Paul Olafsen 1953 MkI Zephyr Six
Here is a
picture of the beast after its first wash in a long time!
First a little bit about me, my name is Paul Olafsen age 32
and I am from Adelaide in South Australia. I work in the suspension industry,
and am a car horder!
Previous vehicles that require a mention:
1959 Austin A60 Cambridge (first car I bought!), HB Brabham
Torana, HR Holden Special, TC Cortinas, MK 1 Escort, XD Fairmont Ghia (worked
over V8), Ford Capri (worked 2ltr), HD Holden Ute, 1967 Isuzu Bellet GT, 1966
Isuzu Bellet x2, Isuzu Florian x4 (perhaps one of the worlds ugliest cars!),
Series 1 XJ6 Jaguar and many others!
NOW TO THE ZEPHYR!!
Purchased Saturday 16th June 2007
Last registered 1973, original 65771 miles on the clock.
Purchased of son in law of original owner, country car,
been in dry storage since 1975.
South Australian Delivered car, kept in state!
Initial inspection.
Missing bits
1 Hubcaps
2 Horns
3 Interior carpet/rubber mats (not sure as to what its
supposed to be!)
4 Rear view mirror (interior)
Bits that require attention.
1 Doors not latching/closing correctly
2 Minor head gasket leak
3 No brakes
4 Clutch?
5 Front seat is split/damaged
6 Rear seat has hole in r/h lower section (looks like mice)
7 Hood lining in excellent condition except hole on l/h
side rear
8 Tyres (30 year old at least crossplys not good in
anyone’s language!
9 Fuel pump? Has been disconnected not sure if it works but
there is still fuel in the glass bowl
Rust.
· Rear guards under bumper rusted through
· r/h front guard rusty at drivers door end
· r/h sill has a couple of tiny bubbles in it
· Front floor has some interesting patches on it is it rusted
through??
My thoughts so far, I love it! A little disappointed with
the amount of rust but realistically its 54 years old! Not sure yet as to
weather to restore it or custom it still, I guess if I custom it I can always
keep it period style and keep all mods reversible.
I was planning on doing the mechanical side of it first,
but after giving it a wash and getting rid of 50 years of dust I am thinking of
doing the body work first, I am a complete novice with body work but I
hopefully have a couple of friends that will help out and show me what I am
supposed to do! (Not planning on stuffing the rust with chook wire and bogging
it up I want it done properly!) I guess I can sort out the brakes and clutch as
I go, I am more confident of the mechanical side of it!
I have heard this beast running and I am quite confident
that it needs very little work on the engine. The biggest mechanical fault with
the engine is the head gasket is leaking ever so slightly, apart from that I
think a good service (new plugs points leads oil etc) and tune and it should be
a pearler!
Oh and by the way if anyone wants to pass on his or her
tips/experience with the Mark 1 I am always ready to listen!
I do have a few questions on the car, firstly are rust
patch panels available for them?
Also front-end parts how hard are they to come across?
Can I get spats for the rear wheel arches?
Is there a club in Adelaide for the zephyrs/consuls?
I suppose most of these questions will be answered as I
start playing with my new toy!