Sunday's History Photo

Redbakk
And in some places it still is, Prosser Toyota at Gosnells is spotless

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They mustn't have had oil or grease in those days either look at hi overalls.

All the best
Eric

and the hat...

Mmmmaaaaaatte....WHO could forget the Vanguard....A army tank on wheels...they were awesome and bullet proof....I loved my uncle Dougs...we did some miles in that beast AND got into some situations AND always got out....mate

Yep you are right, I was told once, that they put the same motor
in a Tractor, dont recall what Brand it was.

It was a Ferguson Tractor Daza. Same block though even less refined than the Guards' Van, but not much less acceleration!

Dad bought a 1951 Vanguard new and kept it for 10 years, in which he managed to fit the family of six and drag a caravan on summer holidays.

Mum, my oldest sister & I learned to drive in it over the years, and what part of the gear linkage to wriggle when the column mounted shift jammed up.

Great days!
Max

Hey Max, I'm starting to feel bloody Old, just thinking about them,
ours was Black, and my Dad used to paint White Walls on the Tyres,
they all reckoned he was a bit of a Bodgie.

White walls - now that was radical! "Popular Mechanics" showed cars with white walls but we did not realise that Aussies could have them too!

Max

A Bodgie !!!

No one under 35 would know what a Bodgie is these days.

Let alone a Widgie !!

Yep ! The good ol guards van.. My first car was a 1952 green beetle back. It was easy to date this model as it was supposed to be the only one with a lockable chrome petrol cap on the outside - not behind a door.

It was brought out from England by my Grandfather who then sold it to my father who then sold it to me for 60 quid back then. The only problem they evva had was the gear change mech used to get stuck usually in 2nd from memory. Easy to fix but. Mine had a state of the art AIR CHIEF vibrator radio - who remembers those ..

I grew up at Glenelg in Sth Aus. and was a member of the Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club and used to drag the old surf boat all over the place with ease. It was a fergie motor - wet sleeve - amazing old bus.. many fond memories of the old girl..


Grrr!!! ps I am still 24yrs old...LOLOLL I wish...

I think some of the Younger ones would be thinking,what are they
going on about, but Hey thats the way it was in those days,
you could say things were Hard but Life was Simple, you could leave your Keys in the Car, and it would be still there the next Morning,
a Hand Shake was a Mans Agreement,
I'm glad I was part of it.

Cheers
Daza

Clive
Prior to European settlement the area was probably inhabited by the Yuyu Aborigines. It is from their language that the town's name derived some sources believing that it means 'many wings or birds' or 'anything that flies'

.

I was curious about the air over oil hoists in the pic. How did they work? Was it air driving an oil pump which then fed the main cylinder?

Hi Curious.

The oil was held in a large receiver, often on the outside wall of the garage. This receiver is piped to the bottom of the hoist cylinder. It was necessary to bleed all the air out of the pipe work and hoist cylinder (just like brakes on a car) to ensure smooth operation.

To lift the hoist one simply turned on a tap that fed air from the garage compressor into the top of the oil receiver (air over oil). This drove the oil out of the receiver into the hoist cylinder and the hoist rose. To lower the hoist one shut off the tap from the compressor and opened another one to exhaust the air out of the receiver to atmosphere. The oil pipe should always have restrictor fitted to regulate the rise and fall rate of the hoist.

Almost invariably the hoist cylinder was of a displacement cylinder type. This means that it had no piston as such and was sealed at the top of the cylinder where the hoist shaft came out of the outer casing. The shaft itself is the piston and the lifting power is a function of the end area of that shaft x air pressure from the compressor.

They are a very successful hoist, though they had one very nasty habit as they got a bit old. The gland bearings at the top of the outer casing would wear and allow the hoist to tip over slightly when at the top of its stroke. It would then jam there when the mechanic tried to lower it. If he then left the down tap open, then walked over and gave the thing a shake to free it up and the hoist would go into free fall, the speed of which depended on whether the restrictor had been interfered with, and it often had. I think this is what caused their decline in popularity.

Sorry for the long dribble and hope I haven’t confused you to much.

CliveG NZ.

Clive,
thanks for such a detailed explanation. I'd had some experience with hydraulics so your description "connected the dots" for me. It sounds like a neat design overall. Must admit I smiled when imagining the hoist's descent with a tinkered restrictor; I've seen similar results when someone's messed around with equipment and not considered the consequences.

- Peter

Dennis
Good to see you keep in touch with Australian news . I knew John Cox , I see he can't make money from 213 acres , My Dad had 15 acres and moved out in 1970, 15 acres was ok in 1961 but by the end of the 60s wasn't viable ,Thanks for the link,

Doug

No worries Doug,
Always keep in touch with home.

Dennis