1960 Wolseley 6/99 Automatic
e-mail: John Miller

John Miller - Wolseley Car Club Queensland with 1960 Wolseley 6/99 Automatic - Feb 2004 before leaving Sydney for the 620 mile trip to Brisbane and then on to Kingaroy.

Wolseley 6/99 Automatic - May 2004. Panel work and new paint completed.

Part 1:
May 2003

After travelling nearly 13 hours from home to attend the 2003 Wolseley National Rally in my 4/44, it was decided that a big 6 would be more suitable for the 2005 National in Victoria - a solid 2 days drive south of here (or 3 days with sight-seeing). Enter Kevin Haynes with a 1960 6/99 auto in need of a good home.

Part 2:
February 2004.

Some time elapsed, and the size of the task was evaluated many, many times. In January 2004, a small ad in the Wolseley Wisdom newsletter caught my attention; Wolseley 6/99 Auto, 1960, one owner, 66,000 miles. The price was less than the estimates I had been making on re-building the one I already had. A phone call was made to Bill Slattery (WCC New South Wales) to visit the car and give me an idea of the condition.

2 weeks later and I loaded my current 6/99 on the trailer to return it to Kevin in Brisbane. Towing a trailer to Brisbane takes me about 4 hours and I arrived late Friday afternoon. I have a 5:30am flight to Sydney where Bill will meet me and take me to the car.
By 10:00 we are back at Bill's home getting ready to drive back to Brisbane. There are spares to be delivered to Kevin so these are loaded carefully into the boot. A very large container of water is added as this day we are experiencing record highs - some areas will be 40+ degrees C. The car had got a little hot on the 10 mile run to Bill's place so I was a little worried about travelling during the extreme heat of the day. 12:00 and I was on my way North. Bill leads me to the Expressway entry before turning back and I am on my way. The outside temperature is very hot and it becomes unpleasant inside the car. After an hour I stop to buy drinks to keep my fluid levels up. The car is not liking the heat at all as the temperature gauge is sitting well up in the heat range, but everything seems to be going well.

Once I hit the mountains the temperature really climbs. On one very long climb I was blocked by a heavy transporter - couldn't pass and the slow speed was sending the gauge into the extreme zone. Only thing I could do was stop and wait for the truck to get to the top before I continued. I had been lucky to get up the previous long sections and then get plenty of airflow on the decent to cool the motor. I waited about 15 minutes (topped up the water) and made a run for the top only to find the truck was still about 100 meters from the top and making hard work of the last steep section. I managed to pass but the gauge was on full hot so it was down the other side to let the air pull the temperature down. I was sure by now that something was not right in the cooling department. This was confirmed a couple of hours later when as night fell so did the temperature - the gauge was now on the coldest end and the motor had little heat at all. This points to either no thermostat fitted or it is stuck open - either way, the water flow is unrestricted and flows through the radiator too quickly for any real temperature control.

After 10 odd hours driving I pulled up for the night. Rather unfortunate that the small town had a Rock Concert in full swing. After a couple of hours rest I decided to move further North away from the noise and closer to where I was planning on having breakfast. Slept in the park for the rest of the night (with some other weary travellers) then had pancakes before continuing on to Brisbane. Stopped for petrol just outside Brisbane and disaster struck. After running most of the night on high-beam with the 2 driving lights, the battery was flat and I could not start the car to move away from the bowsers. Made a temporary repair to a damaged wire from the alternator to the battery where a quick disconnect plug had melted from the load of the lights and battery. Seems there is a rule that cars will not be jumpstarted on the service station driveway (risk of sparks and explosion). However, someone rendered assistance and I was on my way.

Arrived back at Kevin's about 28 hours after flying out. I did a total of 612 miles at 20.4 miles per gallon. Loaded the new car on the transporter, had a cup of coffee with Kevin and Heather and I was away again. Another 4 hours and I was home with the new toy safely unloaded.

May 2004:

The single biggest problem on the trip home (besides the temperature) was oil leaking out of every gasket. I used 3 litres of oil on the trip. Since I have been home I have replaced the thermostat to cure the heating issues and cleaned out the crankcase breathers (blocked with carbon) to cure the oil leaks. The motor did not burn oil - it just leaked out. Happily I can report that the motor is now oil tight. The remaining oil leaks are coming from the gearbox and they should be fixed at the next service when a new pan gasket will be fitted.

That's it for now. Panel and painting are finished but I still have to do work on the interior (and paint the wheels). The car will be ready for the Wolseley National Rally in May 2005. I plan on doing a few Rallies closer to home over the next 12 months to sort out any little problems before heading off to Victoria. Look through the next couple of pages to see the rebuild take place.

1960 Wolseley 6/99 in Sydney ready for 621 mile trip to Brisbane

Spares loaded, everything checked, plenty of spare water and ready to go.

Loaded in Brisbane and ready for the trip to Kingaroy and the 6/99's new home.

Faulty Thermostat - now replaced.

An original Wolseley 6/99 toolkit

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