March 2022 Issue 379
Puff ‘n Stuff Vintage Car Club of NZ Inc. – Central Otago Branch
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Front Cover: (Austin 1300, TR2 gracing Hurunui Hotel - Lynne Yeaman) Back Cover: (1951 Buck Eight woody seen in Wanaka recently – Gerry Spencer)
Editorial To continue the story about the little old lady on the West Coast with a Morris Minor; on her next visit to the workshop she reported that the car started fine, but it misbehaved when warm. Again the mechanic took it for a spin and all seemed fine. “Right”, he said, “let’s go for a drive and you can show me what happens.” So the little old lady wedged herself in, and then the first thing she did was pull out the choke knob and hang her handbag on it! Ah ha! That was an easy fix for the mechanic – buy a cupboard hook and screw it onto the dash at a convenient place for the handbag to hang from instead! My latest acquisition (below) is a memorabilia ashtray from the 1980 International Rally. It is a massive 6” wide. Not quite why you’d want to rest so many cigarettes (pens in my case) in the 8 slots provided, but the number reminds me of course of an eight cylinder, and the configuration somewhat reminiscent of an Ariel Square 4 motorcycle engine…
Gerry Spencer editorCOVCC@gmail.com Copy deadline for next edition by the 15th of each month © 2022 The opinions and information presented here are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the club or its officers. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information or opinions expressed. E&OE.
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BRANCH OFFICERS 2021-2022
Committee
Patron:
John Loudon
Phone: E-Mail: 448 7192 -
Chairman: Vice Chairman: Secretary: Treasurer: Club Captain:
Noel Hassed John Martin Graham Taylor Karelan Doran Bert Turnbull
442 3908 445 0598 443 1416 027 274 3361 027 434 2339
Editor: Committee:
Gerry Spencer Chris Miller Gaynor Miller John Wilson
027 3696 880 021 977 946 ditto 027 533 5626
Greg Doran Ewen Duthie
Club Rooms / Yard:
Parts Convener:
John Wilson Don & Lynne Yeaman John Martin Alf O'Sullivan Steve Reynolds Don Yeaman Don Yeaman Alf O'Sullivan
Idle Torque: Librarian: Area Reps: Wakatipu Bill Crooks Alexandra Barry Walker Cromwell John Martin Wanaka Graham Taylor HSE: Steve Reynolds Rally Conveners: Blossom Festival: National Daffodil Day Co-Ordinator: Golden Times: Moped Rally:
Partner: Sheila
noel.hassed@gmail.com martin_jw@xtra.co.nz gtml@xtra.co.nz karelandoran@gmail.com bert.turnbull1940 @gmail.com editorCOVCC@gmail.com rosdowns@farmside.co.nz ditto saddle.hill@xtra.co.nz
Aya lino Gaynor Chris Mel
027 221 6105 027 838 8324 445 1973 027 533 5626 443 2730
gfdoran@gmail.com duthie.e@xtra.co.nz
Karelan Arlene
stagdriver98@gmail.com yeaperson@xtra.co.nz
Mel
445 0598 021 110 7707 022 167 0872 443 2730 ditto 021 110 7707
martin_jw@xtra.co.nz glenda.alf@gmail.com stevesfordv8@gmail.com yeaperson@xtra.co.nz ditto glenda.alf@gmail.com
Wendy Glenda Bev Lynne ditto Glenda
021 915 188 bill@arrowauto.co.nz 448 6508 445 0598 martin_jw@xtra.co.nz 443 1416 gtml@xtra.co.nz 022 167 0872 stevesfordv8@gmail.com Ewen Duthie, Allan Porter, Bryan Anderson Graham Taylor, Wendy Martin Alan Sutton, Greg Doran John Martin, Lindsay Wilkie
Bernice Wendy Cheryl Greg Jenny
Jill Sharron Wendy Cheryl Bev
Central Otago Vintage Car Club (including Queenstown & Wanaka)
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CLUB EVENTS CALENDAR Please take care to read and copy to your diary!
Note possibility of postponement/cancellation due to COVID!!!!!
Tue 29 Mar 7:30pm Committee Meeting – Clubroom Wed 13 Apr 7/8pm Club Night, Clubroom – speaker; Alistair Cook who was/is involved with the United Nations Sat 23 Apr Arrowtown Autumn Festival - CANCELLED Sun 24 Apr 10:30am Sunday Run – Tarras/Lindis Meet at Tarras shops at 10:30am for coffee, leave after 11 via backroads to old Lindis Pass Hotel for picnic lunch. Then out to State Highway to Shirlmar Station then via backroads, Beau will stop regularly to tell us about it, should be back in civilisation 4pm. Beau Trevathan Wed 11 May 7/8pm Club Night, Clubroom – speaker; Mr Keith Patterson Sun 15 May Sunday Run – Danseys Pass (TBC) (Jun) Note no Club Night or Sunday Run this month, as these are replaced by the AGM tba Jun Potentially a Queen’s Birthday Run. Sun 12 Jun 12/2pm AGM at Clubroom 2pm, preceded by a potluck lunch, for those who want to, from 12~12:30. Please consider attending if at all possible to support the Club (your attendance does not mean that you will be forced to take on a rôle!) (Jul) Note no Sunday Run Sun 21 Aug Monte Targo (Daffodil Day) Sat 24 Sep Blossom Festival, Alexandra
The Clubroom & Parts Sheds are located at Litany Street, Cromwell
Club Nights – doors open from 7pm on 2nd Wednesday of the month (except Jun & Dec)
Midweek Muster - each Wed morning (except the same day as Club nights) from 8:30am at the Parts Shed
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OTHER EVENTS, NATIONALS &c. VCC Branches that would like any of their events noted in our magazine, please contact us with the details at editorCOVCC@gmail.com For more information on these and other events in Beaded Wheels, check branch newsletters which may be found at http://vcc.org.nz/news-from-our-branches/ Sat 26 Mar Fri-Sun 1-3 Apr Sat 2 Apr Sat 7 May Wed-Sun 25-29 May Sat-Sun 28-29 May Sat-Sun 4-5 Jun Sat-Sun 22-23 Oct Fri-Sun 3-6 Feb 2023 Sun 12 Feb 2023
Sat-Sun 8-9 Apr 2023
Scenicland Rally, West Coast CANCELLED Festival of Speed, Highlands M/S Park, Cromwell paul.coghill@xtra.co.nz 027 4330318 CANCELLED Swapmeet, South Canterbury CANCELLED Swapmeet, Ashburton CANCELLED VCC 5 Day Time Trial, North Island, see flyer ff. VCC 2 Day Time Trial (ditto) Rod Corbett rod.corbett88@gmail.com 027 4338772 https://targa.nz/targa-newsletters/ Irishman Rally, Canterbury branch VCC 2 Day Time Trial, Nelson, details as above * * * National Motorcycle Rally, Invercargill, Southland branch. Precedes the Burt Munro Challenge. National Model T Rally. 100 year anniversary reenactment of F R Dennison’s trip of 1913. 6 day tour starting and finishing in Oamaru, 9th - 15th Feb. COVCC will be hosting a BBQ the evening of the 12th. Wheels @ Wanaka
1959 Holden FC Sedan
Welcome to new Member: Richard (Dick) Stedman
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Chair’s Report As stated last month, the March National Executive meeting was held on 12th March but by Zoom due to Covid restrictions. This worked but with 35 odd regional participants plus National Council members it was a bit “clunky” at times. I was using my laptop because Zoom had taken a dislike to my main computer's microphone, unfortunately the laptop froze during the lunch break and then decided to do an update after I restarted it so I missed a bit of the early afternoon discussion. It appeared that some others also had connection issues. In due course there will be official minutes of the meeting but the main points of interest were: 1. After investigation the Hawkes Bay Branch’s request to change their name to the Hawkes Bay Vintage and Classic Car Club was declined. It appears that there is nothing stopping any branch from using another “trading name” without changing their legal name. I’m not sure how this would work while still retaining some sort of national identity. In view of the above a further notice of motion around the use of “operational or trading” names was also rejected. 2. The motion to change the logo was narrowly defeated by 18 votes to 17. The response from our own branch members was interesting. Although a show of hands at our February club night showed strong opposition, the formal email/mail/phone vote was equally strongly in favour. 3. Things are starting to settle down at National Office after some staff changes and a lot of work processing short notice applications for VICs to allow people to enter the Vero rally. Staff are also still having to chase up incomplete VIC applications. The backlog of regional magazines has now been loaded to the national website and online membership is loaded, they are now at the final testing and refinement stage.
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4. A notice of motion to extend the joint membership to grandchildren of members was rejected as it was felt the junior membership provisions cover this. If it was about cost, branches could reduce their levies for junior members. 5. Approved national events for 2023 were the Veteran Rally in Auckland, Motorcycle Rally in Southland and Vintage Rally hosted by Wellington and Wairarapa. The likely venue for the 2023 AGM is Nelson. Bert organised another well-supported Sunday run Routeburn, it was pleasing to see a few Wakatipu members were able to attend. It was also good to see Ken Brown out after a recent stint in hospital. Other recent hospitalisations that I am aware of are Alister Stewart and Roddy Maxwell, I wish them all a speedy recovery. Chairman Noel Hassed
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Club Night – Daphne Stewart (9th Mar) Our Guest Speaker, Mrs Daphne Stewart, gave an entertaining talk. She covered her working life, started out as a high school teacher, and then followed her husband as he was transferred in his job to Rotorua. Paul East the National MP of the day asked her to be a JP. She agreed and was then asked to be a Judicial Justice (lower court Magistrate). Daphne went on to discuss the workings of the court system and talked about the odd case, some funny, some more serious. A Maori man was in front of her and when she advised his coming demise he replied, “OK Mrs”. Funny now, but probably not at the time. She had the audience captivated, and without a doubt, every one enjoyed the talk. Bert Turnbull
Next Month A little about our speaker next month: “He's a blond and blue-eyed farmer with a New Zealand accent. You may have seen him being driven in high-security convoys guarded by AK-47 armed guards in Pakistan, Myanmar, Kenya and Rwanda in recent months. Wherever he is, you can be sure a disaster is close at hand. He's Alastair Cook, known as "Cookie", a 100% Otago boy, now a logistics whizz for the United Nations World Food Programme. He spends his life chasing disasters...” From the Otago Daily Times Saturday, 30 May 2009 accessed at https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/man-mission
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Sunday Run – Routeburn Shelter (13th Mar) Well what a day. Some of us met at the Cromwell club rooms, moved on to Alpine Aqualand / Queenstown Events Centre and met up with the rest of the group. Next stop was Glenorchy for coffee. Quite sad to see how covid has affected businesses in small tourist towns; two of the coffee shops closed down, but the smallest of them has ridden the wave and was busy yesterday. Arrived at the start of Routeburn, had our picnic lunch, then the majority of the group went walking on the track for a bit. On the way home we called into the Doran’s and had a look at what Greg gets up to. He obviously survives without sleep, from building a classic speed boat, (the workmanship is superb), building an aeroplane, and restoring a Metz car, which is the not far off finished. In his spare time, he probably mows the lawns etc. I am sure that nobody would have had a disappointing day. Cheers to all Bert
Just a Wee Jaunt! With just about everything closing down because of Covid, and an impending International crisis (Ukraine) causing a blowout in fuel prices, almost empty roads what does one do? Find a purpose and go for it. Bert Turnbull our Club Captain and friend has sold his very smart Triumph Stag, but, with damp eyes, said he didn’t want to give up the vintage car hobby yet. Perhaps a Triumph 2.5 or similar with the advantage of a roof, heater and power steering as we are all getting a little older. Asking my opinion, I agreed with the Triumph, but… how about a Rover namely the compact P6B model with the well proven V8? One of these was found on the internet with manual transmission and looking very tidy. Bert wasn’t sure about the bright yellow colour so heard no more for a while, then, a photo arrived showing a very striking car bright yellow (factory colour) black roof and the ‘S’ trim. Deal done, so Bert and his neighbour Brian flew to Wellington to collect the car and drive it back. A phone call to the
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Yeamans, Don and Lynne (TR2) and we planned to go and meet them, Cheryl and I taking the Austin 1300. Our plan was to travel on the Saturday to Methven which we did diverting along the canal behind Twizel, rowing regatta in session, lifestyle blocks and fishermen! Coming up to Burkes Pass the weather changed from warm and sunny to dull and drizzly, a few stops including some window shopping in Geraldine. Sunday was to Kaikoura via the Waimakariri Gorge, Oxford where we diverted on to the Ashley Forest back road and back on to SH1 near Sefton. Turning inland at Waipara, stopped for a photo near the historic Hurunui Hotel (For Sale). On through Culverden, a pleasant lunch stop at Waiau then on to the Inland Kaikoura road, much improved since the earthquake and another photo stop outside the Rodin car factory at Mt Lyford. The Inland Kaikoura road suited our cars with undulations, hills and plenty of sweeping sometimes tight corners. Meeting up with Bert and Brian for breakfast on the Monday morning, we took the cars to the Kaikoura seafront for photos, then on to Cheviot diverting through Gore Bay and back on to the main road to Amberley where we parted after lunch, Bert and the Yeamans going back to Wanaka and we stayed the night with our daughter in Doyleston, coming home on the Tuesday. It was a good well-needed break, good company and the cars - especially the TR2 - performed well. The Rover was improving with the run, the Austin being a bit more flexible with lower final drive gearing but still able to cruise well, not quite as economical as the Triumph (38 mpg) using 2 litres more on the Oxford – Kaikoura leg, the Rover over 28 mpg on its last fill. Graham Taylor
Graham – Austin 1300, Bert – Rover P6B, Don – TR2 (photo Lynne Yeaman)
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My First Car Don Yeaman My first car; that was quite some time ago, and there was a very significant difference between what I wanted, and what I was going to get. The first car that was offered to me was a 1930 Chrysler sedan, all original, registered and on the road. My elder brother offered to sell it to me for the massive sum of $15 dollars. I turned him down of course, hey, I was 16 years old and wanted a V8 not a tatty 33 year old 6 cylinder that was highly unlikely to attract any females. Ah the choices we make in our youth. The result was that I ended up waiting another 3 years before I bought my first car. However I was able to borrow my Dad’s car when needed in the meantime. When I was preparing to leave home and begin my training, I really needed to buy a car as I would be moving to a city about 100 miles away. I still had my heart set on a V8 because that’s what all my friends had bought, but I needed a cheap and reliable car as I needed all my money to support myself during my training and any V8 that I could afford was not likely to be very reliable or cheap to run. At the time I had my eyes on a local 1957 Plymouth convertible, but that did not fit the reliable and cheap to run criteria and I was outbid by another local lad who was in a better paying job. Crunch time came and the reality of what I needed vs what I wanted started to sink in. An ad appeared in the nearest big town (population 3500 compared to my town of 350) newspaper for a second hand 1966 Chevy II. After much soul searching plus a fair bit of coercion from my parents who also stumped up a bit of cash, I bought it. After all what could go wrong, it was only about 18 months old, had low mileage and had been owned by a nun. At worst I may need to say three Hail Marys to get it to start on a cold winter’s morning. It had one drawback when I checked it out; its paint was a pale lemon colour. I hoped it wasn’t an omen. I found out later that the official name for the colour was Lemonwood Yellow and the interior was Light Fawn. In 1966 the Chevy II had three models if I remember correctly, the 100, the Nova and the Nova SS. Mine was a pretty basic 100 model, 4 door sedan with a 194 CID inline 6-cylinder engine with a single barrel carb and a three speed
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column shift (or what is referred to in NZ as “three on the tree”). The top speed was probably in the low to mid 80s mph. Had I been able to afford the Nova SS I would have been in heaven with the 327 CID motor. The Chevy II was known in Canada at the time as a compact car and had a 110 inch wheel base compared to most full-sized cars of the day that had 118 to 121 inch wheel base.
The only photo I have left – Don and his 1966 Chevy II 100 As I had suspected, my little Chevy II was quite reliable and seldom let me down and its most endearing feature at the time was that as a 6 cyl it was far cheaper to run than all of my friends’ heavy old V8s. It wasn’t totally faultless though; it had a nasty habit of sticking in top gear. This seemed to occur mostly in the city when coming to a stop at a red light and trying to shift from 3rd down to 1st. The gear lever would shift into neutral but the linkage wouldn’t come out of 3rd. I grew very adept at being able to turn the car off, jump out and raise the bonnet, reach in and grab the correct linkage arm and pull it into neutral, close the bonnet, get back into the car, start it and shift into 1st gear and take off before the light changed back to red and without getting too many horn blasts from
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impatient drivers behind me. I was a lot quicker and fitter back then. I made numerous attempts at adjusting the linkage but the problem persisted. Although, as I said, my little Chevy II seldom let me down but that didn’t mean that my time owning this car was without incident. About the time that I bought this car and moved to the city of Saskatoon, some bright spark thought up the wonderful idea of studded tyres. Our city streets in those days were usually quite slippery in the winter due to snow being continually compacted into ice by cars driving on it. Intersections were always the worst because of skidding tyres both on stopping and taking off from the lights. Taxi drivers soon cottoned on to the idea that studded tyres on all four wheels gave them great stopping and accelerating ability. Those of us without studded tyres soon learned to leave a significant distance between us and a taxi, otherwise it was panic stations as the taxis quickly stopped at a red light while those of us behind them frantically pumped our brakes to avoid too much skidding and frantically looked for an escape route other than using the rear bumper of the taxis as a braking mechanism. I then had the added problem of the previously mentioned sticky gear linkage to contend with. Two other incidents that come to mind are again both associated with winter driving. One was when I was caught out in a sleety blizzard which left the highway extremely icy and a very strong wind caught me and my little Chevy broadside and literally blew me off the road into a steep ditch where I managed to miss a huge culvert but of course became stuck in the snow at the bottom of the huge ditch. A friendly farmer with a big tractor was my saviour. The other incident was also being caught in a snow storm and due to white out conditions I couldn’t tell where the road ended and the ditch started. It was at night and everything was a white blanket and made worse by the wind blowing the snow into drifts which meant that I had to keep a reasonable speed or I would get stuck in the drifts. Visibility was about one to two meters in the headlights and eventually the weather won, as it usually does, and I became totally stuck. Thank goodness I was just able to make out the faint glow of the yard light at my brother’s farm about a half mile away and was able to struggle through to there on foot. We went back the next day with the tractor to rescue my wee car. All in all it was a good wee car which I kept until coming to live in New Zealand. There appears to be very few of the basic 4 door sedan 100 models left today. Most of what you see for sale are either Nova or Nova SS models.
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Ethanol in Petrol - Extra Reading As mentioned previously, E10 (up to 10% ethanol) is now standard in the UK. So what is the situation in NZ? Our Engine Fuel Specifications Regulations 2011 already allow for 10% ethanol now (and a separate E85 blend like Brasil has). If petrol contains ethanol greater than 1% by volume, the seller of the petrol must ensure that the dispensing pump or container is clearly marked. Petrol that is blended with ethanol must contain a corrosion inhibitor. The AA website says “If your car is fitted with a carburettor then it's highly unlikely to be able to use E3 (3% ethanol) or E10.” The various retailers are supplied from the three majors (and importer Gull) as follows:
Z Energy (and Caltex etc.), petrol grades 91 & 95 do not contain ethanol. From their website, BP’s 91, 95, and 98 petrol all appear to have <1% ethanol. As well as the standard 91 & 95 petrols containing <1% ethanol, Mobil also sells E3 and E10 petrols that contain ethanol, however despite my several attempts to contact them, I could not find out where these blends were being sold (but the pumps will be labelled accordingly.)
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Allied and NPD are also supplied by Mobil, and so the basic 91 & 95 fuels have little or no ethanol. NPD’s 100Plus is specially formulated unleaded petrol with no ethanol content. Gull 91 and 95 are not biofuels and contain no ethanol. Gull Force 10 is a highperformance 98 octane fuel made with 10% ethanol (E10). Gull also retails an E85 ethanol blend (Gull Force Pro) at selected service stations in Waikato and Auckland. Biodiesel On the diesel side of things, The New Zealand Engine Fuel Specifications permit mineral diesel to be blended with up to 5% biodiesel for retail sale. Currently biodiesel is retailed in New Zealand by Gull at selected service stations, and Z Energy currently has biodiesel in only Highbrook truckstop, Auckland. The landscape is changing, especially with the refinery shutting down and all transport fuels imported, so watch this space!
History Corner (US)
K. A. Stonex, Review of Vehicle Dimensions and Performance Characteristics
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FOR SALE Two brand new 215/55-R16 “Sportlife” asymmetric tyres, $240 for the pair Set of four 12inch Minilite wheels and tyres all in good condition $500 One ADO 16 BMC 1100 / 1300 body in reasonable condition, priceless! See Graham Taylor
WANTED Hillman Hunter 1725 motor (alloy head) Also any body parts, mouldings, etc. for series 3A Sunbeam Alpine (1962) Phone 021 2113183 (member)
WANTED For 1974 Hillman Hunter Station Wagon: A working differential, or rebuild parts/kit. Kath Moore ph 03 448 9599
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Puff ‘n Stuff DISPLAY ADVERTISEMENT RATES (a member’s car may be advertised free for 3 months) Full Page $300 (for 12 months) Half Page $150 “ Quarter Page $80 “ → Contact the Ed for info
A reminder of the Vehicle Categories in the Club: Veteran VET up to end of 1918 Vintage VV 1919-1931 Post Vintage PVV 1932-1945 Post War PWV 1946-1960 Post 1960 P60V 1961-1980 Post 1980 P80V 1981- at least 30 years old Factory-built and Historic racing vehicles HRV Period Specials PS1, PS2 Authentic Reproduction Vehicles ARV
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These stickers are now available to COVCC members
Let others know which Branch you belong to at events away from home. These are produced locally and are made of high quality vinyl. They are external stickers and go on the outside of the windscreen or on the body-work. (They are easily removed with a hair-dryer.) Cost $2 each. (A small profit goes to our club.) To order contact David Brewer 021 280 3307 david@thebrewers.co.nz
Graham Taylor Mechanical Ltd 114 Shortcut Road, Luggate. gtml@xtra.co.nz 443 1416 027 248 9942 MAXXIS TYRES -- MIXTECH BATTERIES — SPAREX AG PARTS
Return Address: C/-114 Shortcut Road Luggate RD2 Wanaka 9382