My Mk2 Consul And Zephyr
By Willy
Ponting (NZ Rust)
Just
thought I could add to the collective, bit of info, bit of humor, bit of
Kiwiana, as most of us kiwis of my generation and the one before know no 8
fencing wire and an old car are and were an essential part of NZ motoring,
should say Aussie motoring as well as the Aussies our close cuzzies….bless em…
were and are still as good at keeping the old girls going, now my old dad
reckons not to praise the Aussies too much, but when I mention Toyota
.Datsun.HONDA, he tells me not to be a mongrel and praise the ockers… and
reminds me real quick of the falcon…as it is a ford, that the Aussies got going
better than the yanks could, not that the old cheese is a ford fan , he wont
drive anything else if he can help it.
We
grew up with all sorts of old bombs Austin 7,morris what evers, borgward
things, nashes, dodges.old flathead v8s, anything that was running shitty dad
managed to get, and fix or wreck, my first car was a Morris 8 dad and me
rebuilt this old car when I was only 10years old he taught me how to drive in
it, sold it and bought a newer old bomb a40 Austin, wow into the overhead
things now whatever they were, we painted it played somemore and sold it, saw
this funny looking car, 1955 mk1 zephyr neighbours said the wheels will fall
off dad said too fast for you son, he got it and I was in heaven ,he leans over
one Sunday morning …ya want a drive?…….mouth wide open looking like a mk2
zephyr grill ,you know the old left leg is shaking cant hold the clutch down
there’s lead in my right foot, turn the keys push the button and zoom were off
at warp 10 dad screaming out something, my eyes as big as saucers and that
sound ohhh yeah zephyr at full noise …………….in first gear,…. You see I was
enjoying the sound, couldn’t change gear even if I wanted too I had slipped too
far back in the seat to reach the clutch, the gearshift was on the column, had
my hand on it but no way was I moving it, it was soooo fast. Dad pulls on the
handbrake and we shudder to a holt, he was laughing so hard he went bright red
and reckons he needed a beer and was going to drive home for needed suds, every
now and then he would erupt into a fit of laughter and then as we turned into
home he says…. How about next Sunday? Long week that one…Zephyrs became sort of
the car to have .., dad called her mercatroid .AT one stage in my youth I had
as many as 13 zephyrs parked up at mums most were runners, had a few at mates
places too as mum reckons I had too many,,favorite zephyrs! Got down to just a
59 and 62 zephyr at this stage, not mint cars by any stretch but I can make one
good, the 62 is just about finished mechanically, needed only some dollars
thrown at it for upholstery and then I will repaint it back to a mild yellow
pastel colour, I have found a mk3 engine complete so may be rebuild it for the
future, if I can get a good set of pistons and find a supplier for rings etc,
Johnson Piston Rings in penrose use to source all my parts when I was a younger
dude, and they are still in business so will be trying them in the new year ,
otherwise it will be Chrysler parts in a ford block , had to do it before,
fired up the old red mk2 today and got the wipers working, ( vacuum ) just
needed to clean out the cobwebs and refit a vacuum pipe and find a wiper
switch, always impressed me how they go like stink at idle and stall when you
need em,, I have an electric wiper set up but wont be using it in this girl, My
son who is only 2yr 8mths loves this old car , calls it vroom, when we open the
garage and cant find him, hes in vroom reminds me of years gone by, Had a slight
disagreement with the garage and the right hand side of the zephyr , was in
gear pushed the old starter solenoid from under the bonnet car jumps forward
hits garage bonnet slams down on head etc, sheet he we go reminds me off all
those years ago not much has changed just cant jump out of the way quick enough
now, although the words are still the same ,when we talk to our dear car…
On
Sunday I spied another mk2 this time its an old consul and seeing as I have
enough parts I decided I needed another headache, and bought it, love at first
sight. Can’t believe we can still find them with all the parts still on, wife
towed me home, first time, scary, but we got here. As we all do first thing was
to unpack all the goodies out of the boot, treasure hunting I reckon, found
heaps of stuff in the boot, spare headlight rims both chrome and the good old
painted ones, badges, new tie rod ends still in boxes, axles drive shaft, even
a brand new Lucas alternator, which is now on and with the help from the
article on Galeforce is wired up and charging, My wife came out to the garage
as I was rebuilding the carb from all the bits I found in the boot, and asked
me what I was up too, told her just playing with this thing and then IM going
to start it up, Had the battery on charge that was in the boot, put the Maori
recond carb on , bit of gas down its guts and turned it over, zoom ,wife cant
believe it , next day we freed up the clutch and I took it for a burn around
the block,.,Tuesday night now and I have just changed over the boot lid and the
bonnet and stripped all the paint off them , have to remove the front apron and
panel it as the previous owner had liberalised another car . The magic thing
about this old nail is the fact its come from someone who loved it and tried
real hard to keep it on the road even though he is not a mechanic, seeing the
receipts for work done and the prices he has had to pay didn’t impress me, I
wouldn’t go to any of those guys, and its no wonder he has finally passed it
on. With a little bit of welding and a repaint I reckon I’ll have a little
pearlier, reg was placed on hold by the old owner and I have a new set of
plates, so all I need is a wof, my lucky day I reckon,
Have
decided to remove the upholstery and fit it into my old red zephyr as it is red
and white and the red and white seats in the consul will make old red look real
good along with the red door panels, Have talked real sweet to my wife and she
is all keen on me fitting a bigger engine and trans into the consul as I have a
damaged 3.8 vn commodore at home, and wont spend too much money…. ha, want to
fit the suspension and brakes and power steer into it as well, may make an interesting
article when done will keep you posted if it is successfu….l cheers Wilz
(nzrust)