NKNI - New Stable mate for the Kat
- Thread starter Rusty82
- Start date
Nice pick up Rusty, has the rear been tubbed or is a tight fit? Yes mate, more photos and history on your latest win.
Cheers mate.
Cheers mate.
Nick Kakasiouris
GSX250S Rider
A real car and no plastic fantastic, congrats mate and many happy motoring.
Nick
Nick
Rusty82
GSX400S Rider
Hey Guys - glad ya like her.. Ive always been a fan of the Old Vals and yep - shes all steel - I think the only plastic (kind of) is the vinyl seats and door trim.
So shes a 1965 AP6 running the old slant 6 225, columnshift three speed tourqeflite auto and so far she is still very much in orginal condition.
So Im now the 4th owner, came with purchase invoice and receipt (£1375 driveaway!!!), manual, car care booklet, a few adds and magazines which is really cool - even in the glove box was a packet of the old 'caltex' complimentary matches in the folding box - full of matches still too!!!!. Was originally purchased in Perth, then was passed along to the Grandson who had the engine rebuilt and converted over to gas (so she now can run comfortably on any standard fuel too which is nice!). He ran it as a daily for some years and made some minor cosmetic (unfortunately one of these was to cut into the steel dash and chuck a CD player in there...) and standard maintenance stuff, including respray of engine bay and some small rust prevention. Im pretty sure she left the big smoke under the second owners steam and headed north to Geraldton where it was purchased by the 3rd owner in 2010. He removed all the gas conversion stuff (which is boxed up and came with the car), had the rear tyres widened (unfortunately Glen they are an extremely tight fit and rub when there are a few crew in the back seat - he put adjustable air shocks on but she sits really high in the rear to accommodate them and the stance is a bit strange - opposite of being lowered I guess.), put electronic ignition in, and then basically it sat idle in his shed until last week when I bought it off him.
Was a good price and comes with a spare parts car all included (basically this one is rusted to buggery, but has engine, trans, diff, axles, trim, maybe seats, dash, set of ROH mags, additional steel rims holding a set of white walls (woohooo)..
So far I ran a full tank off gas through it, drives almost like a dream (very happy with the auto gearbox - smooth as melted butter!!!) and now I have started mending basic items such as:
Full chrome and stainless steel polish (much more than on the Kat which was a bugger..)
Wash and polish paint as she had a cm of dust on her when I bought it...
oil change and filters
radiator flush and new coolant, hoses, clamps
new fan belt
new spark plug seals - weeping a bit of oil
full brake rebuild - doen the front drums full refurbish, master cylinder full refurbish and now just need to complete the rears, a big flush and then bleed - the brake fluid was kinda like melted chocolate..... farken horrid....
3 minor patches of rust to attend to
Transmission fluids still to do
then itll just be a weekend cruiser and maintain as is.
So shes a 1965 AP6 running the old slant 6 225, columnshift three speed tourqeflite auto and so far she is still very much in orginal condition.
So Im now the 4th owner, came with purchase invoice and receipt (£1375 driveaway!!!), manual, car care booklet, a few adds and magazines which is really cool - even in the glove box was a packet of the old 'caltex' complimentary matches in the folding box - full of matches still too!!!!. Was originally purchased in Perth, then was passed along to the Grandson who had the engine rebuilt and converted over to gas (so she now can run comfortably on any standard fuel too which is nice!). He ran it as a daily for some years and made some minor cosmetic (unfortunately one of these was to cut into the steel dash and chuck a CD player in there...) and standard maintenance stuff, including respray of engine bay and some small rust prevention. Im pretty sure she left the big smoke under the second owners steam and headed north to Geraldton where it was purchased by the 3rd owner in 2010. He removed all the gas conversion stuff (which is boxed up and came with the car), had the rear tyres widened (unfortunately Glen they are an extremely tight fit and rub when there are a few crew in the back seat - he put adjustable air shocks on but she sits really high in the rear to accommodate them and the stance is a bit strange - opposite of being lowered I guess.), put electronic ignition in, and then basically it sat idle in his shed until last week when I bought it off him.
Was a good price and comes with a spare parts car all included (basically this one is rusted to buggery, but has engine, trans, diff, axles, trim, maybe seats, dash, set of ROH mags, additional steel rims holding a set of white walls (woohooo)..
So far I ran a full tank off gas through it, drives almost like a dream (very happy with the auto gearbox - smooth as melted butter!!!) and now I have started mending basic items such as:
Full chrome and stainless steel polish (much more than on the Kat which was a bugger..)
Wash and polish paint as she had a cm of dust on her when I bought it...
oil change and filters
radiator flush and new coolant, hoses, clamps
new fan belt
new spark plug seals - weeping a bit of oil
full brake rebuild - doen the front drums full refurbish, master cylinder full refurbish and now just need to complete the rears, a big flush and then bleed - the brake fluid was kinda like melted chocolate..... farken horrid....
3 minor patches of rust to attend to
Transmission fluids still to do
then itll just be a weekend cruiser and maintain as is.
Good write up Rusty. Love the engine bay photo, all steel and full engine access! Any plan to tig in a panel over the CD hole to restore the dash?
Cheers.
Cheers.
Rusty82
GSX400S Rider
All things in good time Glen - if I go down this road I think id have to repaint the whole dash, which will then be a different colour (slightly) to the doors and so on so forth. In the meantime Ill keep my eyes peeled for a rigi-dig AM Transceiver!!! Im actually hoping the spare parts car has one though Im yet to check....
A full resto may be in order several years down the track )pending on how long she can hold on to the original condition and fighting off rust) - I would elect to tackle the CD player at this stage I think. I like having a decent stereo though, so id probably do the old face plate in the glove box thing - that way everything can be removed if/when required. luckily the speakers were not installed in door trim and I guess the rear parcel shelf can always be recut from a similar material to bring back to original look!!!!
What she does lack however are rear window louvers - theyre on the hit list for sure...
On the engine bay - I can basically climb in there with the engine when i was changing the oil ha ah ah - so much room its a pleasure to work on!!!!!
Cheers
Rusty
A full resto may be in order several years down the track )pending on how long she can hold on to the original condition and fighting off rust) - I would elect to tackle the CD player at this stage I think. I like having a decent stereo though, so id probably do the old face plate in the glove box thing - that way everything can be removed if/when required. luckily the speakers were not installed in door trim and I guess the rear parcel shelf can always be recut from a similar material to bring back to original look!!!!
What she does lack however are rear window louvers - theyre on the hit list for sure...
On the engine bay - I can basically climb in there with the engine when i was changing the oil ha ah ah - so much room its a pleasure to work on!!!!!
Cheers
Rusty
Rusty82
GSX400S Rider
Gee Thomas - thats awesome - your a legend.
Interestingly I have just done a bit of googling on this (as I only just gort the car I havent done a whole lot yet) and from what I can gather only the Regal and V8 editions came with a radio, and even then it still may have been an option (or they were removed and due to lack of availability a blanking plate was reinstalled?? Im under the impresion the grandpa AP6 had only a face blank plate to cover up the hole where the 'hoity toity' versions had there AM Transister!!
AP6 standard dash
AP6 regal dash (with radio)
AP6 regal with blanking plate (either means radio optional (dougt this) or radio was removed, CD player went in, car got older and owner tried to go back original hence CD player removed and face plate installed)
See its not only Kats which have mysteries ha ha ha.
Looks like ill have to check the old parts car and see what lurks (its under a heavy tarp and Ive not yet looked inside her to see what lies beneath. Maybe ill take a look this weekend.
Cheers
Rusty
Interestingly I have just done a bit of googling on this (as I only just gort the car I havent done a whole lot yet) and from what I can gather only the Regal and V8 editions came with a radio, and even then it still may have been an option (or they were removed and due to lack of availability a blanking plate was reinstalled?? Im under the impresion the grandpa AP6 had only a face blank plate to cover up the hole where the 'hoity toity' versions had there AM Transister!!
AP6 standard dash
AP6 regal dash (with radio)
AP6 regal with blanking plate (either means radio optional (dougt this) or radio was removed, CD player went in, car got older and owner tried to go back original hence CD player removed and face plate installed)
See its not only Kats which have mysteries ha ha ha.
Looks like ill have to check the old parts car and see what lurks (its under a heavy tarp and Ive not yet looked inside her to see what lies beneath. Maybe ill take a look this weekend.
Cheers
Rusty