deejay79

The long road- a Ute story


I could not believe my luck this sucker was going to buy my Cordia and give me four grand for it unregistered and no engineering certificate. But who was the sucker I guess it was me for even considering spending close to four grand fitting a lancer evo 3 4g63 motor in a cordia gaining 200kw at the front wheels. The car was so much fun to drive but the engineers had a field day on it and I think it was going to cost me another couple of grand to get it right. But at the end of the day the cost could not out weigh the value of the car so I decided to cut my losses and I have never seen the car again nor heard from the new owner.

It was time to purchase my first ute, I had looked at a lot of them mostly junk but my budget would not allow me to look at anything else. Then looking on car sales.com I found it a cheap price looked good the owner had spent some money it was five hours drive down south. Problem was I was a thousand bucks short but in the next fort night I would have the money but alas the car was sold that week. I could have put the money on my credit card but I am not the person who likes to go into debt if I don’t have too and I have a “ I will put money on the credit card next week attitude”.

I finally got hold of this bloke a trainee pilot at RAAF pierce he was selling a 1970 HT holden Ute. It had a red six in it and I was really looking for an eight but I told myself I’m sick of looking at shit heaps if this is any good I will snap it up.

The body was as you would expect a 36 year old ute to be! it had little surface rust a few dents here and there paint chips you all know what I am talking about. Someone had once spent some time and money. It was white with a pearl and the interior was good for its age the 202 red is not the original motor but purred nicely and did not blow smoke. I knocked the guy down a thousand bucks as I told him he was dreaming for five grand so I bought it.

I picked the car up the next weekend we met at the left bank pub car park as I was driving from Rockingham and him bulls brook. As soon as money parted hands the first problem happened I managed to select two gears at the same time with the old worn Aussie four speed. I did not know then what had happened but now I am aware of how to remedy the problem it was a worn shifter nothing more. A big screwdriver to de select gears fixes the problem , I rang the guy and said what up with this? And he said its never happened to him (yeah right) later down the track I found out it must have happened to him.He had a bucks night to attend to he gave me back 500 bucks and I called the RAC and a few hours down the track I was on my way again.

The next day my beloved girlfriend asked me why I would buy a car registered In NSW? Shit second mistake In my excitement I did notice the yellow and black number plates but not the NSW bit and asked the guy when rego was up which he said he had just paid it. I just did not notice I was too busy looking at the mechanics and body. Then I thought I have twelve months to worry about it. After that the car ran sweet I had a few problems with the gear box sticking in two gears when doing dodgy shifts or trying to go from reverse to 1st gear.

As I was in the Navy I was lucky enough to score a posting to Melbourne. I had been away all year on a ship had not been home much and now they were sending me away again I was not happy but I had to go so I drove the ute.

I was not sure if the old girl would make it as I really had not asked her to go far at all, I think Perth to Narembeen was the most I has taken it. So I packed up the Ute filled up the Gerry’s and off I went. My mother in law to be suggested I take the Hyden – Norseman track so it was up the Brookton highway for me. I really enjoyed this drive coming from the country myself it reminded of my home town and surrounding area of the Latrobe valley in Victoria. As much as I love living in Perth some times I miss the quiet only a small town can offer but when you are growing up and that’s all you know a small town can be the busiest place on earth.

My first fuel stop was Corrigin, I’m saving my Gerry’s for the Eyre highway places like Cocklebiddy and Nullarbor roadhouse will rob you blind for a litre of fuel I think $1.69 was the dearest I seen. A tip for motorists SAFF fuel stations are the cheapest when crossing our great country. But Corrigin was when I first learnt about the dog in a Ute record breaking convoy and also the town has a pet cemetery, freaky! Well after driving right to Hyden I stopped at the local servo and when I walked through the Door I hear this girl say” what the hell are you doing here” unknowing to me It was my soon to be brother in laws missus I had no idea they lived there small word huh?

I set off again driving the Hyden-Norseman track it’s a dirt road and a bit rough mainly used for mining trucks apparently its meant to save an hour instead of driving to Coolgardie then to Norseman. Half way up the track the Alternator light came on I lost my stereo and most things electrical in the cabin pulled over had a look around and realised that it was not the best place to break down. I had three days to get to Melbourne but I was prepared I had all camping gear and enough tools to and gear to do an engine change out on the side of a road providing there were tree’s. I had a spare fuel pump but not an alternator it looked new so I did not bother grabbing a spare.

Instead of staying put I decided to drive until the car stopped and I got all the way to Norseman and camped at the caravan park. I later found the fault a blown main fuse, I reckon my mini fridge overloaded the circuit I whacked and extra five amps to the fuse and all was good, I was relieved.

The next two days seen me arrive in Melbourne to take up A instructors position for new entry technical sailors when I unpacked the car I realised I had left my play station on the side of the road when I unpacked the ute to get tools out. It was in a white box I was pissed off now. I loved the job at the navy base but my dog and my missus where in WA and that’s where I wanted to be as well. It was not all doom and gloom In Vic I got to go home as I my parents lived two and a half hour’s away.

I had a good mate who I had worked with at sea for a long time working there too and he got me involved with the water ski club at the base and managed to go out for a weekend to Lake Glenmaggie. The club was sick of travelling five hours to Echuca I used to water ski there as a kid in the school holidays and everyone loved the place as there was toilets and showers. Also I was going to go to the Trafalgar Ute muster but none of my mates wanted to go and it rained as well I should have gone but did not.

I was sharing a room at the base with these army blokes they were changing rates from artillery to medics and these guys had all the little girls in there class madly in love with them. A weekend I went home on the Monday they showed me pics of these girls topless with camo paint smeared all over there body…bastards …I’m happily engaged I just never had luck like that when I was single.

It was time to drive home three months later did a snappy service on the car and was happy everything was right for the long drive home. Got to the Adelaide hills and the car stared losing power I could barely do 60km/h but once I got down the other side coming into Adelaide all was fine. When I got to the motel that night I was under the hood again and realised I had driven 4000km with the choke on, the cable would turn the choke but as it was old and rusty it would not turn off but in the cabin the knob would be in the off position I still have not fixed that problem to this day.

I made a deal with the old girl that night I said get me back to Perth and I you can blow up or do anything you like just not on the Nullarbor please. I find the drive across the country great even alone, sometime the driving 12 hours takes it out of you but I stop a lot which helps but I think when you start talking to your self its time for a driving companion and at mile marker 170, I seen the strangest thing, A dog ! terrier I think, walked across the road then into the bushes I pulled over and called to the dog spotted me and ran. It made me mad to think that some bastard has dumped their best mate on the journey across.

As I was entering border town a tosser towing a caravan had his high beams on blinding me so I gave him a high beam flash to let him Know what he was doing and the light still remained on it was then I was thank full for not removing the narva spotlights on my bumper I’m sure I burnt his retina’s.

Making back to the Eyre highway just before Mundrabilla road house I passed this Old XC falcon wagon they were doing 80km/h compared to my 120 and when I pulled into the roadhouse for lunch and to use my Gerry’s because it was cheap fuel. The XC pulled in behind me when the car was shut down it made a “ Puff hiss Bang Bang clunk clunk “ like an old time Army truck. Then these to very good looking girls got out lifted the bonnet and steam immediately followed dud radiator the girls were Dutch back packers and asked me for help.
I found the source of there leak plugged the hole with copper knead it and told them not to fill it up with water until it was cold.

I left them there and kept driving and got till just before Northam when I had my first police encounter. I had my hand tapping on the roof as I belted out my favourite tunes on the wireless, the cop drove past I checked the rear view and he was turning around great I thought so close to home but yet so far. The cop and I talked he said he was giving me a ticket for having my arm out the window. Unknowing to me at the time my break lights were out but the cop did not pick it up I did after he left. The cops dad was in the Navy too so he seemed interested in talking to me about it but I don’t like making small talk with police men who are going to give me a ticket, I was polite as always and he left.

I never got the ticket.


The Ute finally got me home. The best thing about my ute is the amount of comments I get people are generally happy to see old holdens on the road and if its not that people ask about the pearl in my paint its good to receive positive feedback about my old girl. But then a few days later the loss of power thing was happening again pulled over turned the car off …nothing started the car ran great? I hate intermittent faults like that but luckily a few days later the car died and I found the fault that it was the points wire had come loose from the connector and hanging on by a thread problem solved.

I made a promise with my ute and I swear it heard me I told it that if it got me home it could blow up I did not care and after I took it over the pits and I had a few things to fix up, expected the car is old but one thing they picked up was a little miss the holden red had. It sounds like a little pop every now and again I knew what it was, a valve seat somewhere I just did not want to rip the head off to fix it.

So I fixed everything else on the report then took it to another mechanic and he was worse really gave the car the once over .When I was driving home pissed off that did not pass the pits and the mechanic was really hard on it and picked up silly shit, it happened the old girl said enough was enough it blew the head gasket on the way home and somehow managed to mix water with oil it was done for…. I had done it again as I always do I brought a lemon of a car. I had a choice the car was now unregistered, blown motor, gearbox was crappy, the list goes on I think if It had been a earlier model I would have scrapped it or sold it really cheap but I parked it and left it for a few months. I think it the car was not so old and was in good condition for its age I would have got rid of it.

About a month after leaving the Navy (ten years is enough in that job), someone broke into it piched some tools and my stereo great I swear the car killed chinamen in a previous life.

I sourced a V8 with a good Aussie four speed attached to it but I was buying it blind the guy said it ran great but I could never be sure at the time. Got it home stripped it down and stared painting bit and giving it a good clean up. Then I got the old M20 four speed and the 202 at the same time I was quite impressed with my self-two hours hour’s it took me. When the 308 was ready to install I think I ran into the biggest problems I have ever had to deal with on the car. I was doing it by myself for starters it is kind of hard to get the tail shaft lined up and operate the engine hoist at the same time.
But I managed to get it fine feeling quite good about my self as the only thing broken so far was the heater box! The gearbox swung and hit it, it was very brittle old plastic anyway I have found a better replacement.

The engine mounts would not line up with the cross member points, the sump was sitting on the main steering rod, well how was I to know that a HQ V8 had a different sump. HK-T-G sumps and pick-ups are hard to come by now days I chopped a six cylinder and welded it to a HQ V8 sump, you can get them but I don’t think there worth 250$ on ebay.

The motor Now fits, I sprayed the engine bay again and put lots of chrome in there now its not a show car but it looks a lot better in there. I had an old four-barrel manifold I picked up off a mate for nothing basically replacing gaskets, to sort out any leaks replaced the oil pump and water pumps. Rewired the engine bay and found a 650 Holley double.

Then it was D-Day the day I started it, the bastard would not start re-checked the timing and I had TDC on the down ward stroke fixed that itthen started very easily and without extractors or an exhaust it sounded like a top fuel drag car. Great something finally going my way. I then won a pair of pacemaker extractors on ebay for 190 bucks, bargain they are 600 new fitted them and now the motor sounds a lot healthier.

I am getting married in October so I have stopped spending money on the old girl for the time being, but still wanting to do some work I decided to tackle the rust problem and I found some surprises whilst taking the car back to bare metal I have cut some rust out, removed some bog to find more rust under it but overall for the cars age the rust is minor. It can be fixed and I’m dong it properly and I have decided to change the colour to black with a blue pearl I’m hoping my experimental paint job will give a midnight blue appearance but it could turn out looking like dogs balls time will tell.

My aim is to have it ready for Corrigin dog in a Ute but I may not make it but it would be nice to take it back to the long road I travelled to Victoria in the first place. I think it was nightmare trip but the Ute got me there and back and I had fun driving it I hope I have better luck in the future but they say one of things you should do before you die is restore an old holden.


By Damian lamont

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