Steam Stuff.

I was involved in the building, and worked as relief Engineer on the Paddle Steamer Cumberoona in Albury NSW between 1987 to 1989. It was a dream job after seeing the Murray River paddle steamers as a child while on school holidays with my family.

I worked at the Moreton Central Sugar Mill, (Nambour), during the 1980 crushing
 season to clock up my Engine, Turbine & Boiler time. This is the No. 3 Engine
 and gears, you can see the 12" square drive going to the crusher rollers. The engines
product 300 Horse power @ 75 rpm (max revs 120). The 12' flywheelsweighed about
2 tons.

Built in 1890 by Stewart Engineering Glasgow.

I attended a Field Day & Machinery Show in Brisbane in about 1977 and saw this restored 10 Horse power Marshall
Tration Engine. The owner had rescued it from beside the Bremner River near Tentafield in about 1976, which by coincidence was the engine below, I use to go rabbit shooting on a neighbouring property and stumbled across it
by accident. I was really good to see the old girl restored to her former glory, I toyed with the idea of trying to get it
myself, but the owner wanted a $1,000 for it, (which I didn't have), and it weighed about 10 tons, the retreaval
would have been a huge job.  

Random pics from the past.

While I was looking for the photo of my first Stude I found a few others I thought I'd scan and put up in here.

I traded the '65 Cruiser and an AP5 Valiant (The green one in the background) in on this Charger, when I returned from working in the West Australian mines in 1979. During one of my parents trips away I swapped the pressed wheels from their Valiant Regal over onto the Charger and painted them white, they looked shit hot, (and Mum and Dad never noticed ;-) 

1965 Stude Cruiser. I had this car from 1977 to 1979. You'll notice the bonnet has been vented, I was working at a sheet metal shop at the time and throught it would look cool. It did indeed, but as with a lot of the 283 cid SBC it had bad blow by with the oil fumes coming out through the vents onto the windscreen ;-(

Murray's (the '56 International) New Dash.

The previous owner of Murray had gone to a lot of effort to graft a Holden instrument panel into the International dash board, but as time when by some of the instruments started to fail. First it was the temp gauge, then the oil pressure, but when the speedo went it was time for some new instruments. I had planned for this project for quite a while buying a set of white faced, brass bezel gauges at the 2009 Toowoomba swap meet, and collected other bits and bobs along the way. I had a vague idea of what I wanted, something to go with brass bezels, (Being a steam Engineer I love brass). I also wanted to to do away with two things; the Hurst gear shifter, which I hated, and the key start, (my idea was to have a combination of switches which had to be in the correct order before the truck would turn over or start). Below are some photos of before, during and after. I expected the project to take about 3 months, it ended up taking 7 !

Apart from the new gauges I used 240 volt brass light switches for head & tail lights and thermo fan. The brass centre piece is from some type of vintage car, English I'd guess, I modified it to control the ignition, reversing lights, start button and hand brake warning light. The wooden panel below it covers the radio/CD, (it looked modern and out of place on the dash so I had to cover it). The lever at the bottom is the auto gear selector, this by far took the most time, design and construction. It's a piece of 5/8" bar turned down to 1/2" for 3/4" of it's length to look in proportion and to take the brass draw knob on the end. It pivots in a piece of 2" x 1" box section behind the brass facia plate, up and down as well as sideways - the sideway motion was to activate micro push switches that activate the gear indicator lamps, (the red and 4 green ones on the instrument panel). The lever is spring loaded to close the micro switches and must be pushed to the left when change gears. I had intended the brass face plate to act as a guide with finger slots machined into it, but the lever travel between gears was just too small to work with the 1/2" lever, and any smaller diameter wouldn't be strong enough. I'm still looking for stick on letters for the gear selector lamps but am having trouble finding ones no bigger than 3/8" (10mm) high - If anyone reads this and knows where I can get some please leave a comment. The indicator and high beam lamps on the instrument panel are LED's, same as the gear selector lamps, from Jaycar in Woolloongabba Brisbane, (great source of gear). I was going to make my own lamps out of brass plumbing fittings with multi-facetted lenses, (hard plastic buttons), for the turn of the century look, but it was too much work, so opted for the off the shelf lamps, which works well. The only issue I have is the blue indicator lamps are so bright at night they light up the cab, so I'm going to glue on some red multi-facetted buttons, (that I had already bought as test pieces), to reduce the brightness and turn them purple. I'm still having some problems with the horn, I had to make a slip ring to transfer the power from the Holden Commodore steering column - power wire comes up the outside of the steering shaft, whereas the Studebaker Hawk steering wheel I used has the horn wire coming up the middle of the hollow shaft. The slip ring consisted of a piece of sheet metal cut into the large washer and a press in wire connecter soldered onto it, then I turned up a piece of nylon to the same size to insulate it against the steering shaft and column components. A spring loaded wire with a brass end soldered on rubs on the slip ring when the steering wheel is turned making sure of power all the time - well, that't the intention !   The hold down nut keeps working it's way loose and the connection is broken = no horn. I've been tightening it about every two weeks, but I need to take it apart and shim the slip ring up a little and fit a rattle proof washer to stop the nut coming lose. Other than that Murray drives well, the gauges look great, especially at night lit up, I have to replace the top cover strip for a larger one as the glue holding the ply veneer has let go on the bend above the gauges.

The dash before the renovation

During  ;-(

After.

My Bikes.

I did get back into bikes, I had the occasional Honda commuter bike to get to work, but no real road bikes until 2001, I bought a new 1100cc Yamaha V Star, affectionately called the 'Porn Star' by fellow riders in a bike group I was in, (the details later). Pic to come.

I upgraded the Porn Star for a 2004, 2000cc Kawasaki Vulcan, why? Well I'd had some ongoing electrical issues with the V Star, and was very disappointed with Yamaha's service, it was in the workshop more than on the road. I was walking past a Kawasaki Dealership one day looked in and saw one of the most interesting looking bikes I had ever seen, yep the Vulcan. I had a huge nacelle surrounding the headlight, and was, was just a monster of a bike, (275kg dry weight), It was love at first sight. After a test ride I ordered one that day, the first one sold in Q'ld. I ended up selling the Porn Star to another club member, another decision I came to regret. I still have the Vulcan, it sits in the shed under a cover these days unfortunately.

Just getting a drink at the Story Bridge Hotel on the Vulcan, as we called it the 'Truck'

Oh, why did it get called the 'Porn Star'. Well it was a name give by the females of the bike group, 'ISRA', (International Star Riders Association), all stemming from a ride to Kyogle in northern NSW about 2002. I was single at the time and had a spare pillion seat and one of the girls wanted a change from her usual ride, (her husband's V Star I hasten to add), 'no problems' I said, 'hop on'. After we had stopped for morning coffee one of the other girls swapped with the first one, then the swapping went on all day....I'd never been so popular - what gives ? Apparently at about 105 k's the 'out of balance' back wheel sent a vibration up through the pillion seat - brings a whole new meaning to the Beach Boy's hit 'Good Vibrations'. So the girls named it the 'Porn Star', unfortunately when I replaced the rear tyre they balanced it so well the vibe was gone, but the name stuck.

My 1st 1962 Studebaker Hawk.

I used to see this car occasionally on my way home from work on the bus, and dreamed about owning one just like it. When it came up for sale in November 1974 I couldn't believe my luck, I just had to have it! Unfortunately it had a clouded history - the previous owner Thomas Ian Hamilton, a champion boxer, disappeared under mysterious circumstances in January 1973, last seen being taken from a Breakfast Ck address by a man with a shotgun. My mother, who still had influence over my funds at the time insisted on the supply of  a Statutory Declaration of true ownership by Mr Thompson's sister, (the registered owner of the Hawk). That being done the gleaming red 1962 Studebaker Hawk was mine for the princely sum of $950, a fortune for an apprentice fitter and turner on $29 / week - I thought I was shit hot. Oh, and yes I did check the boot for a body before I bought it ;-)

Taken 1974 behind the house I grew up in at Redcliffe.

Pick up from Dalby 2009

In November 1976, being a stupid teenager I sold the Hawk for a pittance and bought a 650 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle, and have regretted it ever since. Fast forward to September 2009, I had heard a guy in Toowoomba had the Hawk, I contacted him and organised the trip to Dalby, where it was being stored. We arrived at the yard before the owner and started searching amongst the various wrecks and machinery. My son found him first, yelled out from about 50 m away, "Dad I found it, but you might not want to look". What I saw broke my heart, from a once gleaming red sleek street machine, to a rust red rotted

hulk. I negotiated with the owner, mostly with my heart and not my head, but got him and a few spare panels for a price that I was almost comfortable with. Once the Hawk was home in Brisbane what to do with him? My son and I talked about it and agreed if the actual body shell was intact we'd make a Ute project, (as the rear roof and boot floor were pretty bad). On pulling the guards off we saw the shell was totally shot, sad! So the 'Red Hawk' became a donor car, it was dismantled down to the chassis, what parts that could be saved were. The body was cut up and sent to the scrappers, I hurt a little with each slice of the oxy torch, my misspent youth was woven into this car. Anyway I've already used the steering wheel which is now driving my everyday transport - Murray the '56 International.

Where the Studebaker Obsession Started.

This is where it all began - 1954 Studebaker Land Cruiser. (pic taken 1972)