December 2009 - Aston Martin Owners Club Victoria

Area Representative Secretary Editor Treasurer & Events
& President Membership Secretary Co-ordinator
Neil Boothroyd Richard Counsel Richard Counsel Jason Vochala Tony Smith
39 Camelot Drv 21 St Georges Ave 21 St Georges Ave 4 th Floor 124 Exhibition 1 Elphin Grv
Glen Waverly. 3150 Templestowe. 3106 Templestowe. 3106 Melbourne 3000 Hawthorn. 3122
Ph 9887 7820 a/h Ph 9846 4085 a/h Ph 9846 4085 a/h Ph 9654 6670 Ph 9819 1015 a/h
Club Website: http://www.astonmartin.org.au
Volume 10, Number 3 December 2009.doc
DIARY OF EVENTS Page 2
EDITORIAL COMMENT Page 2
PRES SAYS Page 3
TONY, AND HEATHER’S GIPPSLAND RUN Page 4
THE 2009 BAY TO BIRDWOOD CLASSIC Page 5
TECHNICAL. THE SU FUEL PUMP Page 8
THE 2009 RUN TO THREDBO Page 10
A MEETING WITH SIR STIRLING MOSS Page 14
THE 2009 CLUB CONCOURS Page 15
Published Quarterly By
The Aston Martin Owners Club Victoria Register Incorporated, 21 St Georges Ave, Templestowe.
3106.
Contributors Please Note
Inclusions for next edition should be emailed to the Editor by the second Monday of the month
(March, June, September and December) at the email address vk3ylz@bigpond.net.au to ensure
publication. Articles preferred in MS Word, or text format. The articles & views published in Running
AMOC are of the authors & are not those necessarily of the Editor or Committee of Aston Martin
Owners Club. Permission to reproduce any of the contents of this magazine should be sought through
the Editor as a courtesy to the authors and artists.
RUNNING AMOC December 2009.doc Page 1 of 1

Jan 17 th RACV Great Australian Rally.
Melbourne to Mornington Racecourse.
Jan 26 th RACV Great Australian Picnic.
Domain gardens Melbourne.
Feb 2 nd Dinner Meeting
Venue. Emerald Hotel, 415 Clarendon Street . St. Sth
Melb. 6.30 pm
Feb 14 th Picnic at Hanging Rock. Hanging Rock Racecourse.
Meet at 8.30 am at Calder Park Racetrack.
Feb 28 th
Classic Showcase.
Formerly the British and European car showcase.
Venue. Flemington Racecourse members car park.
Enter off Epsom Rd.
March 2 nd Dinner Meeting
Venue. Emerald Hotel, 415 Clarendon Street . St. Sth
Melb. 6.30 pm
Well…. It’s the end of another year, and certainly in my case, quite a few miles extra
on AML-8’s odometer. There have been a good number of club events over the last
12 months with varying levels of support. I only personally managed to miss one! It
was great to see the “Regulars”, and the odd “Cameo” come and support the efforts of
the various organisers. When I first joined the club, club runs were rare, and I quite
often heard comments about the lack of runs held. I think in the last 4 or so years, the
club has “Bucked” this trend, with at least something on each month. I hope this can
continue. I think the hardest thing over time will be to find different ideas, and avoid
going over old ground. I know many of our members have a foot in more than one
camp, so if you hear of, or participate in another club’s run, let a committee member
know so we can maybe plagiarize it.
All the best to everyone for Christmas, and New Year, with Bronwyn and I hoping to
see you all fit and healthy in 2010.
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As the sun sets on 2009 we can look back at the great year we have had,
Membership keeps going from strength to strength we now have around 60 members.
We had many enjoyable outings together including the various RACV Rallies early in
the year, the Phillip Island Classic in March and the British and European Car day at
Flemington in May. Some great day trips were organized by members including Ian
and Margaret Bell’s run down to Phillip Island in April, Brendan Quinn’s run down
the Peninsula with the Ferrari club in June, In September we had Sal and my run to
the Bellarine Peninsula, and late in the month the Bay to Birdwood Rally in South
Australia. Tony and Heather took us on a great run around Gippsland in October and
later in the month we spent a fantastic weekend at Thredbo with our friends from
NSW and the ACT. Last month we held our concour at RipponLea Estate and I for
one was very impressed with the dedication of the 45 members who bought along 16
Astons and braved Melbourne’s wettest day for 4 years. Congratulations again to
Marc Marantz whose beautiful 2/4 won our Leigh Bennett memorial trophy for 2009,
and Richard Counsel taking out this years “Miles Award” very convincingly.
Last but not least we all congratulate Vyvian and Deb Hirons who tied the knot in
August.
I continue to quote our recipe for success,
Beautiful cars, Good food, Good Wine and the most important of all Great
people!
On a personal note I would like to thank my fellow committee members, Richard,
Jason, Chris, Barry and Tony for their support throughout the year.
Sal and I would like to wish each and every one of you a very enjoyable Christmas
and a safe start to 2010.
See you at the Emerald on the 2 nd of February 2010
Report on Tony, and Heather’s Gippsland run
Words by Neil Boothroyd. Pictures by Bronwyn Ballantyne.
I don’t know how he does it but once again perfect weather for a Tony organized run,
I think he must have a direct line to the weather gods.
The run kicked off at Brandon park with the group comprising Frank and Yolaine in
the AM V8 Richard and Bronwyn in their AM V8, Jason, Bruna and Lucy in
their DBS, Sal and I in ours and Tony and Heather in the DB7 Volante .
Once underway we headed down the Monash Freeway and Princess Highway to our
morning tea stop at Drouin. Whilst enjoying a cup of coffee and the sunshine Dave
Thompson from Sale arrived, Dave had been attending a motorcycle show and had
deviated from his trip home to join our run.
Once we had stretched our legs, filled up and unfilled we were off again winding our
way through the Gippsland country side travelling through picturesque towns such as
Athlone and Poowong (unfortunate name but a nice town).
RUNNING AMOC December 2009.doc Page 3 of 3

Brandon Park starting point.
The next leg of the run was along the South Gippsland Highway through Korumburra
And Leongatha and then some great winding roads through the lower slopes of the
Strzelecki ranges and into Meeniyan for our lunch stop.
We had a very enjoyable lunch in the courtyard of a small bookshop come Café where
we were joined by the Dempseys who had driven over from Maffra.
Everyone enjoying their meal.
Mid afternoon Sal and I said our goodbyes and headed back along the South Gippy
Hwy to Melbourne, once we were out from under Tony’s special weather spell it
started to rain…. Oh well the wire wheels needed a clean anyway!
As usual all our requirements for a great run were present,
Great cars, good food, good wine, and most of all good company.
Thanks Tony and Heather, once again a very enjoyable day.
RUNNING AMOC December 2009.doc Page 4 of 4

Report on the 2009 Bay To Birdwood Classic – Adelaide.
Words by Richard Counsel. Pictures by Bronwyn Ballantyne.
The trip to Adelaide started a day earlier than first planned. The weather was windy,
and at times we were driving into quite heavy rain through the western district of
Victoria.
Our first stop was Horsham for fuel…. But not before a quick look through a nice
little junk joint on the Melbourne side of town.
Our next planned stop would be Keith in SA, and as it turned out, we were able to
time it for some dry, and warmer conditions to enjoy a somewhat late lunch stop.
As we approached Talem Bend, a quick check of the fuel situation suggested an
unbroken run through to Adelaide might be pushing our luck, so another fuel stop.
While filling up at the local petrol station, a one armed, tattoo covered, long bearded
bloke dressed in a Tee shirt with a skull and cross bone emblazoned on the front, who
looked like he would be at home on a Harley approached me. “Nice car mate… “Just
seen one of these in a shed”. He went on to explain he had just purchased an FJ
Holden from a chap that had a green AMV8 sitting in his shed. He also went on to tell
me he too was entered in the rally, in fact he had 27 cars entered. After a lengthy
discussion, and the offer of car wash, and polish when we arrive at the start point of
the rally on Sunday, Bron and I headed off. What a genuine, and decent bloke… You
can never judge a book by its cover!
The remainder of the trip was fairly uneventful, arriving in Adelaide slap bang in peak
hour to join the crawl along Portrush Rd. We had passed numerous cars and convoys
on our way, clearly coming over for the rally.
After a relaxing day on Friday, and cleaning the car, it was off to our usual Friday
night pilgrimage to the central market to stock up on food for Saturday’s lunch, and
our picnic hamper for Sunday.
Neil, and Sally Boothroyd were also joining us, and had made it to Horsham on
Friday night, and due for lunch on Saturday.
They made it to Adelaide by late Saturday arvo, and arrived for a late lunch after
taking the scenic route via the Coonawarra valley to Keith.
Henley Beach - Rally start.
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The day of the rally arrived, and as predicted (Months in advance), the weather was
very overcast, with rain pending. After meeting up with Neil, and Sally, we headed to
the start point in a giant playing field near Henley Beach. Entrants were converging
from all directions, as we were shepherded to our parking spot. This year they were
reported to have had 1750 entrants, with 150 latecomers turned away. Yes.. I was in
long pants!
After a wander around checking out the amazing collection of makes and models, the
convoy started to move out. The route was unchanged from previous years. In spite of
the chilly conditions, the spectators still turned out in large numbers to watch the cars.
The only change this year, was the normal road closures allowing one way traffic
between Tea Tree Gully, and Birdwood, had been abandoned, with it remaining 2 way
traffic. I had predicted this would cause “kaos”, and although not good, we managed
ok.
Picnic time at Birdwood.
On arrival at Birdwood, we were ushered into our parking place, where we set up to
enjoy some lovely food. Late afternoon, the Boothroyds headed home, while we
checked out the National Car Museum. That done, we too headed home via
Woodside, and the Eastern freeway.
The following day, we met up with the Boothroyds again to do some touring around
the Barossa Valley, with lunch at Sultrum’s winery. We said our good byes to Neil
and Sally, and headed home via some more wineries, with the mandatory stop at
Rockford’s before heading into Gawler.
Tuesday was another early start, with a trip to the agricultural field day at Paskerville
on the Yorke Peninsular with Bronwyn’s father.
Wednesday was spent pottering around Adelaide.
Thursday was another big driving day, as we headed to Roxby-Downs. Bronwyn
navigated me through the Clare Valley, and some winery stops, before heading down
to Highway 1 down through Horrocks Pass, and on to Port Augusta. From here on,
civilization ceased. After many hours driving, and a brief stop at Woomera, we made
it to “Roxby” by early evening.
RUNNING AMOC December 2009.doc Page 6 of 6

Checking out the Rocket Park at Woomera.
The next day was a big day driving… A 9 hour trip to Mildura. Although I had done
this trip on a couple of occasions to get to the Simpson Desert, I still failed to grasp
how far it was. The route we took was Port Augusta, Crystal Brook, Burra, Morgan,
Remark, and finally Mildura.
Back to good old Victoria….. Or is it?
RUNNING AMOC December 2009.doc Page 7 of 7

After an event free run, and some greatly varying countryside, we arrived at Mildura
at 1630 Vic time.
I had booked us into the Mildura Grand Hotel, and Stefano’s restaurant as a little treat
for Bronwyn on Saturday night, but this eventually turned into a candle lit dinner for 6
after we caught up with some friends.
After a sumptuous breakfast, and checking out the shopping precinct in Mildura
(There was a country music festival on that weekend.), it was a straight run home to
Melbourne down the Sunraysier, and Calder highway, arriving home in the early
evening.
Well, that certainly blew the cobwebs out of the old girl…. The Aston, not Bronwyn!
Technical. The SU Fuel pump.
Words and pictures by Richard Counsel.
The trusty old SU electric fuel pump, as fitted to all carburettored Astons.
You know.... that little device that ticks away when you turn on the ignition…. But
one day, it might stop. This has the potential to stop your Aston dead in it’s tracks, as
it did mine early one Sunday morning on the way to a club run.
In my case, I was able to limp home by kick stating it with a belt from a shifter. While
it didn’t actually strand me, it could have been worse!
So.. The question is, how many of you other Aston owners know the state of your SU
fuel pump???
In my case, it was self inflicted. There was very little on AML-8 that hadn’t been
checked, or refurbished. I had long since flagged the pump as questionable, as most
things were on this car when I first got it, but for some reason complacency reigned,
and it just fell off the radar.
So the morale of the storey is, check it out.
This is a simple task, and although these things are extremely reliable, the most
common mode of failure is electrical. (Prince of darkness has no part in this!)
These devices are very basic, just a big electrical solenoid coil working on a
diaphragm, a couple of valves, and an electrical contact mechanism that turns the
solenoid off and on to create the pumping motion, or that ticking sound we all should
hear.
Some cars, like the V8 have a double ended unit, which are simply 2 identical pumps
bolted to a common plenum chamber.
The first health check involves simply removing the bakelite rear cover that requires
unbolting the electrical connection. This serves the 2 functions of holding the cover
on, and an electrical termination. Sometimes you may find sealing tape between the
cover, and pump body. Simply peel this off. The contact points are then clearly
visible. Older models have a single contact, while the newer ones have dual parallel
contacts.
A simple visual inspection is all that is required, and maybe a blow out with
compressed air to remove dirt. Without getting too involved with how the switching
mechanism functions, just check to see how much contact material remains. These
look very similar to ignition contact breaker points in construction. If they are badly
eroded, they should be replaced. If all is ok, replace the cover, making sure the lead
washer on the electrical termination is still in tact, and replacing the sealing tape. I just
used electrical insulating tape. All this can be done without breaking into the fuel
circuit, and I suspect without removing the pump from it’s mounting. This is a small
amount of work, for a large amount of “Piece of mind.”
RUNNING AMOC December 2009.doc Page 8 of 8

Dual contact arrangement of later units.
The next most likely failure point requires removal of the solenoid body from the
pump chamber. This is for the more adventurous owners, and I would not suggest this
as a general maintenance inspection.
With the double ended units, it is hard to differentiate if both sides are ok, so you will
need to isolate each side electrically to check.
The mode of failure in my case was
2 fold. One pump valve had
disintegrated, causing one side to
run continuously, and eventually
wearing the contacts away. The one
operational side just failed due to
old age, and lack of maintenance.
The car will run fine on one side,
but you have no redundancy.
Without periodic checks, you will
never know if one side has died.
My biggest issue was trying to
locate parts. 2 contact sets were
required, and at least one valve.
After much research, and many
phone calls, I ended up at Wilson
Carburetors in Airport West. John
the proprietor is very “Old School”,
and keeps a large stock of all SU
components. He is a major
Victorian distributor for SU
products, and a fountain of
information about them.
RUNNING AMOC December 2009.doc Page 9 of 9

Contact set $35.00, and Valves $8.00 ea.
I fully refurbished the pump, so now I have 100% confidence in it.
Of coarse you could simply turf the SU pump, and replace it with a modern, but for
around $100.00, and half a day’s work, it should be good for another 35 years. I
wonder how long your new fangled electronic one will go for?
As an adjunct to this, there are some very interesting articles around on the internet
about these pumps, including “Transistorising” the switching mechanism. Me… Just
leave it original!
Note: An obvious word of warning. You are dealing with possible flammable liquids /
vapour, confined spaces, and an ignition source. Exercise common sense!
Report on the 2009 Thredbo trip.
Words and pictures by Bronwyn Ballantyne.
This year the organisers decided to move the date of the annual trip to Thredbo from
April to October, so that we could experience Spring instead of Autumn, and this also
gives a break from the AMOC national meet in 2010. As the weeks led up to our
departure date, we started to check the snow cams to gauge the possible weather
conditions, and look at the vast amount of snow that arrived the week before our
departure. This raised a little bit of a concern for our trip. The possibility of driving
the Aston in the snow, and thought of having to fit snow chains looming. This year, 3
cars headed up from Victoria on the Thursday to meet in Beechworth at the old
mental Asylum for our stopover night. Sally and Neil traveled up on Thursday
morning, and meandered north via the Melba Highway, Midland Highway, and then
on to the Hume Highway at Bennella. Not far behind them were Jay and Roger
Fairbrother, who traveled a similar route. Last but not least came Richard and I. After
short day at work, we sprinted up the Hume Highway, and made it just in time for
Pre-Dinner drinks. Once checked in, we met our traveling party in the bar prior to
moving on for Dinner. We enjoyed each other’s company over a lovely dinner and
great wine. What a pleasant evening we had! When I mentioned to my work
associates where we were staying, they said it was haunted, and as we saw that night,
they run ghost tours through the grounds and buildings. The accommodation was very
comfortable and well worth a stay. No ghosts were seen, or heard!
Beechworth stopover.
RUNNING AMOC December 2009.doc Page 10 of 10

The next morning we set off with three Astons, and took a small detour drive through
the gorge at Beechworth - which we tried to enter from the wrong direction. We
viewed the gunpowder magazine building, where they stored gunpowder used for
blasting the gorge for gold. We then headed for Thredbo, taking as usual, Richards
scenic back roads via Yackandandah, Dederang, and onto the Murray Valley Hwy,
which was great to get us off the main roads. As we entered Corryong, I got excited
as we got a glimpse of snow on the mountains.
One last gulp of petrol for the run to Thredbo.
What a pretty sight it was! We stopped in Khancoban for our lunch and of course
Richards well known Billy tea and my orange cake. We then continued onto Thredbo
via the Great Alpine Way, where I enjoyed the beautiful scenery with many snow
capped mountains. Once at Thredbo, and having settled in, including Richard
throwing every window in our room wide open, we spent the afternoon sitting out on
the balcony enjoying the sunshine and waiting for the others to arrive. We caught up
with Penny and Andrew Fraser who had arrived earlier. This made a total of 8
Victorians, 6 from ACT and 16 from NSW. May the Battle of the States begin, all
armed with our teddy bears…. or was that our Beer. Ros Owens, a former school
science teacher, had prepared some quizzes that were needed to be completed with
our fellow Victorian members. We spent the next 24 hours attempting to solve as
many questions as possible.
On Saturday morning, we were greeted with a hearty breakfast of pancakes, and a
stunning Sunny day. Many of us set off on a walk along side the Thredbo river with
the track eventually heading us up a mountain. Many of us walked part way up, but as
it got steeper, decided it was time to turn back. Richard, Neil and Warren Brown
decided they were going to walk up to the top of the mountain to where the Mt.
Kosciuszko express chairlift stops. Richard got a fair way up, but he too ran out of
steam, then decided to walk straight down the Merricks ski run back to the bottom,
and caught the chair lift to the top.
RUNNING AMOC December 2009.doc Page 11 of 11

Neil and Warren on the other hand, continued on, and had a male bonding session as
they encouraged each to the top, some 460 vertical metres up! What an amazing
effort! I wonder what they will conquer next time??
Dinner on Friday night.
On Saturday afternoon, once everyone had returned, we continued with the battle of
the states, with two team-building games. The one that kept us very busy, was a
challenge to build a device that would launch an egg 4 meters across a zone, and
arrive on the other side un-broken. We were given a range of items to create our
device, including balloons, rubber bands, paper, paperclips, straws, a coat hanger, tent
pegs, a ruler, and a colander. NSW cocooned their egg with balloons, and then used
the colander in conjunction with some rubber bands as their launching device. Of
course, they came first. ACT developed a kind of slingshot that didn’t prove too
successful, and finally ended up with the egg dropping right in front of them onto Tim
Lewis’s shoe. They came last. The Victorian boys worked hard on creating their own
type of slingshot, and after many modifications were ready to fire. The first two eggs
we fired, got the 4 meters required, but proved rather hard to catch, with one egg all
over the floor, almost hitting Tim. The second hitting the ceiling. The final egg was
launched by Rodger, and stunningly caught by Richard. This is “The” catch that will
be remembered for a long time. This gave the Victorians second place for the
exercise. The trophy for the Battle of the states finally went to NSW, and will be
contended at our next meet at Thredbo.
Sunday we woke to thick fog, with forecast of snow and rain on the mountain. Time
to pack our bags for home. As usual Sunday morning is the day to line up all the
Astons for the group photo. Phil White, as usual, organised the cars in order of age,
and had to get the wheels all lined up. Once the photo session was done, it was time to
head down the mountain. For some, it was straight back home. We had been invited
back to Phil White’s house at Tumit to join StJohn, Michael, and the Westbrooks.
RUNNING AMOC December 2009.doc Page 12 of 12

What co-ordination…
I think Phil White had taken some lessons from Richard, and took us to Tumit via
some spectacular driving roads. Richard had handed the keys of AML-8 over to
StJohn, while I hopped in with Michael for the leg between Khancoban and Tumit. A
very relaxing evening was spent socializing with the girls sitting inside, and the
blokes outside watching the electrical storm pass overhead. Somehow, Richard, and
Phil Westbrook managed to construct Phil White’s new BBQ while being quite
“Happy” at the time. On the Monday, we toured around… and around Batlow and
then onto Adelong before saying goodbye, and heading towards the Hume for our
journey home. We look forward to this weekend each year, and it is great to catch up
with our interstate friends whom we hadn’t seen since the national in the Hunter
Valley. At this stage there is no Thredbo trip next year due to the National in The
Barossa Valley, so we will meet again and contest the trophy in October 2011.
Our thanks go to the NSW team, and David Malloch, for again organizing a great
weekend.
RUNNING AMOC December 2009.doc Page 13 of 13

A meeting with Stirling Moss.
Words and pictures by Mike Bindon.
My decision to visit the UK this year was motivated by the desire to attend the 24
Hour Le Mans, celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the Aston Martin win in 1959.
Before the 24 hour race, there were a number of interesting events and one was lunch
at the Hotel de France, hosted by AMOC UK. This is the hotel that AM used in the
David Brown John Wyer era so it has a long association with the factory racing
drivers. DBR1 with racing #5 was on display and this was the car that actually won at
Le Man in 1959.
The DBR1 with Stirling.
After a lovely lunch, there were presentations by Richard Jackson from AMOC to
Stirling Moss. Stirling was at his best and gave a fine speech. He spoke about Le
Mans, saying he preferred the Nurburing 1000 rather than the 24 hour drive. He said
that he was a racer not a driver and it was complete rubbish that he set off as the hare
to destroy the Ferraris. He wanted to win the race! To boys of my generation,
Stirling was simply the best and he was known as the best driver ever not to win the
F1 Championship.
His major achievements were wins at:
1. The Mille Miglia with Jenks ( was this the first time pace notes were used)
2. Nurburgring 1000 kms
3. British RAC Tourist Trophy at Goodwood to win the 1959 Sportscar
championship for Aston Martin. Aston Martin remain the only British
Sportscar manufacturer to win the International Sportscar Championship.
Sir Stirling was presented with a DBR 1 lapel badge which was very small and I
blurted out “not much left of the car”, which got a huge laugh.
On the way to the airport to catch my flight home, I was listening to an interview with
Stirling Moss on the Alard Jones program, no radio # 1 for me.
Stirling mentioned a couple of interesting things. His father was Jewish and his
mother was Scottish.
RUNNING AMOC December 2009.doc Page 14 of 14

He was also encouraged to ride horses which he did not like and was pleased when his
sister Pat, 4 years his junior, took up the sport. Then his mother allowed him to go car
racing. He started quite young, 5 years of age, but did not drive on the road until he
was 15 when his first car was a Morgan 3 wheeler I believe.
Stirling is turning 80 and he still drives racing cars and long may he continue to do so.
While at the Hotel De France, I had my photo taken with Stirling and I had a little
chat. I had read that his sister Pat had died recently so passed on my condolences. He
explained that it had been a happy release. I believe she had been ill for sometime
and I did not press for details, I just assumed she had cancer. Pat was married to the
Rally Driver Erik Carlson and, of course, was a formidable driver in her own right.
As Stirling told me, she was quite a gal.
Which one is “The Famous one”??? Who’s that lurking in the background? Ed.
So to hear Stirling being interviewed when I had seen him only a week before was
very special.
You have to do Le Mans at least once – it is a real buzz. The French OH&S is nonexistent
and the litter is appalling but 90,000 English fans descend on it in some very
interesting cars and some in vans fitted out with roof top platforms. I did not see a
fight or anyone ‘ill’ – everyone just had a great time.
Mike Bindon (The Famous One)
PS Reports of the race can be found in the AM Quarterly.
2009 Club Concour
RUNNING AMOC December 2009.doc Page 15 of 15

Marc Marantz receives the 2009 Leigh BennetTrophy.
Richard Counsel takes out the 2009 “Miles Award”
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