1954 Holden FJ Sedan

This fine FJ sedan was bought from Alexandra in the South Island of NZ.

When I arrived on the outskirts of Alexandra to view the car, I rang the owner who said he would meet me and he turned up in the FJ a few minutes later with the car trailing a large plume of blue smoke.  He had told me the motor smoked, but I was a little surprised at the volumes of smog coming out of that tiny exhaust!

Still, the body, paint & interior were all in great shape and I figured a basic motor rebuild would probably only add $2-$3K to the price.  Read the "Grey Motor Quick Refresh" page to see how wrong I was.

The story went that the car had spent many years in a barn in Southland, which explained the good body because the climate and large land-mass down south does not support rust so much as the balmy, sea breeze-swept north.  However, the rats had got to the upholstery and wiring, so both had been replaced with what looked to be good workmanship.

The owner seemed pretty straight-up and I liked the clean look and basic spec. of the vehicle, so a price was negotiated and we arranged transport to Auckland through a friend of the owner's at Kirk Motors.  I chickened out (again) on driving it 1500km to Auckland because I didn't want to do any further damage to the tired engine.

The FJ arrived at Kirk's in Newmarket (Auckland City) and I drove it from there to Wainui. Although it drove very well, the clouds of smoke were embarrassing and I could hear the main bearings rumbling when the oil heated up.  So it was only driven short distances for the next year or so, the idea being we would get another motor to stick in in temporarily while the original motor was removed and reconditioned as funds allowed.  Check the links on the Nav Bar at top of page to view the jobs carried out.