The Radiator Cap August 2019

The
Radiator Cap
August 2019 Newsletter
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COMMITTEE MEMBERS
2019
Chairman Anne Richardson 09 425 6298 / 021 277 9010 ricanne@gmail.com
Secretary Peter Yarham 09 422 9685 pyarham@xtra.co.nz
Treasurer Dave Oliver 09 945 0512 / 027 443 8046 ollie.d@gmail.com
Club Captain Paul Hodder 09 422 4067 / 027 473 4350 4hodders@gmail.com
CC’s Team Neil Cremer 09 425 4955 neilmtf@xtra.co.nz
CC’s Team Frances Ross 09 425 8737
Rep to ExCo Anne Richardson 09 425 6298 / 021 277 9010 ricanne@gmail.com
Hospitality Anne & Dennis A: 021 214 2267 D: 021 265 2466 annedenmac@gmail.com
Convenors McDonald
Social Convenor Neil & Lucy Cremer 09 425 4955 neilmtf@xtra.co.nz
Property George Lloyd 09 425 7622 yorksandlancs@gmail.com
Supervisors Doug Hamilton 09 425 6139 doug.hamil@xtra.co.nz
Health & Safety Brian Payne 09 425 9262 banddpayne@xtra.co.nz
Vehicle ID James Lawrie 09 425 9928 gloria-james-lawrie@xtra.co.nz
Motorcycle Rep Dave Oliver 09 945 0512 / 027 443 8046 ollie.d@gmail.com
Librarian Frances Ross 09 425 8737
Editor/Reporter Chris Harvey 09 422 2662 / 022 365 0171 chris.harvey@westnet.com.au
Badges Dave Oliver 09 945 0512 / 027 443 8046 ollie.d@gmail.com
Add. Member Leon Salt 09 423 8122 / 027 423 8122 brendda@xtra.co.nz
Add. Member Brendda Salt 09 423 8122 brendda@xtra.co.nz
Branch address PO Box 547, Warkworth 0941
wellsfordwarkworth@vcc.org.nz
Bank a/c BNZ 02-0480-0047413-000 Visit our website at
VERO agency No. 0300159
www.vcc-wellswark.org.nz
VERO free phone 0800 658 411
The deadline for contributions to the Newsletter is the 23rd of the month.
The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily the views of the Branch.
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Wed 7 Aug
Thu 8 Aug
Wed 14 Aug
Thu 15 Aug
Sun 25 Aug
Wed 4 Sep
Thu 12 Sep
Wed 18 Sep
Thu 19 Sep
Sun 22 Sep
12:00 Mid-week café lunch at the new Bayside Café, Snell’s Beach
17:30 Club Night—Prizegiving after Bangers & Mash dinner
10:00 Cleaning & Coffee
19:00 Club Committee meeting
DAFFODIL DAY RALLY: participants & volunteers contact Club Captain
12:00 Mid-week Café lunch at The Wade Hotel, Silverdale
17:30 Club Night
Cleaning & Coffee
19:00 Club Committee meeting
Sunday Run
Wed 2 Oct 12:00 Midweek Café lunch then Summerset Falls Golden Day at 14:30
Thu 10 Oct
Wed 16 Oct
Thu 17 Oct
Sun 27 Oct
17.30 Club Night
10:00 Cleaning & Coffee
19:00 Club Committee meeting
Coast to Coast
Midweek café lunches at Snell’s Beach 7th August and Silverdale 4th September.
Bangers & Mash for dinner on Club Night 8 August before the Prizegiving: $5 at the door.
Please help with Cleaning & Coffee on Wednesdays 14 Aug, 18 Sept & 16 Oct.
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CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
T
he Winter Woollies Wander was blessed with a beautiful day. The feedback from
participants was good and the change of venue for the dinner seems to be popular
too. We will be looking carefully at the accounts for the weekend as it looks as
if we will make a loss for the first time in a long while. We need to be sure we learn so this
doesn’t happen next year, although it is not intended that we make a profit. We were happy
to host the North Island Club Captain Kaaren Smylie and her husband. They took part in
the Rally and presented the prizes for us. Thank you to all those who helped make the rally
a success; too many to mention.
We now look forward to August. The details are elsewhere in this newsletter so look for
the information so you can enjoy our activities. I hope many of you will come to the Annual
Prize Giving evening and support those who have won trophies since July last year.
The National Rally for Cancer has become an important event for us, so please give it your
full support either as a participant or helper. We are trying hard to make Warkworth Town
Wharf the place to be on 25 August and for car enthusiasts and the public to fill our buckets
with money.
We are continuing to look at how we engage with you, and will be updating the branch
members’ information soon. We will need to up-date the information we have so that it is
accurate when first distributed. Peter is setting up a pack of information to give to all new
members so they can get involved and meet fellow vehicle enthusiasts.
It won’t be long now until spring arrives. I hope to have a “going” motor this season. It
takes a lot of TLC to keep our steeds in good form, so I guess these last cold days are being
used to maintain and repair them to be ready for action- and polish them after the Winter
Woollies Wander! Happy and Safe Motoring:
Anne
__________________________________________________________________________
OBITUARY—SHARYN WILSON
Our Branch lost a member on July 11th. Sharyn Wilson, one of our more recent members,
suffered a stroke and passed away. She was remembered by a large gathering of her family
and friends at the Warkworth Bowling Club on Friday July 19th. Some members will recall
Sharyn and her husband David, attending the last Branch Picnic at Mahurangi, on the
Nicolls farm, in their Ford Falcon V8. They also attended one of our dinner evenings together.
She was a fun loving person, and a loving wife to David. James Lawrie
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CLUB CAPTAIN’S REPORT
T
his month’s mid-week cafe run was on 3rd of July and saw a good number of
members cruise out to Omaha for lunch at The Farmer’s Daughter.
Then, on the 6th of July, after a week of atrocious weather, the day dawned fine,
clear and crispy for the Winter Woollies Rally. Approximately 50 cars were entered from
various clubs and were treated to 115 miles worth of scenic highlights of our area. We had
a wonderful lunch at the Tapora School that was followed by an excellent dinner and prizegiving
at the Warkworth Golf Club. Congratulations to everyone involved in getting this
event organised and making it the success it turned out to be. The Sunday morning saw a
drive out to the Morris & James pottery at Matakana and then back to the clubrooms for
lunch and a review of the previous day’s efforts.
As to events coming up…
• Mid-week cafe run will be to the Bayside Cafe in Snell’s Beach at 12:00 noon on
Wednesday 7th September.
• Club night, which is also our annual prize-giving, will be on Thursday 15th of August.
• Daffodil Day Rally, raising money for Cancer Society will be on Sunday 25th of August.
All participants should arrive at the Caffeine & Classics display at Smales Farm, Takapuna
around 10:00am. Check out the cars, register for the run and then away at 11:15 for the
run back to Warkworth and the display at the Wharf. For those who would like to display
cars at the Wharf in Warkworth, but choose not to do the run from Smales Farm, please be
at the Wharf by 11:00 am. Please contact me if you wish to help with any of the arrangements
for the rally, ether in Takapuna or Warkworth.
May all the hills be downhills…
Till next time, Paul
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R’OILCAN RALLY
A
s the Waitemata branch’s R’oilcan Rally was heading north this year, Brendda
and I decided to join in. We had a chilly 7.00 a.m. start from the Dairy Flat air
port, conforming to the rule that all vehicles participating must have their hoods
down for the duration of the rally. At the briefing we were advised that applications to
raise the hood at any stage during the event could be made, in triplicate, to the organisers
but approval may not necessarily be given.
Motoring north to Waiwera, with a clear sky dawning, we then followed much of the same
route the Winter
Woollies took just a
week earlier. An early
challenge was staying
on the road as both
sides of the windscreen
fogged up
climbing the hills.
Sunstrike added to
the fun. Dropping into
second gear eased
the load on the engine,
allowing the vacuum
wiper to do its
best on the outside.
The potholes had not received any attention since we had last driven these roads. We departed
from the Winter Woollies route on Old Wookcocks Rd, taking Old Kaipara Rd, passing
a small group surreptitiously trying to extricate their vehicle from the drain unnoticed,
before climbing Smythe Rd to follow the road through the Mahurangi Forest, emerging on
SH 1 in the Dome Valley.
Morning tea, with welcome hot soup, was at Tomarata School. From there we headed
north over Ryan and Pritchard Rds and took Cove Rd through to Waipu Cove. We diverted
around through McLean Rd, passed through Waipu and straight across SH 1 to follow the
road up past the Waipu Caves, emerging briefly onto SH 1 at Mangapai before heading for
the lunch stop at the Maungakaramea Rugby Club.
The afternoon run took us across to Maungatapere then north to the Hikurangi Swamp area
where we took a private farm road along the top of the stopbanks, emerging close to
Hikurangi. From there we motored out toward Whananaki North before turning south to
finally come on to the Ngunguru – Whangarei Rd then heading for our accommodation at
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R’OILCAN RALLY—CONTINUED
the Discovery Lodge Motel in Whangarei. Some took a longer route over Mt Tiger to enter
Whangarei on the Whangarei Heads Rd.
It was a great run put together by Stan and Gilly Smith and team - a sort of Far North Tour
on steroids. It helped that the drizzly rain that appeared during the afternoon didn’t develop
enough to dampen anyone’s spirits.
The dinner was a formal affair. Prizes were awarded using some secret formula, the winner
needing to be someone who has not set a R’oilcan previously. Other measures which qualify
a winner remain quite obscure. Similarly with the award for the best presented vehicle.
How we won this award when lined up alongside Sunbeams, Rileys, MGs, a Talbot or two, a
Hotchkiss and a Bugatti defies logic. It could be something to do with the quantity of oil
left by each vehicle at the lunch stop or something… Leon
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CLUB CAR OF THE MONTH
IAN’S AUSTIN 3 LITRE
W
ay back in 1971, whilst operating a motor garage business in the small town
of Matamata, an Austin 3 Litre arrived at our workshop with an engine fault.
Our brief was to smooth out an annoying miss in the motor. I had never seen
this model before and after successfully retuning the engine I road tested the car. I was
astounded at the ride and comfort of this machine. Time moved on and l guess I forgot all
about this drive in 1971.
In 2015 a Chrysler collector friend from Tauranga, who generally attends the Christchurch
swap meet, looked at an Austin 3 Litre for sale in Christchurch. The short end of this story
is that, after a tense family meeting, we jumped on a plane and bought this car from Peter
Harris in Christchurch. Peter is an Austin collector but after the earthquake was downsizing.
We drove it home: that in itself was a great adventure. The engine and other parts
leaked copious amounts of oil and overheated on every upward incline. The go was to
keep our speed up on the easy terrain and to use minimum throttle on the inclines. The
backup plan was we bought a 6 pack of 1-5 litre bottles of water and if we were losing in
the temperature stakes I trickled water over the radiator. This worked well and we arrived
home without frying the beast.
At this stage the managing director (Eileen) wasnʼt convinced we had a bargain. I think the
incessant rattle in the left front door put her off a bit but It was a telltale that we were
moving, although disappointing. The car needed lots of work but has good bones. Three or
so years later I like to think it’s coming along, aside from this. Iʼve become a little addicted
8

AUSTIN 3 LITRE—CONTINUED
to these Austins. My plan for this car is to keep the machine as original as possible but
have no mechanical defects. I guess Iʼve overhauled almost everything . The paint is pretty
well original and has what is called patina: it is apparently cool to have patina these days
and we now enjoy traveling in this car.
The Austin 3 Litre, the last luxury Austin to be manufactured, some say was an orphan:
maybe, but l like it. There is a lot of engineering in these cars that made them expensive
so price was against them, plus the development was stalled meaning that the body style
was out of date at production time. This was at the beginning of the amalgamation of
British Motor Corporation with Leyland Motors to form British Leyland. Just imagine
sitting in the boardroom and competing with all of the other brands in the stable: Morris,
MG ,Wolseley, Riley , Rover, Triumph, Jaguar. Wouldnʼt it be a butchers picnic? Anyhow in
1971 , driving down the road in that Austin 3 Litre, I was impressed and still like this car for
its ride and handling enough to have bought a few more of them. Yep, Iʼm a collector, and
will always be a petrol head . The good thing about working on old cars is that we can fix
them up in the back shed—no computer needed. Ian
The Austin 3 Litre looks like an Austin 1800 that was simply extended front and rear but in
fact it was developed in the early sixties as a very different car, being a replacement for the
conventional Austin A110 Westminster. BMC needed a ’big Austin’ to compete with the
likes of Jaguar and Rover in the market for executive cars but cost constraints at the time of
the amalgamation of the BMC brands into British Leyland along with Rover, Jaguar and Triumph
dictated cost savings so the very rigid and spacious central body of the Austin 1800,
along with its distinctive doors and windows, formed the basis of the car. The FWD E/W 4-
cylinder engine of the 1800 gave way to a conventional RWD N/S 6-cylinder engine. Styling
was always contentious, but the car was very spacious—even with the transmission tunnel
required by RWD—and with its self-levelling Hydrolastic suspension the car set a new
standard for road holding and ride comfort which is still remarkable today, 50 years later.
9

DEFIBRILLATOR
10

MYSTERY MOTORS
W
hat car is this?
Last month’s Mystery Motor was the Aurus Senat, the new Russian luxury
vehicle which has taken over from the long-serving ZIL as the ride of the Russian
government officials. Developed with technical input from Porsche and Bosch, it has a
4.4 litre bi-turbo V8 and a 6.6 litre V12 is still in development. It will be available as a sedan,
minivan, SUV, cabriolet (perfect for taking the salute at Mayday parades) and as a
6,200 kg armoured limousine like the one in the picture, which is President Putin’s official
car. Styling reminiscent of the Rolls-Royce Phantom is surely not coincidental. Expect to
see more of these imposing cars ferrying tin-pot dictators around the third world.
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NEW MEMBERS
We welcome the following new members to the Club and hope they will enjoy participating
in the various events we organise:
Jim & Kathy Honeybone
Brian Becroft
Tania Smith
__________________________________________________________________________
WINTER WOOLLIES WANDER
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Visit www.vcc-wellswark.org.nz/winter-woollies-wander-2019/ for many more photos.
13

Low Pressure
Exterior
Cleaning
• Moss & Lichen
Control
Exterior Insect
Control
Contact us today for a free quote!
Phone: 027 275 0080
09 425 8747 or 09 426 2314
Email: chemwash@rosscoltd.co.nz
14

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Sales.warkworth@guthriebowron,co.nz Tel 09 425 8187 Fax 09 425 8585
If undelivered return to PO Box 547 Warkworth 0941
ADDRESS
STAMP
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