Duncan’s New Mklll Build Up Part 1
I bought the Mk 3 about 12 months ago from a Guy in
Bendigo. He’d just moved down from a country town called Patche Wollic near
Mildura. It was owned by an old Cocky(Farmer) since new. Not sure where it was
purchased from but it didn’t venture far. It’s had a quarter panel fitted at
some stage, not fitted very well, but I'm told it can be fixed. The back door
has also been replaced. I bought some doors for the glass and window mechanisms
as all this was stripped out and sold. These came from up near Shepparton in
Victoria from another club member.
The boot area and the channel around the top of the boot
area will be completely replaced with sections I've cut out of another wreck.
The sill also needs replacing as its completely shot.
I know it sounds like I should have started with
another car and yes I've wrecked better cars than this and if it hadn’t have
been for the easy going nature of the guy, Adrian, I wouldn’t have bought it.
We've become pretty good Mates through the sale of the car and share similar
interests. Unfortunately I don’t have Adrian’s shed!
While on e-bay I spotted a V8 cross member and V8 Cleveland
heat coated extractors to suit. I'm also on the lookout for a top loader box
and a compact Fairlane diff.
Another Mate Neil Wust of Neil ‘s Hot 351 Mk111
fame has also given me some ideas as well as parts including
chrome trim, back seat, fuel tank and some panels as well.
The pic below has the boot floor that surrounds the fuel tank.
I’ve started collecting parts to run a modified XR Falcon
handbrake set up to the original handbrake lever, the same as on my old Mk 3,
(check sidebar). This idea I picked up from a guy called Victor Pace whose
ideas were also a big help with the other car and now with this one.
It will remain a bench seat, as I want to retain
originality. The quarter panel needs repairs, which is where the spare quarter
panel also cut out of the wreck comes in.
Here is the replacement section of boot from the inside, below:
The below
floor of my car in the boot is not so good.......
The car came with hotwire mags but these will be replaced with AU interceptor rims of 15" X 6" measurements.
The bottom of the radiator support is rotten through. I
didn’t realise it was so bad but I have all the parts needed again for Jeff’s
wreck and also some parts again scored of E-bay. It’s also been a good
collecting point for small parts.
At the moment its with a Mate Joe getting Panel Beaten.
He’s done quite a bit of work on my cars over the years and does a very good
job. I've also met a few people through the website, Steve and Wendy Nields,
who have also give me ideas. Steve has got his own section of photos of a MK 3
drag car that he’s building. I grabbed a pair of guards for him off e-bay again
and he’s going to try and get some fibreglass moulds made up. I finally met him
face to face and of course his wife, Wendy. We have become good friends and
share ideas again. Some of his cars have also appeared in Extreme magazine.
I've got to meet up with a Guy from Perth with a red Mk 3
Zody that he races who is also giving me a kick up the behind. He can supply
all the rubbers and interior parts that I'm going to need. All in all its a car
that means a lot to me now especially with the Mates that I've made over in New
Zealand too. James (Zephyrheaven) and of course Karl (Low Zep). Its going to be
an awesome car when its finished. There’s more to come but we’ll see after I
get some panels over to Joes!
Duncan’s Cleveland Powered Mklll
Part 2
It all started with me
buying the car to build as a period racer.
Bought for a measly
$300,it was a parts car, so it was short on some parts like the glass,
interior, Dash, lights, and other bits and pieces here and there. The Guy I
bought it off has become a very good friend and has also supplied history and
information on the car too. Believe it or not, it's a 1-owner car, with low
mileage. Unfortunately, it has done some very hard miles, as I think it used to
be a tractor whenever the occasion arose. It was bought from the neighbours,
who are farmers in a place called Patchy Wollic near Mildura in Country
Victoria, Australia. It was first used for spares, and then stripped further
down for other cars. The Guy I bought it off felt it was too good to wreck.
Below: Heres my main help
Jasmyn! And I.
I had quite a few bits
left over from my previous rebuild, the Black Mklll, that I should have kept
(check it out in the Members car articles Mklll section). Parts are being
accumulated through people in the car Club, ZZOC of Melbourne, and also Trade
me (NZ), e-bay Australia and of course, England. It takes a long time as People
are often chasing the same parts as me. I also found out the hard way, to never
throw anything away. I have to use parts that with my first build would have
gone in the bin, LOL! Now I'm out with the wire brush and drill, cleaning and
painting these same parts!
Below: Here is inside pics
of the car,
As you can see the
interior was a mess, but workable. Most bits were intact so I could work out
what bits were needed.
This is a part collection
of useable seats etc that may go in later:
Below: This is a pic of
under the rear seat area:
The floor was in quite
good condition. Funny story there, though. I was having trouble getting the
backseat out, so I ended up giving it a huge reef and up it came. I was covered
in a paper like substance, but couldn’t make out quite what it was. There was
quite a sweet smell in the car, but that didn't warn me of what I was about to
find. Thankfully it was an old one, but it was the leftovers of a Beehive! When
I realised what it was I stood up, banged my head, swore,and tried to get out
of the car as it was dark and I
couldn't make out anything at all, LOL!
Below: The engine bay
needed a rework and after some hard work it came up like this,
Below: Ideas changed as a
V8 cross member came up with extractors to suit a 302-351 Cleveland into Mk3 on
e-bay. $460 later I had changed the direction of where I was heading.
Below: The Cleveland cross
member fitted
Below: I had a few bits lying around down the shed, so that
was a good start as well. I spend a lot of time scouring e-bay Aus and UK as
well as "trade me" in NZ. If you study places like e-bay and know
your limits, there are plenty of bargains to be had. I've had to let a few
things go though as they've gone way more than I'd pay. I've got an old 302 Cleveland
down the shed so that will power the car once finished. Cost nothing as I
already had it.
Next came a toploader for
$500 again off e-bay, along with a 99cent bell housing, although freight killed
it price wise! I found an old school Mr Gasket Shifter complete with billiard
ball that should complement the old School look.
A Mate in Sydney had a
9" diff housing and a load of spares, so a quick trip to Sydney with a few
days Holiday sorted that. Heres the 9" mocked in place. I will end up
using Toyota Hilux Shockers I think at this stage, as they are the closest to
correct length etc,
Below:
An e-bay 9" centre
came up for $150 with some other associated parts again from e-bay. I've also
got an XB GT tail shaft, swapped for a slab of beer, that tops it off. Most
other bits have come up at some stage through Swap meets, E-bay and the guys
through the car club.
I decided to get stuck
into the floor pan underneath and after many hours here is how it came up,
Below:
`
Jeff Hall from Riddells
Creek just up the road from us had a rolling shell, which had a lot of good
bits on it. Boot lid, small parts, boot floor and quarter panel sections, as
well as the channel around the top of the boot area, which was completely gone
on my car were found off the shell. Here was the area replaced under the RH
taillight in the boot floor. Below:
Below: This was one of the
sections used out of Jeff Halls wreck,
Below: The front lower
radiator support drawbar was cut out as it was rusted and bent beyond repair.
Another section was found
on e-bay, Cost $20.
Below: I want the engine
bay and the car to look like a 60's drag car, hence the unusual Tramp rods out
back that had been used on the other car that the shortened 9" diff
housing came from via Steve Nield in Sydney.
I'll be running Ford
Falcon XC discs and callipers for that old school stopping power, activated by
an Ford XC master cylinder on a Modded GM Holden Gemini booster to help clear
the Cleveland rocker covers, Cost: $280 plus parts. Below:
Ford Falcon drums on the
rear round it off. The car will roll on Falcon 15" EF, EL Interceptor
rims, but I will try 8" wide rims on the back. The interior will remain
fairly standard with a bench seat in front and matching period steering wheel.
The part that’s giving me a few dramas at the moment is the floor trans tunnel,
which is too small from stock in this V8 swap. This may be down to the bigger
cast iron bell housing and 164-tooth flywheel being used vs the smaller alloy
bell housing with 157-160- tooth bell housing used in other Mklll V8 swaps. The
bell housing hits the tunnel here in the 12 to 3 O’Clock positions, as seen
here, Below:
The engine bay needed a
lot of cleaning and paint stripping to clean it up.Once a few things were
dismantled, it made things easier to assess, and then replace.
Below: Here is the trans
tunnel we plan to weld in:
Further panel beating and
welding that I can’t do at home I budget for with parts sold (like the Mklll
parts not used in the V8 swap).
It gets the car done a bit
more each time, parts are also sold on to help pay for more parts I need that
were missing. I try to sell the parts on for a fair price, as I know it’s hard
to find the money and I don't want the parts hanging around.
Below: My selection of
doors, free from the Zigs in Sunbury. Complete with dead rats,
LOL!
Below: The channel around the top of the boot was almost non existent
The below pic also shows the rust in the rear panel, the
new channel fitted and also the
new sill in place. Sill came via a Club member $100.
Above: The cowl section didn't look very good either. Later
it was replaced with a panel from
Neil Wust. Thanks Mate, I haven’t seen one since.
Below shows the now new cowl section in place. A big job, looks awesome, thanks
Neil!
Below: Back home, more
repairs done but more needed. Also gotta save some more money. Thanks Joe. I
‘ll be back!
