Brooks High Mk1
Brooks
High School is situated in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. Staff and students
of the school there have built a street rod with a difference. We commenced
with a standard 1955 Mk 1 Ford Zephyr, a six cylinder English Ford which had
been donated to the school.
The
car was last registered in 1978 and had a straight rust free body apart from a
couple of holes in the front passenger floor pan. It was originally that pukey
pale duck egg blue colour that was popular in 1955. The original engine was 2.3
litre six (claimed 71 hp) with a manual 3 speed box, and a 4.45-1 ratio diff.
We
finished the bodywork first by painting it with orange, red and yellow flames
and flat black. We then fitted, with much blood, sweat and tears, a 1973 XB
Ford Falcon 250ci (4.1litre) 6 cylinder engine (claimed 150 hp).
This
was then matched to a 3 speed t-bar auto Borg Warner box with a professionally
shortened and balanced XD Ford Falcon drive shaft.
The
diff was a 1979 XD Ford Falcon model (2.92-1 ratio) which we shortened by 11.5
inches and the axles were shortened and resplined.
Underneath
the car is now all Ford Falcon from the radiator to the diff including Falcon
rear brakes and handbrake.
The
steering column and wheel remain standard.
The
seats are from a VN Holden Commodore (1989), sorry to the Ford devotees, but we
got them for free.
The
brake master cylinder is from a Toyota Dyna.
The
wheels are 14" Hot wires which we felt added to its 70s look.
We
have had to reach tough Australian standards in vehicle modification with a
Mechanical Engineer's approval and that has been a real drama. These standards
are rigid and now are Australia wide.
In
all, about half of the work was done by students of the school from grades 7-10
and they look forward to going for a ride in it. It doesn't have the power of a
V8 but we were working within a budget which couldn't stretch to 8 cylinders.
Maybe a Windsor V8 down the track a bit. We plan to upgrade the springs soon to
stiffen the ride and eventually to fit front disc brakes. For now we will have
to suffice with a Brake booster to the drums.
Let
no one tell you "dumping" another motor, box and diff into a car is
straight forward job, as they obviously have never done it then. It is a big
undertaking, one that takes many hundreds of hours. All up a very satisfying
result which the school can be proud of. Please feel free to contact us to ask
us questions about our project at:
chris.brooks@education.tas.gov.au