Bjorn’s 1964 Mklll Zephyr
Bjorn-Olof Berlund from Finland
The story of why I
like the Mklll Zephyr is long. It started when I was a child in the mid sixties.
My father bought a red and white Mklll Zephyr 6, and even though I was just a
kid of 3 or 4 years old, I thought it was a special car. Unfortunately he sold
it in the beginning of the seventies, and the car became a wreck when the hood
popped open on the highway.
The next time I came in contact with a Mklll was when I was seventeen and I was
just
starting to take driving license
lessons. It was an medium blue "sixer" with blue interior and I
became the second owner of that car. It was a great car, it took me wherever I
wanted to go, as long as I checked the fuel and filled it up with oil. Sad to
say I only had it for 2 years before I stumbled on a 1961 Buick and the Zephyr
was traded for it. By the way the Buick is still in the family.
As the years passed by I was starting to think that it would be nice to have a
Mk lll again. So I started looking, but over the years they have become rare,
so it was a bit of a job to find one in a decent shape.
I had a few
criteria, it should be a Mk lll and definitely a Zephyr, as in my opinion the
Zodiac had the world record in ugly dashboard design, and it had to be a
“sixer” as the grille on the 4 is not especially nice looking.
I found my
car on the internet in the autumn of 2004, but I didn’t buy it until the autumn
of 2005.The register book for the Zephyr says its a ‘65, That’s because it was
registered for the first time in January 1965.
Finland has had a very high vehicle tax, as
the selling price of the cars was counted on the price that the dealers had to
pay for them. To get a car as cheap as possible, some of the items other
countries had on Zephyr’s where never fitted to cars sold in Finland. Such
items are for example, the overriders for the bumpers and the chrome moulding
under the doors. The outer rear view mirror where also only fitted if the
customer wanted one.
New boot mat fitted.
Of all the Zephyrs that I have seen in
Finland, all have had a rubber interior mat. The "long time parking
switch" was also disconnected, as it was meant for left hand traffic.
The Mklll
runs a 2.5 litre 6-cylinder engine followed by a four-speed overdrive gearbox.
The factory colour is medium blue and it’s fitted with a blue interior.
When I bought the car it had some minor rust injuries and the rear brakes had
to be fixed.
To add a few stories of my car I can tell you what happened in early spring
2006, 2 or 3 days before I was going to the registers office to get a license
plate for it. During the winter I had been starting the car several times, just
to hear it run. As I mentioned it was a few days before registering and I had
purchased temporary license plates. The car started well, and I drove it back
and forward to check the brakes and the gear change linkage. That’s when I
suddenly smelled gasoline. I turned off the engine and checked around the car,
to find the fuel pump was leaking, where the ***** do I get a fuel pump for a
42 years old car, in just two days?
I started to consult the Internet and found a picture of a maintenance kit for
the fuel pump to a Fordson Super Major tractor, it looked so similar to my pump
that I started to check my local dealers for it. One of them had a complete
tractor pump that I bought, and then using only the membrane from it, it has
worked ever since, even if I doubted it at the time!
I haven’t driven it a lot since I first purchased it, less than 100 km in 2
years. At this time I am looking for better inner door upholstery and better
bench seats would also be nice.
Cheers,
Bjorn.
The Big Lift.
As you know I have been renovating a new engine for my
Mk3 Zed.
Well, renovating is not exactly the right word for it,
as it turned out to be as good as new when I dismantled it. So the renovation
was pretty much reduced to new gaskets, core plugs and some modifications, such
as spin-on type oil filter and increased oil pressure.
I had planned
to swap the engine in fall of 2009, and since the roof height is limited in my
garage, it had to be done outside where height is unlimited. I rented a scaffold and bought a new winch.
My plan was
to get the car between the legs of the scaffold, in that way I could move the
car back and forth during the work. An engine hoist would have been a nightmare
to manoeuvre on the gravel anyway. All worked out well since I had removed the
gear case earlier. If you wonder why I didn’t lift the engine and gear case as
a unit, the answer is because I did not have a helper that could guide the unit
into the engine bay.
Now, a few
months later I am in the middle of constructing an exhaust system. The engine
has been test started, it is a bit rough but the fine tuning of the ignition
and carb has still to be done.
The next time I rebuild an engine I will check for
water leaks before I lift it in to the car. It is a lot easier to pull the
water pump when the engine still sits on the garage floor.
The old mill on its way out.
Finally coming to rest
After 45 years of duty.
The new guy on its way to work.
The modifications so far are Zody intake and exhaust, spin
on oil filter, alternator, electronic ignition and increased oil pressure.
Still to come is oil pressure reservoir. And somewhere
in back of my head I am playing with the idea of constructing a fuel injection
system, but we’ll see.
Cheers
(If anyone
can help with the above parts can they contact avocalea@xtra.co.nz )