1961 EK Holden

[brettstar01]

Well i bought the 1961 EK Holden for $700. I'd been looking around for a few months and this was deffinatly the best deal condition and price wise. Im restoring it to good condition and using it as my first car.
It is a 138 grey motor which needs a bit done to it.
The paint job is alright im keeping the same colour but im getting it resprayed cheap through a mate and also the chrome cleaned and polished.
Im in need to find a good condition bonnet bird and im considering getting a personalized plate..im not sure what it will say yet ?
Its also column gear shift.

Im 16 years old at the moment and the project should be done by the end of 2004 giving me some practise in the car before i go for my P's license.
Well this is it so far.. what do you guys think?
Some replies would be good!

(Sorry the pictures are a bit small but i should have more posted soon)

[Net]

Mmm, EK. Classic.
Well, at least you went out and got a good model. You say you are going to paint it the original colour, so what colour is it? And by original, please don't say that you are going to have the faded colour matched, and then paint it the faded colour. Don't laugh or get agro, I have seen it done to many classics. Including 2 EK's. If you wanted to save some money, and you say the paint is still ok, you could just polish it up. Don't use anything harsh, and you could make the paint look new. I've seen that done too, and it would help keep it original if thats what you were after.
Chrome bits look better if you polish them yourself, I reckon. More personal satisfaction.
I think good condition birds are fairly hard to find, and worth big dollars, but I've never had to buy one. If its got the original number plates, you should keep those, as when you sell it (if you do) or further on, it will be appreciated as more of an original car.
Good luck with your resto.
Where did you get the car from, I'd assume country-ish?

[Ben Pratt]

Be sure to check for rust ion the rear footwells as it rusts out in that area because of the structural beams under the car being hollow, they fill with water and then the water can not get out because of blocked or non existant drain points.

My mate in the north west had one and they had to replace all the floor area from the front footwells to the boot floor..

I agree that if it has still got the original plate on it you should keep it on the car for originalities sake.

With the paint you should also use the same formula in the same type of paint (dont use new paint technology on an old car) because it will not be original.

Be aware that you will need to make it run on unleaded petrol too so factor in for a new fuel tank and carby overhaul when you have the engine overhauled, ensuring that the engine shop you choose puts in heavy duty valves when they pout it back together and tunes it to run on unleaded happily. I have seen many older cars that have had a rebuild end up blowing their engines because of detonation from poor fuel

All rubbers should be available from Rare Spares but you should check it out before destroyong the originals as you may need to have them made to order

You will have to scour the wrecking yards and swap meets etc for the bonnet ornament and I recommend having the column shift mechanisms replaced or reconditioned to ensure that you are not going to lose a gear at any stage and it would be adviseable to have the speedo recalibrated while you have this work done

I hope this info helps you out and that you dont get any nasty surprises when you go to do the work

Cheers

[Nate09]

Ek very nice. Are you austraila if so I might know where to find parts