RUSTY REVIVAL
AFFECTIONATELY NICKNAMED “RUSTY” BY HIS KIDS, PETE’S XY PANEL VAN MIGHT DESERVE A NEW NICKNAME AFTER A 15-YEAR JOURNEY
“Idon’t have to spend or do a ny t hing to it… I have bought it to dr ive a nd enjoy” sa id owner, Peter Va n Muers to his wife.
They’re famous last words, as you can probably guess what’s happened since then…
I bought t he car from my brot her-in-law in 2003; it had been used, it wasn’t precious. But it wasn’t a rust bucket. It’d been bogged up before, but it was still a driv ing car and in prett y good nick.
I drove it around like t hat for probably around seven years, before I sta rted replacing bits and pieces.
I started off with the interior doing the little stuff first here and there, then in 2005 I pulled the engine out in the shed. As the car stands now, it’s got fairly standard running gear – 302 Windsor, C4 auto and a BorgWarner diff. It had a 9-inch in it when I bought it, but I pulled that out. Now it’s got a standard XY diff, but I found a guy who puts VL centres in ’em. It’s also running an MSD electronic fuel injection
“I LOOKED AT IT AND THOUGHT GEE! THIS IS SHOCKING!"
system that I play around with.
The f irst big teardown happened in 2007, I pulled t he engine and resprayed t he engine bay.
A few years later, in 2010 – the car was torn down again, right back to bare metal.
Doors, windows, lights, indicators, bumper a ll came off.
I was look ing for someone to cut a ll t he rust out, and found people who told me to bring ’em new rear quarters – you can’t buy rear quarters for t hese cars anymore – but I eventua lly found this bloke Kevin who made some bits and pieces for me. He’s a boilerma ker by trade, works from home, so he made up a few parts for me, I bought a few bits and pieces – welded it a ll up.
It was about seven months a ll up before I got it back.
The car was resprayed in its current Tea l Glow Blue, t he motor was still in it t hough and the engine bay was white.
Then I looked at it and t hought ‘gee t his is shock ing’. So I pulled t he engine back out in 2011, and built a roller block 302 for it, as t he last 302 kept hav ing problems wit h a rear main lea k.
The roller block has t he one-piece rear main sea l which f i xed up a ll t he oil lea ks.
As we did a mild cam, the MSD EFI, it’s a
“ONE DAY I WON’T BE ABLE TO DRIVE THIS THING, ONCE THAT DAY COMES, YOU CAN’T GO BACK”
lot more drivable. I don’t k now if it gets any better f uel consumption, but it just runs better and feels smoother.
It def initely gets driven t hough, t hat’s what t hey’re t here for!
My t wo girls have grown up in the back, and now one of them’s got an L-plate on t he back now. It’s come f ull circle. She even asked me if she can ta ke it to t he drive-in movies wit h her friends next year, I’m t hinking ‘geez I dunno if I’m ready for t hat’.
There’s one day I won’t be able to drive t his t hing, and once t hat day comes I can’t turn t he clock back. I just keep it clea n, wash it, and keep driv ing!