2 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Yes indeedy. I'll be indulging in extreme pottering. Got stacks to do. There'll be no sitting down watching daytime telly whilst dressed in tracky dacks and eating pizza.

For our international viewers, tracky dacks are jogging pants...like what Rocky wore. They are the unemployed person's clothing of choice because you just pull them on. No buttons, zippers or belt to bother with, thereby freeing one up to smoke another cone or grab another beer.

Why bother with trackys ! JustA undies 😜

Bowl of chips a beer n a gone in sixty seconds video 🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻😜😜😜😜

7 hours ago, Bonne61 said:

Well done on your retirement mate - happy days ahead! I hear what you're saying about being a "dirty contractor", & being treated an afterthought. Although I'm full-time (have been with the same company for 15 years), it really bothers me how you guys get treated. My guys always get treated the same no matter what shirt they wear, but the company itself doesn't work that way unfortunately.
I'm in "wind down" mode this year...have taken roughly every second month off (Long Service) until next January. Towards the second half of the year I'm going to start putting feelers out for a "retirement job" (want to stop doing what I'm doing, but keep working so I still have an income stream). If all goes well I'll return next February & snatch it, otherwise I'll keep up the ½ time gig until I run out of leave or get to September (I'll be 60 then), then go. Always promised myself I wouldn't keep doing this shit after 60.

What do you do Paul ?

Thanks Everyone. It was a tough call to end a 46 year working life but I have done my retirement savings calculations time & time again trying to uncover a flaw but really, I have no good reason to keep working. I'll find a little part time gig somewhere - to give me something to whinge about. In life you gotta have a love interest AND something to not like, ying & yang.

Paul - 46psi? Wow - that sounds pretty high. Sounds like I have the exact same tyres on my car and about 30 is the sweet spot...higher tyre pressures attract dickheads, didn't you know?

On 3/12/2026 at 9:23 AM, njacobsen said:

Hey Fitzy,

Wishing you all the best in your endeavors of the future. We are all behind you!! Keep that beautiful GP up and running!!!!

Thanks Rick. I'll be driving it more that's for sure...if there's any fuel left.

Edited March 13Mar 13 by Fitzy

Went to a car show today in fashionable Port Douglas which is on the coast, which means a 200km (about 120 mile) round trip including a windy steep mountain range section. Because apparently I'm a complete dickhead when it comes to cars & engines, I want to report that the engine I hand built & tuned myself ran beautifully and never missed a beat the entire trip. Perhaps a certain someone's opinion of my apparent mechanical shortcomings isn't true. No - that can't be right. He knows everything and if you don't believe him, just ask him! Anyway, enough of that. I have no time for bitter old men crouched over their PC frothing at the mouth because nobody wants to listen to them.

As usual, the GP attracted lots of interest. Because nowhere on the car does it actually say 'Pontiac' quite a few people had to ask what it is. Everybody loved it's heavily patina'd paint and the fact that it is a largely original car. It seems too many people insist on irreversible mods that they inflict on old cars - it works sometimes though, especially where drivability & safety are concerned.

Lots of Yankers, Brit sportscars, Australian stuff and some Euros...all on a perfect winter's day in the tropics.

Wow! An Ozzy car show! Thanks for sharing mate.

I don’t know what I would do if I could go to car shows all year round. Frankly I wouldn’t mind trying to live closer to the equator to find out.

Good on you Fitzy for having winter time fun!

Great Pics mate

amazing to see a Imp still on the road !!!!

and i have a soft spot for the fc !! since my first car when i was 13 was a fe !!!

oh and wasnt that Valant ute cool !!!!

I 'retired' for 10 days and then someone called me and begged me to work for them! So I am now once again driving a bus taking the dayshift crew to a local mine, picking up nightshift and going home, twice a day. 6 hours a day, 7 on / 7 off. Even creamier than my last job.

There's another major show on in a coupla weeks' time.

Yeah - that Imp was in totally immaculate condition. Why anyone would bother, but it takes all sorts.

One last thing: I discovered the Ignored Users option in my account. You can block any mechanical cretin by entering their name in the little box and you'll never have to listen to their crap again. So, if you want to block me or any other jerk who doesn't know what they're talking about, your account, settings, Ignored Users. It's the best feature on the site!

Happy blocking.

5 hours ago, Fitzy said:

I 'retired' for 10 days and then someone called me and begged me to work for them! So I am now once again driving a bus taking the dayshift crew to a local mine, picking up nightshift and going home, twice a day. 6 hours a day, 7 on / 7 off. Even creamier than my last job.

There's another major show on in a coupla weeks' time.

Yeah - that Imp was in totally immaculate condition. Why anyone would bother, but it takes all sorts.

One last thing: I discovered the Ignored Users option in my account. You can block any mechanical cretin by entering their name in the little box and you'll never have to listen to their crap again. So, if you want to block me or any other jerk who doesn't know what they're talking about, your account, settings, Ignored Users. It's the best feature on the site!

Happy blocking.

Damn,

Now I'll have nobody to talk to

Fitzy attended a carshow AND took pic's to share! He might come around yet. Thankz for sharing some cars we don't usually get to see.

On 11/23/2025 at 5:52 PM, Fitzy said:

I did something Pontiac related today. I sold my Grant timber steering wheel yesterday to a Firebird owner I met at a car show some months ago. Damn thing cost me a LOT of money but the rim was too fat to be period correct and I was never happy with it, so the original refurbished skinny one went back on but this was ages ago. Anyway he invites me over to his to check out his Firebird. It's a 67 or 68 400CID convertible painted bright orange- pretty good condition...in fact compared to mine, it's as close to perfect as you're ever going to get. I followed him in the GP and we had a coffee. I remember thinking "get some pics for the Pontiac goons on FP." Of course, I forgot. Yes, I'll do it next time I see him. He lives locally so it'll be easy.

The other little thing I did was to reduce my tyre pressures from the 40psi I insisted on running with to a much more friendly 30psi. Car now rides much more nicely and no longer skips over corrugations and other road imperfections. I checked my 1965 Service Manual and it recommends 22psi but you gotta remember that was for crossply tyres. I'll tool about at 30psi for a while and see how it goes.

As an aside, I possess no fewer than 3 tyre pressure gauges. I adjusted the pressures at a service station then checked them when I got home. The Made In USA stick type that I have used for years was waaaay off. My 2 digital ones were within 1 psi of each other and the servo gauge. I mention this because I wonder what everyone else is using. Servo gauges have always had a reputation for being notoriously inaccurate although the one I used today is a digital set up.

Other than that, GP still goes like a train.

I always use a digital gauge, and to be fair I've found any servo one that uses the modern digital gauges (not those old shit ones that everyone drops on the ground all the time) are within 2psi of my digital ones at home.

On 3/14/2026 at 5:33 AM, 64 kiwi boni said:

Why bother with trackys ! JustA undies 😜

Bowl of chips a beer n a gone in sixty seconds video 🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻😜😜😜😜

What do you do Paul ?

Sorry mate, I missed this.

I'm what they call an ERZ Controller (Mine Deputy?).
My job is 100% underground (black coal mining), and is in essence:-

1. Ensure the environment doesn't maim or kill anyone

2. Ensure the workers don't maim or kill themselves or others.

It sounds easy when you put it like that, doesn't it?

On 5/24/2026 at 9:41 PM, Frosty said:

Wow! An Ozzy car show! Thanks for sharing mate.

I don’t know what I would do if I could go to car shows all year round. Frankly I wouldn’t mind trying to live closer to the equator to find out.

Good on you Fitzy for having winter time fun!

Here in SE Qld among the bigger "shows" we have numerous "Cars and Coffee" events whereby you show up for a couple of hours, check out a few other cars (attendance numbers can vary between 10 to 150 sometimes!), then bugger off for a cruise and back home.
These can be scheduled on weeknights or mornings, or weekend mornings so there is usually something to go to whenever you're keen.

Because I'm a bit of a chrome bumper snob (tends to weed out the JDM and Pro Street burnout fuckwits), my choices are a little more limited, but there's still plenty around.

If I think about it, I'll send you guys of the weekly Event Schedule next time the publish it - I think you'll be quite surprised.

Only reason I haven't been very active is I've pretty much been either lounge, bed or hospital confined since the beginning of April.

Cooly Rocks On is coming up early June though, so that'll be awesome - just hope I have the energy for it.

On 3/14/2026 at 9:12 AM, Fitzy said:

Thanks Everyone. It was a tough call to end a 46 year working life but I have done my retirement savings calculations time & time again trying to uncover a flaw but really, I have no good reason to keep working. I'll find a little part time gig somewhere - to give me something to whinge about. In life you gotta have a love interest AND something to not like, ying & yang.

Paul - 46psi? Wow - that sounds pretty high. Sounds like I have the exact same tyres on my car and about 30 is the sweet spot...higher tyre pressures attract dickheads, didn't you know?

Thanks Rick. I'll be driving it more that's for sure...if there's any fuel left.

Yeah it does, but the wear on my last set when I replaced them was pretty even and it seems to maintain it's line pretty well, so I figured they must be close.

I started at 35psi, but the thing felt like it had no power steering...just heavy and dull. So I just crept them up 5psi at a time until it felt "right", while still keeping it below the recommended max obviously.

On 5/24/2026 at 3:51 PM, Fitzy said:

Went to a car show today in fashionable Port Douglas which is on the coast, which means a 200km (about 120 mile) round trip including a windy steep mountain range section. Because apparently I'm a complete dickhead when it comes to cars & engines, I want to report that the engine I hand built & tuned myself ran beautifully and never missed a beat the entire trip. Perhaps a certain someone's opinion of my apparent mechanical shortcomings isn't true. No - that can't be right. He knows everything and if you don't believe him, just ask him! Anyway, enough of that. I have no time for bitter old men crouched over their PC frothing at the mouth because nobody wants to listen to them.

As usual, the GP attracted lots of interest. Because nowhere on the car does it actually say 'Pontiac' quite a few people had to ask what it is. Everybody loved it's heavily patina'd paint and the fact that it is a largely original car. It seems too many people insist on irreversible mods that they inflict on old cars - it works sometimes though, especially where drivability & safety are concerned.

Lots of Yankers, Brit sportscars, Australian stuff and some Euros...all on a perfect winter's day in the tropics.

I've clipped last week's Events Schedule so you can all see how lucky we are in SE QLD (known as Paradise...IYKYK)

This comes out every week

You may find this mildly interesting. This Saturday it's the Atherton Car Show & Swap Meet, so as long as the weather doesn't crack I'll be going.

Now, after I came back home from the last show, the next day I'm driving along and can hear a buzzing sound that goes up & down with engine revs. I stop and have a look but everything looks good. I keep driving and now suspect the fan belt but it's practically new and properly tensioned. I watch my charging light and very faintly I see it glowing on & off sporadically, so now I fully suspect fan belt.

After parking up at home, I remove the belt and examine it. It has prematurely worn into a pronounced V shape. I spray the pulleys with degreaser and clean them up but not much residue comes off. I then measure them for width and they all seem to be in spec. I check the alignment and it looks to be perfect. I fit my spare belt (a Gates toothed type) and test drive the car. Same noise. It would appear that the only other cause is worn pulleys. Worn pulleys are one of those things that most car owners will never have to worry about, but mine are 61 years old, except for the one attached to my new alternator. So I search for new pulleys. I ended up spreading my bum cheeks and got royally reamed by purchasing a billet alloy set from Butler. I mean they look great and I can now upgrade to a bigger V belt (factory belt is a puny 3/8" where the new pulleys require a 1/2" one.) The cost was other worldly, especially when factoring in the exchange rate and horrendous shipping cost. It would have been cheaper to ship the car Stateside and driving it to Tennessee where Butler are located!

Anyway, car show on Saturday and I will then attempt the new pulley fitment. The alternator one will be the trickiest but I have a rattle gun so we'll see what happens.

Wayyyy to flash !!!

What happens when you fit them and the noise is still there ?

I smell a alternator issue

Or it could justA be my head cold frosty gave me !

28 minutes ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

Wayyyy to flash !!!

What happens when you fit them and the noise is still there ?

I smell a alternator issue

Or it could justA be my head cold frosty gave me !

Yep…how pissed is he gonna be when his new $1000 pulleys chew up those new ½” belts 😬