FJ Holden's

[StreetRodBob]

....our FJ,circa about 1970...



....also had a 39 Ford as well as a 36 Sedan at the time,but this one was one the road....running a 272 and auto.....

well fancy that a hot rodded holden that was only about 14 years old at the time!!!

[Kris]

....our FJ,circa about 1970...



....also had a 39 Ford as well as a 36 Sedan at the time,but this one was one the road....running a 272 and auto.....

well fancy that a hot rod holden that was only about 14 years old at the time!!!

Wrong Bob, back then, as you should know, although FJ's were hotrodded/modified, at no time would they been confused with a hotrod,and considering that the pictured Holden was mine, I should be allowed the final say

[StreetRodBob]

oops

just fixed it Kris

[hewey]

Kris/Oldcol, thats a neat looking CUSTOM humpy

My question is, how come there seems to be a focus on Holdens for customs? Obviously by the mid 60s cars like the FX/FJ, FE/FC were a bit older and more affordable for young guys wanting to build a custom. However with later models, you still see a lot more FB/EKs done as customs than you do the equivalent year Falcons.

[Carps]

The Falcons were out there but remember during the fifties and sixties GMH commanded almost 50% market share and Falcon is a child of the early sixties. Before then it was either an expensive Ford Custom line or tank Fairlane/Galaxie 500 all of which were low volume luxury (read expensive and somewhat harder to find even if you did have money) cars. The Ford alternative to Holden was the Zephyr, or you might have a Morris Oxford, but the Holdens were everywhere and usually the first things to go were the badges anyhow.

Like Henry's model T Ford, which is the car that got hot rodding rolling in the US, Holdens were both plentiful and cheap, so they too became the raw material of choice.

This is purely speculation, but considering it wasn't really util after WW2, that is, during the 1950s, that all the US Hot Rod and Custom Car publications began to proliferate Australia.
So I think it's fair to suggest Aussies were not really exposed to the customised pre war cars as were our US brothers and it was the fifties stuff that got us rolling.

But boy, once we figured out what was possible, those cheap and available Holdens were being souped up and/or chopped up, all over town.

The drag racers used them for exactly the reason the hot rodders hated them, they had an integral chassis and were incredibly light, so it didn't take much to make them competitive/winning race cars, especially on the drag strip.
For example, at the last summer night meet in Sydney early in 1968, John Walker's Ford Sports coupe (I may be wrong here but I think it ran a Y block) took a class win with a time of 16.59 at 80.78mph whilst Tom Stranger grey powered Humpy ran a 14.91 at 88.49mph to take win his class.

[Oldcol]

Kris/Oldcol, thats a neat looking CUSTOM humpy

My question is, how come there seems to be a focus on Holdens for customs? Obviously by the mid 60s cars like the FX/FJ, FE/FC were a bit older and more affordable for young guys wanting to build a custom. However with later models, you still see a lot more FB/EKs done as customs than you do the equivalent year Falcons.

Hiya Hewey , the main reason was probably price.....at the time they were worth next to nothing ,so if you had one and messed it up trying to hot it up or customise it....no big deal,just dump it and get another one ,start again . I bought that one as a trade in at Preston Motors where I worked,cost the grand sum of $15. That was with rego too , the car had been a part time circuit racer, had a hot grey motor with loads of chrome coupled to an MG TC 4 speed , but had a dud clutch release carbon thrust ( not a bearing on MG).....and so it didn't drive. We fixed the clutch part , whacked on a set of triple SU's to give it some beans and used it for a fair while and had great fun in it .....started to learn how to customise the old gal while still using it as daily transport , which is why it's got primer sections on it in the photo. One day we were offered a smashed Star Model Cussy ( also for next to no dough)....which was about my price level .....and so in the Effjay went the Y block and auto. The car ended up being finish painted in Metallic Crystal Turquoise, a VC Valiant colour , and the vinyl roof was the height of fashion back then
Also back then the FB/EK's had no following at all....we had one that was traded in that sat in the corner of the workshop for months because no-one wanted it , only thing wrong with it was the previous owner had squirted a coat of grey primer over it. The used car yard upstairs wouldn't spend any cash on it to paint it so it could be retailed, and so it sat there......the service manager cracked the sads and insisted they do something about it ,so the Used Car bigknob said if any of the mechanics wanted it for $30 they could have it.....and guess who the dill was who bought it?.....yep,you got it.... . So I took it home and it just kind of sat around there too ,nothing wrong with it,good in the body and mechanicals , mint interior.....it's main problem was it was just a dreary old EK that nobody had any use for back then, dunno why I bought it .....luckily I was able to launch it to one of Kris's brothers pals who'd just got his licence and needed something,anything to drive....so he got it!

[Andyd]

Great!!!!!!........now I should be able to get my 1940 Dodge Hotrod into the Holden Nationals................DAMN........back into the corner I go.............andyd

[Maffra]

.....and so in the Effjay went the Y block and auto.

Col, the Y Block not being a small motor, was there much work doing the transplant into the FJ . . . sure would have been a neat car

Thanks

[Carps]

Great!!!!!!........now I should be able to get my 1940 Dodge Hotrod into the Holden Nationals................DAMN........back into the corner I go.............andyd

Did I miss something here? Relevance to the discussion?

[FRANK BASILE]

.....and so in the Effjay went the Y block and auto.

Col, the Y Block not being a small motor, was there much work doing the transplant into the FJ . . . sure would have been a neat car

Thanks

Late 60,s in the "Hobby Hangar" at the Sale RAAF Base. there was an FJ sitting in primer undergoing a Y block transplant. It was there gathering dust. No doubt left by someone posted to some far flung unit elsewhere.
Another reason why the FX/FJ were popular aside to the price availability already mentioned was that they were lighter. By the time the FB /EK came out they were heavier vehicles still powered by an engine in production since 48.
In the 60,s every "bomb" yard in Collingwood /Richmond had oodles of FX/FJ/FE affordable to teens . These vehicles were getting in the 15 to 20 yo bracket and many with rust issues . Some of my mates simply replaced vehicles when the reg expired on their current ride .
I distinctly remember paying $39 for an FC sitting outside a dealers premises in 69 . It had 4 months reg , British Racing Green Enamel & fitted with a British origin 4 speed box and was missing door trims .
Just needed a commuter to get from the RAAF base to home whilst my Cussy was off the road for an engine rebuild and also auto to manual conversion [ the latter being one of the dumbest things I did ].
The Holden then went to an enthusiast for $60 about a month later .

Frank.

[Oldcol]

.....jeez Frank,ya killed the thread

.....and so in the Effjay went the Y block and auto.

Col, the Y Block not being a small motor, was there much work doing the transplant into the FJ . . . sure would have been a neat car

Thanks

....Hi Dennis ,it was a surprisingly good fit and pretty easy to do.....which was good because I had no tools back then and only a dirt floor in a carport to do the job in ......most of the tools were borrowed from Preston Motors courtesy of the Boss who let me use the stuff over the weekends,otherwise it probably would never have gotten done.....

[monte]

Did you have to put some heavier spring in the old dear with all that extra weight col

[Oldcol]

Hi Monte ,I just fitted a whole FC front end at the same time....it sat just fine with the stock springs, the added fatness of the Yblock made the car slightly nose down, but nothing radical....had shithouse bump steer though 'coz it still had the FJ st.box and linkages. Now I know what that was and why , back then I didn't......

[Maffra]

Thanks Col would have been a great car . . . interesting also to read Frank's comment about another FJ being fitted up with a Y Block at East Sale

A bit off the FJ theme, but I remember back in the 60's the local Retravision store had a VW Kombi delivery van that courtesy of the sons of the family got a Y Block transplant mounted in the midship area . . . from memory it kinda reduced load capacity because when side door was opened the motor was right there in the middle of the floor . . . vehicle still exists at the local Motor Museum as I understand . . .

Regards

[spoggie]