1967 Bellett in NZ

[Krupkee]

Bellett I recently purchased to replace my aw11 racecar i sold.

bought unseen on trademe, bit of a risk but pretty happy with the result, runs and drives well, had a wof 2011, reg on hold

good points
-it runs! gearbox is mint too
-sills including rear quarters have been done recently
-its a bellett!!

bad points
-Doors
-Guards
-3x small bits of rust to weld patches in, boot shut, top of one sill and passenger floorpan, overall not bad though
-paint

to do
-either find better doors and guards or repair current ones
-strip paint to bare metal, started already
-paint, will do myself, thinking gulf blue or similar at this stage, maybe black bonnet
-low
-interior re-trim
-misc trim bits, seals etc
-in future g161z from holden/isuzu gemini but current g150 will stay for a while

Delivery

back shot

Interior

Worst rust in body

More bog than guard

Work so far, plan to have rest of body (not including doors + bad guard) stripped and rough etch primer to keep rust away over christmas break
front trim off

bonnet gone


paint has 3-4 layers so a lot of places look way worse in photos, rear arches are mint, nothing under carpets except for small hole

Plan is paint, I was thinking a gulf blue, but now leaning towards a bright yellow with black bonnet

[BULLITT]

welcome aboard if you need advice or parts you are in the right place ..nz still has new waterpumps for the bellett - great times the journey I enjoyed your country I lived in Hamilton 74-80 great times never even thought of belletts even tho the assembled them in thames .................Campbell industries became the Toyota factory ...enjoy the great car don't get disillusioned theres plenty over there ...I know ...............

[BULLITT]

ironically the Isuzu horn button is upside down ................merry xmas

[Krupkee]

Cheers Bullitt, there's a nice parts car on trademe at the moment for $650, will try buy for doors and parts but have a 3 month old now to look after so have to find funds.

I see someone from aus with username Bellettgt asked a Q about the seats, would be happy to help ship if I buy it if you are in here and read this

[Teditor]

OK, so where in New Zealand are Water Pumps available?

Ted (Teditor) Freeman

[BULLITT]

most the water pumps got cleaned out a few years ago I think it was Stanton industries in ch ch once it was found out they had some zippo of they went I bought one and fitted to napoleon which is now at gregs place ...they do come up in a kit from o/s then you have allways yahoo japan talk to glenn he has imported stuff cheers davo

[dave]

Hey Krupkee,

That car is awesome!

I need to ask, is the front seat a benchy-with-floor-shift or a pair of buckets?

I spoke to a guy in Scotland a few years back who imported an NZ-assembled Bellett and also wrecked one for bits that he then shipped over with the original car and both had a benchy-with-floor-shift arrangement, so I was wondering if it was the norm there.

Here we got either the full bench-and-column-shift arrangement or the buckets-and-floor-shift arrangement.

Oh except for the 122 Wasps. They were weird.

Cheers,


Dave

[Krupkee]

Hi Dave, benchy with floor shift, will try dig up photos of others here in NZ. Definitely going to keep it that way! although the handbrake is a tight squeeze to use!

Update on stripping (safe for work)
got some more stripping done





roof gutters had some kind of sealant put in them during its life and this was holding on the chrome strip, unfortunately couldnt get this off without damaging it so need replacements



and all cleaned up



back stripped, need to grind/sand back all the welds on the sills/lower body replacements



rear boot shut gutters all good



To do:

finish stripping roof, front and rear bits

find new doors, front guards. Need to find cash to buy parts car on trademe for the doors and trims etc

remove interior and then strip door sills, floor new sound deadening, carpet upholstery

[Stickman]

The body is looking pretty straight and tidy with not much rust (in those pics at least)
Keep the updates coming as you progress.

[dave]

Wow man thanks for getting back to me.

Looks like the benchy+floor shift is a thing!

[Krupkee]

Yeah can't wait to get the front bench re-upholstered, springs, collapsed foam and a cushion don't really look the part!

yeah pretty straight so far, only bit of rust I couldnt see was the left rear quarter, not too bad though

[pa_man]

So exciting to see yet another configuration of Bellett.
Loving the photos and looking forward to your progress!!

Josh

[Krupkee]

update from this weekend. progress is slow, generally a couple of hours a day

finished off the roof and took the doors and guards off. So happy to work on older, simpler cars. bolts are all in predictable accessible places!






worst bit so far found some hidden treats in the sills, not too bad, steel patchs will just be simple angles so far!



and some random pics

Benchy!!

back seat with no rips! just the top piece/material missing

[Krupkee]

Haven't done too much last few weeks

Removed interior and started on sound deadening, almost done just one side to tidy up. bit of rust, only 1 pin hole though
before:

after:


Attempted to weld in a patch, did heaps of practice and thought I had it decent, got the patch tacked in nicely, then cleaned it up and went to fill in the holes and just blew through, then got angry so left it. Hard to see the patch but parts of it was fused nicely, ah well I have bought an angle die grinder to make cleaning up the weld easier and have a few different things to try. Attempt below (don't laugh ), will be cutting this out and re-doing


Picked up a parts car, apparantly its a 1970 bought new in Whangarei (still has sticker) was obviously a farm car as lots of hay in it, very tidy in some bits. Was raining when picked up so it was the first time its seen rain in 20+ years of storage. in my parents shed at the moment.

Seat pics for Dave





Original colour


and an early badge in good nick! wooo


The parts im most happy about, if you look behind the hay thecondition of the carpets is strangely good!


trunk of bits:

Bumper set:


if anyone needs bits they can see give me a pm

[Glenn]

RE WELDING.....it's always tough to weld into an area with rust, trying to fill pin holes etc. Clean the surface of rust if possible first.

If you can find a block or strip of thickish copper, hole it underneath while welding..... the MIG weld won't stick to the copper and you won't usually blow through a hole.

[Stickman]

Parts car looks too good for parts
Looks pretty tidy, better then some of my rebuilders anyway

[Stickman]

RE WELDING.....
If you can find a block or strip of thickish copper, hole it underneath while welding..... the MIG weld won't stick to the copper and you won't usually blow through a hole.

This tip works a treat.
A mate of mine told me this one a few years back and it works well.