Peter Lukeis’s Mkl Convertible
Peter
Lukeis shares the following story of his love of the Mkl Zephyrs with us.
My first car was a pale blue Mk1 Zephyr sedan that I
brought when I turned 18 in 1963. Most of my mates were buying FX or FJ Holden’s
but I wanted something that was different, yet the same size with six-cylinder
power. The car was 10 years old and in very good condition, with low miles etc.
I had the car for 4 years and traded it in on a new Mk 1 Fiat 1500 as I had just been called up into National service and the trip to Puckapunyal and back was taking its toll on the Zephyr with its low gearing. I wish now that I could have kept it in a shed somewhere.
I have always had a soft spot for the Zephyr with it being
our first car and pictured above my girlfriend now wife also shares my
nostalgia. A year or so after I purchased the Sedan I saw a convertible model
for the first time and instantly fell in love with it and really wanted to own
one. However, money and scarcity stood in the way, but I never forgot them.
Now I am closer to retirement with the kids off our hands and a bit more free
time I decided to search for a Mk1 Zephyr convertible. I emailed all the
secretary's of the Zephyr car clubs in Australia and New Zealand and eventually
got a response from a chap in QLD who put me in touch with a person in Brisbane
with one for sale.
We flew up to QLD To have a look and subsequently purchased
the car and had
it trucked down to Victoria. As an aside the registration number of my first
Zephyr was GEC234 and as the QLD car had club registration which had to be
handed in
I contacted VICROADS to see what happened to my GEC234 plate.
To my pleasant surprise the number was available in the
original black and white of the day and the new Zephyr now has the same
registration number as the my original Zephyr.
It is a strange feeling of deja vu going into the shed and seeing a Mk 1
Zephyr sitting there with the same number plate.
As far as I know the car’s history is as follows:
The car was the first Mk 1 Convertible car on display at
Melford Motors in Melbourne and was purchased either new or second hand by a
man in South Australia who was a senior person at a mining company. His partner
also purchased an identical car and they had them modified to the following
specifications:
Mkll Motor
Twin Weber two-barrel carburettors
Extractors and a mild camshaft.
Mklll 4 speed gearbox with Laycock electric overdrive.
Some people may recognise Bill Clampit’s V8 powered
convertible in the background of the above picture. Bill and I both live in the
Macedon ranges area of Victoria and somebody said the other day if I join the
Macedon Ranges car Club that it will probably be the only club in Victoria to
have two Mk1 Convertibles in it.
The colour of the car is Mandarin Red and is the original
colour. Apparently British Ford only made this colour available to cars
exported to South Africa and Australia. The erson who restored the car did an
excellent job on the mechanics, chassis and the underneath of the car. The
panels and paintwork, although very good, could be redone professionally to
bring it up to near concourse condition.
Future plans are undecided with a possible body colour and
interior change, (Creamy white panels with red upholstery, like the first
Zephyr convertible I fell in love with) or to stay with the car’s original
colour.
Thanks Peter for sharing your very nice classic with us!
Peter
Lukeis continues with the work on his Mk1 Zephyr Convertible.
Quite a lot has happened
since we last corresponded (Allan has probably told you most of it) but I will
run through it pretty much in order. I wasn't really happy with the performance
of the downdraft twin Weber set up so I decided that I would completely build a
new Mk111 motor and replace the Mk11 in the Mk1 convertible. I brought a
complete Mk111 motor and completely stripped it and sent the block away to the
engine man to have it cleaned bored 020 and fully balanced including new
pistons, flywheel, clutch, crankshaft and harmonic balancer. The head went off
to a specialist to be ported and polished intakes and chamber including
oversized exhaust valves and double valve springs. We also shaved 040 off the
head. The next step was to purchase a set of triple SU carburettors and
manifold, which got sent off to the carburettor guru to be completely stripped,
cleaned polished and rebuilt. He did a magnificent job and I will send you a
picture once it is totally completed. I sent the Speco rocker cover off to be
highly polished as well.
The great day came when I
had all the parts back including new water pump, timing chain, overhauled oil
pump with your extra washer at the top of the piston spring to increase the oil
pressure, all the gasket sets, new oil and special lube for the bearings, the
whole shooting match.
My son and I started at noon
on Saturday, taking out the current motor and building the new one, which we
completed and had back in the car by 2 PM Sunday morning. We tried to start it
but the battery couldn't cope so we decided to call it quits and go to bed and
start again the next morning.
We got up the next day had
breakfast and went back out into the shed and now comes the drama. We backed
the four-wheel drive with its big battery in next to the Zephyr and fitted a
set of jumper leads and we ran the motor for a while without the spark plugs to
get the oil and petrol going to all the right places. The engine was turning
over fairly quickly but it wasn't making any impression on the oil light or
gauge, which worried us a bit, but we thought that might be normal until the
engine starts. We put the plugs in and after a few whirs the engine burst into
life which as you know is always a great occasion. However, the joy was short
lived as the oil pressure only came up a little way and as the engine warmed up
we heard this horrible rattling sound. We turned the engine off and went inside
to lick our wounds.
We should have in hindsight checked the bearing tolerances but
thought that seeing it had been with the experts that everything would be OK.
The next day my son came up with the spaghetti to check the bearings. The big
ends were spot on. Next the mains - we torqued the bolts then undid them
removed the caps and there was the spaghetti completely untouched. The smiles
came back to our faces - the bearing suppliers sent us the wrong ones - or so
we thought. The next day I couldn't wait to get onto Mike at Yesterford to let
him know the problem. He asked me what was stamped on the old bearings (The
ones that came out of the motor) and I gave him the number which verified that
they were Mk111 Zephyr and then there was the big Letter G next to he numbers.
He said oh no you have one of those rare motors that were slightly out in the
tunnel when they were made and the tunnel was bored out an extra 015 and that
he didn't think he would be able to source bearings for it. You are probably
aware of these engines but I believe they are pretty rare and on making
enquiries only one other person in the Zephyr car club had come across the same
problem. How about that for beginners luck. For any other people contemplating
doing up a Mk111, have a look on the face of the block that attaches to the
sump and gearbox and if there is a stamp OS (oversize) throw it in the tip or
use it as an anchor.
In the meantime I saw a
Mk111 Zodiac advertised and as I have always been keen on the Zodiac. I brought
it for my next project, which is to put a stroked Windsor 302 in it. I can't
believe I did it as I was in the middle of the engine drama but people do
strange things.
Any way I
brought another motor, which was in bits and sent the block off to be done
again, stripped the faulty motor and rebuilt the new block, which we finished
yesterday (Sunday). This time the engine wouldn't turn over with the jumper
leads and the in car battery so we had to pull it around our circular drive way
a couple of times before she fired up. This time the oil pressure came right up
and the engine ran like a dream.