Barn Find

Farmer · Post by **Farmer** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 12:12 pm

You never know what's just around the corner. A Street Machine builrer mate found this beauty a while back while treasure hunting abandoned farms. He found himself a '42 Chev Maple Leaf and this for me.
1965 COLUMN BENCHY!!!!!!

Post by **2ldohc** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 12:23 pm

Score! How cool is that.

Not many of the column shiftie's around. Are you going to restore? It looks to be pretty straight and with a good clean (and wheels and lenses) should look good!

Thanks for sharing!

Cheers,
R.

Farmer · Post by **Farmer** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 12:32 pm

After tracking down the farm owner, my mate was told "Not for sale", but after a time,a buyer came along for the property, so he changed his mind. My mate got the truck and I left for the nationals not knowing if the property deal would be done before I got home.
It wasn't

so a rescue plan ensued...........

Farmer · Post by **Farmer** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:11 pm

Yeah Ross, I think it's better than it looks. Under all that chalk is mostly sound paint. (I compounded a bit) We scratched around the shed & found everything bar 4 wheelnuts, the crankhandle,toolkit , jack & distributor.
First step is to check the motor condition. If it's a goer, the rest might be a fairly easy job.
Story is, the car has been in that shed 30 years. An old timer local said "I remember that car when it was new. Margaret bought it when she was in her 20's" Now she is in her 60's & lives about 45 km away. So it's kinda a 1 owner! Speedo says 85000 miles. Given it was only driven for 14 years, it's probably genuine. Shift mechanism is tight & positive, & the steering has no play.
It looks to have killed Skippy at some stage, so will need another skirt & radiator (which I have).
(Radiator is stuffed full of Plasti-bond!!)
Door trims are good, so only the back seatrest & whole front seat need repair. Under the mats (& all that rat poo) is clean paint - No rust!
Worst bit is below the battery box - a disintergrating battery has caused rust that will need plating.
So I'm keen.......

mrflibbles · Post by **mrflibbles** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:20 pm

nice find, looks like a good car!

BELLETTPR10 · Post by **BELLETTPR10** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:28 pm

Great find cool looking interior too!

Mark

BELLQLD · Post by **BELLQLD** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 4:32 am

great little find .all the best on another resto regards dave in qld

oz_toffa · Post by **oz_toffa** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:09 am

Wow. that is just fantastic. The more people you speak with and tell about Bellett's then one day it will happen. Just sad that so many of these have ended up at the tip or in a crusher. Well done!

Chris

GTtoo · Post by **GTtoo** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:27 pm

Wow Matt ! Thats the icing on the cake for you, after arriving back home from the big weekend

Your just the guy to bring this little nugget back to life !!

B

KJB · Post by **KJB** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:03 am

Well done Matt..You have got a couple of "rare'ns" now.
KB

1968GT · Post by **1968GT** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:00 pm

Hey Matt, if you find any more of these little Gems I have another person in Mudgee who is looking for that model for resto.
He had one when he was first married, as he said then the kids came along, that was the end of his Belletting.
I have been checking around another Country town, so far no good.
Dave M.

Farmer · Post by **Farmer** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 12:40 pm

Cheers everyone for the replies.

Always looking Dave M, always looking.

Had a little play with the motor today - Put in a dizzy, stuck a coil on, cleaned out the oil filter & filled the sump, stuck the hose in a radiator hose and dropped the fuel hose in a jar of petrol.
SHE LIVES!!!!

WOO HOOOOO!!!!

O.K. -hard to show life without video, but look - No 'chimney effect.

: column benchy_resize.JPG (122.2 KiB) Viewed 32758 times

Breather pipe - breathing, not smoking!!!

: column benchy (2)_resize.JPG (91.64 KiB) Viewed 32744 times

Exhaust about 2 mins. after turning the key - smoke free zone!

: column benchy (3)_resize.JPG (125.01 KiB) Viewed 32753 times

Note - original type muffler! Bit of a time capsule!
(There was a chemist account on the front seat from 1979 Items on it include -Gillette SSS blades, Brylcreem, Vincents powders, & a Toni Perm!)
More trivia - There were no keys with it. I tried ones from my other cars - no go. So I found my duplicate keys from my first car in 1976 (also a '65 column-bench), & they work! Even the fuel cap! Spooky.

Cheers all, Matt.

Farmer · Post by **Farmer** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 12:12 pm

Little update - I put more fuel in & turned key. Push in clutch & find reverse - car drives back. Find first - car drives forward. Clutch good, Gears good! Happy happy happy........
Matt.

GTtoo · Post by **GTtoo** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:41 pm

A little gem , Matt. No doubt you'll find second, third and fourth..... and away, moving people in oz again.

B

Farmer · Post by **Farmer** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:45 am

Milli said today, "You have to have this one driving by my next birthday" (mid march). O.K., sounds good, (unlikely!) but why? "Cause It's got 6 seats and we could take 4 friends to a theme park for my party!

Thinking, aaaaalways thinking!

Cheers, Matt.

Farmer · Post by **Farmer** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 11:50 am

Had a spare hour, so I checked the fuel tank - Dry. Rinsed it out - no rust!

Removed the mudwasp plug from the cut-off fuel line & blew back to the tank - clear! Put a filter in-line & some fuel in the tank. Turn key - start - run - idle - sweet! Hmm, Brakes? Pedal was stuck hard when I got it, so a week ago I put some fluid in. Pedal freed up, so I got Rhys to help me bleed em out. Now got pedal! Surely they wont work - It's been 30 years!! Start motor again, back out of carport - apply brake. Progress slows! Drive down driveway - apply brakes. Progress slows pretty well! VERY EXCITEMENT

Drive back up driveway - 1st gear - 2nd gear - 3rd gear - no more driveway - apply brakes - Almost skid in dirt!! VERY AMAZEMENT!

Now for the freaky bit.
This is the worst bit of the car - pummelled & rusted subframe below radiator -

: subframe_resize.JPG (118.95 KiB) Viewed 32486 times

So I'm looking for something else a couple of days ago in the boot of a car that came to me full of spares (that I hadn't unpacked in a year!) I knew there was a diff & a diff centre & some other stuff. But what's that on the bottom, under the diffs?...........

: subframe (2)_resize.JPG (141.49 KiB) Viewed 32488 times

Just exactly the piece I need for the repair!!!

Hows that work?? I guess some things are just meant to be!!!

Cheers, Matt.

Farmer · Post by **Farmer** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 12:30 pm

See, It's a good thing to give a mate a hand. Gary C. needed to clean out part of his shed ( it's a big shed). So we're moving boxes of stuff around and what do I notice in one of 'em? - '65 glovebox lid pad! "I didn't know I had that!" he said. Pretty good nic, too!
1 less bit to track down.

: GLOVEBOX_resize.JPG (85.9 KiB) Viewed 32432 times

Put a radiator, Fan & belt on today. Waterpump first appeared frozen-up, so I sprayed WD-40 into it. Presto - freed-up! Not leaking & alternator charges!

Cheers, Matt.

Post by **2ldohc** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:57 am

What a find, that car is just going from strength to strength!

Good luck with it and hopefully we'll see her at the nationals with a full photo history

Cheers,
R.

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