Upper Middle Petrol Head:

  After ten long months in hibernation, awaiting a new head gasket, Project 3P has reached the point of reasonable usability.  It's not pretty.  Nor is it particularly nippy.  And I wouldn't bet on it being all that reliable, either!  However, it does start, stop and steer properly, all its legal requirements have been met - tyres, restraints, wipers, lights, indicators, horn, whatever ... - and it's registered.  Usable is quite a milestone!    The ignition points have made way for a Pertronix  Flame Thrower  set-up with a new coil and leads,  and it's also running a set of "tri-y" extractors and a new tail pipe ( https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2022/08/project-3p-part-18-custom-built.html ) .  All the radiator and heater hoses have been replaced, as was the heater core (Motor Cool Radiator Repairs, Brownells Lane, Moonah / (03) 6278 2736).  The  head was machined at Just Heads (74 Springfeild Avenue, West ...

  You'd be hard pressed to find a better example of a mid-'80s Commodore than this ripper VL, photographed at February, 2024's, Classics by the Beach at Sandy Bay, just fifteen minutes' drive south of Hobart's CBD.  The two letter, four numeral Tasmania - Holiday Isle rego only added to the car's appeal, with the plates likely to have been with it since day dot.  It's running some serious rubber and has upgraded stopping power, too, courtesy of some big red Brembos.  However, the owner told UMPH that the wheels have gotta go, as the rubber band tyres wrapped around those gorgeous alloys don't always fare so well on southern Tasmania's less than ideal roads.  He also said that the car's not as quick as people might imagine, being powered by the non-turbo 3.0 litre version of Nissan's RB30E in-line six, as also fitted to their Skyline of the day.  So not outrageously fast but not really a slow coach, either.   Another TR4 by Italian master-styl...