Heinkel Scooter Project

Monday, July 9, 2018

Tatra Restoration update

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a naive Tatra owner placed his Tatraplan in the hands of his mechanic friends for some general maintenance which ended up stretching out for two years. The details of the saga can be found in this post http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/tatra-restoration.html

We are now at the end of the saga. The gearbox was finally rebuilt and returned to Classic Gasoline for installation in December 2017. I can appreciate the point of view of the gearbox reconditioning service. They did not want to proceed with the reconditioning of a gearbox that was in such poor condition as the end product may not reflect well on them. Their insistence on NOS parts was understandable but the supply of NOS Tatraplan gearbox parts has long since dried up and everyone must live with what they have.

Anyway, what's done is done and that includes the gearbox. When the guys started the reassembly we realized the engine mounts were toast so once again I had to go back to Czechoslovakia for parts. That took a couple more months of waiting.

The engine out and in the shop.

The new mounts finally went in but the clutch was so worn that a new one was required. Fortunately a Volkswagen clutch was fine. The flywheel required remachining.

The rear brakes, which had been damaged by leaking gearbox oil were refurbished.

And finally, after a little over two years the Tatra has finally returned home in running condition. There are still a few issues to iron out and the gearbox will take some getting used to, but I can now drive and enjoy it at last.

After its first long drive. It really is a wonderful, handsome car. I can't help feeling lucky being its custodian.

Just as a point of interest, when we stripped the car for painting we discovered its original colour was dark green, as in this example in Ireland. Silver has become the standard for Tatras these days but dark green is a very nice colour.

For more of Tatra posts check out my dedicated Tatra blog: https://tatrat600.blogspot.com/

Friday, March 30, 2018

Shannon's Classic Car Show Report 2018

Here are some of the photos I took on the day. Unfortunately I was so busy during the day that I really didn't get good photos of everything. Lots more photos can be found on the Facebook event page https://www.facebook.com/events/1896150347373925/permalink/2039678419687783/ I've also included a couple of photos from other people with appropriate notation.

The Motor Museum Holden's marks the beginning of the queue, which would be steady all day.

The combined displays by the Corvette Club and National Corvette Restorers greeted visitors.

Caretta Caravans www.caretta-australia.com/

Viva Photography Balcatta https://www.vivaphotography.com.au/viva_team_categories/wa/balcatta/

Kitty's Kisses cosmetics https://www.facebook.com/KittysKisses.SeneGence/

Belle Classic Limousines

https://www.belle.net.au/

Perth Soapbox Racers Club https://perthsoapboxclub.org/

Vintage Wireless and Gramophone Club http://vwgc.org.au/

eBikers electric bicycles https://www.ebikers.com.au/

America West http://americawest.net.au/

Richards Tyrepower - one of our event sponsors.

Richards are a supplier of vintage and classic tyre styles www.richardstyrepower.com.au/

The Bus Preservation Society put on a magnificent display of four buses. www.bpswa.org

1951 Guy Arab Mk III 101 and 1962 Leyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster 452 ex MTT.

1949 Leyland Tiger OPS 4/1 Tow Wagon 4.

1949 Leyland Tiger Metro 81

The buses drew big crowds all day

Riley Club

Vauxhall Club

Vauxhalls

English Ford Club and Vauxhall Club

Austin Motor Club

Austin military ambulance

Model A Ford Restorers Club

The Model A Club put on a great display of 45 cars to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Model A

Some of the cars were projects or barn finds, which added interest to the display.

Historic Commercial Vehicle Club

This 1966 Toyota Stout is a rare survivor. The car still sports the company's original logo, Toyopet.

A ring of VW kombis. It was a welcome return of the VW Club of WA to the Classic Car Show. The club had not participated in the show for several years.

Celebrating the 80h anniversary of the Volkswagen Beetle was this 1952 VW Kafer Standard Export model restored to outstandingly original condition.

The car was part of a shipment to the British colony of Rhodesia in 1952.

Buick Club

Queues for food

Targa West Rally display

Targa West

Cadillac-La Salle

The Cadillac-La Salle Club had a premium spot under cover

These beasts needed extra space

Fiat-Lancia Club

Here I am working with the excellent team from of Kalamunda Community Radio KCR 102.5fm.

I think this is one of the most iconic photos of the day from Chris Karapetkoff of the Rotary Car Club of WA.

The Monaro Club had a prime position in front of the grandstand. They put on an excellent display.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Holden Monaro

Holden Monaro display

We placed the Holden Torana GTR XU1 club next to the Monaros.

Holden Torana GTR-XU1

Austin-Healey Owners Club

The little Austin-Healey - the Sprite

Great to see seven Leyland P76s on display. The car has an unfortunate and undeserved reputation as a lemon.

Jensen Owners Club

The Australian Electric Vehicle Association were a newcomer to the show and put on a fine display of Teslas and other electric vehicles. This Tesla drew a huge crowd who watched it automatically open its doors and turn on automated features.

The Vintage Sports Car Club debuted this 1966 Caversham sportscar at the show. The Caversham was a locally built kit racecar. This is the only survivor of the dozen or so made.

Ford Thunderbird

1972 Javelin

Sportscar Builders Association

Sportscar Builders

The Chevrolet Club

The Holden Club of WA

HSV Owners Club

FPV-Tickford Club

Lamborghini Club of WA were a late but popular RSVP

Triumph Car Club

MG Club

Rover Club

Landrover Mob

Jaguar Club

FB-EK Holden Club

Ford Club

Ford Customline

A fine display by the EH Holden Club of WA

There was quite a turnout of these iconic Australian cars.

A real blast from my past - a Datsun Bluebird. My first car was a 1968 Datsun Bluebird, the model prior to this one. It was a great little car with Japanese reliability and European styling.

The Patron Beverage Co with their Citroen H Van did a roaring trade.

The tables and umbrellas provided welcome relief for exhibitors and visitors

French and Fantastic

Two lovely Citroen Traction Avants

The Traction Avants

Renault 4CV

The trio of 4CVs and the Swedish built Fuldamobil

Two BMW Isettas - note how different they are in body and fittings

Part of SIVA's microcar display. We pulled out all the stops and probably got the largest number of microcars together in Western Australia.

The Fuldamobil and Renault 4CV

Diahatsu Jet. It's probably a surprise to many people how rare these small commercials really are. Most were used, abused and then thrown away. Survivors are very rare.

Scooter row - here is a Heinkel Tourist, Lambretta LD, Puch Alpine and another Lambretta.

Fiat Multipla

NSU Prinz III

Heinkel-Trojan and the Messerschmitts. A definite crowd favourite.

A Czechoslovakian Velorex. These were the budget car of Czechoslovakia - a Jawa motorcycle engine in a metal cage with leatherette bodywork pinned on with press-studs.