OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC |
the Hillman Minx Series IIIC Australian DeLuxe sedan Compiled by the late Ern Broughton, now updated by Brian Vogt |
OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC |
Maintenance Items:
Engine oil | Penrite HPR 40 (SAE 25W-70) |
Gearbox | strictly engine oil only |
Differential oil | Castrol EPX 80W-90 gear oil |
Grease | Castrol LMM Molybond |
Brake fluid | Castrol Ultra Stop DOT 4 or Valvoline Performance Super DOT 4 |
Air filter | Ryco A62 (no longer listed) |
Oil filter | Ryco R2121P cartridge order from Repco |
Fan belt | Dayco 15375 11A0950 |
Tyres | Hankook Optimo K715 165/80R15 87T (32 psi front, 32 psi rear) |
Routine Maintenance:
Engine oil change 17/03/1998 at 82,315 miles.
Engine oil change 14/03/1999 at 84,815 miles.
Engine oil change 10/03/2000 at 87,300 miles.
Engine oil change 06/09/2000 at 91,000 miles.
Engine oil change 21/04/2003.
Engine oil change 22/05/2006 at 97,123 miles.
Engine oil change 13/08/2017 at 103,118 miles.
Oil filter change 17/03/1998 at 82,315 miles.
Oil filter change 10/03/2000 at 87,300 miles.
Oil filter change 21/04/2003.
Oil filter change 13/08/2017 at 103,118 miles.
Gearbox oil change 14/03/1999 at 84,815 miles.
Gearbox oil change 06/09/2001 at 91,000 miles.
Front suspension greased 03/02/1998 at 82,100 miles.
Front suspension greased 14/03/1999 at 84,815 miles.
Front suspension greased 20/09/1999 at 86,135 miles.
Front suspension greased 10/03/2000 at 87,300 miles.
Front suspension greased 15/02/2001 at 89,000 miles.
Front suspension greased 21/04/2003.
Front suspension greased 22/05/2006 at 97,123 miles.
Front suspension greased 05/07/2011 at 100,283 miles.
Differential oil change 18/11/1997 at 82,100 miles and again at 82,315 miles when new seal fitted.
Differential oil change 22/05/2006 at 97,123 miles.
History (from papers supplied with the car):
24/11/1962 | Original owners Roy and O.F.M. Dunstan of 14 Twelfth Street, Gawler West, bought the car brand new from Withers Garage, the Authorised Rootes Group Dealer, at 34 Adelaide Road, Gawler South for the cost of 995 pounds, plus accessories costing 29 pounds 7 shillings and 9 pence, a total of 1024 pounds 7 shillings and 9 pence, less 250 pounds trade-in for a Standard Sedan. At odometer reading 1,193 miles the car was at Bright, Victoria, and at 1,476 miles was at Ballarat, Victoria. |
09/11/1970 | Routine service at Withers Garage 37,405 miles. |
08/05/1972 | Routine service at Withers Garage 45,337 miles. |
02/10/1972 | Routine service at Withers Garage 46,130 miles. |
19/02/1973 | Routine service at Withers Garage 47,054 miles. |
08/08/1973 | Routine service at Withers Garage 48,816 miles. |
08/05/1974 | Routine service at Withers Garage 51,077 miles. |
09/12/1974 | Routine service at Withers Garage 52,987 miles. |
15/12/1975 | Routine service at Withers Garage 56,106 miles. |
03/08/1978 | A new battery was fitted. |
(At some stage) | Replaced all wheel cylinders with new ones, new front shoes and machined all drums ($433) at Withers Garage. |
09/08/1984 | Replaced clutch slave cylinder etc. at Withers Garage ($44). |
28/08/1984 | A new battery was fitted at Withers Garage ($72). |
10/12/1985 | Repaired clutch slave cylinder and resleeved clutch master cylinder at Rob Withers Auto Repairs Lyndoch Road Gawler East. ($135.50). I assume that, at this time, Withers Garage, the Authorised Rootes Group Dealer, at 34 Adelaide Road Gawler South was no longer in business. |
10/12/1985 | Head overhaul etc. at Rob Withers Auto Repairs ($430). |
23/01/1986 | Comprehensive insurance policy renewed in the name of R and OFM Dunstan. |
15/06/1987 | Registration transferred to B and B Easom. New number UOA-856. |
24/08/1987 | Serviced at Kmart, 76,920 miles, owner Easom, rego UOA-856. |
12/12/1988 | Serviced at Kmart, 78,412 miles, owner Easom, rego UOA-856. |
09/01/1990 | Letter and photos to Hillman Car Club re value of the car. Quoted mileage 78,500. |
11/05/1990 | Permit to take car to Smithfield on 13/05/1990 for garaging. |
30/12/1991 | Permit to take to Redwood Park on 30/12/1991 for garaging. |
13/04/1993 | Radiator repaired. |
24/06/1995 | Permit for test drive. |
02/09/1997 | Rego renewed for three months by B Easom, presumably to try and sell the car. |
23/09/1997 | Car purchased by Ern Broughton, at odometer reading 81,365 miles. |
General Condition:
The car is fitted with a rear interior venetian blind, an external sunvisor, mudguard mounted rear
view mirrors, and pull down blinds on each rear side and front passenger side windows.
Odometer reading 81,365 miles. Exterior good with very little rust. Only one hub cap is in good
condition. All chrome strips are there and in good nick. Front bumper, grille and over-riders
are OK, rear bumper chrome plating has suffered where gases from the exhaust pipe have burnt it.
Interior excellent but rear windows do not wind up or down, doors no rust but rattly, furflex around
front doors worn out, interior light lens missing. Seat belts to front only and need replacing.
Boot very clean, no rust and floor mat in good condition. New radiator and battery, lots of oil
thrown around rear of gear box and front of differential. Heater is still connected to water
circuit so must be OK. Water pump gasket a bit suss! Engine and accessories could do with a coat of paint.
Battery tray badly rusted.
Road Test:
Doors, door glasses and a hundred other things all rattle.
Tyre pressures feel too high.
Steering good, cross-ply tyres all bald. A lot of slack in accelerator linkage.
Speedo needle fluctuates badly, suspect speedo cable inner dry or damaged.
Engine labours a bit (does not run freely), idles poorly and pops and backfires on over-run.
Hole in exhaust pipe although a new muffler has been fitted recently.
Clutch takes up at extreme end of pedal travel, brakes fair enough.
Does not fall out of gear, a little differential noise.
Front shock absorbers expired, rear springs saggy.
Noise when engaging reverse gear.
Work carried out:
26/09/1997 | Tightened manifold bolts and nuts, replaced missing 2½ x 5/16 UNF bolt at rear of manifold, tightened carburettor flange nuts, replaced rubber tube joint on the carbie-to-distributor vacuum pipe, and adjusted idle mixture screw. Huge improvement! Backfiring now almost gone but I suspect that I will need to replace the carbie "economy device" diaphragm and possibly the manifold gasket. |
29/09/1997 | Removed battery and painted battery tray with epoxy/bitumastic paint. Made rubber insert for battery tray. |
02/10/1997 | Showing Len Macdermott the car when we noticed a knocking noise from the front of the engine. Further examination revealed that the starter dog nut was loose and the bottom pulley was rattling. Tightened it using the starting handle. Corrected tyre pressures from 30 to 25 psi. Replaced hub caps with better ones from Ian Kitto and David Watson. |
06/10/1997 | Checked timing and found it set on TDC. Set it to about 7 degrees before TDC using timing light. On test the car runs much better; no pinging on full throttle uphill indicates it could do with a little more advance. |
07/10/1997 | David Watson (HCCSA Parts Officer) brought in a speedo cable for me to try. Too short, the ADL has a 66 inch long one. |
08/10/1997 | Bought two hub caps from Alan Sims (who thought he had four), and two booster springs that may fit the rear springs (found out later that they don't). |
10/10/1997 09/11/1997 |
Touring in Western Australia in the Holden Calais, so no work done on the Hillman. |
11/11/1997 | New exhaust system fitted at Midas, Grange Road, Flinders Park $150.
81,300 miles. Five new Firestone Cavallino Sport 200 165SR15 steel radial tyres fitted at Bob Jane T Mart, Port Road, Alberton $430 including wheel alignment. They set tyre pressures at 30 psi, which I feel is a bit too high. The car drives better, sounds quieter but needs new shockers. |
12/11/1997 | Took up the slack in the throttle linkage, and found the cause of the noise when engaging reverse gear; part of the gearchange mechanism was rubbing on the pipe from the clutch master cylinder. |
16/11/1997 | Fitted new diaphragm to carburettor economy device ($7). Big improvement in performance. |
18/11/1997 | Fitted new shockers to front suspension ($56), removed speedo cable inner for replacement, adjusted clutch but I think the slave cylinder has been attached to the wrong side of the rear engine plate, adjusted brakes all round, drained and refilled differential with 80W-90 oil and added Slick 50 ($30). The old lubricant was very thick, black and like treacle. |
19/11/1997 | Had a new speedo cable inner made for $20, and fitted it, and ordered booster springs (ready about 3 December). |
21/11/1997 | Chased around for a clutch slave cylinder kit; not available so made do with parts from a couple of other kits ($3). No work on the car today; too hot. |
22/11/1997 | Assembled the clutch slave cylinder and attached it to the car. I also fitted a return spring, none was in place when I took the slave cylinder off. Off for a test drive; speedo works smoothly again, front end nice and tight with the new shockers and the clutch works well. Really, the car is very nice to drive. I need to fix the door and window rattles now, replace the furflex around the door openings and change the engine and gearbox oil. |
28/11/1997 | Washed and polished the car this afternoon, and prepared a replacement rear bumper ($5) to replace the rather tatty one that is on the car now. |
03/12/1997 | Reduced tyre pressures to 28 psi front and rear. Seems a bit better. |
07/12/1997 | Fitted radiator coolant recovery bottle, new fan belt ($7.50), and windscreen wiper blade refills ($4). |
12/12/1997 | Fitted booster springs ($75.70) and lubricated rear springs. Rear end of Roy much tighter and about 1.5 inches higher. Distance from hub cap centre to underside of mudguard 345 mm. Need new rear shockers and a pinion seal now. |
19/12/1997 | Noticed water weeping from around water pump area, so to be on the safe side I bought new water pump ($119), Quinton Hazell, made in UK for Hillman Minx 1959-66, from Ian Jones Auto, Port Road Woodville. |
20/12/1997 | Removed water pump and thermostat housing. Pump seems OK apart from a little roughness, possibly in the bearing. No bearing slack though. The thermostat housing base was where the water was coming from; it is paper thin and holed. Needs to be replaced before the car can be used again. Ian Jones may be able to get one next week, so I rang Jim Withers in Melbourne, who will send me a used but good one on Monday for $45 plus $5 postage. The new water pump appears to be not a correct replacement; it is 20mm longer in the barrel. It will fit behind the radiator all right but the fan pulley will be too far forward. |
22/12/1997 | Went back to Ian Jones. The catalogues say it is the correct pump! Ian rang Melbourne; the chap there said that I have to have a deeper fan pulley. Peter Tavener said that there were two water pumps, a long and a short barrelled; the long one became standard and does require a deeper pulley and that he has a couple of them. |
23/12/1997 | Picked up the pulley from Peter in town where his Arthurs differential is being repaired. Spent the rest of the day waiting for the Postie to deliver the thermostat base, but prepared everything so that when it does arrive I will be ready to go. |
24/12/1997 | Thermostat base arrived about 10:00 am, just after we completed our Christmas shopping, so I was able to give Roy my undivided attention. All finished about 4:00pm, including replacing the generator for a better looking one and changing the electrical system to negative earth. New noises from the engine on test but I suspect that it may be caused by the rust on the "new" generator pulley. |
26/12/1997 | HCCSA Run. Roy went really well and the noise diminished as the run progressed, but I now think the generator bearings are a little noisy. |
29/12/1997 | Set points and plug gaps, plugs OK but points were too wide. Took off door trims, fixed rear door window winders and gave all doors a dose of fish oil and sound deadener. |
05/01/1998 | Replaced furflex around front doors with pinchweld; furflex not available. The pinchweld cost $32 ($16 per door) from Rocca Bros. Also fitted 13 psi radiator cap (the lowest pressure cap I could find to suit a coolant recovery system). $7 from Rocca Bros. |
07/01/1998 | Replaced furflex around rear doors with pinchweld ($32). |
25/01/1998 | David Watson has a pair of rear springs that he had reset a few years ago; I can have them for $100, and the Club can have my booster springs for the club car. I will have to get new rubber bushes for the spring eyes. |
27/01/1998 | Replaced carburettor needle and seat ($8.50). |
14/03/1998 | Bought two differential pinion seals today, one to use and one for a spare, from SKF Bearings on Grange Road, Welland. $7.20 including tax. |
20/03/1998 | Differential pinion seal replaced at Con Kiosses Motors. $55. |
03/04/1998 | Replaced flasher can; the old can was the original, dated 4/62. |
09/04/1998 13/04/1998 |
To Mount Gambier for the Fourth Hillman National Rally. 683 miles round trip, used 20 gallons (92 litres) which is 34.15 miles per gallon. Used no oil or water, and Roy ran very sweetly. Odometer reading at finish 83,160 miles. |
21/03/1999 30/03/1999 |
Rootes Group Tour of Australia, Stage 2 South Australia. Miles at start 84,815, at finish 85,353, which was 538 miles for the trip, used 77 litres which is 32 mpg. |
18/04/1999 | Hillman Car Club run to St Kilda Tram Museum and the Mangrove Boardwalk. Flat tyre at the meeting place at City Dismantlers on Port Wakefield Road. The cause was an air leak along the valve stem between the metal section and the rubber surrounding the valve stem. New tube fitted at Bob Jane T Mart, Alberton. $17.50. |
16/05/1999 | Cavalcade of Cars at Wallaroo, Moonta and Kadina. Left home at 06:45, arrived Wallaroo 09:10. Left Kadina at 14:00, home at 16:00. Total distance for the day 239 miles. Fuel 29.4 litres = 36.91 mpg. |
28/07/1999 | Received confirmation of entry for the Birdwood Classic (to be held on 26/09/1999). Entry number is 0598. Entry fee $45. |
24/09/1999 | Adjusted brakes, cleaned and polished the car ready for the Birdwood Classic on Sunday. |
10/10/1999 | At Semaphore foreshore parked for a Hillman run lunch when an old chap, suffering Parkinsons Disease and using a walking frame, came up and said that he recognised the Hillman as having previously belonged to Roy Dunstan from Gawler. The chap lives at Gawler and used to go to lawn bowls in the car with Roy. Roy was secretary of the Gawler Bowling Club for some time. |
29/03/2000 | Sent letter and cheque to Andrew Thomson in NZ for a new front windscreen rubber, after Peter Tavener had ordered same via e-mail. |
10/04/2000 | Windscreen rubber arrived. |
21/06/2000 | Windscreen rubber and replacement windscreen (a less scratched one from David Watson) fitted at Windscreens OBrien, Main North Road Enfield at a cost of $119. |
10/09/2000 | On the way home from a club run to the Barossa Valley when the windscreen wipers stopped operating in mid-sweep. An inspection at home revealed a broken drive cable. Replaced it with a secondhand one from David Watson; appears to work OK, will have to wait for a rainy day out to test it. |
01/02/2001 | Replaced gearbox rear oil seal and leaking oil pressure switch. Degreased engine, front suspension and transmission area. Replaced rear engine mounts. All at Con's. $200 |
31/03/2001 | A Saturday. Left home at 07:00 for the Rootes Group Tour of Victoria. Staying at Hamilton tonight, then to Ballarat tomorrow for the start of the 10 day tour. |
11/04/2001 | Back home after 1759 miles. The car didn't miss a beat and gave 35.19 mpg. |
03/10/2001 | 91,370 miles. Did a compression test; read as follows No 1 cylinder 134 psi. No 2, 140 psi. No 3, 136 psi. No 4, 140psi. Fitted new manifold gasket (Superseal Manifold Set JA286 by Gas miser suit Hillman Minx, Hunter cast iron head 1600, 1725cc 1956-72. TT28 9508); old one in four pieces. The engine was missing on No 3 cylinder at idle. |
28/03/2002 03/04/2002 |
To Deniliquin for the Sixth Hillman National Rally. No problems at all. Sat on 5055 mph for 1,174 miles, 32.8 gallons of petrol which is 35.79 mpg. |
21/12/2002 | Replaced bypass hose on water pump, refilled with new Tectalloy radiator coolant. |
25/01/2003 | Car sold to Brian Vogt. Odometer reading approx. 93,800 miles. |
26/01/2003 | Brian's first club run in Roy. No serious problems, but observed a few sounds :
1. Whistling sound either generator or air leak past the carby. 2. Crankshaft pulley rattling a bit. Not as serious as the persistently recurring problem in my brown Gazelle. 3. The sound of exhaust gas escaping past the engine pipe seal (or similar place). 4. Slightly wobbly horn ring in the steering wheel. 5. Annoying rumbling sound, apparently coming from the gearbox, when travelling between 70-75 km/h in top gear. It also happens at the same engine speeds in 3rd gear. Solution: avoid cruising at those speeds. Acceleration through the gears feels slow (Ern agrees), and the perception is increased by the time-consuming column changes. However, the car competes moderately ok at traffic light starts, and holds its speed very well up steep hills along the South Eastern Freeway. |
27/01/2003 | Investigated some of the above items :
1. Managed to tighten down the base of the carby a bit. There's no rubber gasket between the air cleaner and carby, so I'm surprised that's not causing more air leak noise. 3. Exhaust manifold nuts (attaching to the head) were easily tightened 1/12th of a turn. |
28/01/2003 | Motor Registration office open after the long weekend, so I registered the car in my name. |
30/01/2003 | Fixed problem 4 above. The horn ring should be firmly held in the steering wheel by 3 grub screws; only 2 were present. Made a new one from a plain bolt with the same thread. |
31/01/2003 | Obtained comprehensive insurance from Shannons. |
21/04/2003 | Grease-up, changed the engine oil & filter. |
03/05/2003 13/05/2003 |
Participated in the Rootes Tour of Australia, Stage 3½ (1053 miles).
The car performed faultlessly, and gave a fuel range of 300 miles per tankful (44.5 litres used) while cruising relentlessly at 108 km/h. This works out to be 10.85 km/litre (30.65 mpg). |
21/03/2004 | On club runs in recent months, the steering has been pulling a bit to the left, and one of the wheels is out of balance. Also got a puncture on this month's run. Checked for looseness in the tie rod ends before getting a steering alignment. (Got caught out on this one in 1992 had to go home from the T Mart and get a new tie rod end for the mechanic to fit). This time, the tie rod ends seemed to be ok, but found about 6 mm of free play in the right drag link (Cross Tube) bush due to perished rubber. The tyres howl very loudly under heavy braking, and the wear pattern indicates that 28 psi is too low pressure. |
25/03/2004 | 95,779 miles. Drag link bushes replaced with Nolathane
bushes at Prospect Auto Service Centre. $29.95 for the bush kit, $198 for the labour (including modifying the
size & shape of the bushes).
(Peter did this same job on one of my Gazelles 8 years ago, and I've been happy with it). |
30/03/2004 | Took the car to the T Mart in Prospect, for puncture repair, wheel balance ($22.00) and steering alignment ($38.50). These Firestone tyres needed a lot of balance weights originally, and the wear has caused an uneven loss of weight. The shop manager agreed with me that an extraordinary amount of lead weight was required. (This reflects poor manufacturing quality of the Firestone radial tyres). The T Mart set the pressure to 32 psi, which is what I was going to try. They no longer howl under heavy braking. |
09/04/2004 | Attended Hillman National Rally. Odometer at home 95,786 miles. At checkin in Tanunda 95,827 miles. |
22/05/2006 | 97,123 miles. Routine service. Changed engine oil, changed differential oil, changed brake fluid and clutch hydraulic fluid (Castrol Ultra Stop DOT 4). Drained old Tectalloy engine coolant, rinsed several times with hot water, then refilled with Castrol RadiCool (33% ethylene glycol). Engine seems to be running a few degrees cooler since that; perhaps due to the onset of cooler weather. Greased the steering and suspension joints, and tailshaft universal joints (17 grease nipples). |
15/07/2006 | Installed a new battery (Century 46 CCA 380 RC 75). |
18/10/2006 | 97,518 miles. Winter over; engine temperature climbing again. Noticed that the radiator core (double row) looked quite "moth-eaten" on the front, although apparently ok at the rear. Renovated with a triple-row core for optimum cooling. $320 at Prospect Radiators. Temperature now under control. |
12/10/2009 | 99,146 miles. Work done by Ross Kemp: Replaced rear axle oil seal on right side (supplied by Jim Withers). Replaced all 3 brake hoses (supplied by Power Brakes on North East Road). Brake fluid changed. Diff housing oil level still ok. |
07/11/2010 | Odometer rolled over from 99,999 to 00000 miles on the way home from the annual combined Rootes clubs run. |
23/06/2011 | 100,239 miles. Replaced brake master cylinder with a reconditioned one (stainless steel sleeve) from Power Brakes. $210 (includes new plastic cap). |
05/07/2011 | 100,283 miles. Greased all grease nipples under the car. Finished replacing the brake fluid. Started having a gear selection problem with the column shift (especially pulling out the knob to select reverse) but got home from Kapunda ok. |
07/08/2011 | 100,333 miles. Column shift mechanism inspected & adjusted by Robert Brown. Steel piece in gear lever severely worn and needs to be welded or replaced. Mounting onto the steering column was a bit loose. All ball & socket joints in the linkage tightened. Tie rod piece was rubbing on the bell housing levered away successfully, but engine appears to sag a bit due to compressed front rubber mounts. All rubbing parts lubricated with spray-on teflon oil. |
24/08/2013 | 100,853 miles. Installed a new battery (Century 55D23L CCA 540 RC 100). $144 on specials from Battery World. |
05/02/2018 | 103,213 miles. Work performed at Prospect Auto Service Centre:
1. Overhaul/repair starter motor (since before 2003, bendix gear had been sticking momentarily on the flywheel; then finally ceased engaging in 2017). 2. Hone & fit new rubber kit to clutch slave cylinder. 3. Fit new shock absorbers all with gas preload. Front: Monroe 14-0654 (still listed for Hillman Minx & Husky 1957 to 1963). Rear: Monroe 15-3143 (currently listed for early 1970s Toyota Celica). Note: Rootes Australia used the lower rear shocker mount for estate cars on the saloons as well. |
02/07/2019 | 103,505 miles. Fitted 4 new tyres at Bob Jane T-Mart, Prospect Hankook Optimo K715 165/80R15 87T. |
30/09/2019 | Kingpin in front left suspension found to have approx. 3 mm end float. Tightened its adjuster nut & lock nut. |
13/08/2019 | Tailshaft universal joints found to be slightly worn. Replaced whole tailshaft with a used one in excellent condition. Drives nicely at 110 km/h. |
13/08/2019 | Car sold by Brian to Paul (not in the club). |