The Eastern Bay of Plenty Branch of
The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand PO BDX 2168, Kopeopeo, Whakatane 3159
February 2017
RUNNING BOARD
___________________________________________________________________________ Club Night: Last Thursday of the month (except December) at Whakatane Athletic Clubrooms, Short Street, Whakatane 7.00 pm Social get together Branch meeting starts at 7.30 PM
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THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF NZ Eastern Bay of Plenty Branch Postal Address: PO Box 2168, Kopeopeo, Whakatane 3159 Branch Officers: 2016/2017 Honorary Branch Member
Lorolei Pollard
Chairman Vice Chairman Secretary Treasurer Club Captain
Les Costar position yet to be filled Gail Costar Joy Growden position yet to be filled
07 323 6406
les.gail.costar@slingshot.co.nz
07 323 6406 07 304 9777
les.gail.costar@slingshot.co.nz growden@xtra.co.nz
Committee:
Steve Growden Lytle Hall Lorraine Stock Alan Stock Peter Hadley
07 304 9777 07 308 4044 07 308 7890 07 308 7890 07 312 9069
growden@xtra.co.nz emeny.hall@nettel.net.nz alan.lorraine@clear.net.nz alan.lorraine@clear.net.nz
Editor Beaded Wheels Reporter Almoner Name Badge Sales Parts Shed Supervisors:
Margaret McKerras Peter Donovan Lorolei Pollard Peter Donovan Phil Leaming Steve Growden Keith Watson Maureen Bond Keith Watson Les Costar Keith & Margaret Watson Thava Guy Lorraine Stock Les Costar
07 307 0407 07 312 5848 07 307 0373 07 312 5848 07 304 8415 07 304 9777 07 312 9081 07 304 9165 07 312 9081 07 323 6406
runningboard10@gmail.com donovanz@xtra.co.nz
07 312 9081 07 3049917 07 308 7890 07 323 6406
kandmwatson@clear.net.nz
Archivist VIC Collators: Saleable Items: Supper Supervisor Raffles Community Liaison:
donovanz@xtra.co.nz phil.leaming@xtra.co.nz growden@xtra.co.nz kandmwatson@clear.net.nz kandmwatson@clear.net.nz les.gail.costar@slingshot.co.nz
les.gail.costar@slingshot.co.nz
Club Regalia For Sale: Contact: Keith and Margaret Watson (these will be available at Club Nights) EBOP Cloth Jacket Badges $7.50 EBOP Car Window Stickers $1.00 EBOP VCC Windscreen Stickers $2.00 NZVCC Winged Lapel Badges $7.50 EBOP Name Badges $12.50 (to be ordered)
EBOP Cloth Jacket Patches $10.00 EBOP Car Bumper Badges $20.00 EBOP Lapel Badges $6.00 EBOP Cloth Caps $15.00 Rally Number Holders s/s $15.00 VCC Cloth Winged Badges $7.50 Please wear your name badge to VCC functions.
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From your Chairman: Now that the silly season is over I guess it is time to get back to reality, work for some, school for others, and for others like myself, jobs around the house that have been left for another day. I hope you all had a great Christmas break with family and friends. We went to Auckland to have Christmas with our girls and their families, as we do each year. It was great to spend time with them, but in the 10 years since we lived there it has become more of a rat race, with the roading infrastructure changing almost daily, where once we could find our way around with no trouble, now with new roads appearing and old roads going nowhere, it is no longer for us, even the GPS can’t be updated quick enough. But our younger generation (grandkids, now adults and driving their own cars) who were born there love it. On the vintage front we had Christmas Parades and the Classic Car Breakfast over the period. It was good to see so many members and friends entering and enjoying these parades and displaying their vehicles on behalf of our Branch, so that members of the public can see our old cars in action. It costs each member who parades or displays their car, petrol and other related costs of running a vintage car, but they do it because they love to drive their cars and be part of a great club. It was good to see so many out on New Year’s Day for the Classic Car Breakfast at Julian’s Berry Farm and a cruise down to the Heads for a park up. We had 16 cars with 35 members, friends and relatives there, along with dozens of Classic Cars and Hot Rods, all part of the motoring scene. Events Report: Whakatane Christmas Parade 8 vehicles with 13 members and families participated in the parade, followed by lunch at Julian’s Berry Farm. Kawerau Santa Parade and lunch at the Old Trout Cafe, Rotoma 10 vehicles with 16 members and friends participated in the parade, 10 members joined for lunch at Rotoma. Classic Car Breakfast New Years Day at Julian’s Berry Farm followed by a drive to the Heads. 16 Branch cars, with 35 members, friends and family. Rotorua Lakefront Car Show I believe a couple of cars went to Rotorua, others were put off by the weather. Wanganui Branch Burma Rally & Vintage Weekend and Wanganui National Veteran Rally 2 cars and 4 members travelled to the Burma Rally & Vintage Weekend. 1 Veteran with 2 members attended the Veteran Rally. (report elsewhere in this issue). Waterwheel Trust Live Day – Farming like Grandad A great day (report elsewhere in this issue) Coming up: February 3
Fri 10 - Sun 12 -
Gisborne Branch Three Rivers Rally
Thu 16 - Sun 19 -
Art Deco Napier
March Sat 4
Car Display at Presbyterian Church Expo & Family Festival
Sun 5
Classic Car Breakfast and possibly a short cruise (details to come)
Fri 10 - Sun 12
Taupo Branch Lake Taupo Rally Club Run (yet to be organised)
Sat 18 - Sun 19
Coromandel Gold Rush & Gum Diggers Charity Cruise (flyer elsewhere in this issue)
April
Club Run (yet to be organised)
Fri 21 - Sun 23
Taranaki Branch Rally
Les
From your Secretary: Just a reminder from our December Running Board. Magazines from other Branches are now able to be read by going to http://www.vcc.org.nz and clicking on “News from our Branches” on the menu down the left side of the home page. Then click on the magazine you want to read. Each magazine will be posted as soon as it is received by Head Office and will appear in alphabetical order of the branches. The previous months magazine for each branch will be removed once the current month is received. There are a number of magazines already on the site. vcc.org.nz/news-from-our-branches We have received letters of thanks from both Kawerau Woodskills to the Members of our Branch for displaying cars at the September Woodskills Festival and from Kawerau New World to the Members who participated in the Kawerau Santa Parade. Walter has handed a letter to us from the Whakatane Presbyterian Church, inviting the Vintage Car Club to be a feature at the Heart to Heart Expo and Family Festival at the War Memorial Hall on Saturday 4th March 10.00 am to 2.00 pm. I have entry forms available for: Taupo Branch – Lake Taupo Golden Anniversary Rally 10th – 12th March (entries close 24th February) We will be looking for a Member to take over the job of Secretary of your Branch at our AGM in May, as I will not be available for that position, please give it some thought and discussion. It is not a hard job and I will still be around to assist where needed. Also we have been running without a Club Captain since the last AGM. Food for thought over the next few months.
A warm welcome to our new Members (Memberships being processed over the last few months) Mark & Karen Spackman
(transferred from BOP Branch)
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Harry & Gay Sutcliffe
(transferred from Warkworth / Wellsford Branch)
Noel & Lois Davies Ian Wilson Most have been participating in our runs and events over a period of time. Gail
From the Editor’s Desk Well – Christmas has come and gone as has the festivities for the start of another year. I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable time. John and I travelled around the Bay of Plenty a few times and it was great to see the different car clubs travelling along the roads. In particular we noticed a large contingent of American cars from the ‘50s going through Rotorua. The sight of them does take me back in time a bit. This issue has a report of the restoration of Graham Guy’s Van-den Plas and because of it size with all the photos, I have cut it into two parts and part 2 will feature next issue. A photo of his car is showing on the front page if this issue. Remember – if you would like to see your car in that space, please let me know. Margaret
Notice from Christchurch - Your branch magazine on the web Many branch magazines are now available for reading on the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand’s website. The magazines are published as soon as they are received each month and can be accessed by going to http://vcc.org.nz/ and clicking on News from our Branches down the left side of the homepage. To go to your chosen magazine either click on the magazine cover or the underlined date of the publication. This will take you to the magazine and by clicking on the small square next to the + sign you can enjoy a full screen reading experience. In time we hope to be able to publish all branch magazines each month. Enjoy your reading. Ross Holden Communications & Marketing Officer Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc.) Phone 021 2638488 Email: comms@vcc.org.nz
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OUT AND ABOUT
Photos from Classic Car Breakfast on January 1st 2017
Wanganui Vintage Weekend Les, Gail, Steve and I attended the Wanganui Vintage weekend in January which included the Burma Rally and the National Veteran rally which Alison and Walter McFarland were attending there was approximately 100 cars in total. On the Friday night the Wanganui club catered a BBQ at their clubrooms which was a fabulous meal and a chance to look at some of the Veteran cars. On Saturday evening we took part of an organised drive around the outer area of Wanganui which ended at the Grand Hotel with a drink and some lucky number spot prizes. It became very windy on Saturday night but the rally started next morning in nice weather. We travelled over all tarsal roads to Marton but as we returned to Wanganui the wind got up and the heavens opened up which was not good for the Veteran or convertibles. The rain set in so all the afternoon activities planned on the riverbank was cancelled including the car display. There was a combined dinner prize giving at the racecourse but no prizes came to the Eastern Bay but it was a great weekend. Joy Growdon
WATERWHEEL LIVE DAY “FARMING LIKE GRANDAD� Gail and I arrived at the venue a little before 10.00 am to find 2 of our Branch cars already parked, I thought this might be a quiet day for us, then they started rolling in, soon there were 12 cars from our Branch, 33 Bay of Plenty Branch cars and 5 other visitors all parked in two lines, what a great sight. Some of the visitors thought that our Branch had organised the day, but I had to be honest and tell them it was the Waterwheel Trusts Day. Maybe we could work closer with them in the future, after-all some of our Members are also very active Members of the Waterwheel. The day turned out hot and cloudless, so it was lucky that Noel and Lois had brought along their gazebo for shelter, otherwise we would have all got very sunburnt. 6
There was a great display of all things, from old tractors, farm machinery, milking display, sheep shearing and weaving, horse ploughing, stationary motors. Maize plucking, then grinding into cornmeal all by turning the handle manually (no motors
here). Visitors enjoying rides on horse drawn carts with our very own ‘Town Crier ‘ Harry Sutcliffe aboard.
The day ended with a parade of tractors. Lois was extremely interested in the starting procedure of some of the very old tractors with the clouds of oily smoke and noisy motors. I think she may have got a little close as she came away with spots of oil all over her white top, with much advise of how to remove the spots, maybe she could wear it again next year. Thanks to the Waterwheel for inviting the Vintage Car Club to such a great day and display, thanks to our Members who displayed their vehicles and to all the visitors from the Bay of Plenty Vintage Car Club and all other visitors. It was good to meet and chat with you and to view your great cars. I hope we can have more Club interaction with you in the future. Les
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Part 1 of - Graham & Thava Guy Our Vanden Plas Princess 3 litre Mk 2. Early Vanden Plas versions of the BMC Farina cars were badged as Austins, but in July 1960 the Austin name was dropped from the title of Vanden Plas products and the 3 lt cars were marketed as “Princess” with the”A” badge replaced by a coronet. In early 2014 we had decided to stop racing with the MGCGT , having just completed a major refurbishment of the car. Reading the local free newspaper I spotted a (restorable) Wolseley 6/110 being offered free to a good home. Just the project to replace the C. Rang up, but too slow, it was gone. However, there was also a Vanden Plas ( a runner, in good condition) which was for sale. Turned out that it was just around the corner from where we lived at the time, so I wandered around to have a look.
The body looked quite straight and rust free, it started first time and was drivable. However, I don’t think that it had been used regularly for some time. All of the door seals were the consistency of plasticine, the carpets were rotted, door cards long gone, but luckily only surface rust on the interior floors. The exterior paint was in bad shape, oxidised and porous. His idea of price and mine were a long way apart, but cash in the hand always helps, so we managed to reach an agreement.
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After inspecting the car we decided that a repaint and renewal of door seals, side window channels and rubbers and some upholstery repairs were the main priorities.
The inspection showed that the car was generally sound, but had a number of small dents and scratches from stuff being stacked on it, as well as having had the drivers door blow open and crease the front wing and minor sill damage.
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Not sure who put the RR badges on the wings.
The painting was quite a project given that it is years since I had done any and one door reacted with almost everything which we put near it. We ended up taking it right down to the metal and starting afresh. Lack of space meant that we could only dismantle and work on one side of the car at a time. This was an inconvenience, but not really a problem.
Disassembly of the door trim etcwas made complicated because someone had screwed up (incorrectly assembled) the drivers door arm-rest attachment and also had broken the quarter light frame. It took a while to find the non-standard PK screw which was holding the quarter-light frame in place and somewhat longer to find that new ones were unobtainable and that those who had serviceable old ones were not keen on parting with them. Earlpart in England were able to provide all the new door rubbers, side-window channels and other door trim material as kits. New door cards were made with the help of punches and clips provided by the local upholsterer, who also found some old school cloth to redo the interior C pillars and the strip above the doors. As well as this, he loaned us curved needles to do re-stitching on the seats and recovered the back parcel shelf. After stitching up the seats I can understand why he preferred to loan the needles rather than do the work. We were able to use the original door lining material apart from the carpet inserts, which had rotted out. Our friendly upholsterer made new bits for us to fit.
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The driving lights and the park/indicator light units were totally unrecoverable. Replacement driving lights are available, but the park light units are rare and while Earlpart had a price (nearly as much as I paid for the car) they could not provide. In the end we fitted MGB units modified to fit behind the VandenPlas lens.
Finally after about 6 months of sandpapering, spray painting and cut and polishing we got the car to the point where it had a sound protective paint job and shouldn’t deteriorate if left for a while.
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The next step was to get a WOF and Registration. Close inspection of the current rego on the car showed that it was a photocopy of a composite created from a few out of date ones. I didn’t bother to track the WOF. The first thing we found was that the front brakes stuck on. The pistons didn’t look that bad and they seemed to free up ok, the pads were almost new, indicating that someone had replaced them recently. Reassembled as they had been the brakes still locked on. At this point we decided to overhaul the calipers anyway. The overhauled units duly arrived back and the first thing which we found was that they had been reassembled with the lead retaining bracket the wrong way around. This meant splitting the calipers again to correct things. Reassembled the units, fitted the pads , (as they had come out) bled etc. Test them and the brakes still stuck on. At this point we decided to refer to the manual. This showed us that the pads are matched pairs. Remove the pads and sure enough they had been fitted incorrectly by whoever had first put them in. Put the pads in in the correct places and the brakes worked great. The handbrake wasn’t working so good, so we decided to check out the back brakes too. Turns out that basically there wasn’t any. The wheel cylinders were corroded and seized solid. While they were away being overhaulled it seemed like a good time to replace a leaky oil seal on the back axle. It was obvious that someone had already had a go at it, as the retaining nut was badly butchered by what looked like a punch and/or a stilson wrench. More importantly it seemed that they had missed the point that it was a left hand thread. Replacement nuts are apparently made of unobtainium. The overhauled bits arrived back and were fitted. Started to bleed the lines and found that initially we were bleeding water out of the lines. Finally got it all sorted, drums on and adjusted and guess what, the back brakes locked on. Working our way back from the wheels we found that the blockage appeared to be in the flexi hose over the back axle. None of the local suppliers had hoses for 1962 6/110s until one of BNTs guys said hey that looks like one we use on our trailer sets. Problem solved. Drained the diff oil while doing this. It probably was oil which drained out, about a cup of it and the consistency of treacle. I’m not sure how it actually managed to leak out. Part 2 will be in the March issue.
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An Open Invitation is extended to all your Members. With entries coming from as far away as Whangarei and Taupo and everywhere in between how about putting us on your Club’s events calendar. With numbers already getting very close to 30 entries and with the ‘Early Bird’ registrations about to close on the 31 January and all registrations closing on the 12th March we would like to invite all your members to this fantastic weekend of cruising, fun, and entertainment. We encourage you to include our flier in your next newsletter and perhaps make it an annual ‘Club Outing’ for your members. This is not your usual cruising event; we have plenty of entertainment along the way including spot prizes to be won, public voting for ‘Best Car’ with awards being presented and a scrumptious buffet meal waiting for us in Whitianga on Saturday evening. We look forward to seeing you all at the start line. Regards. Slip and the Team.
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Calendar of Events February Sun 6 10 - 12 16 - 19
March Sat 4
EAST COAST RALLY Gisborne Branch Three Rivers Rally Art Deco Napier
Car Display Whakatane Memorial Hall 10.00 am – 2.00 pm (Presbyterian Church Expo & Family Festival)
Sun 5 10 - 12 18 - 19
Classic Car Breakfast (and possibly a short cruise) Taupo Branch Lake Taupo Rally Club Run (yet to be organised) Coromandel Gold Rush & Gum Diggers Charity Cruise
April 21 - 23
Club Run (yet to be organised) Taranaki Branch Rally
If you don’t have a club eligible vehicle on the road at the time you are very welcome to participate in club runs in your modern.
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