loudmouthaussie

So The 1977 Lincoln town coupe, 1978 El Camino and 1975 Mazda Bongo van have all been sold this year in the interests of downsizing and getting a family friendly cruiser. Pretty much due to my partner Joey and I having second child. Its a boy! arrived sunday 20th oct at 11:07 pm

So what better way to downsize than by purchasing a 1973 olds wagon with a 5000 pound kerb weight

The wagon is from new mexico originally. Air force pilot bought it new then exported it to Australia in 74 where he was doing an exchange. He drove it LHD for 2 years then sold it before he went back to the states. It was then converted to RHD. You'll notice the aussie spec amber indicators on the rear. Kinda ugly but been there so long ill be leaving as is. Its been babied mechanically, has great interior but the paint work is a bit tired in places.

Anyhow this model is about 5.8m long so same as my 77 Lincoln towncar/coupe. Feels smaller when behind the wheel actually. Has 455 rocket v8 big block & all important clamshell tailgate.

Immediate plan of attack is to put a couple child restraint anchors in so the family cruiser side of things can take effect. Other than that i'll probably lose the balloon tyres and go with some 14" supremes. I'm a lowrider guy after all

Its not running that well when you put the foot down so a dyno tune will be happening very soon too.

So heres a few pics;



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ugly **** front end. love it!
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my friend drove it to my place from Sydney (600 miles or so). its bigger than his neighbours house. to be fair that's a small damn house tho!
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came with tonnes of documentation. heres a pic from 76 outside US embassy in canberra
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second owner with his kids. 76.
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oldcutlass

Very nice, it should do the job.

Professur

Downsizing to a Custom Cruiser ... best post ever!!!


I love that the radio is on the driver's far side ..... You listen to what I want to hear!! Yeah baby.

jaunty75

Beautiful. I've got one just like it, but yellow ("honey beige" to be exact).

I like that the dealer sticker is still there.


I must say, it's a bit unnerving to see the driving position switched to the right side!

It's interesting that the "Custom Cruiser" script is above the horizontal trim strip while on mine it's below. Since your car has never been repainted, I'm guessing that the those scripts are original. My car was repainted, and when they put the scripts back on, they put them in the wrong spot.

But it's interesting because the 1973 Olds brochures actually show the script in both places, depending on which brochure you look at.


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jaunty75

By the way, Sierra Blanca Motors is still in business. Same logo, too.

http://www.sierrablancamotors.com/

rcrac3r

They would probably get a kick out of seeing one of their sold cars still going after so many years & that it has "traveled that long of a distance". Great looking car.

loudmouthaussie

nice wagon. I have it saved on my phone from before I bought mine
I guess they put the script where they felt was right. I put el camino badges back on my 78 last year and I looked at a tonne of pics. all were slightly different.

loudmouthaussie

good to know. I might email them a pic. there is a map of that town in with all the stuff. got some cool pamphlets like "taking your GM vehicle abroad" etc.

MDchanic

Very nice. Great for some of those wide open roads through the Outback - Just put a brick on the gas pedal and take a nap!

- Eric

jaunty75

I saved the photos you posted of yours as well. You don't see these cars that often, and I save photos of any that I see online.


Here's an interesting one. I don't remember the circumstances about how I acquired it, but it's from the TV show " The American Sportsman" which ran from about the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s and featured celebrities engaged in outdoor activities. In this one, Bing Crosby and Phil Harris are hunting. You can't tell who's how in the photo, but you can certainly tell what the car is!

loudmouthaussie

Cool. Theres one in clint eastwoods enforcer too. Google 1973 oldsmobile in movies.

nickoff1

dude, your in South Australia!

I have a 76 98 4 door im fixing up im also in South Australia? what suburb do you live in? do you go zipple cruises?

loudmouthaussie

Na, im in brisbane. Got it from sydney. Matt ( the last owner) had it in sa from 2011. Before that it was vic and nsw rego.

loudmouthaussie

went for a cruise with a few friends to couple vintage collectable places and pub for beers after. good day
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loudmouthaussie

Been really hot here lately (100) but Ive managed to clean the engine bay up a bit. no drastic change. too much stuff crammed in there for it to ever look real impressive.
before:
enginebefore_zps5e95fd70.jpg
after:
engineafter_zps52accc38.jpg
heres a pic with the charger:
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jaunty75

Looks great! The engine didn't look that bad in the "before" picture. What does that little black plaque above the fan on the shroud say?

Professur

It's the company that did the steering conversion

This vehicle converted
by
Braeside Steering Conversions
1a Bond Street, Braeside 3195
Phone VIC.90 8114

loudmouthaussie

damn your good! ha ha. date of conversion under that. 1976.

Allan R

I'd really like to see how the conversion was done to the gearbox location, intermediate steering rod & pitman/steering linkages. Any chance of getting pics of that?

loudmouthaussie

ill have a go when I get a chance. theres a lot of crap in that engine bay though :0(
next time its on a hoist ill try for a few detailed gearbox shots.


whats the deal in Canada? are you guys left or right hand drive? thought you were left and drove on right side of road as per USA??

Allan R

You think correctly. Actually we drive on the right side of the road as per CANADA. USA just copies us .

I'm really curious about the conversion because I've never seen one of them before. Thank you in advance for any pictures you can post.

loudmouthaussie

There has always been some confusion over that in the classic car scene here in Australia.
Complete knock down kits of US cars in 1960s were made in Canada and shipped ready to be assembled as right hand drive vehicles here.
Because you guys were also a british colony many would assume right hand drive in Canada I guess.

jaunty75

There is no way two countries as closely tied together economically, culturally, historically, and with a 3,000 mile border with thousands of people crossing it every day could have two so fundamentally different standards for cars and driving them. It would be chaos.

jaunty75

As I recall, the U.S. was at one time a British colony, too.

Also, Japan is another country where they drive on the left side of the road, just like Australia and Britain do. But I don't think there's much historical connection between Japan and these countries.

Doing a little research reveals that, until 1947, Canada was not consistent across the country. From Alberta east to Quebec, driving has always been on the right. But British Columbia and New Brunswick didn't change until 1922, Nova Scotia in 1923, Prince Edward Island in 1924, and New Foundland not until 1947.

Allan R

When you think of it, some of the US was under British Rule too until Americans said 'enough is enough'. I'm with Dan on this one - it would be chaotic. All of Europe, Asia and Australia follows the convention of RH drive for a reason, not sure what it is, but I'm sure there's a reason...

MDchanic

Actually, if I'm not mistaken (and I could be off by a year or so), Europe was not always so.

Years ago, a gentleman I knew told me about his experience of Sweden changing over from driving on the Left side of the road to driving on the Right: Like many laws, this one came into effect at midnight on NEW YEAR'S EVE, 1962-1963.

He told me that it was quite a stimulating experience, driving home from a New Year's Eve party in his Porsche 356 - it was the middle of the night - Did I mention it was New Year's frickin' Eve? - everyone on the road was completely bombed, and nobody knew what side of the road to drive on.

- Eric

Allan R

Why would a gubment make such a stupid legislation change when it would obviously affect the safety of drivers who have steering wheels on the left side of the car???? That's as bad as the imported ricers that peeps refuse to convert to left hand drive here.

loudmouthaussie

Some historians, such as C. Northcote Parkinson, believed that ancient travellers on horseback generally rode on the left side of the road. As more people are right-handed, a horseman would thus be able to hold the reins with his left hand and keep his right hand free—to offer in friendship to passing riders or to defend himself with a sword, if necessary.[38]
The history of the keep-left rule can be tracked back to ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome, and was more widely practised than right-side traffic. Ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Romans adhered to the left side while marching their troops. If two men riding on horseback were to start a fight, each would edge toward the left. Thus, they would be able to draw swords from their right and uphold a defensive position. Eventually, this turned into custom, and later, a law.[39] The keep-left rule was doubtless well-established in ancient Rome because of congestion in the city. In the city of Rome, rules banned wagons and chariots during the day; in other parts of the Empire wheeled traffic was banned during the night, so as not to disturb citizens from sleep.[40] Pilgrims who wished to visit the city were instructed to keep to the left side of the road. By the time the Pope ordered instructions to keep left of the road, this rule was already widely used.[40] The regulation has been practised by some countries ever since.

Allan R

Hmm, I read that keep left paragraph and can't help but think that we got it right over here with having vehicles that have 'left hand' drive. It obviously works well for the way we've adapted to drinking coffee and talking on cell phones...don't even want to go to the extreme of finding out how many peeps draw their weapon using their right hand.

Check out our 'right of way' rules. I bet they differ from the Commonwealth but does reinforce the left hand vehicle having the right of way over the vehicle on the right. Anyway - it is what it is. If I ever get to Oz I'm sure to be in a car crash simply because I'll be driving on the right side of the road which would be the 'wrong' side.

loudmouthaussie

Ive only driven on the right once. Was a VW panel van with manual shift on german autobarn.


Was a removal vehicle with polish and british flags painted on sides. apparently the krauts thought I was driving too slowly and let me know with their middle fingers.


I think the flags on the side only angered them more. ha ha ha!

MDchanic

I never had a problem driving on the Left when I was in England - the steering wheel on the right is kind of a pretty big reminder.

I'd thought that shifting with my left hand might be weird, but it was no problem at all.

The only problem was that on occasion I'd forget about all that car sitting out to the left of me when making left turns - I always remembered before disaster struck, but it did wake me up a few times.

On the other hand, riding one of those damned English motorcycles, with the brake on the left and the shifter on the right - that's freaky.

- Eric

loudmouthaussie

I now have the wagon registered in my state. Due to computer systems not knowing what a custom cruiser is its listed as a 72 olds delta 88 wagon.
Haha. At least it's done now. Was a bit worried about the old right hand drive conversion.
They didn't seem to care though. Was listed as old import so no papers required.

Professur

What's the price of gas there? You're gonna be buying a lot of it.

jaunty75

The price of gas in Australia is about $1.50 (Australian) per liter, correct? That's according to this document:

http://www.aaa.asn.au/petrol/ULP.pdf

That's about $6.00 per gallon. The wagon's tank holds 21 gallons, but a typical fill-up is maybe 17 or 18 gallons as you don't want to run it dry, and you usually can't get the last gallon or two out, anyway. So 17 gallons at $6.00 per gallon is $102.

At the moment, an Australian dollar is worth about $0.90 US. So that's about $90 US to fill the tank.

The Australian dollar and Canadian dollar are about on par with each other ($1 Aus = $0.98 Can), so $102 Aus = $99.96 Canadian.

No matter how you slice it, it's expensive relative to the U.S. The price of gas where I live right now is about $3.10 per gallon. That's about half the Australian price, and 17 gallons at that price is about $53.


He's only going to be putting a lot of gas in this car if he plans to drive it regularly. If it's mostly a collector car and will get driven more sparingly, the fuel cost is not so much of an issue.

I've been keeping track of the mileage I get in my '73 CC, and it's right around 11 mpg. That's mostly city driving.

Professur

I've got a similar tank on my CC, and similar pricing. Unfortunately .. once you've got it, you start finding excuses to take the big'un places. When you're sitting on that big comfy driving sofa ... the price of gas doesn't just take a back seat ... it goes all the way to the rear facing third row and looks out the back and doesn't make a sound until that orange light comes on with it's familiar Ping to let you know that your kid's college fund is gonna take another hit. And once you've spent that $120 .. well, since it's full, why not take the big'un again .. don't want that gas getting stale, do we?



I think I need CCA

loudmouthaussie

yeah $1.50 on average is about right, though it was $1.60 yesterday. High octane costs around $1.75.
I did a bunch of tests on a 2009 holden (GM) and there's no real benefit when you take the extra cost into account.
The custom cruiser doesn't go out more than once a week. Its on restricted club registration now so less longer trips to the beach etc.
Full registration on a v8 for a year is around $1100. club rego costs $195

loudmouthaussie

what year CC do you have? pics please :0)

loudmouthaussie

I'm a wide load escort so I spend around $2000 a month on fuel/gas as it is. Mixing a little olds into the bills wont make a lot of difference..........

Professur

'81

http://s231.photobucket.com/user/Pro...stom%20Cruiser

jaunty75

This is to just to be able to drive the car? Wow. They get you every which but loose there, don't they? I pay about $50 per year to register mine in New Mexico. I paid about the same when I lived in Ohio. I know some states charge more, perhaps considerably more.

What kind of club? Old car club? Motor club? Most old car clubs here wouldn't last 10 seconds if the charged that much for membership. Even my local AAA (American Automobile Association) membership fee is nowhere near that high.