Chev SS arrives from SA

Pictures of your muscle car!
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Rhayader
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Chev SS arrives from SA

Post by Rhayader » Thu 25 Oct 2007, 13:25

Hi all,

Well, my new toy has arrived safe and well after it's long journey from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to Darwin, NT (apologies to all those opposed to exporting, but I'll look after her I promise!) :)

There are some fresh pics at this location (More to come later)

http://gallery.oldholden.com/curbstone/Chev+SS/

she's a 1972 Chevrolet SS, with original 308 and Saginaw 4speed... she's in really lovely condition, far better than I expected (and i had pretty high hopes) :)

she was delivered to me about noon today... Had a fun day of playing around with the various toys (weird after market cruise control!) ... the power steering is a dream! So much easier to drive than my Aussie HT GTS...

body looks great, no major rust/bog in her... she's had a smack in the front, and some not fantastic repairs, but not too bad.... she also started and idled straight away... got a lovely sound, good quiet idle, but if you give it she just rumbles so you can feel it in your chest...

gearbox linkages aren't 100 per cent - got stuck in two gears at once today! :) But it's an easy fix. Just need some adjustments. my dad said a mate of his bought a HK 327 Monaro brand new in 1968. Drove it home from the car yard on day one and the same thing happened to the gearbox! so it's not a new problem... :)

interior is really great, front seat a bit worn... but otherise excellent...

spent much of the day pulling the rear seat out. Registration regulations here require that it has lap seatlebelts in the back and lap/sash belts in the front. Bit of a pin in the neck because the same cars didn't have them in the rear when they came out in Australia (1970)!

But the law says any car built after 1971 has to have them.... it wasn't too bad though... we pulled the rear seat out and found the anchor points were actually there - still plugged up from new! (also she had the factory deadening felt underneath it on the floor, only one small section had ever been wet, so there was a little bit of surface rust there, but not too much...)

Anyway, we moved the front lap belts into the back and I put the two lap/sash belst from my HT in to get here regod. Just need to track down another set of belts to put back in my HT...

all the lights, indicators, wipers etc work... so all that's left now is that gearbox stuff and a new lens for that indicator.... prolly need a new clutch one day in the not too distant future... i reckon she's close to the end of her days that clutch!

Anyway, with a bit of luck she'll be regod next week :)

Cheers

Paul D.

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redracer
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Location: JHB East Rand
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Re: Chev SS arrives from SA

Post by redracer » Thu 25 Oct 2007, 17:38

Very nice mate, I'm sure you'll look after her ;) So what are your future plans for the car ?

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72XYGT
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Location: King William's Town Eastern Cape

Re: Chev SS arrives from SA

Post by 72XYGT » Thu 25 Oct 2007, 21:49

Hi Paul,

How about posting some pics of that SS. I think the SS has such nice lines and being a 2 door coupe makes it rather sporty. Cerainly a better looking car than the Fairmont/Falcon

Daan

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Gavin RS
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Location: Randpark Ridge Randburg South Africa
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Re: Chev SS arrives from SA

Post by Gavin RS » Fri 26 Oct 2007, 09:34

Very nice that the car is in a new home all safe and sound
1984 Rover Vanden Plas V8 (Historic Race car)
1986 Rover 3500 Vitesse (UK Import Ex London Police Car)
1983 Rover Vanden Plas undergoing conversion to race car.
2009 Ford Territory ST,
2006 Ford Fiesta 1.6 Auto, daily driver

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Rhayader
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Location: Hong Kong

Re: Chev SS arrives from SA

Post by Rhayader » Fri 26 Oct 2007, 09:46

H guys, thanks for the comments.. :)

My plan is to keep the car as original as possible for as long as possible! :) parts are an issue, that's for sure... most of the Monaro stuff I can get... But if I have a front end crash, I may be left with no choice but to go back to the Holden HG front end... but I am trying to source some Chev SS parts from SA now as insurance in case the worst happens 8O ...

I am in the process of finding out what extra safety stuff I'll need to do to get her registered... It's a funny situation... the car is based on a 1970 HG Monaro, but was actually manufactured in 1972... this was around the time when car safety was improving quite rapidly... so, in the eyes of the Australian Government, it actually falls on the wrong side of a few Australian Design Rules specifications that came in post 1971... So I may have to put actual lap/sash rear seat belts and a couple of other things. Anyway, I've got an engineer helping me out with it at the moment... he reckons it's not going to be anything major...

kind of annoying if I have to make those mods, but mostly because I'm a stickler for originality... and it's better than it never getting registered I guess!

Daan, there are some pics at that link I posted in my original message, but I'll try to figure out how to get one or two up on this site!

Cheers

Paul D.

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