Hey guys,

I haven't spent as much time as I would have liked on Bellett.net in recent months; I say this every time I get back on there, I have to admit!

My wife Sarah continues to fight breast cancer, with her latest chemo regime finishing this coming Friday, which is great.

We've been here before an hoped that the future would be clear so I'm not holding my breath that we'll never be in this struggle again, but we've also heard of people with a similar amount of recurrences (we're up to four) who have gone on to recover and be clear going forward.

During recurrence one and two, we had a baby who is now 18 months old, so that's also added a level of complexity to our lives! She's doing well and is better behaved than her brother.

Finally, I've also been doing heaps of work for Street Machine and Unique Cars in my off time after work, with articles appearing in both magazines most months, something I'm very proud of! The recent Holden shutdown brought forth a flurry of activity; an epic A-Z of Holden for Street Machine as well as an editorial wake that they surprisingly printed in full, as well as coverage of the Holden Dream Cruise for Unique Cars, which is in the current issue that goes stale this week.

As Bellett people, you'll be happy to know I focussed on the eclectic, covering the event but featuring six participants; an FJ mail van, HQ Monaro GTS 253 sedan, VL Commodore SS Group A, VY Commodore SS built in the factory by the owner when he was a worker and my personal favourites, a one-family 1985 Holden RB Gemini assembled in Elizabeth from a CKD kit from Isuzu, as well as a 1968 Pontiac Parisienne, which of course was also assembled by Holden!

Anyway, all this just serves to distract me from the main game; Belletts and Bellett.net of course!

I'm glad people are still on it; the 'liking' and 'sharing' that Facebook's Isuzu groups bring instantly gratifies, but unlike Bellett.net, the posts don't really have any longevity. You can now search FB's posts, but I still fear there's some data loss there as time goes on.

One thing FB is great for is connecting Japanese and other non-English speaking Bellett enthusiasts with us Aussies; something I wanted to achieve with Bellett.net but could not. The site's not going anywhere and one day I'll get organised and start scanning brochures again! I've only uploaded about 10% of what I have....

So today I went looking for something on Bellett.net; cheekily I was at work, when I noticed my signature is SO out of date! How out of date? I notice that I still list my 1967 ex-Glenn Percy/ex-Dean Beazley Bellett GT in there! I sold that car in December 2011!! There's also talk of our old daily driver Lexus LS400 which I got rid of two years ago in October 2015.



So SLACK!

The update now includes my 1973 Bellett GTR, which has been in pieces since about the time my wife got crook and my 1976 Buick Opel by Isuzu, which has been my go-to classic car over the last couple of years thanks to its full array of seat belts, child safety restraints and reluctant acceptance at American car cruises!

Cheers guys stay in touch!


Dave

*edit: just realised my Unicab is not included in the signature; no worry, it's at capacity digit-wise and is a long way from the road!

Hi Dave
I hope all goes well for Sarah.
I don't get the mags you mention but now I know, maybe i should at least flick thru them in the newsagent !

You might consider dropping multiple mentions of Bellett in your Sig which might help

Car(s): 1965 Wasp, 1966 Bellett, 1967 Bellett, 1969 Florian, 1973 Bellett GTR, 1976 Buick Opel by Isuzu, 1978 Gemini van

To Car(s): '65 Wasp, Bellett, '66, '67, '73 GTR, 1969 Florian, '76 Buick Opel by Isuzu, '78 Gemini van

We hope that all goes well for your wife Dave.

Cheers guys appreciate the kind words.

Test tomorrow (13/12/17) for Sarah with results on Friday so we'll see how we go.

Belletts not doing ANYTHING at the moment, but I may have the motor for my GTR earlier than I expected (which was never, because of said things detailed above).

Plan will be to put it back in said car, rust intact and drive it for a few more years and do the body properly 'one day'!


Cheers guys!

Dave

Good plan Dave, treat the rust with plenty of penetrating converter/inhibitor and it will stop its advance. Your car looks fine, and you should get pleasure from it.
Best wishes and prayers for Friday mate, and may life return to normality for you all.
Cheers, Matt.

I hope all the best for Sarah.

For your Bellett, I would suggest Brunox epoxy or something similar. Some of my friends have used it, and I have heard only good feedback about it. I used it on my Belletts bottom, will see how it turns out. My plan was the same, no full resto today, just try to keep the rust under control.
If it lasts Estonian winter (sodium chloride is used on our roads to melt the snow), it would last everything. And some of my friends have proven, that it lasts.

Hi Dave
It would be great to see the GTR back on the road

I think that is the best strategy to enjoy it now - much better than looking at parts in a garage

I will not forget your kindness at the 2013 Nationals in Adelaide you had spare cars for those that came without including myself who got to drive the GTR with Davo to Birdwood on that Sunday - Great Day.

It was a great weekend meeting some of the Bellett Family

So if you need a hand putting it back together just give us a call.

Thinking of you and your family

Kind Regards
Flying

I second Flying.

I would love to come down and help put it back together................

Cheers,
Neil