separate chassis often used for Ford 10 specials with a pretty rudimentary body, there is one in my shed!
The second photo from Ohakea has a car now owned by new member GeeBeeNZ #45.
I made a phone call... Got the story wrong,,,the car was a Standard 10, not a Ford - apparently had a Semi chassis..the doors were wired on with #8 fencing wire..
be interesting to identify as many of those cars as possible on the Ohakea grid.. I can see the crop duster, Ron Frosts Cooper 500 must be in there, Interesting array of V8 specials in the bottom pic....Allan Freman Lago Talbot? Fordy Farland Singer-Buick?

[105angria]

Bob I agree no wowersers, dogooders, people looking after our wellbeing we chose to take our own risks damned insurance companys

[GeebeeNZ]

Love that Ohakea Photo. We had the two Bucklers from the back row at the Roycroft meeting at Hampton Downs Easter 2011. Ran the numbers 45 and 46 on them just for old times sake. I think its the first time the two have been back on the same grid for over 50 years.

[GeebeeNZ]

3751

[bry3500]

Awesome Geebee..

[Oldfart]

Matamata... my dad was the Town Clerk who signed off on the documentation to allow them, after a consultative process, with his son and sons' best friend!
I came across the reports on these from local newspapers while clearing up after my mothers' decease over the last few weeks. Happy times. I remember a certain Cooper aircooled car with a perfect round dent in the front where it had run up the back of another. Also a VERY frosty morning and a wonderfully evocative Motorman picture.
Another memory was a D type Jag being parked in our basement garage for the day as the owner could not find a park on the street which he was happy with!

[David McKinney]

The D-type didn't compete at either Matamata meeting, but could well have been driven there with spectators from Bob Homewood's district, where it lived at the time

[Oldfart]

The D-type didn't compete at either Matamata meeting, but could well have been driven there with spectators from Bob Homewood's district, where it lived at the time

David, I did not imply that it raced, it was parked in our shed all day! I reckon it was the "well known to urban legend" one which on occasion was seen doing the shopping in Papakura. Lived in Bombay didn't it?

[Trevor Sheffield]

Driving in the Matamata races was a once in a lifetime experience and an absolute joy. A real dinkum road race on a real road, power poles, kerbs, plenty of stuff to hit, but all of this somehow made things so easy. Braking points were simple to judge and identify and everything fell onto place.

The circuit felt like home and a drive down to the local shops, but with the extraordinary opportunity to drive on or over the limit. Every time I have been there since, I have recalled the fun of flat out down the main street between the central planted dividing sections. Hard to imagine in this day of politically correct safety. It was there, you could hit it and getting very, very close to doing so was the name of the game. Hooooooooooooray!

A continual sequence of normal roadside objects along the way provides an aspect where one feels at home and to go flat out in these circumstances is out of this world. Thank goodness sticky tyres did not inhibit the exercise. It was small time in many ways but this was real motor racing. Driving on a dedicated racing circuit just does not, can not and will never compare.

[AMCO72]

EUREKA........I see we have hit the 10 Grand hits on Yards and Yarns. I was following the two top runners for some time....Images from my past and Yards and Yarns. 'Images' trailed us for a long time, then all of a sudden..whoosh...they just rocketed ahead, probably due to those amazing photos posted of the 'good old days'. Keep it up fellas, we have certainly chewed the fat in 'roaringseason'.

[AMCO72]

I was going to post this on 'going even older' because of the age group it concerns, but 'Pallmall' would be directing me to Yards & Yarns so here it is. WARNING......this is not a bedtime story.....it is a nightmare....it is an old race-car drivers WORST nightmare!...read on.......At my time of life, and with my medical history, I am required when applying for my competition licence to satisfy Motorsport NZ that I am a safe and suitable person to drive on a race track. To this end I fill in a large questioneer.....'.have I ever been committed to a Mental Asylum'. etc, etc, .....and submit myself to a fairly rigorous medical examination with my Doctor. Blood pressure, kidney function, ECG, hearing loss, eyesight....all are put through their paces. As my licence was about to expire, I make an appointment and duly turn up at the surgery to get hooked up to machines with flashing lights that records everything that's happening in my body of 72 years. Well think of a 72 year old car....things are bound to be wrong. The computer printout is not promising. Oh dear, things have slipped since last time....too many hot-dogs and chips....and everything is in a state of decline...... marginal was how the Dr described it! Never mind, he knows me well, has been my GP for over 40 years, and in the box on the application that says...'do you, the Dr, consider that this person is fit and able to drive in competition'?, my good man puts in a big tick, and we sent the completed form off to Palmerston North for consideration. The wait is interminable, but eventually the distinctive envelope arrives. I tear it open with shaking hands....bloody Parkinsons! A decision has been made. I am apparently a danger to other competitors and am therefore required to surrender my licence forthwith. I am devastated. I break down in tears and reach for the whiskey bottle....cant remember whether the alcohol reacts with all the pills I'm taking......bloody Alzheimers!! With the stoke of a pen I have been 'hung, drawn, and quartered'. It's all over. BUT, consider this. I am allowed to drive on the Queens Highway without such a certificate, yet, and if I had a 'medical incident' while behind the wheel the result could be chaos. On the race track where we are all driving in the same direction, concentrating very very hard, in a machine at the peak of it's condition, and strapped in like fighter pilots,in the event of a 'medical incident' the car will, I hope, just glide to a stop adjacent to the armco as Denny Hulme did at Bathurst. So there it is. Like an old worn out 72 year old sofa I have been cast on to the scrap-heap. Funnily enough, I have been threatening to take up knitting a number of times on this forum.......'many a true word spoken in jest'. All true EXCEPT.......I passed. During the wait my BP was hovering around 200/100.....not good. Dont think I will go through this again. I am definately going to take up knitting, or maybe get up peoples noses by writing stuff on 'roaringseason', because I'll have so much more time on my hands. You have been warned....it could happen to you.

[Oldfart]

Never mind Gerald, get a vintage licence from the VCC, cheaper and MUCH easier. A bit restricted on the events you can run, but I am sure you would be welcomed!

[Kwaussie]

That is tough news to get!


Local doctor that did my first medical for competition licence [1963] did not have an eye colour chart.
He asked had I had ever played snooker?
"Yep was my reply" - he asked did I have a problem picking out the colour of the balls ?
"No I replied" - doc says pass, you will have no problem with flags!

[AMCO72]

Thanks for the sympathy vote guys, but you did of course read the....EXCEPT! The worry was that it took so long for the decision to be made....is usually quite quick, so naturally I started to worry. Think it was 4 weeks from my initial online application. I dont have a problem with a medical, but in the end the final decision is made by someone who doesn't know me, and has never seen me. I have seen a lot of much more unhealthy LOOKING guys than me at race tracks trying to squeeze their fat, sweety bodies into race suits, but their printouts must be OK. I like the idea of a VCC licence......now I wonder why it is less rigorous to get than a MSNZ one. I'm just as likely to have a 'medical incident' driving my Citroen Light 15 as I am with the Mini, and frankly speed is relative......anything over 100 kph is going to hurt. I think if Oldfarts idea gets off the ground maybe the VCC will hold more 'speed' events, because you are right that there are not that many at the moment ,although I know they have an odd hillclimb or two. I liked Kwaussie's 'eye-test'.....now thats what I call sensible. Bob, I'm sure they have a social club, perhaps not drinking the beverage you are thinking of, but any VCC event I have attended over the years seems to be punctuated by endless cups of tea!!!!

[AMCO72]

I agree Oldfart and Bob. I mean, who do we think we are out there racing with the hot-shots, some of whom aren't averse to giving you a serve. I know that I am driving to the maximum of MY ability but certainly NOT to the maximum of the Mini's ability. I can tell you that Angus is AT LEAST 8 seconds a lap quicker in the wet, and 4 seconds quicker in the dry on any of the tracks that we compete on, in the same car!! This VCC thing is looking more and more attractive. Unfortunately the Mini falls into a sort of no-mans land between VCC eligible and Classic 60's saloons in it's performance. When Tony Mann bought the Sidchrome Imp up for the Bruce McLaren festival he and I were more than 100 horse power down on the next group of cars, so to even sort of keep up, which we didn't do by the way, you have to drive the arse off the car, and I am not prepared to do that. So we just trailed around at the rear of the field reliving the glory days, when these two cars were fierce rivals. Buy the way Oldfart, a Citroen might be the ultimate machine for your series, wide, low, f/w drive....mmmmm ....not sure whether the engines can be lightly tuned. Bob, do you know? [By the way Bob, I do not do 'Facebook' but I am very happy to be your friend on here.]

[Rod Grimwood]

Now there's an opening for you Bob, "Social Director" reckon you have the qualifications needed.

[bry3500]

Gerald ,Citroen 15 I have worked on a few standard examples over the years,but the only time I ever done anything other than service work ,was at a tuning business where I worked ,we had one come in belonged to the local doctor ,brought it in one day because it was a bit off color ,we did a compression check ,yes it was not good news. we decided to do a valve grind on it and he suggested we give the ports and rough edges a bit of a clean up,we suggested he ditch the Solex carb and fit a DCD Weber ,we used to have these little cast adaptors that you drilled to suit the manifold ,its a long time ago ,but from memory the Inlet manifold looked a bit like a BMC B series one ,one of the Citroen people on here will no doubt confirm or deny that ,or in turn perhaps banish me into the Foreign Legion,after we had finished it we set the jetting etc up on the Dyno ,too long back to remember what difference it made ,but the good thing with a lot of stuff in that era was a good clean up in the ports and unshrouding the valves always worked wonders,likewise with the carburetor ,most of them had carbs that were too small on them,we used to fit the DCD Weber or later on a Hitachi carb to lots of cars, so that its it on my Citroen tuning ,actually I was just thinking Doctors must have a thing with Citroen's as one of my Doctors later in life had two of them ,albeit of a much more modern expensive variety
Rod I was just thinking actually ,after reading Gerald' comments on tea drinking etc ,I don't think I will apply for the job ,I think they would find both you and I are perhaps over qualified for the job especially if they have read some of the comments we have written on here,we might not even get invited to join them
Bob..seeing your post on the Light 15 really caught my eye..I have fond memories of my Dad taking me to Ohakea and Levin in the back of his his example,, he had fitted( to my Mothers Annoyance ) a louder muffler and a 'Fish Tail ' exhaust...I can still remember the distinctive engine note it produced. Always therefore had a soft spot for these things and was delighted to see an example racing at Sandown at the last Historic meeting.
Check the pic below.

[bry3500]

Before the Buckle sports car, Bill Buckle raced this Citroen Light 15

[bob homewood]

Before the Buckle sports car, Bill Buckle raced this Citroen Light 15
Gerald its looking good,nice and low.get Angus onto the suspension and set up ,along with bit of a Cam and head work ,now being real stupid wasn't there a 22cv with a V8 made or planned and also Citroen I think planned a Flat six for the later DS models ,wonder if the later Subaru 6 owed anything to this design ?

[Oldfart]

Can't say I am very impressed for "our" series with the tyres that CI Maigret is using!
Gerald and Bob, my tea tends to come from a teapot with Kentucky written on it!

[bry3500]

Well..that shot of CI Maigret was taken at the Mt Coot hillclimb O.F....probably ran with different tyres at Sandown

[bry3500]

While we are talking about Light 15 Citroens.......
The car shown here at King Edward Park Hillclimb, Newcastle in 1955 was unusual in retaining the front wheel drive from the Citroen sedan from which it took its mechanicals

[bob homewood]

Can't say I am very impressed for "our" series with the tyres that CI Maigret is using!
Gerald and Bob, my tea tends to come from a teapot with Kentucky written on it!

Now that sounds OK ,we got something in common .bit fond of the old "Kentucky " myself, and no keep the tyres sensible so they slide around , too much grip puts too much strain on a lot of other old stuff as well,and I'm not referring to the driver

[thunder427]

....AMCO72,My ol sparring partner,I need your help!!...Christchurch 1960's/70's Cnr of Idris Road and Fendalton Road,North/ East cnr of the intersection was a very nice long ,low roof style house, poss dark red brick comes to mind, they sported a '56 grey Ford Ranchwagon (rare, in its self !!!!) they also owned a Maroon Citroen (Pos Light 15) roadster,used to leave it parked out in the open,always appeared in nice condition....AMCO&@ how is the memory going,have to wonder where this great car is today??????????......regards thunder427/MJ:cool:

[AMCO72]

Cant enlighten you there thunder427. I left school in 1958, was at Lincoln from then to mid 1961, then a stint on a Nth Island farm, back to Leeston mid 63 to mid 65, then to Cambridge, so wasnt around and about ChCh during the period you mention. My goodness, an L15 roadster, she would be worth a few bob today, although I like the shape of the saloon better. I always thought the L15 had a bit of a dodgy engine, but maybe not.Thats why I asked Bob if he had had any experience with them. Only 3 speed gearbox, with that strange gearstick poking out of the dash. This was one make I had forgotten about in the Lincoln 'Fleet'. One of the lads had one painted bright yellow, and after driving Model A's, and Whippet roadsters, the Citroen was light years ahead on performance and road-holding....can remember some exciting drives in it. And of course it made a wonderful SOUND. As to where it is now????????????? I dont think the Ranchwagon would make a very good race-car......good tow-car maybe.

[pallmall]

I don't know much about this, other than it is Forest Lake circa 1968/69 in the very early days of Speedway Saloon racing when just about every make of car was tried. Interesting that the headlights are retained, although turned around for extra speed!

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i275/Checraft/Speedway%20Saloons/0000117Quicke-mailview.jpg

[bigbanger]

A Citroen Light 15!
Interesting routing of the exhaust pipe and I suspect 'porkies' re the 1200cc capacity rating given the smallest engine in a right hand drive L15 was 1911cc. The smallest engines ever in L15's were pre WWII left hand drive cars in France of 1303cc and 1628cc capacity.

[bry3500]

Bob..you should be writing a book

[Rod Grimwood]

Aha Bob the old incinerator, slip a bit of fibrolite in when brother and mates getting ready for cooking saussies on sticks for big adventure, and sit back in shed and watch, Boom, saussies and forks every where, and young fellows looking around wondering what the hell was that. My mates were mean to them.

[bry3500]

Early Photo of Denny Hulme???? ,)

[Jac Mac]

Does not look grizzly enough...:)

[Rod Grimwood]

Yep I grew up admiring the Bear and Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon and still do. But i have reservations about Denny Hulme a little after the 86 Mobil at Puke, I got the snarl and fix it from him before the race and we were way down the field and never going to be a threat to anyone. We were driving a Commodore (NZ Built) and without all the fancy engine bits they did not like heat, would run nice temp at 6500 but you nudge up to 7000 and up went the gauge, so I pulled the bottom of the grill out of its mounts and angled it back a fraction to give it a little more air, and it was sweet. As I said before we were not a threat (about 4 plus seconds) off the big boys. sitting on the grid and Denny walks up and suggests i put the grill in properly or he will protest. I just could not believe it, so yep we put it back and as soon as the 5 minute board went up it happened to slip out again and was tapped in position so it did not come right out. If we had the big gear and budget i could understand, but we were just there for the experience and had a ball. Ironically during the race i got to braking at end of back straight after just starting my second stint and haveing been told the brakes feel funny, when yep they were funny like not there, I look up and here is Mr Hulme in the gold Commodore turning into hairpin and i think "neat now i am going to take out the best known driver in NZ" thank god I could spin the car and went right around the back of him. That would not have been a good look and I reckon he would have been more grumpy.

[AMCO72]

Geez Bob, dirty rotten stinking bastards. Is nothing safe these days. I have my trailer, which I built from scratch, secured with a bloody great wire rope round it. Thick wire rope is almost impossible to cut with bolt cutters, although the weak link is the BIG paddlock. I shouldn't have to take such precautions, but you do. You have to wonder what these turkeys are going to use it for, because I'm sure you will recognise it were it to turn up at a race meet. Very distinctive wheels, should be able to spot them a mile off. Anyway good hunting.

[AMCO72]

Just a bit of trivia here, and to keep Yards & Yarns on page 1.!!!!!!!!! I see there are 3 threads that are now in the exclusive '10 grand club'. 'Images from my past' has just powered away from everyone with 17,000 hits; 'yards and yarns' follows with 12,000, and 'lost race cars' in 3rd place with 11,100. Shellsport cars knocking on the door with 9,200. Is surprising that some threads you might have thought would be popular, have just died and gone to heaven. Quite a lot have had only one reply and a few have had NONE....Amazing. Steve, you must be very happy with the way this has all turned out, after all there are other similar forums out there, but the thing that strikes me on roaringseason, is the general friendliness of the participants. I know I have put my foot in it sometimes, and I have been 'shot down', but in the nicest possible way......vigourous discussion is encouraged and insults are not. By the way Steve, why have I been elevated to the exalted position of....semi-pro racer????? All very flattering but people who know me might question that position!!!

[Jac Mac]

Think its related to the number of posts you have made Gerald, probably meant you to encourage you to make even more... dont worry, by the time you get up in the thousands they probably do something really nice like tell you to get a life..:). I see I am classed as a ''Journeyman Racer'', heck that is about what I would have called myself back in the early 70's, makes me feel like I have been spinning on my own oil for the last 40 years, & all this time I thought it was someone elses oil!!

[bry3500]

A Citroen Light 15!
Interesting routing of the exhaust pipe and I suspect 'porkies' re the 1200cc capacity rating given the smallest engine in a right hand drive L15 was 1911cc. The smallest engines ever in L15's were pre WWII left hand drive cars in France of 1303cc and 1628cc capacity.
Mick Stupkas Light 15 @ the 2011 Sandown Historics

[GD66]

OK. NOW, I've seen it all....

[bob homewood]

I like that its certainly different and challenging,puts a different slant on you pre 60 thinking

[bry3500]

The car looked and sounded great , and was running mid pack ...I had a chat to Mick Stupka, It seems he ran the car back in the early 60s and it had been sitting in his garage for quite a few years. He said the engine had a lot of torque and that he didn't rev it over 5000rpm. He also mentioned that he had done a lot of work on the bottom end.

[AMCO72]

How does he get away with a wood-rimmed steering wheel????? A bit too modified for Oldfarts class though. By the way the Wolseley 4/44 that I reported seeing on SH1 near Hamilton seems to have gone. Could have been a good runner.

[AMCO72]

And what about the Millen hillclimb course on his property at Hahei on the Coromandel? That looks a bit interesting. Only for his house guests though. Dont think I will get an invite!

[Oldfart]

How does he get away with a wood-rimmed steering wheel????? A bit too modified for Oldfarts class though. By the way the Wolseley 4/44 that I reported seeing on SH1 near Hamilton seems to have gone. Could have been a good runner.

Only issues I see are the carbs (Wbers were available to the suitably well heeled pre 60) and the tyres.
Plenty of woodrim wheels PROVIDED that they have a continuous metal ring as I read the rules?

[bob homewood]

4584

Away back we discussed John Rileys car sales building ,well this one was the one on the Saleyards Road corner

[pallmall]

Cool, thankyou for posting that. Looking at the Mustang, that poor old girl had done a fair bit of racing.

[richard lester]

Yep I grew up admiring the Bear and Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon and still do. But i have reservations about Denny Hulme a little after the 86 Mobil at Puke, I got the snarl and fix it from him before the race and we were way down the field and never going to be a threat to anyone. We were driving a Commodore (NZ Built) and without all the fancy engine bits they did not like heat, would run nice temp at 6500 but you nudge up to 7000 and up went the gauge, so I pulled the bottom of the grill out of its mounts and angled it back a fraction to give it a little more air, and it was sweet. As I said before we were not a threat (about 4 plus seconds) off the big boys. sitting on the grid and Denny walks up and suggests i put the grill in properly or he will protest. I just could not believe it, so yep we put it back and as soon as the 5 minute board went up it happened to slip out again and was tapped in position so it did not come right out. If we had the big gear and budget i could understand, but we were just there for the experience and had a ball. Ironically during the race i got to braking at end of back straight after just starting my second stint and haveing been told the brakes feel funny, when yep they were funny like not there, I look up and here is Mr Hulme in the gold Commodore turning into hairpin and i think "neat now i am going to take out the best known driver in NZ" thank god I could spin the car and went right around the back of him. That would not have been a good look and I reckon he would have been more grumpy.

i remember doing some BMW customer drive days at Manfeild with denny and brett Riley etc.We had some very interesting interpretations on driving skills by some of these people-after one particularly bad day we were in a group engaging and taking questions from the group and denny piped up to one particular fellow and asked him "how are you getting home from here mate" ,to which the guy replied "ummm... i'm driving home"---to that Denny said "well good luck..." and wandered off-----Gold.

[AMCO72]

4728

I have no idea whether this has worked. Is a pic of the 3.8 Jaguar I mentioned in one of the yarns. Have just done this to practice. Will post a pic of the XK120 C mentioned in the 8 mile chase if this works. If it doesn't I apologise!

[Shano]

You've nailed it Amco.

[bry3500]

The legendary Linda Vaughn takes a ride prior to the start of a race at Road Atlanta in 1971.

[Oldfart]

In the What where when, I mentioned stories at Tarawera.
To start; at this particular event Jim Boyd had the Lycoming, and was regailing us all with the tale of having been stopped by a cop at Waharoa, just north of Matamata. "But officer, I was only doing 1500rpm, the previous owner told me that was 55mph, and becuase of when it was built I don't have to have a speedo."
Cop says, "well I reckon you were going too quick, but I did not get a reading"
Boyd then says, "How about you head off down the road, I will follow you, when you are doing 50, stick your arm out the window, I'll look at the revs, and I promise I won't speed again".
Cop agrees, as described, it all happens and Boydie is on his way to Tarawera. The final line is, "and the bloody thing only fires every alternate lampost down the back straight at Puke when it's flat out, dumb cop!"
In reality the language was somewhat more colourful, but I do remember forum etiquette!

[Rod Grimwood]

Bob, you got yourself into some difficult situations, must have been the company you kept. I could not imagine you being involved.

[Russ Cunningham]

Thanks AMC072. What a great site. I am a beginner against you guys when it comes to memories and knowledge. interesting how myth and facts blend over time. We certainly had some fun. Who remembers the after race parties in the pub in Levin, the name escapes me. Willow Park in Tauranga etc. etc. The modern race driver goes home and goes to bed, alone. Just never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.

THE OXFORD!

[David McKinney]

Yep, and if the Oxford was too crowded there was always the New Levin. Fond memories of both:cool:

[Grant Ellwood]

Hey Bob, I watched the Kerry Grant incident at Cabbage Tree corner, must have been 1966 or thereabouts. Think he got tripped up by Roly Levis or Dene Hollier but the memory is pretty fuzzy. I do recall the rollbar on Kerry's car was flattened.

[Rod Grimwood]

David ,can you remember the November meeting when the Beer ran short in the town ,and they resticted the number of flagons you could take away with you ,would have been the year that Kerry Grant got tipped up in the Brabham

#350 :- There you go again Bob, in the middle of it again. I could not imagine the gents of those days drinking much at all.
And me from such a sheltered upbringing until i started meeting and racing with them.

The more this happens Bob, the closer I think the book will have to be when you got 10 minutes spare.

[Grant Ellwood]

And then you had the Mungavin brothers in Levin, Lew and Rob (hopefully I got the names right), Lew worked for Sid Jensen alongside Bryan Faloon and it was hard to find two opposites, Bryan-very reserved and Lew, let it all hang out..


#350 :- There you go again Bob, in the middle of it again. I could not imagine the gents of those days drinking much at all.
And me from such a sheltered upbringing until i started meeting and racing with them.

The more this happens Bob, the closer I think the book will have to be when you got 10 minutes spare.

[Grant Ellwood]

Bryan probably would be a drifting star these days... Do you remember the Atkins brothers, Ross and Francis? Prior to racing Formula Fords they both had Anglias and drove sideways everywhere, likewise other Levin Car Club racers Malcolm Emmerson and Tony Ashdowne. Probably left someones name out of the Levin Anglia mafia.
I last saw Ross Atkins at Manfeild circa 1996, I was strapped into the Ralt about to head out to the starting grid when Ross leaned over and advised me to "be carefull out there, today is the anniversary of Faloony's death" - not quite the words of encouragement I was expecting to hear.....

Grant it annoyed me today ,had to find it ,would have been the 28th November 1964 meeting,he tripped over Rex Flowers and he ended upside down ,another strange bit of trivia that is connected I took Bryans LSD centre down for him on the Friday before that meeting ,it was one of the Ray Stone / Merv Mayo built ones and Merv finished it on the Thursday night in time for me to take down on Friday ,
Yes Lou was the outgoing Mungavin from memory, (the entertainer ),you are right about Bryan he was a quiet guy ,but he made up for it in his driving,he let it all hang out there

[Carlo]

THE OXFORD!

After the Oxford the Wahine & Rangatira were pretty good too for those of us who had to travel South on the Sunday night. Back in Lyttleton between 5.30 to 6.00am Monday and at work in Timaru by 8.00am

[Russ Cunningham]

Was it Frank Gardners mechanic that did that ,if I can find it I will pass it on here,ohh then there was the case of the World Champion and the Kiwi Mustang driver at one of the meetings ,car vs sack dunny from memory

What makes you think that the man from Mauriceville grew up to be a responsible adult? Hello Richard!

[Trevor Sheffield]

That was the quickest way around Levin in a Anglia in those days on the tyres we used,even later on with tyres with more grip you still tended to drive that way around there

Yes Bob,

Entering the sweeper at full throttle, setting the car up to drift round on a progressively falling throttle and then with a little on the brake, getting the revs exact to make a very smooth down change so as not to upset the drifting rear end, was a delight not experienced, or for that matter required these days. Sticky tyres spoiled all the fun. LOL

Cheers, Trevor.

[Trevor Sheffield]

Bob,

Just downed a whisky and i can sit here on my lean back chair and live it again, like singing in the rain.

Genuine cheers this time. Trevor.

[Trevor Sheffield]

Yes, yes Bob and another thought, or obtuse angle of thought.

The thing does not have to go round as if on rails, provided that it answers the helm. Frightens hell out of the opposition and they let you go by, or is it bye, or even bye-bye! It used to be first at, or up to the corner, was first into the corner with right of way, AND IN FRONT and winning. To hell with how tidy you got round, a race has no relationship with a time trial.

Again cheers, Trevor.

[Grant Ellwood]

Bob, my memory is not too hot, I can only recall a couple of solid offs at Levin - first (and my first concussion) was front on into the bank at Cabbage Tree in my Anglia, the engine ended up under the driver's seat. The second was sliding off the sweeper in the Begg FF and leaping the horse fence (inverted). I always found the bent bits of track "difficult".

You summed that up nicely Trevor ,the other thing that sticks in my mind was the ever increasing amount of tarmac that came into view through the drivers side window as the car leaned and the corner tightened up ,I don't think Grant will agree as I think he got see a bit too much of the tarmac one day

[Rod Grimwood]

After the Oxford the Wahine & Rangatira were pretty good too for those of us who had to travel South on the Sunday night. Back in Lyttleton between 5.30 to 6.00am Monday and at work in Timaru by 8.00am

What was the attraction on these ferry's Carl, did they have movies or just sit outside and enjoy the scenery.

[Shano]

It must have been the friendly and helpful crew.

:rolleyes:

[Rod Grimwood]

Now theres another thread "The Infamous Cook Straight Crossings" or "Trips North & South" some good, some bad, some not sure.

[Oldfart]

I have a bloody good idea what the methanol is, if you are the one on the quicklift behind Grant Clearwaters' Connaught you soon learn!

[ElCoyote]

Entertainment ,yes I can remember a couple of crossings on the Maori ,one of them had a peculiar entertainment called the dance of the wooden deck scrubber or old scrubber as it was nicknamed ,trouble was she didn't like being the centre of attraction and fled from the scene,unconfirmed reports said she may have jumped overboard in the night ,I don't know if there was any official report on her disappearance,perhaps a search of the engineers log for the crossing might show a unexplained voltage surge of the generating capacity on the night of the crossing

Until you had experienced the Tamahine you had not lived!!

[David McKinney]

I can second that!

[AMCO72]

Ah yes, the old 'Tamahine'....one of the old Union SS companies warhorses. It always looked quite smart in it's dark green livery. Quite a small ship, dont know what it's tonnage was, but my abiding memory of her was her 'list' when she was tied up at the wharf. I guess by rearranging the cargo she was at an even keel when under sail, but a 'real old roller' across the strait. Didnt they fit stabilizers to the 'Maori'......dont think it made a heck of a lot of difference. Still spewed my heart out on every crossing......didnt know about 'Avomine' seasick pills then. I could clear the main cabin with my retching.......I kid you not!!!!!!

[David McKinney]

The story about the dear old Tam was that she had concrete ballast on one side to keep her on an even keel...

[bry3500]

The story about the dear old Tam was that she had concrete ballast on one side to keep her on an even keel...
Quite right about that concrete ballast David...interesting story here regarding her permanent list to Port
http://www.bluestarline.org/wallace_trickett_2009/walley_t31.html

[Rod Grimwood]

That most probably explains why a few years back i always thought Bob Homewood had a lean to the right after a couple of drinks, but it was instinct kicking in to allow him to be on the level for the ferry trip.

[Russ Cunningham]

That most probably explains why a few years back i always thought Bob Homewood had a lean to the right after a couple of drinks, but it was instinct kicking in to allow him to be on the level for the ferry trip.

ROD! Best call so far.

[Carlo]

The Tamahine was also top heavy which was amongst the reasons for the ballast and the fact that she rolled her guts out. When I was a small kid we used to live at the whaling works and can still remember some of her interesting entries into Tory Channel.

[Rod Grimwood]

Bob, the little book wasn't the "Best Bets" was it.

Bristol Freighter "Frightener" great term, weren't they different. False sense of security by calling them "Safe Air" Mind you they flew evey day with a lot of freight and all was good. Winter was the best as they did have great air flow, no need for little fancy jets to direct air onto your face while you read the travel brochure.

[Carlo]

The Bristol Freighter, ten thousand rivets flying in formation.

[bry3500]

Swallowing

[bob homewood]

Actually I see that Haynes the Workshop manual people now do a manual for the DC3 ,wonder how long before they do one for the Bristol Freighter then we will all be able to relive those times

[Carlo]

SAFE. Straights Air Freight Express, during the operational hours of their heyday a Bristol used to fly over Blenheim every 12-15 minutes. Father had a transport business in Blenheim at that time and sure carried a lot of goods that traveled by them.

The ground crew could unload and reload them in 12 minutes and they were usually refueled at the same time as they only ran minimum fuel loads so as to maximise the freight carrying capacity

I vividly still remember the day that one got caught up in a NorWester wind while approaching Woodbourne and was blown semi backwards across Blenheim until it crashed into the Wither Hills killing the crew.

I was also at the air show at Woodbourne when one made a low speed pass on one engine and could not pull out of it and crashed into the Omaka River bed close to the airport, this time the crew walked away ok.

[bry3500]

[QUOTE=Carlo;9237]SAFE. Straights Air Freight Express, during the operational hours of their heyday a Bristol used to fly over Blenheim every 12-15 minutes. Father had a transport business in Blenheim at that time and sure carried a lot of goods that traveled by them.

The ground crew could unload and reload them in 12 minutes and they were usually refueled at the same time as they only ran minimum fuel loads so as to maximise the freight carrying capacity
I vividly still remember the day that one got caught up in a NorWester wind while approaching Woodbourne and was blown semi backwards across Blenheim until it crashed into the Wither Hills killing the crew.

There is a memorial at the Russley Golf Course in CHCH for one that crashed.
The Accident report reads " A sudden gust of wind registering 33 knots (61 kmh) was recorded at Harewood at 11.33am. At about this time the plane was seen by a number of witnesses on the ground to literally fall to pieces. The starboard outer wing folded upwards and backwards and then separated, falling and landing on open farmland. The nose doors, the floor of the freight compartment (with the freight in position), and the rear portion of the fuselage with the fin and rudder attached all separated from the rest of the aircraft just before impact.
Pieces were scattered over an area of more than a square mile (2.59 square kilometres).

Maybe that 'man of the cloth' was on to something Bob!

[AMCO72]

Dear old 'Yards and Yarns' seems to have slipped down the pecking order lately after being one of the most popular threads on the roaring season, so I thought I would get it back onto page 1 again with a question....a serious question to do with race cars. Not about building, racing, & restoring race cars but about keeping a race-car engine cool, or coolish....yes, seriously. Yards and Yarns seemed to me to be the most appropriate forum to make this enquiry on, as it may turn out to be a 'Yarn' so I dont want to pollute other threads with a whole lot of bullshit. QUESTION..... Has anyone out there heard of, but more importantly TRIED....waterless coolant....more specifically Evans or Liquid Intelligence 115 which is available in NZ....Evans is sold in Australia, and L.I. 115 could be the same stuff, but I dont know. There seems to be 2 camps here.......1....those who have used it and swear by it, and 2....those who HAVEN'T used it and rubbish it. I have spoken to a friend who runs an Historic Speedway Midget powered by a V8 60 with Edelbrock heads, etc producing about 220 hp, and this machine regularly has a coolant temperature over 250 degrees F, and oil temperatures over 300 degrees F with no problems. Previous to using LI 115 this engine would pump all its coolant out after a workout on the track, especially when stopped, and this has now ceased since using waterless coolant. Sounds amazing I agree, but my friend has no financial interest in the product so has no axe to grind and he is a very long standing member of the VCC and knows a thing or two about engines, especially V8's. We all know that in standard form the flat-head used to be like a tea-kettle due to Henry's odd design for getting exhaust gases out, so to keep one of these old girls from boiling their heads off is a victory indeed. The main ingredient in liquid intelligence 115 is a mixture of ethylene glycol and propylene glycol with some inhibitors in the mix. Now I know that manufacturers of antifreeze etc say that no more than 70% of the coolant should be glycol, and yet this stuff is used at 100%. Theoretically it's cooling SHOULD be inferior to water....which is the best conductor of heat away from metal, but which has an annoyingly low boiling point.....212 drgrees F. [I think God should have foreseen this when he made the world and everything therein, and had water boiling at 300 degrees F.!!!!!!!!!] I do know also that the great Jay Leno, a guy with a magnificent collection of cars in America also uses it, and endorses it. Now I know there are some bright, THINKING fellas out there who will give me a sensible and considered answer to my question. I await the response with interest.

[Oldfart]

The question I had was "what is a good temperature for an engine to run at?
There seem to be a lot of advantages, ie no pressure which is only there to raise the boiling point and no water to create rust.
Everybody I have met who has used the stuff (liquid Intelligence) swears by it, seems only the non users are sceptical. There are heaps of the Whangamat cruisers using it now.
I have yet to convert BTW

[Chris Kitzen]

Slightly off your topic and Im sure Bob Homewood will have something to say about this but it seems to me the best way to make your classic run cooler is to run it on E85. In fact from what Bob told me you usually have trouble trying to keep your engine warm if you have converted to use it with the cooling system as it was on avgas. Of course there are other considerations when converting to E85 but that is one big advantage for sure.

[RogerH]

Gerald, I had a cooling issue with one of my cars - usual problems of a relatively high performance engine with a smallish radiator and small nose aperture. I had a look at the LI 115 product and eventually contacted their technical people in Australia. What I was concerned about was by putting an additive into the radiator water was I actually increasing the operative temperature as well as raising the boiling point. The technical people at LI 115 were very helpful and advised that the operative temperature would increase by around 10 degrees but the boiling point would rise by an amount greater than this.
In thinking about it, this wasn't what I really wanted as my problem was a too high operative temperature. I contacted some of the UK historic racing guys and they advised a Millers product called "Extra Cool" (http://www.millersoils.net/1_Millers_frame_MOTORSPORT.htm). I got some from the NZ agent (http://www.millersoils.co.nz/) and it dropped my operative temperature by over 10 degrees and its never boiled since. I now have it in all my race cars. BTW - I have no connection with Millers.

[AMCO72]

Thanks you Guys. Roger, is Millers a similar product to 'Water Wetter' which I know a lot of people use with success. My critics of LI 115 say that it might be ok in a vintage car with a relatively slow revving engine...Mr Jay Leno for one, but not in a high performance machine like our 150 hp Mini. The cruisers that oldfart mentions fall into this catergory. I had a suspicion that the engine bores in particular might get hotter with LI 115 but that would be offset by an increase in boiling point as Roger has pointed out. The product has a very definite oily feel about it which would slow down its passage round the cooling system which I think is a good thing. Am slowing down my water pump speed with a bigger pulley as I am sure that at 8000revs it is just cavitating, which is why a lot of Mini racers use electric water pumps that run at a constant speed. This is fascinating and it is a problem that a lot of race cars have, so keep the ideas coming, I appreciate it.

[RogerH]

I don't actually know whats in the Millers Extra Cool but from what the UK guys say I don't think its the same as water wetter.
The issue with water pump cavitation is another thing I dealt with. My engine is based on a 105E which probably ran no more than 4000rpm in standard form. In modified form I run it over 8000rpm and so I did a few calculations and changed the size of the water pump pulley so at 8000rpm the water pump was slowed down so it turned at the same speed as a standard car at 4000rpm. This improved cooling but I still made further improvements after I put the Extra Cool in.

[David McKinney]

I remember people buying War Surplus GMC trucks - I imagine more than one person started a viable transport business on that basis. I also recall bren-gun carriers being bought, possibly as cheap tractors?
Even as late as the 1960s there was a huge yard in Lower Hutt full of old GMCs. I'm pretty sure it was run by the Gillies family, whose sons were later big in Mini-7 racing

[Kwaussie]

My father in law started a very good premix concrete supply business with GMC trucks. He got the ten GMC trucks from Gillies in Oamaru.
I think that the agitators for the concrete were driven by Ford 100E engines!

[AMCO72]

There was another big yard just north of Timaru.....Temuka or Orari....was by the river anyway. Used to see it on my visits to ChCh in 1948, sitting in the back of a 1939 Vauxhall 12 trying not to be sick!!!! But there was quite a collection of GMC, Jeeps, and Chev 4 by 4 trucks. We had a Chev 4 by 4 on the farm I worked on in Leeston in 1963....not much load carrying space, but what fun to drive. Had that reverse slope windscreen, to stop glare, I presume. Used to pretend we were in the Western Desert hunting the Nazis!!!!!!

[Trevor Sheffield]

When I purchased the Ac sports car which I once owned from Ron Roycroft, it came fitted with a Ford V8 ex a Bren Gun Carrier. It smoked so badly that in the interests of following competitors, i was forced to quickly replace it with one from a ute, courtesy of Ted Thompson. Ted of course built and competed with a front drive special based on wartime Jeap components.

[stubuchanan]

When I purchased the Ac sports car which I once owned from Ron Roycroft, it came fitted with a Ford V8 ex a Bren Gun Carrier. It smoked so badly that in the interests of following competitors, i was forced to quickly replace it with one from a ute, courtesy of Ted Thompson. Ted of course built and competed with a front drive special based on wartime Jeap components.

Ted was a bit of a character from the old days. Judging by the attached 1960's advert from a Pukekohe programme, "Her Indoors" held the purse-strings.
http://s6.postimage.org/lued9z69d/Edelbrock_Alsatians.png (http://postimage.org/)


Stu

[bob homewood]

Stu
Ted used to do my balancing for me in my younger years ,I used to travel up from Papakura after work at night ,buying a pie somewhere probably Brighams Creek,for tea ,then carry on to Teds ,he would do my job for me ,then I would leave drive out around the corner and sleep under the trees ,until around daylight then I used to wake up and head back to Papakura in time to start work next morning

[AMCO72]

Couldn't sleep under a tree these days Bob. You'd wake up DEAD!!!

[bob homewood]

Gerald ,back then a couple of times we did the whole South Island January / February Motor race series just sleeping on the side of the road,under the stars and washing in the rivers and lakes or if we were lucky staying with motor racing friends from down there ,I wouldn't do it these days

[Oldfart]

Brighams Creek pies used to be one of the best in the country!

[Carlo]

Gerald ,back then a couple of times we did the whole South Island January / February Motor race series just sleeping on the side of the road,under the stars and washing in the rivers and lakes or if we were lucky staying with motor racing friends from down there ,I wouldn't do it these days

You still could Bob, you still have a couple of friends surviving and roadside camping is still popular. Best you come and have a look once again

[stubuchanan]

Brighams Creek pies used to be one of the best in the country!

If that's the place near the entrance to the RNZAF Base, yes they were. The Whenua"pie" Cafe. Run by a cross-eyed Chinese guy, but it went the way of all these places - changed to a poncey lunch place now. But they still do a roaring trade with the timber mill workers from Pinepac's sawmill across the road, boots, overalls, dreadlocks and all!.

Stu

[Oldfart]

No, the one just past the junction of SH16 and the road to Whenuapai. Last time I saw it had big Coca Cola signs all over it. Just before you go down the dip, south of the passing lane.

[Trevor Sheffield]

Ted’s ex wife Lucy Thompson, called on me early last year in order to obtain a copy of Ralph Watson Special Engineer. She wanted to pay for the book but i did not have the heart to accept her money. Later in November she called again explaining that she wanted another book to present to a friend. This turned out to be Gordon Brown --- long story.

She remains quite a character and can and will talk endlessly regarding her experiences while working with Ted. She rolls off name after name when covering the past. There is little doubt that she had her hands on and into everything. Too much so it appears, which later led to the marriage break up. The dogs were another issue.

Sadly Lucy walks with difficulty using two sticks, having been involved in a serious accident quite a long time ago. It is amazing how she manages to drive. To save money when travelling, she sleeps in the car. She can be contacted at, P O Box 306 Katikati. 3166. I am sure she would be thrilled to receive letters.

Ted provided me with the most frightening moments of my life. The engine had been removed from the AC and rather than bring the replacement engine to the car, the reverse was decided upon. Ted arrived with tow rope, in his well known Ford V8 Coupe. I quickly found that the old AC steering geometry was not designed to operate with unloaded front springs and no weight up front. The normally awful Bowden cable brakes were impossible and a slight touch had the car diving left or right as it chose.

Stupidly I did not arrange for any sort of signalling and without a battery I could not flash the lights and even if the horn was functional this would have been useless with Ted being deaf. As soon as we exited city limits, Ted had his foot down oblivious of my situation. I WAS SCARED STIFF and had a mad stead beneath me. Sweat and curse I did at the end of the worst journey in my life. Ted was quite nonchalant and there was no hearing a complaint. However I do remember Ted with real affection.

Cheers, Trevor.

[bob homewood]

No, the one just past the junction of SH16 and the road to Whenuapai. Last time I saw it had big Coca Cola signs all over it. Just before you go down the dip, south of the passing lane.

Horrors my age is really catching up with me I remember before the harbour bridge days my parents stopping off somewhere around there for a cup of tea on our "big " trip up to Manly,don't know why we didn't take the car ferry ,maybe they couldn't afford it

[bob homewood]

Carl,yes I am going to try and do a bit of a road trip and catch up with my motor racing and music friends around the place ,just got to get away from work first

You still could Bob, you still have a couple of friends surviving and roadside camping is still popular. Best you come and have a look once again

[jamie]

You could pay a visit to Rotorua it,s not to far for an old bloke to drive and it,s my turn to make the coffie Jamie A

[ged]

trevor you talk of the ralph watson book. I have two in my possesion one printed normaly but one is printed wrong way around and bound front to back anybody else come across this unusal book gwyn

[Carlo]

You could pay a visit to Rotorua it,s not to far for an old bloke to drive and it,s my turn to make the coffie Jamie A

You are another one who should take his zimmer frame for an outing Jamie.
Even the noble one goes for a drive now and then, while last seen Charlie B was managing a pool team at the brightwater pub :D

[bob homewood]

A pool Team probably all females in mIni Skirts .might have to delay the visit chaps ,had a old friend ring me today ,they are filming a commercial and they need a gnome that can drive,sounds like I might fit the bill

[AMCO72]

By the time you read this, good old Yards and Yarns will have turned over 20,000 views. Amazing. A few of us worked hard last winter trying to keep everyone entertained on this thread, and it looks as though we succeeded. I think only 3 other threads have passed that mark.
Great.

[bob homewood]

Amazing isn't it Gerald ,I always figure you need a bit of a corner ,where you can kick back a bit and relax ,thing is there are some dam good stories out there and believe it or not that's what motor racing was all about back then ,some one at the recent Pukekohe Car Club reunion asked me about the story I wrote about Garth Souness driving his V8 car down the steps of the grandstand outside ,do you know we went out and checked and the marks are still there on the edge of the steps ,looks like the Morrari was not the only legacy Garth left behind,sometimes I think I should write more but the laws of libel still worry me a bit ,now what we need are a few more of Rosco Cunningham's stories in this thread ,nah forget I said that ,blow up dolls do we need stories about them

[pallmall]

Don't worry, it will go on for a long time, I have been saving up some snippets for the colder months to get your brains working.

[Carlo]

Hey Bob, it is about time that the story of the road roller and the Blenheim Motor Inn came out. You know far more about it than I do.

[AMCO72]

Do you know, I must be 'thick'.....don't answer that. All these little abbreviations that appear on these threads have had me scratching my head. The latest one from David McKinney.......OTTOMH... wasn't too bad to solve, but the.....IIRC....has had me worried for a while. I thought it must be a new drug or something but NO. So to all you other 'thick' people out there, here are a few abrv's that have appeared on here.
OTTOMH........off the top of my head.
IIRC..............if I remember correctly
LOL...............laugh out loud.
AKA..............also known as.
I'm sure there are lots more, I just have to get my thick head round to thinking about them.
'Everything will be alright in the end. If it is not alright, then it is not the end'!!!!!!

[jim short]

dodery is a better word than thick

[AMCO72]

Yes Jim, and to think I went to school till I was 25......makes you wonder doesn't it? I definately couldn't have been paying attention.

[AMCO72]

I think this probably applies to me, although it was said by that Great American race car driver John Fitch.....'I have to be prepared,any day, to become incompetent'.....He said this quite recently when he was in fact 93 years of age.!!!!!!!! I dont think I'll make 93 if Jim's description is correct.

[jim short]

Gerold you can do it just remember to breath in and out over and over

[markec]

It make you wonder how these new generations are going to be able to communicate using the written form.

[rf84]

I heard a story about John Riley selling a Ford 10 to a "new New Zealander" (from one of the Pacific islands). Some time later the purchaser came back. He had got a puncture and discovered (a) that cars should have a spare wheel and (b) that his car did not have one. John disappeared out the back and soon came back with a Ford 10 spare wheel which just happened to be the correct colour for the car! He sold the hapless islander what was rightfully his own wheel for 5 quid!

[rf84]

AMCO72. Another for your list. C.R.A.F.T. This is a creation of the very witty Garry Simkin.
It's an acronym for Can't Remember A F_ _ _ ing Thing

[Oldfart]

I was tempted to add a new one over the last week or 10 days, FON F off Noddy!

[woody]

LMFAO = Laughed My F____cking Arse Off.

[AMCO72]

At who woody. Surely not at someone elses misfortune!!! Some of these acronyms are like trying to work out personalised plates....and some of them are pretty obscure.

[woody]

AMCO, The LMFAO is a number plate here in Auckland in Richmond Road area. Another plate = NOPCME No Pee Cee Me a uroligist. A dentist 230CME, Tooth Hurty Cee Me.

[Trevor Sheffield]

Do you know, I must be 'thick'.....don't answer that. All these little abbreviations that appear on these threads have had me scratching my head. The latest one from David McKinney.......OTTOMH... wasn't too bad to solve, but the.....IIRC....has had me worried for a while. I thought it must be a new drug or something but NO. So to all you other 'thick' people out there, here are a few abrv's that have appeared on here.
OTTOMH........off the top of my head.
IIRC..............if I remember correctly
LOL...............laugh out loud.
AKA..............also known as.
I'm sure there are lots more, I just have to get my thick head round to thinking about them.
'Everything will be alright in the end. If it is not alright, then it is not the end'!!!!!!

I have always presumed and accepted that LOL indicates, "laughing out loud, i.e. I am laughing out loud while I am saying the forging. This rather than advice to LOL, i.e. "laugh out loud" in response to the forging. This is rather a dangerous one, as the wrong meaning can be portrayed, particularly if there is any hint of sarcasm within the preceding text.

What do the majority accept LOL to mean exactly, "laugh" or "laughing" out loud.? A Pedantic detail possibly, but even so quite important.

Cheers, Trevor.

[jim short]

Amco just heard a new one that fits mini drivers.figjam!!

[AMCO72]

Trevor.....the only way I have heard LoL used is..... 'laugh out loud'... This is not to say that it is correct, but it appears many times on a Mini forum, and the only way it makes sense in their case is to.....'laugh out loud'. As with quite a few of these acronyms, there are multiple translations.

[pallmall]

I am sure Amco is not a Figjam, but the motorsport world is full of them.

Figjam = F... I'm good just ask me

[AMCO72]

Well, there you go, you learn something everyday, when I thought fig jam was something you spread on your toast!!

[Trevor Sheffield]

Well, there you go, you learn something everyday, when I thought fig jam was something you spread on your toast!!

And that aint BS. LOL

[markec]

LOL+ Lots of Laughs.

[David McKinney]

I think 'laughing out loud" makes more sense
If I put it in one of my posts it's too show I'm joking (which might not be obvious)
If I use it in response to someone else's it means I appreciate his joke

[thunder427]

,,,,My Fathers 'War Time' favourite slang,was SNAFU...'Situation Normal,All F*!*#D UP'!!!!..........sorta covers the average day,when it involves relying on others!!.......thunder427/MJ

[David McKinney]

Which leads neatly to the McLaren's team's term for the F1-based Zerex Special sportscar when they first saw it - FUBAR, for F---ed Up Beyond All Recognition

[AMCO72]

I had a friend who was an airline pilot here in NZ and eventually 'retired' to Canada where his wife had come from. He was employed there by a company flying commuter planes, some times in some pretty dodgy conditions. Anyway I was chatting to him on one occasion about flying in the Northern Territory and he said they usually flew by LAR. Now I imagined that LAR was some sophisticated navigation system developed for such a difficult area, but no. LAR stands for....'.looks about right'.......this from an AirNZ pilot!!!!

[Neville Milne]

I had a friend who was an airline pilot here in NZ and eventually 'retired' to Canada where his wife had come from. He was employed there by a company flying commuter planes, some times in some pretty dodgy conditions. Anyway I was chatting to him on one occasion about flying in the Northern Territory and he said they usually flew by LAR. Now I imagined that LAR was some sophisticated navigation system developed for such a difficult area, but no. LAR stands for....'.looks about right'.......this from an AirNZ pilot!!!!

Which reminds me of a training clinic I did in the early 90's in up-state Minnesota.......one of the attendees mentioned that he had flown his own plane down for the session.....as it was near midnight, I asked him if he was IFR rated.......he responded.."heck no..I'm IFL rated"..when asked what "IFL" was..he replied...."I fly low"........he claimed that he simply followed the interstate lights to get back home...............

[Trevor Sheffield]

I think 'laughing out loud" makes more sense
If I put it in one of my posts it's too show I'm joking (which might not be obvious)
If I use it in response to someone else's it means I appreciate his joke

This has always been my slant on LOL. What is more on some sites if one enters LOL this automatically triggesrs an appropriate smilie and surely this indicates, here I am look at me LOL.

Not mentioned so far "IMHO", often used proceeding a contentious statement and meaning "in my humble opinion".

[Dave Silcock]

Well, there you go, you learn something everyday, when I thought fig jam was something you spread on your toast!!

That Jim of Tok pinched that one off me the cunning old fart, but here is another [I'll not be like Jim and give credit where it's due this one came from Allan Bramwell IOA income over ability. I think that fits a certain Germanic type that we have been discussing don't you?

[jim short]

Dave I only borrowed it..how about all the ecentrick? folk you know ?guess they all be bros.

[bry3500]

Now if we can only get Jamie A to say what SID stands for...

[ElCoyote]

Now if we can only get Jamie A to say what SID stands for...

I thought a couple of beers last week would have loosened his tongue on this topic

[jamie]

Morning Boys The Question ??? was not asked but I did have plenty Bundy rum LOVED the Band and Talked And told A lot storis.ALL TRUE ?? Jamie A

[rf84]

Coincidentally, car#6 of the 1957 NZ Stockcar team (see photo at start of this Thread) is for sale at the moment on "Trademe".

[AMCO72]

Stock cars are not noted for their longevity. I wonder how much of the ORIGINAL 57 car is in there. Pretty good price for an old stock-car. Do they have races for these old war-horses. No modern technology please.

[AMCO72]

They must have been quite a sight.....8 of these old girls plowing their way round the track. I see its been in the one family for most of it's life. Amazing.

[pallmall]

Stock cars are not noted for their longevity. I wonder how much of the ORIGINAL 57 car is in there. Pretty good price for an old stock-car. Do they have races for these old war-horses. No modern technology please.

Very original, it was restored in 1984/85 and only a small amount of chassis had to be replaced through rust. The body is 98% original, although not the original roadcar body as the body parts used by Ron Hogan and Adam Wike when building the car were dragged out of a creek off the Waitemata. Body is part 1935 and part 1936. The engine is not the original, but obviously still a Flathead V8, and when you buy it, ask nicely and there will probably be a set of Hogan heads for it.
No the cars do not race anymore, but do have 'spirited demonstrations' and old NZ6/88 is still very quick.

[Michael Clark]

Pizza Hut Invercargill - late December 1990 - I ask Jamie A the very question. Marcus Pye and Allan Dick share the booth.

Jamie starts talking about 'Still in debt' but then moves onto talking about Sid James...

Well that's how I remember it.

[jamie]

Yes Michael that is corect, Frank and I were looking for A name we all went to the a movie early in 1970 with sid James in it, as the car was A bit ugly I said lets call it SID and thats it . Jamie

[bry3500]

Yes Michael that is corect, Frank and I were looking for A name we all went to the a movie early in 1970 with sid James in it, as the car was A bit ugly I said lets call it SID and thats it . Jamie
Carry on Yarning....loved the stories and your fine company a couple of weeks ago Jamie, especially the ones involving Tom Donovan - i think there were a few too many Vic Bitters consumed on my behalf, totally forgot to pop the SID Question, so thanks for the enlightenment

[Dave Silcock]

Hi guys just going through some of these old posts as I have not been on here as long as some of you. Amazing when you think of it how many famous people went through this shop. Poor old Laurie the father of the boys, really did not have a clue as to what had happened to his run of the mill reconditioning shop. We all used to meet there every night after work for a few beers , we all put in some money and Graham would ankle it down to the grog shop and stock up the fridge. Randle Edgel worked there, Ken Lawrence had his self built cam grinder in there and Steve Horne was the spares manager. The Hallidays where there most nights. Because I was the odd one out ,racing an old Jaguar I was usually ripe for a bit of a mocking, when I posted the riposte that at least it was reliable, Steve said'' well you could be that in an 850 Mini" Try coming back from that! It was the time of the Bank of New South Wales sponsorship and their and their message was You Can Bank on the Wales. Some clever dick cut the stick on stuff we had to put on our cars and stuck on the beer fridge You Can Wank on the Wales. There is one saying that I still use today that was a Halliday invention that was, if you have been conned or betterd in a deal, they used to say, And the Cry rang out Sucked again!

[jim short]

uh oo the wines working lol

[jim short]

Dave Silcock just a little story racing a jaguar made him a hero well in the 60s 50s even the 40s we had heros in the 40s Brookby song won the great northen wellington and grand national steeplchase my uncle was involed with him and even today people remember !!Bob Scott rugby Peter Snell Smoke Ring,, Phill Shone Stirling Moss ,, 43yrs, I have had a mk2 3.8 Jaguar primrose with black leather ,started of doing gymkhanws then 2 cars side by side at Bay Park{still remember walking around the track putting some large stones where I hoped was the place to brake}then 4cars side by side and so on.Faster cars Ferraris Porsches Aston Lotus ect started to turn up.Soon we were outclassed thinking there must be a way to match the rich folk .What about that ex race car Bob Eden??? car sales in ponsonby road had a Dtypr jag mtr, a lite xk120 just sitting out in the sun and rain it started and ran sort of ok ,next Puke meet dave was loading the Mk2 onto the trailer ,nervisly I asked him what he thought of the xk?? f see it ill put an axe through the X@^VAQWJ??!He then went on to explain how a sailor had crashed it rebuilt it then crashed it again. I gave it amiss but there is know doubt he is a straight talker ,,somthing rather rare today { then again 4glasses of pino piot??may to blame}

[Dave Silcock]

Sorry guys supposed to have included the shot of Spears Speed shop. So now you know what I'm on about.

[Rod Grimwood]

It's along way to go for a beer Dave, but if you drop into the Waipu (Northland) pub on most afternoon/evenings, especially friday and saturday you will catch Mr Spear there having a quite ale. I had a chat with him over a year ago and he still remembers some pretty funny things from them days, and he does not look too different, with a good head of wavy black hair, baggy jeans and that hard case smile.

[bob homewood]

In turn I get to see quite a lot of Murray Spear ,he is often in and out of my shop,Dave you will be pleased hear ,one of the times he was in he was driving a Jag

[markec]

Murray normally drives a Yank Tank.

[jamie]

Hay Bob that name Murray goes back along time ,allmost as long ago as Ward and the double BED saga L.J. and his workshop Tom Donavan Gerard Bakker ECT ???? Rupuna ??? Jamie

[bob homewood]

Jamie ,yes the old double bed and burnt out relationships ,I wont say marriages ,because they say that its not fashionable these days,now its a relationship in the old days it was you were shacked up ,anyway perhaps I have a couple of incidents to add,I know of another case ,when she threw this guy out she threw the bed out with him ,it was a queen size ,I think they call it ,well as Charlie B would say ,it was a real big bugger anyway !,this poor guy had to take it away on the roof rack of his XC Falcon Wagon ,it's true ,we saw him drive past the day it happened and wondered what the hell was going on .Episode two another completely different couple she left him and then came back ,but made him burn the double bed and get a new one because the whore as she called this other poor lady had been sleeping in it ,same couple we caught up with them at the Supermarket she is sitting in the back seat of the car ,the front passenger seat is vacant ,my wife asks her why she is sitting in the back ,answer she can't sit in the front because the 'whore " sat there ,they have now got rid of the car ,no he didn't burn it ,well not to my knowledge anyway ,after all this I think that coffee you mentioned is looking good ,actually we might make it a Irish one how does that sound when I come down, oh thats right there was also the case where this guy had been hiding his "cashies " ( lucky guy to get any ) in the double bed mattress ,she threw him out ,he was trying to work out how he dould sneak back and get his money before she found it

[jamie]

I think it would be better to stay with them COST A lot less ?? Jamie

[bob homewood]

Just seeing Jamie's comment on Paritutu reminds me I must check and ask him if he lost his tent the weekend of the first meeting ,when we got home and unpacked the tent city we had that weekend ,I kid you not we found we had a extra tent ,if its not his and somebody is looking for it there is a remote possibility the Papakura Police Station may still have it

[jamie]

Hell no Bob it wasent untill Darren started Karting that I found you were not cool if you worked on things in the rain I was always a bit slow Jamie

[bob homewood]

Accommodation was at a premium that first meeting,the old camp caretaker where we stayed let us put up as many tents as we could cram into our space ,from memory I think they charged per head as well ,a couple of my dead head mates had the best idea ,they couldn't find anywhere to stay ,so they ended up getting a bed at the cop shop ,got baked beans on toast for breakfast as well ,more than we got ,we couldn't find anything open

[jamie]

Bob Old mate your memory works better than mine what was your name agane Jamie

[bry3500]

Ok ..not essentially Historic ( please forgive)...but how many of you would take your wife for a spin at 185mph and scare the living bejesus out of her ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=updyPbEJ8f4

[markec]

She didn't seem to enjoy the experience, I imagine his shares wouldn't have been very good for a day or two, maybe even the spare room.

[jamie]

Well she now knows what it is all abought ??? I did wonder what all the hand waving was for was she waving good by to her fans JAMIE

[Rod Grimwood]

She did not seem to comfortable, Notice the belts were not tightened up on her and she was moving around alot. He was short shifting as well, but don't think she would ubderstand that so that will not help with his Brownie points.
It is funny when you take people for a little ride how they brake and join the white knuckle club.

[AMCO72]

If you want to see what the poor old HWM, that we talked about in yards and yarns, looks like now, check out the top picture on page 59 of the latest Classic Driver.....april-may copy. I described the car as 'rough' when I saw it at a 1/4 mile sprint in 1967, now after several owners and having been carted from one end of NZ to the other, it has ended up at Auto Restorations in ChCh awaiting awakening!!!! [Original post; page 8, Y & Y, post 141 onwards.]

[Dave Silcock]

If you want to see what the poor old HWM, that we talked about in yards and yarns, looks like now, check out the top picture on page 59 of the latest Classic Driver.....april-may copy. I described the car as 'rough' when I saw it at a 1/4 mile sprint in 1967, now after several owners and having been carted from one end of NZ to the other, it has ended up at Auto Restorations in ChCh awaiting awakening!!!! [Original post; page 8, Y & Y, post 141 onwards.]
As I am waiting to see if the water leak on our car is fixed Gerald I have been reading some back yarns on Y&Y. Here's my tuppence worth on the HWM. I became mates with Graham Hallen when we raced each other in 1966 I think, He was surprised that a mere 6 cylinder had the measure of his V8. Buy this time I am sure it was back to a Chev, he used to boast of his Duntov pink spot cam. As I said in a previous post I got the CR gearbox out of it . He bought the Heron Daimler V8 sports car but still had the HWM, I think. Any way he thought the Heron was a bit lacking in the power department, and don't laugh Bob but a plan was hatched to put 4 Stomberg 97's on ,I tell you GH was hot rod to the core. I fabricated a manifold for it and we got it running, surprise surprise it was way too rich carbs designed for the steady flow of an 8 cylinder motor take exception the pulsing flow of 1 cylinder. GH lost interest in this project without changing a jet. He invited us down for a weekend at his families farm ,in the Waikato can't remember the place damn it,we were towing the Heron and thougt it would be a good idea to take it off the trailer and drive down! We both had a bit of a turn as you do. After breakfast we wandered out to the barn with a coffee and the first ciggie of the day, there I found the De Dion tube the Alfin brake drums ,backing plates and half shafts. GH had in typical hot rod fashion tossed it all out and fitted a Ford 9 inch live axle "bloody stupid Pommie shit" were his comments. Anyway he told me to take it away because it was going to the tip. When I heard that Roycroft had bought it,[used to service his fathers NSU the one that looked like a Simca] I rang him to let him know what I had and he came to our flat in Mt Albert to pick it up. This one should be on who am I but next door to us in Beanfield Ave was a young lady of Dolly Parton proportions that was a regular attendee at Aukland car club club nights and at all the races we went to, Rod Collingwood is excluded from this!

[markec]

I'm going to see Rod in the morning before calling on you Dave, should I ask him about the blond of Dolly Parton proportions?.

[Dave Silcock]

Yes you can ask him, he knows, as it involves a bit on the side, I can't comment futher except the racing number involved is 69

[bob homewood]

Dave I'm not even going to comment on "Doris " because I have a habit of saying the wrong thing or dropping myself in it on these matters ,however I will comment on the Stromberg 97 's later,actually thinking back "Doris " might have had a pair of them on her chest, 97's that is

[Greg Stokes]

Greg, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were a big hotrod guru. Pallmall has pointed out that the yellow B4 is yours.....great stuff. I was reading the Morrari recreation and was thinking....yeh, a couple of dreamers, it will never get done, but dreams are free. Now I see why you want to do it, and I think you just maybe the best team to do it. I hope I'm around to see the finished article.

Hi, yep I am currently editing the NZ Hot Rod Magazine for the past 7 months and my yellow '32 roadster is driven regularly. The only think slowing us on the Morrari at the moment is time but I can assure you that it will happen. Thanks, Greg Stokes

[thunder427]

I'm going to see Rod in the morning before calling on you Dave, should I ask him about the blond of Dolly Parton proportions?.

.....If you talking to Rod,ask him about trading a 'new' SLR 5000 (Driven, but never registered) on Graeme Vautiers (Crown Motor Court/ArtMckee/Christchurch/1975)...
.. 70&1/2, 'Motion Performance' Z/28 Camaro,tell him the guy that painted it 'Black' (in a week) says 'Hello'...from Australia ,where I 'personally' own a 'clone' of that car,waiting to be built........'thank you'..... with regards thunder427/Myles Johnson:):cool:

[AMCO72]

Excuse me.......am I to assume that once you have posted over 500 times on the RS, you take on the moniker of 'Billy Bigtime'. I just noticed this today, so did a quick check of other members, Bob, Bry, etc and find that this seems to be what happens. I'm not sure of the title when/if we hit 1000......I shudder to think!!!!! Steve?

[markec]

Rod would agree with you Bob, 97 seems to be about the right figure.Strange that she was not known by her given name.I have also been told of a number of other well known drivers who knew her intimately, a very generous young lady with her favours by the sound of it.

[bob homewood]

Mark ,actually I have seen more than a few of them over the years,in different parts of the country I might add ,I guess every race meeting they used to put another notch in their belt or whatever they do ,a bit like the music scene I was involved with that a bit many years ago its the same might even be worse ,however the matrimonial property laws make me hesitant to comment on either of them

[bob homewood]

Gerald I think you then get called "The Fuhrer "


Excuse me.......am I to assume that once you have posted over 500 times on the RS, you take on the moniker of 'Billy Bigtime'. I just noticed this today, so did a quick check of other members, Bob, Bry, etc and find that this seems to be what happens. I'm not sure of the title when/if we hit 1000......I shudder to think!!!!! Steve?

[bob homewood]

7355

See I told you music was worse,I like her comment "it happens to me all the time " bit like the Tui add ,yeh right !

[AMCO72]

Now Bob, if I was a smart guy, I would think up some smart comment to make on that title!! But at the moment nothing pops into my head, and anyway I thought Steve was 'the Fuhrer' already.....perhaps we could become 'Neubauer MB'.....sort of in keeping with our hobby. I think the second 500 are going to take a lot longer than the first. Crikey, when I think back to last winter, our computers were running red hot!!!!! Perhaps we could crank up Y & Y again....there's got to be plenty more stories out there.

[pallmall]

Changing the subject from dangerous sex to just dangerous, here are a couple of photos of USA chassis racers that look far more daredevil than the Auckland ones discussed on Old Race Tracks. While the chassis of one is a bit lower than ours, the flathead V8 would probably make the speed quite a bit higher. If you think these guys are crazy I will try and find the photos I have of stockcars in Rhodesia.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f155/gavinevitt/111chassisracersusaStandarde-mailview.jpg


http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f155/gavinevitt/111chassisracersusa02Standarde-mailview.jpg

[bry3500]

I am a Bass player Bob..just to put the record straight we ARE the most important member of the band :cool::cool:
7355

See I told you music was worse,I like her comment "it happens to me all the time " bit like the Tui add ,yeh right !

[bob homewood]

You play more strings than me then and I'm not talking about "G ' Strings

[markec]

Doris, I think would be OK with a bass player,I have known some way wood bass players over the years.

[bob homewood]

From memory I think she would actually prefer a bass player with wood

[bry3500]

i have an old german bass from the 60s Bob..called a Dynochord..could be right up your alley

[bob homewood]

They were only made for a short time from memory is that right

[bry3500]

You know more about G strings than you are letting on mate!

[markec]

The poor woman who is the topic of conversation, probably became a wife and mother, who's nipples now talk to her navel and the material from her mamaries has probably graduated to her hips and butt, time does that to most well shaped women.

[Dave Silcock]

Bloody hell what have I started and I never even knew her as Doris. She, as I said, lived in the flat next door and had a yellow Riley Elf. She used to wash it out side our flat whilst clad, and I use that word advisedly, in a purple bikini. it was debatable what did the most washing of the roof, the sponge or the boobs!

[bry3500]

Whilst we are on the subject...Can anyone tell me the identity of a certain person who caused quite a kerfuffle in a local pub after practice for the Lady Wigram by wearing a rather obscene T-Shirt...

[AMCO72]

Ach tung......the 'Fuhrer' iss votching you guys. Vee haff our vays off makink you halt all ziss talk of boobies and things!!!!!!!

[bob homewood]

Whilst we are on the subject...Can anyone tell me the identity of a certain person who caused quite a kerfuffle in a local pub after practice for the Lady Wigram by wearing a rather obscene T-Shirt...

Jamie A ?

[bry3500]

got it in one Bob ;)
Jamie A ?

[Russ Cunningham]

From memory I think she would actually prefer a bass player with wood

"Homewood"???

[bob homewood]

Dave ,yes I was going to tell the story about the Stromberg 97"s before I got side tracked,way back when Chev Coupes were the vogue,I had three Stromberg 97's on the one I had,it was just the normal "stovebolt " not a GMC or anything ,I built up a engine around a 1948 block ,but put the later powerglide crank in it and converted it to pressure feed,which coupled with a decent size overbore gave it a big increase in capacity ,can't remember valve sizes or anything like that ,but I just went down to Ray Vincents and found something that was bigger that did the job,I know I had to put a 12v battery in it to get it to crank ,but I left the starter as 6v which spun it over pretty quick ,a mate of mind who was a radio nut made me up a resistor type thing that meant I could leave all the rest of electrics on 6v,other than the obligatory rev counter I fitted which was actually really a waste of time because the thing was a stump puller and you didn't have to rev it,I never raced it other than a couple of bent sprints and hillclimbs but it was a pretty quick old thing for its day ,never got to come up against a Jag with it ,but Healeys and TR's were no problem.Its biggest problem was it drank petrol like there was no tomorrow ,I can remember taking it to Levin when we towed back the Humber 80 that Dave Jolly brought to make into a race car ,and that trip from memory ate a couple of weeks wages in petrol alone ,stopping it from high speed even with good linings etc was entertaining as was driving it in the wet ,it had a Humber Super Snipe 4 speed box in it that weighed a ton on its own ,but you still usually only used top gear because it used to get pretty busy in the wet on the old narrow tyres we used in those days,oh I had to have this great big cushion to sit on which also made it entertaining because that was long before seat belts ,I remember it getting out of shape one day and I can tell you it was pretty exciting trying to steer it from the L/H side when I slid across the seat and still trying to see out the windscreen at the same time

[Dave Silcock]

Bob thanks for that, did you run the 97's into a plenum or individual runners. I remember a 39 Chev coupe ,with a GMC, running in the Fryat St drags in Dunedin easily beating a near new XK 150 S Jag.

[woody]

Dave, That Chev. coupe was Gerald Hoare. Was the Jag. Ted Sweetman?

[bob homewood]

Dave ,the manifold had a round plenum with buffers on either end ,I actually made a couple of them for the hot rod fraternity back then to suit various carb set ups,I also made one for myself to take three SU's because I figured that would be a better bet ,but I never used it I sold the car before I got around to it,no one wanted that SU manifold ,I think I cut it up and used the flanges on something else
I was just thinking today about a bit more useless stuff ,I can't remember what pistons I ended up using ,but I know I got them from Goldings ,and I have a idea they might have been from a Studebaker ,in those times you just used to write down the measurements on a bit of paper ,grab your verniers and go off shopping ,I am sure you can relate to that one,talking of the rev counter reminded me that I brought if off Johnny Scurrah ,another old racer ,his name has figured in a couple of the threads on here ,he was the traveller for one of the motor parts firms back the ,I remember it had a dial on it that would have looked more at home in the Meremere power station,incidentally the max revs of that old motor was about the same as the lowest RPM that the 4 cyl cars I played with next ,would run smoothly at

[Dave Silcock]

Woody, I don't who owned the 150 but Ted Dunning was driveing it.

[Dave Silcock]

Is It Trevor Dunning?

[markec]

7655

[jamie]

Fine looking Beast Markec could do with thicker role bar and the role center looks wrong ?? JAMIE

[markec]

It looks as though the roll center is the least of his problems.

[jamie]

Markec looks A bit of A hand full but A lot of fun till all turnes to dudoo.s Jamie

[Ross Hollings]

Had to laugh when I saw Rod Mc Callums name there,went together with him once in a night car trial...I repeat car trial...not rally,this is in the 60's,rallying was yet to come.Blasting down this road i think somewhere in Papakura in his Anglia,coming to a "T" junction......straight across the T into houses drive way ,across the lawn and out the property on the otherside,no damage done,but guess who owned the house......Ray Stone,dont think he ever found out who had been through his front yard.

[jamie]

He will now Guys Jamie

[bob homewood]

Talking of Rod ,I am sure in those days we screwed the most out of every day that we could,rather than just waking up and filling them in

[jamie]

YO Bob still try to Jamie

[markson]

Anyone know the where a bouts of my old 1937 Ford coupe named BLACK MAGIC that I used to knock around with Wayne Unkovich and his 34 coupe APACHE in the mid sixties . Graham

[AMCO72]

Our family must have a penchant for hitting stray stock that has wandered onto the Queens highway. You will remember the stories in yards and yarns last winter when Angus and Judith on separate occasions hit a cow and a sheep. Well we are at it again. Angus was competing at Taupo over the weekend in the final round of the Truck racing series, driving the old green McGinties truck that has been around since Auntie fell off the tram! He came 5th overall I think, but this tale is about the journey home rather than any on-track antics, which from what I hear were numerous. He had packed up at the track, gone to the prize giving, and started out for Cambridge at about 10 pm. Just north of Wairakei after the turn off from the Rotorua road, there is a long steady climb with an easy left-hand bend. Angus was getting along at a good clip in the old Falcon ute, and was confronted, half way round the bend, out of headlamp range, by a large PIG. Even with his lightning fast reflexes, honed on the race track, he had no way of stopping or avoiding the said PIG, and hit the thing fair-and-square. Now a PIG is a mighty solid animal and you take one on at your peril.
After coming to a violent stop, and saying something like..'.that PIG should not have been there'!!!!....he climbed out of the steaming Falcon to check on the state of both the PIG and the ute. Of the PIG there was no sign, but the Falcon was not a pretty sight!!! Headlamps, bumper, grill, all smashed, and the radiator shoved back into the fan, a position it was not meant to be in. A quick decision was made to return to the Wairakei Hotel, stay the night and effect repairs in the morning, there apparently being enough water in the system to drive a kilometer or two. Next morning a flat-bed truck was summoned, and the wounded Falcon taken to a yard in Taupo where the broken bits were stripped, a secondhand radiator was jury-rigged, and the journey home resumed.
I have to say that the PIG was not a wild Tusker, but a domestic animal that had escaped from its paddock opposite, so the tale did not even have a happy ending, as there was no free pork to take home!!!!!
Original stories in Y & Y.......page 8.. post 142 [sheep]...page 9.. post 178 [cow]

[Carlo]

When Angus was racing the McGinty's truck at Timaru recently some of the Grandkids wanted to change his name to Angus Frog and call the truck Kermit.

[Rod Grimwood]

On leaving there years ago I have been told to be wary of pigs at that time of night. Angus should have just borrowed his car to get home if he took off after damaging the ute.

[AMCO72]

Yeah....not so much a 'Bovine on the Bonnet' as a 'Boar under the Bumper'.
Just kidding as to what he said on impact. That was too strong for him......more like 'bother'!!!!!!!!
He must have inherited his Mothers tough streak. She didn't check on the sheep, and he didn't diligently search for the injured PIG to check on it's well being. I think I would have armed myself with the wheel brace and delivered the 'coupe de grace' to the poor PIG.

[Howard Wood]

Gerald I hope this does not mean the end of the orange Ute. Now just remember you started the stories about road trips to and from race meetings.

For the 1973'74 Formula Ford season my brother Don and I were both running FFs and we decided in our wisdom that we needed a "proper" transporter to carry our two cars around. For $80 I bought a 1952 K model Bedford (for the historians: ex Tai Tapu Dairy Co, sorry I can't remember the chassis #), a walk through truck in the style the Poms would call a pantechnicon. We raised the roof, put in opening windows and ramps for two FFs together with "sleeping accomodation". We pretty much lived in that truck for the main part of the season.
After an early Manfield round I had to fly to ChCh leaving Don to bring the truck and cars back to Hamilton. The trip of course didn't start until the end of meeting festivities had finished and was going well until the Desert Rd when the thing ran a big end bearing. Figuring there was little to be done in the dark, Don had a couple of hours sleep in the truck then set to work on the side of the road in the morning, droping the sump (still full of oil as he had no suitable container) pulling out the offending con rod and piston and puting the sump back on. While diligently cleaning up as all good mechanics do, he discovered the hose clamp intended to block off the crankshaft oilway lying on the ground so had to repeat the whole process. The engine ran on the remaining 5 cylinders, after a fashion, the vibration at anything over idle was pretty fierce but he was mobile.
The engine's overall condition hadn't improved when the bearing ran and was going through oil at an alarming rate and combined with some oil loss over himself during the roadside "repairs" he urgently needed more oil. He drained the oil from both FF's oil tanks, then both gearboxes and continued on.
At some stage during the following night both tyres on the left rear picked up punctures, partially due to their condition but also because being a considerate motorist he was keeping well left. Quickly jacking up the rear, a flat tyre was put on the inside on both rears and he continued.....
Finally some 36 hours after leaving Manfield the outskirts of Hamilton were in sight and he began to think he would actually make it home until an elderly gent on a bycicle passed him and told him the other "good" rear tyre was also going flat. At this point he walked the rest of the way to the Crockers for a bit of a hand.
The good news is that we bought another K Bedford, parked it on the newly formed roads of an upmarket Hamilton subdivision as my mother unreasonably refused to let us park it outside the house and swaped motors. At the end of the season I sold the truck to a hippie who intended to convert it to a house bus and bought a Mk4 Zephyr tow car.
Little did I realize that our days of repairing cars on the side of the road was just getting going!

[AMCO72]

Howard, the 'orange ute' is still being driven around Auckand, until such time as Angus can get to fix it. It is obvious to any casual observer, let alone a cop, that the thing isn't in roadworthy condition, and is ripe for a 'bluey' The morning after the crash, Angus got in touch with his insurance company, as you do, and when told of the damage they said they would probably write it off, and pay out the $3500 for the wreck. However, he is not that easily put off, and I suspect that negotiations are underway as we speak for parts to make good. He has just taken delivery of a chassis for a new 'super-tourer' which has to be built for the next round at HD, about a month away, so I suspect that the Falcon may be on the back burner. The insurance company did offer to pay for his bus fare back to Auckland!!!!!!!Needless to say he told them where to stick their bus fare.
Those K Bedfords were pretty gutless damn things when they were new, and I dont think time, and a million miles later, they would have found any more HP. I used to cart shingle in one in 1962, a machine that was only 10 years old, X Leeston County Council, so quite close to your Tai Tapu machine, and I remember that we could never get it into top gear with a load.

[AMCO72]

Further to that. The K Bedford we used was a regular bonnet and cab model, not like the later TK, which was forward control. It was this model, the TK, that did sterling service in a lot of Dairy Companies tanker fleets later on.
I was thinking about the loads we carried. Our K 'Beddie' was a steel decked tipper, and couldn't have held more than 3 or 4 cu/yds of river shingle. We used to load, with again an X Leeston/Ellismere County Caterpillar loader, which had a 1 &1/2 yard bucket, but it was all too tough for the old 'K'. She overheated on a run one day, cracked the head, and was parked up......joined the dead vehicle fleet under the macrocarpa trees, where I'm sure she has been 'discovered' and featured on an 'abandoned/neglected' thread similar to what we see on RS.

[Howard Wood]

Gerald, as an 11 year old I learned to drive in an 1948 Austin 5 tonner, around the same size as the K Model Bedford but a far better truck. Powered by what became the Austin Healy 100/6 engine from the A90. It was good for 60 mph, not that I got to do that. At hay making time, as I was the smallest I got to drive the truck in the paddock with the hay elevator. Because the cab was so narrow, the load of hay so wide and I so small, I had to drive standing on the running board, left foot on the accelerator through the open driver's door while looking backwards over my shoulder to line the elevator up with the hay bales on the ground. The mirror of course was a corroded round thing the size of a saucer and absolutely no use.

Today I have a number of Kenworths and the drivers complain when the heated mirrors fog up!

[AMCO72]

Howard, you/we are very lucky that OSH was not around in those days, or we would have been doing a lengthy stretch in prison!!!
Yes the Austin 5 tonner was certainly a better machine that the Bedford, and yet they must have had similar sized motors....about 3 litres. I doubt that the Bedford would have done 60KPH let alone 60MPH. The reason we had the Bedford was because the Leeston/Ellesmere County yard must have been doing an upgrade, and all this old gear was being auctioned off. I went to the sale, and there was an impressive line up of stuff, all of which had had a 'showroom blow' in battleship grey. They must have had 100's of gallons of the stuff, and they hadn't been too fussy how clean everything was, and as for masking up....yeh right!!!!A good bit of overspray on the tyres as I remember. The helpers at the auction started anything that had an engine,......'BUT just remember boys, that you buy 'as inspected', with no guarantees given or implied'. We paid 200 pounds for the old girl, with a current WOF, that was probably going to run out in a week or twos time. [not like nowadays] To be fair, we bought it for a specific job, which it did for a while, but clearly the engine had done it's dash, with all and sundry in the yard driving it over the years.
Heated mirrors...turn indicators!!!!!! The turn indicator on the Bedford was a mechanical arm attached to the door panel that you raised with your free right hand through the open window. There was a little yellow metal hand on the end that could be swiveled to indicate either stopping or turning......high tech stuff.

[Oldfart]

The local school bus contractor in Raglan was still using Ks in the 70s when I did my licence. The testing "officer" had me drive up Government Rd which is just a tad steep, then asked me to stop on the steepest bit and put on the handbrake. He got out and put his fag packet just behind the front wheel. Then through the open doorway told me to hill start, and "by the way, if you squash my fags you have failed". Crawled away and stayed in first until the road flattened out somewhat. His response was "that was a bit steeper than I thought"!

[Trevor Sheffield]

I remember Laurie Powell telling me that the Beddie was the best of all the trucks he had tried in his carrying business and he would consider no other. He also said that a load on the Bedford was inclined to move forwards on the deck when on the move, rather than backwards, which was an advantage and I could see his point knowing that he was not all that fussy in many respects. I also remember his old Dad helping him out around the wharves while bravely driving the old V8 engined B4, which had become very much the worse for wear.

On a prior occasion I had driven down to a race meeting at Ohakea with Laurie and his then partner in the B4 V8 and with my wife in my ACV8. Along the way he tried me out for maximum speed and he had the edge with his Hogan heads and tuned engine. However when it came to scrutiniering the old B4 was turned down. One obvious fault I recall was a loose front bumper, but the bolts were rusted up solid and Laurie claimed that it was safe as there was no hope of it falling off. He was not a happy chappy.

My wife was first out on the circuit in the ACV8 and was tailing another lady in an MG down the back straight, but catching her elsewhere. Sadly I was rather hard on my wife when she finished, but was told that a horrible vibration prevented her going any faster down the straight. When I went out I quickly found that the drive shaft which ran close alongside the seat, whipped itself into a frenzy at near maximum speed. However I put my faith in the fact that the shaft ran over a chassis member and was restrained by a saddle which ran over the top of the shaft.

Back home I jacked up the rear and ran up the revs in top gear and observed a shaft whipping out of line to an amazing extent and in a very dangerous manner. When I came to pull things apart I found that the saddle had been cut and extended when the Ford V8 had been installed prior to me getting the car, joints butted together and the three pieces glued with a thin surface layer of brazing. A knock with a hammer removed the extended section. Prospect --- widower, widow? Not Good! Charlie Black where are you? LOL

[markec]

8494

Rod aske me to post this again to see if anyone recognises any of the people in the background.it is the first appearance of the car at a clubday at Puke, unpainted.

[AMCO72]

Unsign written, rather than unpainted. Dark green with orange vinyl bonnet. Soon to get it's first seasons sponsorship from Dulux, and the distinctive paint job leading to it's nickname....'Stripes'. 70/71 season.
Rod himself in the centre of the car at the back. Others in the pic???????

[markec]

8540

[markec]

8575

[pallmall]

If I recall correctly that incident was on the bit of video from Levin that was posted back about 12 months ago.

[AMCO72]

Howard, going on from your post 523, I'm sorry to have to tell you that the insurance co. has written the 'orange ute' off. Was all too hard for them even though in my opinion was a relatively easy fix, compared to some. Insurance Companies seem to be very eager to write of cars don't they, yet something like the old Falcon is eminently fixable, and is my bet that some young fella will buy it at the auction, do it up, and have a perfectly good machine....for what it is. Angus is philosophical about it, as he is, as he put it, 'sick of driving around in old heaps of shit'. Is looking at a Japanese diesel replacement. Much more sensible, but not half as much fun.
So, the PIG won that round, but HE maybe pork- chops in the freezer now!!!!!!

[markec]

http://www.gatewayclassiccars.com/new-arrivals/60,
An auction site with a good number of interest American 40's,50's and 60's street cars.

[Dave Silcock]

This seems to be the most popular thread on here so here is my yarn about road trips in ths good old days, or as Lee Child would say ''back in the day'' In the early 60's I used to do a lot of travelling to Dunedin to visit my friends Brian Middlemass, Murray Fraser and Trevor Timms and Johh Chivers. These trips started out in my 6AN Ansaldo, then a 1947 2.5 liter Jaguar saloon and sometimes in company with Chivers in his SS90. Much was made of how long the trip took and soon rules were set down, time from Ch Ch was from the power board clock at Hornby, and arrival at Dunedin was the railway station. Time could be deducted whilst stationary for what ever reason. The Ansaldo, which was unbelivably gutless by modern standards, was regular as clockwork at 4 hours 10 minutes.By the time I had bought my first XK 120, this competion was quite the thing, naturally as a red blooded young man this was a challenge not to be ignored. The girl who was to become my first wife and I left Hornby at 6AM, and by the simple expedient of winding up to 100 MPH in 3RD and then running at full throttle to what ever speed it reached be fore some natural event caused me to lift off,got to Ashburton [50 miles] in 30 mins, Timaru half an hour later ,[100 miles] and Oamaru in similar time [150miles] The only car we passed was a beetle back Vangaurd with fishing rods on t roof. Alas we had used up the whole 14 gallons of feul the 120 carried, so had to wait till a service station opened. Now you can see the wisdom of the time out stationary rule, we finally got some more petrol and headed south. On cresting a rise at well over the ton, we came across a farmer shifting a mob of sheep over the other side, whoops, bugger the ewes, I'll drive through them at whatever speed I manage to get down too, whoops cocky has his kids as dogs hounding the ewes along, thinks I'll go down the left hand side of cockies series E Morris 8, problem clipped said E in left rear guard which sent us through a fence,down a bank, which was almost vertical, into a paddock, the only exit from which was a couple of railway tracks with a few more sleepers to stop one from getting stuck across a creek. We got out to the road, cooky says 'if your still here when I come back I'll get you out' I had to remove the brake drums to get the stones out, let down the Firestone Gum Dipped tyres because of the flats on them, do you know I had a 120 in my shop last month with the exact same tyres on it. The boys were waiting at the service station at the end of the so called Dunedin motorway, and very concerned they were. Got dirt in one of my eyes had to go Dunedin Hospital to get it removed, the doctor was a German lady that informed me, ''that when you drive zee open sports car you vill wear zee goggles!!

[AMCO72]

Great yarn Dave. Wonder what you could it in nowadays with the 'Blue Car', on a 'Cop-less' road. But where were the cops? You may have read my story in Yards and Yarns, page 5, post 92, of the 8 mile chase between Christchurch and Leeston in the early 60's. Me in the XK120C verses the black and white MK3 Zephyr belonging to 'you-know-who'!! This turkey was lying in wait down a side road for me I'm convinced, but on the sprint from ChCh to Dunedin there are precious few side-roads suitable to hide down. Did the cops have radar in those days? I remember the big 'cans' that were on the back of the Zephyrs, which had to be dismantled before giving chase, and with the Zephyrs top speed approaching 90mph, they didn't stand a chance against your XK. Perhaps they just flagged you away as a bad job, or perhaps some dangerous and armed criminal making a break for it. Our mate Ray Archibald was known for his high speed dashes from Timaru to ChCh in the dead of night, after visiting his girl-friend, and I know lots of other 'record' attempts were made down this stretch of highway. I didn't have to 'vear zee goggles' though as I always had the hood up, otherwise I couldn't 'do a thing with my hair' on arrival.....in the days before base-ball caps!! We must have been hoons, but we have lived to tell these tales.... Happy days aye.

[Dave Silcock]

I don't know were the cops were in those days but I never saw them. Further to that yarn however was the first car that pulled up to see if we needed help was a bloody great black hearse. As to the cops ,some friends from my Vintage days who lived in Totora just south of Oamaru saw them out on the road measuring the skid marks, thought I might have caused them and on a visit to my home in CH CH informed me of same. Where the hell did they get that notion from!!

[jim short]

Not a car storey But that 14yr.old boy that drove that Western Star over 200ks.will take some beating!!!

[MP54]

Yep damn good effort I reckon, Big rig and some fairly narrow bridges on that run. The kids got balls but I bet Dad owns them now!!

Not a car storey But that 14yr.old boy that drove that Western Star over 200ks.will take some beating!!!

[Racer Rog]

Yes I know the Lad, he has been around trucks for all his life to date, his grand father and father still drive, and I drive part time for the same company, you would not pick him to be 14, he looks around mid twenties, so has the body and needs of a man, with the brain of a child, the truck itself is a auto shifter, but still not that easy to drive, not quite sure what will happen to him, but when I last spoke to him on Friday night as he was cleaning his granddads truck he thought he would be in jail before he was 16, he may well have got his wish!!
Roger


Not a car storey But that 14yr.old boy that drove that Western Star over 200ks.will take some beating!!!

[MP54]

Yes I know the Lad, he has been around trucks for all his life to date, his grand father and father still drive, and I drive part time for the same company, you would not pick him to be 14, he looks around mid twenties, so has the body and needs of a man, with the brain of a child, the truck itself is a auto shifter, but still not that easy to drive, not quite sure what will happen to him, but when I last spoke to him on Friday night as he was cleaning his granddads truck he thought he would be in jail before he was 16, he may well have got his wish!!
Roger
Hi Roger, I certainly hope his prediction does not come true. Maybe he needs to get into something to challenge himself.
This forum would likely have more than a few possible wayward lads that have found a focus in life through the love of motorsport. He obviously has a passion for big rigs. Hope it all works out for him.

[jim short]

Another hard to believe ,Win Percy and Alan Grice in France are shareing the latest Nissan supercar in a race,they decide to travel to the circuit the night before the team, that are going in the morning so they can play some golf.After leaving Paris they get on to this motorway that goes for miles{ a toll rd. maybe?} they have the Nissan wide open when up ahead they they see this police car in pursuit with his lights flashing Alan says to Win ,something I have always wanted to do!! and they flash past the cops at over 150mph,miles down the road Win changes seat with Alan and with a full tank of gas they pull back onto the motorway just as the flashing lights are seen in the distance,and if I understand correct at the end of the motorway is a tollgate that records the time you enter so with the chap in charge muttering imposible over and over as he kept putting the ticket into the machine they drove off into the distance!! another time Allans kids asked him Dad why are we up this dirt road with the lights and engine turned off and why was that car with the flashing lights and siren speeding???They are trying to catch a bed man!! he replyed

[jamie]

Morning Guys have you all Hibernated for the winter

[jim short]

jamie five hundred members one hundred use their given name two hundred and fifty probably cant spell as good as you and me so just sit in the grandstand and watch, and some are bloody good folk why ?????

[Rod Grimwood]

Jim it is "can not"

[Rod Grimwood]

Jim it is "can not". And "spell as good as you and I"

[jim short]

Rod you amaze me ,,how did you know I was smiling when Grays Viva went past

[markec]

Did you not know Rod was an English School master in his past life.

[jim short]

Yes I knew there was some Pom in him but I thought he was in Take It From Here with that bloody huge Moustarche{ thanks Jamie} alias jimmie edwards???

[Russ Cunningham]

Gin, is it true that TRS crashed after you had logged on? You must keep away from those dudious sites. If you really want a Russian bride then give me a call and I'll import one for you. Plus GST of course.

[David McKinney]

And "spell as good as you and I"
Sorry Rod - Jim was right in this case:)

[Rod Grimwood]

Not too often he is wrong David. We all smiled as you went past Jim, the pits was a friendly place.

[jim short]

Gee Russ I have just heard about the site crashing, I didnt understand your spiel ,hopefully you can get the formular right just remember there is a fine line between funny and stupid .now dont get upset as I didnt say what side I am on.Though its pretty obvious

[jamie]

Afternoon Jim how goes it, Last weekend A fancy house burned down on Chamblen Rd Bombay will have A look this weekend as will be just down the road , Ill go for A buzz up the road see what sort of time the old GTO will do!! will you boys visit me inside?? I Will let you know the cell No

[Russ Cunningham]

Afternoon Jim how goes it, Last weekend A fancy house burned down on Chamblen Rd Bombay will have A look this weekend as will be just down the road , Ill go for A buzz up the road see what sort of time the old GTO will do!! will you boys visit me inside?? I Will let you know the cell No

Jeez! got the wrong bloody house again.

I'll send you a file with a cake in it. Dont! "I repeat", Don't! eat the file.

[Russ Cunningham]

Gee Russ I have just heard about the site crashing, I didnt understand your spiel ,hopefully you can get the formular right just remember there is a fine line between funny and stupid .now dont get upset as I didnt say what side I am on.Though its pretty obvious

You're not referring to batting are you?

[woody]

Russ, I told you no. 24 NOT 42. Some people bat for the other side.