Well, Finally got to it. Here is the little beast...If you guys were wondering about my credability (maybe some internet freak who keeps crashing the party...NOT!?) Next posting will show three more pics, interior and rebel original engine included. Part two incoming now.

Part 2: some history, My first original silver and red trim 66 totaled in rollover. Bought this 65 from TAA pilot in Adelaide about 1990. Project was to salvage the wreck and do up body of this one. Don't know why, but they grow on you. Swapped best of interiors and running gear myself. Body and paint compliments of "Jamestown Crash Repair" family owned business in midnorth when I lived up there (for 25 years). Engine rebuild in about 1994 by young mechanic freind (who is destined for greatness in the mechanics world). Bored out, mild cam became hotter, and high performance parts fitted, though kept the looks rather original from the out side. Has only done about 20,000 miles since. Has a few very minor scars from living in the sticks, but enjoying a new existance driving it on good roads. Drives well, lots of fun but some work to do....Front end bushes and sloppy rack, has no rear breaks or handbreak (siezed), and yes, like your front seats Dave, consistency of violet crumble. You guys have given me a kick to get these things sorted. Hope to gleen more of your wisdoms!! Please comment !

love the colour, looks really nice mate!

Really nice example... That paint looks new and as mrfibbles said... love the colour too

The interior looks really nice too! I can't tell if the dash is cracked but judging by the rest of it there won't be much there to worry about!

Thanks for sharing the photo's.

Cheers,
R.

Gee thanks guys (blush),
Paint new ? Cameras can hide the truth. You expect to get some minor chips and things if you've spent some time on those kinda roads. Nothing seriuos, but if I pointed them out in heart to heart inspection, each tiny defect has a story. Dash has substantial crack in the middle, but I got a near enough dash mat and cut it to size. It keeps the otherwise Ok dash protected. Been following the Dash thread and am amazed there is a templet in OZ and it's being shared around !! If anyone wants to know the name of this metalic 2pac, it was ironically called "Honda blue" back then.

Do you think the suspension height is right, especially the rear, after Alistairs experience.

Cheers.

I have NEVER seen this car ever!!!! It's really amazing to see this SA car that I just never knew anything about!

But every now and then, one of them pops up that I'd never seen or heard of....

Not that I've been around forever, but long enough that I sniff them out a bit, plus a lot of people know me about the place now and tell me about one they've seen... and more often than not, I say, "Oh yeah I know that car (or owner)".

But yours is just... just an awesome surprise!

Looks like I,ve tickled your fancy !! No shit, about ten years ago I had a blind moment and was a stage in life I nearly sold it. After adds in the unique car mag, a guy from WA rang and said " is that the dark metallic blue one with the......?" That was spooky! Made me realise there were dudes like yourself out there. But yeah, you'll be seeing more of it around the streets here. Can,t wait to go for a cruise this weekend !

It's been three years, but it's about time we dredged this thread up as there have been some big dramas with Bruno's little blue Bellett!

Just over a week ago, Bruno swung by with his boys to say g'day, then left.

About ten minutes later, I get a call... something is broken!

He'd called the RAA and was waiting, but the front wheel was not at the right angle and the car was undriveable. Plus he and his crew were going to need a lift home... 40km away.

When I arrived, Bruno had reversed the car away from a sign he had parked near to try to allow room for the towie, however the front right side had completely collapsed with the wheel shoved deep into the guard.








The RAA dude arrived and absolutely dicked Bruno; he claimed that as the suspension had hit the ground and therefore the incident was an accident.... despite the fact it hadn't hit the ground yet. Yet.





So then the accident tow truck guy came and advised us the tow would be $375 for the first 20kms. Yeah.

He was good enough to wait around; Bruno was on the phone endlessly to the RAA, their supervisors and you name it... all the while, his 11yo son Jason and 15yo son Bradley were tired, hungry and freezing their butts off. Good kids; they didn't complain - I was bitching more... and I didn't take a warm jacket because I assumed we'd be on our way soon.

Eventually, the incident was un-deemed an accident by the police dispatch people and the towie was able to tow Bruno's car as a private tow for $130.

But the car wouldn't move properly, as anyone who has dropped a balljoint before would know. I took off up the road and got my trolley jack and brought it back. In hindsight, we should have pulled the wheel off, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

So as the car was being dragged backwards, the wheel hit the guard and ruined it... so now it didn't matter what the tow cost, because it was going to be an insurance claim (thanks Shannons).



The towie towed the car back to my house and put it in the driveway. We were able to swing the car around 180 degrees using the trolley jack and a lot of grunting and put it away. The VY Sandman was relegated to the driveway for the time being.

I drove Bruno and his crew home, turned around and returned home - which was actually our friend's house around the corner as our renovations have rendered our house unlivable.

Bruno was able to make the trip to and from my house a couple of times over the next few days; he bombed the area with WD40 and also went to 2ldohc Ross's house and grabbed a spare, 2nd hand balljoint.

The other day, I visited Bruno at my house (remembering that I have been living elsewhere) and put my son in his Bumbo and tried to help out.



Bruno had been banging and prising the offending balljoint for two hours with no success and had turned his attentions to replacing the four bolts that hold the balljoint on over on the left side; just to be certain.



Well, I gave it a couple of whacks and did some Jedi stuff and it, like, fell out. I had to tell Bruno three times before the words would register.



I had to take my son back to our residence so he could have another sleep (plus he'd had a couple of epic spews...!) and a little while later, Bruno and Jason rocked around in a driveable Bellett!

Small victories!

The car has been quoted by the awesome boys at Crispin Restorations in St Marys and will be fixed by them soon and the story is now a happy one.

Bruno, tell us your side! You're the one that felt the front end go..... sphincter-tightening moment, I'm sure.

Cheers,


Dave

bloody towies

nahnahnah man, the towie was the LEGEND in all this!

The bloody RAA were the ones that refused to tow the car. About 10 years ago my Gemini dropped a balljoint and the RAA towed me, no problems so I don't know if something has changed since then.

The guy waited with us for about 50 minutes in the freezing cold, was instrumental in helping the situation get downgraded from 'motor accident' to 'nothing' and then waited for 20 more mins while I got the jack, went to back the Ratter out and it wouldn't start, pushed it out of the shed and pushed it back in the other side and cleaned up a bit of space for the blue machine to sit on the jack.

Despite the epic size of my shed, space is at a premium.

He loved his Isuzu truck too; 10 years old with a million k's on it. Still going strong.

Bloody RAA! Normally they're brilliant, but this is one callout they scored a fail on!

sorry to hear the ball joint let go, at least it didnt spread the car all over the country side. Top effort to get her sorted again and on the road.

That sucks re:the wait.
So glad to hear the blue beast is up and running again.

Cheers
Rob

Yeah mates, you have to look to the positives - it didn't happen while you were sweepin' thru the hills in a lefthander with traffic going the other way..........or in the middle lane in peak hour traffic.............or 200k's from home on a Sunday night...........etc. Everyone is safe, even the Bellett!

Reminds me of a time when a lower wishbone broke clean in half on my '67 Crown S. I had just driven the 75km home from work, with 100km/h parts, rough dirt parts, vertical cutting walls, sheer drops, loaded cattle trucks going the other way..........you get the picture.
I was 50 metres from my front gate, and I slowed to stop because my Geese were crossing the road. It let go, the wheel jammed up under the guard, the wishbone dug into the ground & skidded all of a foot.
I might have been up a bank, over an edge, who knows? It seems God wants us here a bit longer.

Shame about the RAA drama, and what an anti-ad. A million people can read this (well, hundreds, but they can tell a lot of people!) We had a run of 3 bad treatments with the NRMA which put us out for 15 years. The trouble with a monopoly.

Glad its all worked out now. Ain't it good to have mates?
Thanks for being there Dave,
Cheers, Matt.

I need to put a different view on this roadside situation In the case where it becomes a accident over a breakdown in this case in particular there is now damage to Brunos car,as Dave mentioned a insurance company will now pick up the tab Now if the damage was done at the point of impact and the owner is unsure if the will claim insurance and roadside assistance covers the cost of the tow and you get the car home at there expense Then you lodge a claim with your insurance company roadside assistance have all ready outlaid the cost of the tow that is covered by the insurance company. In the case where you are unsure if you want to claim if you pay the tow fees and decide to claim lodge your reciept and the insurance company will factor this into the claim.
If this was not policed then roadside will be towing most cars home saving insurance company millions in some cases roadside assistance has sister insurance company's so in fact they would be subsidising their opposition.
If you read your product disclosure you will find that roadside does not cover impact damage.

Yeah I guess the point was that until the car was towed, there was no impact as the lower control arm hadn't hit the road and it should, in theory, been OK to tow.

But no harm done and it's now back on the road; I barely got any MORE pneumonia from it than I already had and neither of Bruno's kids died of exposure, although Bradley was shaking with withdrawals when his smartphone's battery went dead and he couldn't Facebook people to say "LOLZ" and "ROFL" for at least two hours.

Won't someone think of the teens?

:/

Cheers!

Dave

Oh, and not to mention the on going saga with insurance and tow truck companies, when you've already told the insurance company you will cover the ecxess

Also made me realise although I've been away from Bellett.net for a while, I should never forget where family is.

Can't say enough of the bunch of troopers down here in Adelaide (my sons,and J man included). Dave, you have been a Samaritan Rock through all this. And thankyou Sarah for releasing Dave into the cold of the night, after only arriving home from work yourself to be left with the J Man. From the minute the ball dropped, to visiting the preffered automotive restorers with me, what could have been tears was always your "The Glass is half full" attitude getting us there in the end.

Thanks Ross for coming up with the spare part and some time, 24hrs after Beastie was parked. Also for teaching me how to be paitent and keep persevering.

Looking back, the whole drama had so many blessings attached :

I got to spend more time with Dave and son. We had four generations getting together.
We managed to get Beastie on and off truck without further damage.
Learnt alot about Bellett front ends in the proccess.
As you say, Farmer, it could have been a lot, lot, lot worse, potentially.
Beastie is now driveable, and the steering is sweet and smooth, almost like power steering.
And as far as I know, Dave has not died of phneumonia yet.
Oh, and Beastie gets the front guard rebuilt soon.

Now I've finished with the massive list of credits and accolades I guess I should tell it how it was. Well, for any one who has ever had a steering component let go, well yes, there is a butt tightening moment when the car starts spearing off to one side and then the other. The only way to keep bringing it back in a straight line is to steer opposite to which direction it is shooting off at. The drive train threatens to lock up and the rear wheels have a little chirp in protest. Not to mention the ugly noise as everything is flapping loose under the front. Thank Christ it was at 60 km's, but still fairly steep downhill decelerating from 80 km. The dude in the Omega behind me, who had been following at some pace for the last few miles, was switched on enough and gave me instant wide birth to pull her up. I remember saying something like : "Shit, somethings gone in the steering....just HANG ON !!" Jason, 11, was in the back seat. I later asked him how it felt when it let go? His answer was "Like an out of control elevator, Dad !"

The rest, you have documented so well, Dave. To put the ensuing long hours into perspective, the Beastie came to rest on the roadside at about 6 pm, and Dave finally made it home at around midnight, if not later!! Doesn't time fly when your having fun ??

Here is the diagnosis. The ball joint in question was the only one on the car which didn't have a grease nipple, and I've always complained about a little squeekyness on that side. Sometimes a little stiffness as well. I had always thought this was a sealed unit which had replaced the original at some stage. WRONG!! Inspection of the failed part shows the grease nipple had been most likely knocked off at some point and never replaced. Hence, it was not recieving any grease to keep it mobile !! So eventually the top of the ball housing had to sheer off.

Initially, we all thought it was the 4 bolts holding the balljoint assembly on, which we have all been warned to replace as these are most likely to give if they are original. Not so in this case. I did replace them all anyway, even though these original bolts didn't appear too shabby. Good insurance tho.

So the moral of the story is : If one of your ball joints doesn't have a grease nipple, don't assume it is a sealed unit wich has replaced the original. And if the rubber boots on the original joints are a little rooted, make sure you grease regularly enough.

Yeah man well said!!

Also, was happy to help. Haven't really had enough car-time lately. With winter, plus the renovations going on at our house meaning that we're not actually living there, I've barely driven any car I own outside the boring old Lexus!

I still drove the boring old Lexus during the rescue, but it was nice to be able to talk Belletts whilst in it.

Hopefully will get the ratter out for the first time since April soon. It's been too long!

Have used the Wasp a couple of times, as Bruno can attest to; he came over to work on his car and I made him load a tonne of pavers into the Wasp to move to our friends' Mum's house, then deliver the dishwasher we sold.

He said he enjoyed watching it driving along, but Bruno is still yet to have a ride in it and truly appreciate it's abject agriculturalness and total lack of similarities with a GT1600!!!

On the cards for soon, I hope.

Cheers,

Dave

See, it works around.............
Nice to see the Wasp being used for it's intended purpose.

"Boring old Lexus"? Life's hard for some..........
You ever wanna swap it for a much less boring old Subaru ('cause it gives you plenty to fix), let me know!

Cheers, Matt.

Had my gloves and overalls on anyway, and there wasn't any more we could do with the GT until I could get to Ross' for a ball joint. So I followed dave, in an Omega, on a mission to deliver a tonne of stuff on the Wasp to various places across Adelaide. The reason being as support in case anything went kaput on the Wasp. (true reason to watch that thing hang it around with a load in it.....awesome. Try killing a wasp, And home was in that direction as well )

Oh yes, Matt, an Omega.....how reliably boring. But the old 86' Magna was the same as your Subi. Getting to that stage you spend all your life under it's bonnet.

There was a blessing in this trans Adelaidian mission. I got to meet Irene, the Mom of Daves good friends who are putting up Sarah, little J and Dave at this time, while their home is being extensively chopped and renovated. There is a need to mention this as unfortunately Irene is no longer with us in body, as a long battle with illness suddenly took turn for the worst.

B.