Black Betty

[Farmer]

The sudden demise of my '85 Crown has brought a sense of urgency to getting this factory black '67 sedan mobile. I've got 3 weeks till school goes back & I don't have a shopping buggy.
Here is a 'before' photo of the Crown, but I don't have an 'after' till I go to visit it in the Pickles yard. Story is, I lent it to a mate and she got crossed-up in the dirt, went through a clump of wattles, a fence, over a bank & did a 270 deg. roll into a dry creek bed. Good news is neither her or her 2 kids were hurt, and, yes, I did have some insurance. Car is not so good - a bit outa shape.

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So it might seem strange giving cars names, but it's easier than saying "the black one, the grey one, the bit darker grey one, the goldy-browny- rusty one" etc.
So "Black Betty" was brought down to me from Inverell with buckets full of spares by a nice bloke named Eric. He swapped me for some Austin A-105 parts Gary C had. (I did some fencing for him to pay for the parts).
As delivered-

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I've made a start! will post more soon.

Cheers, Matt.

[PR95]

Hi Matt, Sorry to hear about you Crown, the main thing is nobody was hurt, I understand what you you are saying aboit naming cars, Gt Orphanage and I have a fleet of Trucks and Service vans and TOYS that all have names, even our accountant knows them by name (hows that). Anyway all the best with your new project and we look forward to seeing Black Beauty come to life.

[bembokabellettbloke]

just spoke to Matt and he is hard at work on it now......

[Farmer]

Well I've made a start. The car came with 4 new wheel cylinders & all new brake linings. Master cyl is out & at a mates to get honed. Fit the kit & I should have stoppers. I'd started the motor previously & ran it up & down the driveway - clutch, gears etc. seem good. No sump pressure or exh smoke from the '66 1/2 vintage 3 bearing motor. Fitted new rack boots & a tie rod end, thermostat, heater tap & hoses, speedo cable.
Next step, strip out interior.
Dash not bad, just the 2 'normal' cracks.

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Rear seatback re-upholstered (it's black)

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Now for the front ones...

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No holes! Just a few surface patches to convert.

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[RobSA]

That rear seat looks very neat.
Was it reasonable price?

The picture of the floor is very helpful : )

Cheers
Rob

[dave]

Why are the photos called '50th anniversary'??!?!?

[BELLQLD]

geez that rear seat looks a cracker ....rob from sa obviously likes it also you dont stop do you regards dave keep up good work

[Farmer]

Yeah, the seat is pretty nice - $215 - O.K. I reckon.
Had to make a second trip into town with some cactus early buckets to donate springs as one had lotsa broken ones.
Observant type, Dave. The pics are in a file with ones of Tracy's Mum & Dad's 50th wedding anniversary on Jan 2nd. (Was a great day!)
Cheers, Matt

[Farmer]

Decided to paint it myself after getting 2 prices - $6000 & $10000. Don't got $6000!! Sand, chip out putty,tap tap tap, fill (little bit), sand, chip-out old windscreen sealant (real hard), sand, sand. Knees getting sore, Neck a bit achey, Matt getting old! Glad it's a Bellett, not a Dodge!
1 week to blue slip.
Time for sleep.
Matt.

[PR91]

doing well matt!!
and the worst part of painting a car is the prep, espech the rubbing down....... hate it with a passion!!
the results of patience is worth it tho. and the achievement of doing it yourself is the best part!!

1 q tho... why have i now got spiderbait in my ears...................??
whoa black betty, bam ba lam.
whoa black betty, bam ba lam.
black betty had a child, bam ba lam.
damn thing gone wild, bam ba lam.................

[mrflibbles]

we need more pics! congrats on doing the paint yourself, i tend to get over any sort of bodywork real quick and end up spraying it all flat black! cant wait to see her done! just a shame the tojo got wrecked for it to happen.

[Farmer]

Yeah mate, Spiderbait beats the original (still good) Ram Jam version from 1977. That could have been beating out of the AM in my red '65 sedan while I was on 'P' plates
Took a few pics this morning of Betty getting naked -

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Very more naked now. Zero rust around the windscreen.
Fun, fun, fun!
Cheers, Matt.

[oz_toffa]

That is a great job your doing Matt.
Rob and i spent six weeks getting my wife 67 sedan to a undercoat stage and we had 6 of us in on one sat doing had rubbing of the cheap crap paint job back to original paint. They (previous cheap bastards) didnt even remove the bumpers to spray it!
Still needs more finishing off but it sure looked good for the Bay to Birdwood.
I had 3 mates and myself in it for the day and it ran sweet as. Did have to invest in some good foam to put over the stuffed seats for the day.
Keep those photos coming. Always great to see a re-build in the making. Even can encourage others to take the plung.

chris SA

[GTtoo]

Hi Matt, as mentioned in a previuos pm to you, your resourcefulness, persistance and dedication is second to none. I guess it's the same story: tools, time, dosh and lots of ELBOW GREASE Will be great to see her finished,

Go, ooo, Black Betty, Bam, ba lam Balam

B.

What's with the other Belletts in the back ground, the GT ??

[PR95]

Yeah Matt whats with GT in the background?, BB looking good.
Regards Geoff

[dave]

Hey Matt,

Just wanted to say that I've never seen a factory black Bellett in the metal here in Australia, but I've seen some brochure photos and they look just perfect in black, especially the early model with the shiny chrome grille!

So muchly so are they awesome, I quietly considered painting my early sedan black, but it was factory white and I didn't want to change the engine bay... then they painted it the wrong white anyway (stark white, not a nice creamy white).

It'll look awesome!

Cheers,


Dave

[Farmer]

Thanks for all the encouragement, you guys.
6 weeks to prepare would be nice, chris, as would 5 mates to help on any saturday. No wonder you got such a good clean job! I just have me, but at least I have just about every sander ever invented! Abrasive nylon brushy thing in drill good for where it had to go back to bare - sills, skirt, around screen, crow-footy & thick nikki bits.

Yeah, thats the G.T. in the background, with the barn find. (This is our carport - Tracy's sube has to sit out in the weather! ) G.T. is a bigger project, it's been sprayed silver & is crazed all over so will have to go back to bare. It is however completely rust free & 99% complete. (short 3 badges) I want a top job on this one - better than I can do! Perhaps my spray painter nephew might like to come for a visit sometime! (Please )

But the Wasp is in line first!!

Betty is temporarily not black -

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Cheers, Matt

[Farmer]

Hmmm, try again with the pics.

[Farmer]

Yeah Dave, Factory blacks are a bit thin on the ground these days, but I've actually had 2 before, one became my sister's first car & she learned to drive in it. The other had been G.T equipped - motor, brakes, suspension, etc., but with a lumpier cam. Didn't have it long, 'cause I took a Studebaker driving mate for a run in it. Near our place was a familiar set of 'S' bends over a creek crassing. As we approached he grabbed onto the dash & roof, but I managed to set it about right & it slipped through nicely. Then we turned round & went back again (to show it wasn't a fluke). When we got home he said "I want that car & I wanna go racing in it!"
He made me an offer I couldn't refuse!
Later he bought my LWB Wasp to tow it to track meets.
Yeah, chrome shows up nice on black, as do mags. Hmmmm.

[RobSA]

Hmmm ...

"Rob and i spent six weeks getting my wife 67 sedan to a undercoat stage"

I seem to remember it was more like 2 weeks of insane body work to undercoat !!!!

After Feb, I've got 8 months to get Bella ready : S

Cheers
Rob