On 17 December we held a gathering at Fagan Park for the relatives and friends of our esteemed member, Peter Canavan, following a service at St Benedicts, Arcadia. Peter was also involved in the Morgan Owners Club, and some 28 of these iconic cars attended. He will be sorely missed.
Work progresses on the 1918 International truck. The engine is something of a disaster, and we are assessing our options. We believe we will win out on the gearbox, and the diff is showing promise. These vehicles used old style bearings that are no longer made, and we may have to find an engineering solution for their replacement. A start has been made on refurbishing the steering box.
As I write this, our preparations for Australia Day are under way, and we hope for moderate weather to encourage visitors to the park on the day. A new member took on the job of improving the running of our Farmall F14 tractor, and we will prove his success when it is driven around the park with the other vehicles.
Work is nearing completion on another restoration, a Bave-U orchard sprayer engine and pump.
These were manufactured in Victoria, and were used on local orchards. It was rescued from a scrap dealer at Hornsby, and we acquired another one for some missing parts. It uses a 2-stroke petrol engine of their own manufacture, rather similar to engines used in old wooden boats (often called putt-putt’s).
The Fagan Park museums are open every Tuesday, our volunteering day, and we open the museums on the second Sunday each month during the afternoon. We recommend visitors to the district spend the morning at the Hornsby Model Engineer’s model railway in Mid Dural Road, then come to Fagan park in the afternoon.
We would especially like to encourage people to join our group, and ladies are most welcome. Office work and gardening are some of the activities we do, in addition to mechanical work. Contact me at the park on a Tuesday or phone at any other time.
Ian Browning, Honorary Curator, 0419 435 475.
