aussie ford zephyr's

castellan · 02-09-2009, 05:22 PM

I don't know much about these zephyr zodiac consul cars.

What was the go with these.

I think in the 1959 zephyr MK II, you could option disk brakes and a 3 speed auto.
I remember my mum nearly bought a zephyr. one of the last Aussie made type. i think it had a 155 ci motor. my brother's mate had one, and it performed well.
Does anyone know the history of these cars. only mainly about the ones we got in Australia.

Were they a better car then the Holden's in them days. how!

Was ford the 1st to have a automatic transmissions in aus.
I know the XK falcon got a 2 speed auto in 1960.
But was it a zephyr or a customline or a galaxie that we Aussies first got an automatic transmission car. or was GM the 1st.

Bossxr8 · 02-09-2009, 05:58 PM

The straight sixes were SOHC I think and apparently went quite well in the day. Way better than the Holdens did.

AustinA40 · 02-10-2009, 10:53 AM

Pic of my second car in the early 60's, better than the other brand !#^*+> for sure.

last fairlane · 02-10-2009, 08:01 PM

Hi all I forgot to say that when you got a Mk2 Zephyr the first thing was get a consul manifold (walking stick) and use your Zephyr one and cut it in half and then cut a bit off the Consul one then use your Zephyr down pipe and one Consul downpipe and you ended up with a set of headers (exctractors)
and the Bling back then was to find a Wolseley 2480 and grab the head light covers ( the eyebrow ones)
One more thing I had a red stop light in the back window of my Mk2 back in the 60s and was told by the cops to take it out as it was illegal to have an odd number of lights front or back dont know how Rovers got on
thanks John

AustinA40 · 03-10-2009, 04:09 PM

The Rover 75 with a single light in the centre of the grille, the Austin A90 Atlantic also had a single light in grille were disconnected and not allowed to be used.
The pedestrian cutter light shades were banned as well as hood ornaments that stuck out with pointed beaks (like a bird in flight, etc etc)
Many pedestrians were first dazzeled by the lights, and then cut to ribbons and then impaled on hood ornaments, not a nice thing for the driver, not to mention the pedestrians.

John Roberts · 18-04-2024, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by last fairlane

Hi all I forgot to say that when you got a Mk2 Zephyr the first thing was get a consul manifold (walking stick) and use your Zephyr one and cut it in half and then cut a bit off the Consul one then use your Zephyr down pipe and one Consul downpipe and you ended up with a set of headers (exctractors)
and the Bling back then was to find a Wolseley 2480 and grab the head light covers ( the eyebrow ones)
One more thing I had a red stop light in the back window of my Mk2 back in the 60s and was told by the cops to take it out as it was illegal to have an odd number of lights front or back dont know how Rovers got on
thanks John

Would never have thought of doing that. Mine must have been a Christmas-rush build, as after a few years it started to leak at the curved ports on the hockey stick mild steel pipe.

When it still leaked after pulling it off half-a-dozen times with the bolts holding the stick to the downpipe warped from the heat (at least their nuts were brass), and the bloody exhaust-heated inlet manifold and fuel pipe having to come off each time, and using absolute tubes of exhaust putty, in desperation I put a straight-through muffler on to reduce pressure, then finally a set of Sonic custom-made extractors and quieter muffler (I didn't want to spend money on a then-new hockey stick that could have the same issue). Waste of bloody time. Also fiddly to fit the aluminium spacer blocks to the curved head ports - more putty.

Had to bend the kickdown rod to clear the extractors, meaning that never worked right again. Took the car out down the length of Heathcote Rd and back - a distance of about 30 miles. Down on power and 57 mpg! So it was running hit-you-over-the-head lean + no heated inlet manifold. Rejetted the Zenith, but it never ran the way I liked.

Got a job in the city and left the Zephyr parked at my place and only drove it weekends. The extractors rotted after two years! (out of warranty, natch). Traded it on the XK with a proper cast exhaust manifold (which cracked years later, but was able to get it welded and fit it without taking the inlet manifold off as it was cast into the head, lol).

**Captain Stubing** · 18-04-2024, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Roberts

Would never have thought of doing that. Mine must have been a Christmas-rush build, as after a few years it started to leak at the curved ports on the hockey stick mild steel pipe.

When it still leaked after pulling it off half-a-dozen times with the bolts holding the stick to the downpipe warped from the heat (at least their nuts were brass), and the bloody exhaust-heated inlet manifold and fuel pipe having to come off each time, and using absolute tubes of exhaust putty, in desperation I put a straight-through muffler on to reduce pressure, then finally a set of Sonic custom-made extractors and quieter muffler (I didn't want to spend money on a then-new hockey stick that could have the same issue). Waste of bloody time. Also fiddly to fit the aluminium spacer blocks to the curved head ports - more putty.

Had to bend the kickdown rod to clear the extractors, meaning that never worked right again. Took the car out down the length of Heathcote Rd and back - a distance of about 30 miles. Down on power and 57 mpg! So it was running hit-you-over-the-head lean + no heated inlet manifold. Rejetted the Zenith, but it never ran the way I liked.

Got a job in the city and left the Zephyr parked at my place and only drove it weekends. The extractors rotted after two years! (out of warranty, natch). Traded it on the XK with a proper cast exhaust manifold (which cracked years later, but was able to get it welded and fit it without taking the inlet manifold off as it was cast into the head, lol).

Hello John, just to make sure you know, you are quoting a members post from 15 years ago, and that member hasn't logged on to the forums for about a year and a half. Just advising in case you were seeking conversation with them, which might not be forthcoming.

lra · 19-04-2024, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Roberts

Would never have thought of doing that. Mine must have been a Christmas-rush build, as after a few years it started to leak at the curved ports on the hockey stick mild steel pipe.

When it still leaked after pulling it off half-a-dozen times with the bolts holding the stick to the downpipe warped from the heat (at least their nuts were brass), and the bloody exhaust-heated inlet manifold and fuel pipe having to come off each time, and using absolute tubes of exhaust putty, in desperation I put a straight-through muffler on to reduce pressure, then finally a set of Sonic custom-made extractors and quieter muffler (I didn't want to spend money on a then-new hockey stick that could have the same issue). Waste of bloody time. Also fiddly to fit the aluminium spacer blocks to the curved head ports - more putty.

).

I had a set of "Speco" ( I think ) extractors on my Mk2.
They had the curved blockey bits that fitted the head attached to the individual pipes moulded in, with gaskets included.
Bolted straight in, no leaks in the engine bay. 2 inch exhaust came out just in front of the RH rear wheel. ( You could do those sort of things in the olden days )

Fairlane · 02-09-2009, 06:00 PM

English car, was at one stage going to be made fully here instead of the Falcon. Was pretty exxy even in the days of the old Imperial Tariff preference.

Zephyr was a big 4
Zodiac was a small I6

There was also a ute

Australia got the Mark 1, 2 & I believer the 3's, 4 was a Europe only job that got replaced by the Tannus/Granada

Pretty sure Customline had Auto in Australia before the Zephyr, first Auto in Australia though was probably a Buick

JG66ME · 02-09-2009, 06:42 PM

A lot of incorrect posts here.

Mk1 & 2, Consul is four cylinder, Zephyr and Zodiac is six cylinder.
Mk 3 you get the Zephyr 4, Zephyr 6 and Zodiac.
All of he above inline engines and no OHC. All available in Australia.

Mk 4 Zephyr 4 is a 2 litre V4 Essex. Zephyr 6 had a 2.5 or 3 litre Essex and Zodiac all had 3 litre V6s, same as the Capri mk 1. Mk 4 not available in Aus but sold in NZ and Africa.

All replaced by the Mk1 Granada series in 1973.

ehast13 · 02-09-2009, 07:57 PM

Zephyr had a McPherson Strut front end.

Way faster than a comparable Holden.

My first car was a new FC ute. It did 85mph flat out. I got a repco 'supersport' exchange engine and it was timed at 96 mph. I got a Zephyr Ute in 1961 and it did 97mph standard!

Mk2 Zodiac claimed an extra 10hp than Zephyr.

The consuls had a slightly shorter front and 4cylinders only.

The Zodiac was kinda like the Fairmont Ghia of the Zephyr

It was quicker, better handling, braking than the first few falcons. It had a nice short throw manual that was miles ahead of the falcons' big long throw shifter. Disc brakes were offered on the last of the Mk2's.

The Mark 3 was a beauty. Look back at old footage of armstrong 500's and you'll usually see a mk 3 on the front row or two.

John Roberts · 09-04-2024, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehast13

Zephyr had a McPherson Strut front end.

Way faster than a comparable Holden.

My first car was a new FC ute. It did 85mph flat out. I got a repco 'supersport' exchange engine and it was timed at 96 mph. I got a Zephyr Ute in 1961 and it did 97mph standard!

Mk2 Zodiac claimed an extra 10hp than Zephyr.

The consuls had a slightly shorter front and 4cylinders only.

The Zodiac was kinda like the Fairmont Ghia of the Zephyr

It was quicker, better handling, braking than the first few falcons. It had a nice short throw manual that was miles ahead of the falcons' big long throw shifter. Disc brakes were offered on the last of the Mk2's.

The Mark 3 was a beauty. Look back at old footage of armstrong 500's and you'll usually see a mk 3 on the front row or two.

Nah, in Oz the Zephyr and Zodiac had the same power. You might be thinking of '59 when the six went from 80 to 86bhp after the comp. ratio went from 6.9 to 7.8 to take advantage of the new 93 octane super.

mick taylor · 13-04-2024, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Roberts

Nah, in Oz the Zephyr and Zodiac had the same power. You might be thinking of '59 when the six went from 80 to 86bhp after the comp. ratio went from 6.9 to 7.8 to take advantage of the new 93 octane super.

OK so you do remember the Super was 93 octane was 93 in Australia, Standard must of been 83 octane then ?
As Standard fuel was only used in all Grey Holden engines.

But when the big Falcon came out they had high compression engines of 8.8:1
back in 1961 but you could opt for the 144 Low comp so you would not get stung at the fuel pump !
Holden's did not get 8.8:1 until late 1963 EH.

But i do remember the MK III Zodiac did perform well for back in them days.

A HQ 173 6 CYL low compression was 8.3:1 and this was running on Standard 87 octane.

John Roberts · 18-04-2024, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mick taylor

OK so you do remember the Super was 93 octane was 93 in Australia, Standard must of been 83 octane then ?
As Standard fuel was only used in all Grey Holden engines.

But when the big Falcon came out they had high compression engines of 8.8:1 back in 1961 but you could opt for the 144 Low comp so you would not get stung at the fuel pump !
Holden's did not get 8.8:1 until late 1963 EH.

But i do remember the MK III Zodiac did perform well for back in them days.

A HQ 173 6 CYL low compression was 8.3:1 and this was running on Standard 87 octane.

Yes, I remember the 93 petrol. Never used Standard at that time, as I was a leadfoot, but yeah I believe it was 83. The laugh was my Zephyr still pinged on Esso 93 (the Tiger in the Tank must be have been geriatric, or had died) if that was the only gas station open in the small Aussie country towns while on a trip.

No octane checks in those days unless someone complained. Thoughtfully, Lucas provided a knurled nut at the base of the distributor to retard the timing for such an eventuality (all those Eastern Bloc countries using Russian surplus pumped from drums left over after the War)!

Some of the tin-pot towns in the outback still had manual pumps where the petrol was pumped into a sight glass from underground, then released into the tank by gravity by the attendant wielding a lever graduated into whole gallons only.

This by-guess-or-by-God method meant I always had to keep my jerry can partly empty for overflow, lol.

I owned both the Mark II Lowline Zephyr 7.8:1 high-comp automatic new and traded it on the replacement - the XK Falcon auto 8.7 to 1 high-comp with the clear sticker on the base of the windscreen reminding you to use 'premium' fuel (obviously a US sticker as Aussies called it 'Super') - some years later (belonged to a little old lady, so low miles). Each went as good as the other.

foxtrot3 · 02-09-2009, 08:28 PM

Hi check http://www.freewebs.com/zzocm/index.htm for the melbourne club cheers md

xtremerus · 02-09-2009, 08:32 PM

Mk3 and Mk4 had 4-speed boxes too, on the column though.

**ebxr8240** · 02-09-2009, 10:39 PM

Here is the Mk 2 and Mk3 Zephyrs on Beach hop N.Z..
The Mk2 is my brothers car...
This mk3 has a V8 conversion..
The Mk 4's had four wheel disc brakes and IRS rear suspension..
All Zephyrs are 6 cylinders .. The Consul was the 4..
The V4 didn't make it to N.Z thank goodness.. Though it did come in the Transit and 2Ltr Capri..
Bottom is the Zodiac Mk4...Same engine as the 3Ltr Capri ..
This engine had the combustion chambers in piston like the 1600 Kent engine..
Could suffer from over heating if laboured ..

JG66ME · 02-09-2009, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xtremerus

Mk3 and Mk4 had 4-speed boxes too, on the column though.

Mk4 Zodiacs got 4 on the floor as well.

castellan · 03-09-2009, 02:06 PM

I have found they have a borg warner DG auto from 1961 so what is that a 3 speed auto or 2 speed.
ehast13 them zephyr ute's look good to. must of been rare as hens teeth.

XAVEE8 · 03-09-2009, 05:56 PM

A few more sites with plenty of info

http://www.galeforcezephyrs.com/

http://fordczzmkll.webs.com/

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/...rzodiacconsul/

ehast13 · 03-09-2009, 06:05 PM

Dunno, I never had an auto. Auto's were pretty rare in those days as they were miles behind a manual (unlike today's ZF six speed?)

JG66ME · 03-09-2009, 09:15 PM

2 speed auto was available on mk 2 Zephyr and Zodiac

mik · 07-09-2009, 11:00 PM

the mark 4 looks very much like a 1968 cd Cortina except with dual head lights, as for the Customline my dad had a late 50`s model with an auto .....not sure how many speeds.

castellan · 08-09-2009, 11:09 AM

The aussie made 1956 customline got a 3 speed auto. the first of what is called a FMX i think. just that it's smaller than the falcon FMX. from what i can work out. there is 4 sizes with a cast iron case from 1951 that were made.
I think the zephyr MK III got a 3 speed auto. the first of the borg warner 35's called a DG B/W.

I have info on the aussie made 1963 wolseley. it came with a B/W 35 it has only L & D not L S D on the stick like some falcon XR falcons. and maybe XP?
In a test it saying, if ya pull the shifter back to 1st it will go into 1st at 8 MPH and no higher. then if ya hold it flat in 1st and if you wont to get 2ed you have to pull the selector back to L and it will hold 2ed.

The 1963 fairlane only had a 2 speed auto. and the falcon only got the 3 sp auto in the 1965 XP. and the ford galaixe got the 3sp C6 in 1966 i think. and holden's 1st 3 sp auto was in the 1960 EJ to 1964 EH then only 2speeds until the traumatic 3sp auto 1970 HG.
Anyone know more about this stuff.

Super Snake · 08-09-2009, 11:40 AM

That car brings back memories.
Dad had one. And as a kid, I remembered the floor in the back was rusted through and I could see the road passing by.
He had the car for a long time, and ended scraping it.

foxtrot3 · 08-09-2009, 07:55 PM

Hi From memory the DG (in the MK2 ) was a 3 speed dual gate (L+D)and it had a lock up torque converter just like lots of cars now but rare in those days and the MK3 had a bw 35 again just like early falcons and also dual gate, that is above a certain speed pulling it to low would drop it from 3rd to 2nd then when the speed droped right down from 2nd to 1st. cheers MD

last fairlane · 08-09-2009, 08:36 PM

How many mistakes in one post as I recall
for a start it was 1957 and Ford 7a Customline had a 'Fordomatic" 3 speed
(where do you think we got the "FMX" name from) Chrysler had a manual overdrive you could also get a Standard 10 ( think Triumph) with push button clutch on top of the gear stick
Holden got 3 I repeat 3 speed auto in 1961 with the EK and then 2 speed with the HD/HR and back to 3 speed in the HK but not the V8s they were 2 speed I had the pleasure of winding out a brand new HK Premier 307 "5 Litre " to 75 MPH in first gear but still couldnt get away from a BMW 2002
Zephyr had BW 35 in 1961 along with Wolsely and Austin Freeway and Mk 2 Jags
Falcons on debut were 2 speed air cooled transmissions they werent conected to the radiator
and dont forget Valiants had auto from 1962 push button "Torque flite"
3 speed
thats my recollections
thanks John

castellan · 09-09-2009, 11:31 AM

FORD use the name's
cruse-o-matic
ford-o-matic
But that has nothing to do with what actual auto trans that is actually in it.
As i see it the customline auto is not a FMX. but the first of what was to become a FMX, but smaller. how good it was or performed i don't know.
The 2 sp in the falcon XK-L-M-P were 3rd rate rubbish.
The 3 sp B/W35 from what i can work out there is 2 versions in the XR falcon the std one has L S D and the one called cruse-o-matic has L and D ONLY. but both are B/W35 auto's. and this was a option on 6 cyl and 289 V8. and with the cruse o if i am right you could take off in 2 ed gear for snow or mud?

And as far as i know in the XT-W it's the same with the 6 cyl but they had a L S D selector. and the V8 may of got the C4 auto. but i am not 100% sure when the first falcon got the C4 auto. i think it was XW, when ford was boasting of a "DRIVERS AUTO" one that you could use like a manual with the T BAR.
Now with this C4 auto, like the B/W35 with the cruse option, you could take off in 2ed if you wanted to. but the B/W35 was not a drivers auto, but a grand par's auto. how it performed. and in std form FMX and C6 auto's can't match a C4, for spirited driving style.

castellan · 09-09-2009, 11:58 AM

Yes last fairlane.
1961 EK is a 3 sp auto.
The EJ to EH may even be called a 4 sp auto. weird how it works.
Holdens had 2 sp powerglide from HD to HT in 6 cyl and all V8's and also in the HG 350. were as all other HG got the trumatic 3 sp auto.

Valiant RV1 & SV1 were a fine auto. do you know when valiant went to the B/W35 in the 6 cyl. I am thinking maybe the VH.

last fairlane · 09-09-2009, 01:55 PM

yes I beleive it was when the first "hemi" came out they went to an Aussie motor and trans as well as diff
and maybe it was also a bit cheaper to go with the Ford pattern which BW was already making instead of the Val stud pattern
also has any one heard the story about the Hemi engine plant sent over to Austria back in the eighties to the Jeep plant if you get a chance have a look at an early 90s Jeep and check out the donk it looks a lot like a 245 Hemi motor with EFI attached to it and the badge 4 Litre high output 245CI = 4 Litre
just what Ive heard and seen
thanks John