Antique 1947 Bond Wood Speed Boat

[DaveD]

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/healesvi ... 1054958119

[WoodRay]

I got a reply back from the seller after I asked about the engine in the boat. I couldn't believe what I read!

" this is a opal gold motor,,, they were a german built proto type for the holden gray motor,, 138 ci"

I've never heard this one before. I thought the Canadian blocks were enough of a furphy!

Looks like any old Grey Motor to me! Probably FE era with narrow belt and an early distributor.

[screwit]

Opel engine in 48 and 57 was not like this it had a dizzy in the centre of the block not at the rear. the 48 looked like the same rocker cove and fixing but the 57 had bolts around the edge like the red motor Holden
early 48 Opel 6 was more like the Vauxhall engine if not the same.
Ross
Bell housing looks different as the Holden dad a one piece box/ bell housing . Ej had ally separate one but looks different tin cover to me but I have not seen one for a long time.

[WoodRay]

Thanks Ross, the ribs on the bell housing were done on some FX/FJ boxes throughout that series bus was not a consistent production design for some reason. Looking closer I think it is a full one piece bell housing as it does have the engine mount bosses but has been modified.

[screwit]

Does the block have GMH cast on it between the fuel pump and the dizzy??
Repco did have the Goldstar brand for there reco's and painted a coppery gold colour.

[WoodRay]

Yep, you can just make it out in the pictures. I'm actually thinking its an ex Army engine as they were fitted with the gearboxes with the ribs and the colour looks close to being olive drab.

[Alan]

Was also common to hack a damaged gearbox off to make soft clutch conversions like this, I still have one around left over from a mates late 50's cabin cruiser that sank in the Lakes entrance area (it had twin Greys)

[WoodRay]

I got this from Harv's Gearbox guide on the FB EK forum.

One casting change that is evident is that some early FX/FJ Holden castings have an external rib running from the front corners of the sump up to the 3/6 o’clock positions on the bellhousing flange (see photographs
below). The “ribs” are shown in the FX Holden and FJ Holden Workshop manuals (though not in the later
model manuals), as well as in the Masterparts 20 Years Catalogue. Note that the change to delete the
ribs in later casings is not clear – for example ribs are evident in casings from January 1948, Septemb
1952 and October 1954, but are not evident in a casing cast in April 1948. It appears that the rib went
right through up to engine number 283372 and with the introduction of the ''U'' prefix engines (U283384),
which was when the later gearbox (casings cast with 7409980) was introduced into the last of the FJ
utilities and panel vans. All up the rib was deleted with the last of the FJ Holdens and the introduction of
the FE Holden, possibly because the “new” clutch slave cylinder on the FE Holden fouling. Many of the Army utes purchased by enthusiasts have had the ribbed gearboxes installed. It is probable that the external ribs were cast in some early gearboxes, and then the moulds changed to omit the ribs. Army production vehicles were probably fitted with the external ribs as part of the Army purchase orders, though the RPO does
not mention them (see photo to the right). As with many Holden parts, ribbed gearboxes were probably swapped over or reconditioned over the last fifty years, and now appear in some vehicles where they were not originally factory fitted.