VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions Hi Aussie members

Around 20 years ago I went to a Swap Meet in Carrara on the Gold Coast Qld. There I met an elderly gentleman who had his Australian model 34/35 Coupe or a cabriolet (unsure which one it was blue.) what i do remember is the modifications he made to the car and the extended trips he had travelled around australia. He had manufactured and installed his own Overdrive unit to the torque tube and explained that he had just returned from to Broome and back cruising at (100 KPH 8o MPH at 2000 RPM) He had also modified the braking system to give 60% on the front and 40% on the rear this was achieved by fitting levers where the mechanical rods meet the front brake cables.He had modified the cooling pipe work and also the the generator cutout by fitting a holden diode. He certainly was a creative guy and told me of his other project that he had modified on other old cars as well, such as fitting valiant pistons to a 28 dodge by cutting the conrods in half and welding them up, he claimed it worked well. does anyone know who he was and is the car still around as I would love to recheck out the brake mods.

http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/218623/

Not sure if it's the '35 roadster pictured in this link, but if it is, Dave passed away a few years back...

If the car in the link is the one with the brake mods, maybe a query to the Motor Vehicle Department can locate it. The license plate number is showing in the pic.

Cheers, Dean

Hi Brewster . Yes I am sure this is the car its how I remember it the two tone blue. I met his son the same day at the Swap Meet, perhaps he inherited the car. Did you know what part or Australia Dave lived or his last name. I don't know how I would track down the registration number in Aussie maybe someone from there can help.
What a great club VCCA is where you can get a result from the other side of the world so quickly, I tried to locate Dave many years ago by phoning around Australian Vintage car clubs with no success Thanks again -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paul
In that link I noticed "South Coast of New South Wales", this may be a clue to Dave's location. I also notice the plates are "Historic Vehicle" so you will need to contact the club that issued them. As a result I highly suspect that the registration department in NSW (Roads and Maritime Service) here will even attempt to help you contact anyone more by incompetence than privacy causes, I have had too many dealings with them.
Tony

Hi to all VCCA members who answered my request to find the 35 Chevrolet that I had seen so many years ago in Australia. With your help I have just talked to a lady in New south Wales who has the car in her care. I would never be able to have tracked the car down without all your help and ideas. It's a shame the owner has passed on, he was such an interesting fellow. Next time I visit Australia I will make a point of calling in to see the car again.

Hi Paul,
Dave Wolf was the gent who owned the 35 master in the photo and I think there is some confusion here ,Dave was a well known restorer of Chev's and over the years he had quite a few. he also was not into modifications like you described,I think the person who you were talking about sounds like Ray Sherwell he had a number of overdrive units he used to make and sell and also built a number of motors with those cut and shut con rods you described . Sadly for you he too has passed away. he used to attend a lot of swaps and talk the talk about his cars and there ability??

Hi Jim. You may be right,sounds more likely it was Ray. Did you know him. Did he own a 35 Chevrolet cabriolet/ Roadster, would you know where Ray resided prior to his passing.
I would love to track the car down to study the brake mod's.
Thanks for the information.

Hi Paul, I spoke to a friend last weekend who is a mechanic and worked for Ray Sherwell and he said that Ray never owned a 1935 of any body style and couldn't think of any that they had modified, I can probably get you the families contact details. There was a green 1933 Roadster at Tugun on the Gold Coast that had an overdrive fitted and had several other modifications and it could be the car you are thinking of, unfortunately the owner has also passed away. I don't think that there would be any 1935 Cabriolets in Australia but there are quite a few Roadsters.

Hi, thanks for your help comments and knowledge. last night I searched the internet and located Ray Sherwell's son Brett. I phoned him and had a chat,
Chevroler6 all your facts are correct, Ray was not the man I spoke to all those years ago. I cannot say with any certainty whether it was a 1934 or 35 cabriolet or a roaster or even if it was a coupe I do now it was a Australian made.
Last week When I talked to the " caretaker" of Dave Wolfs 35 Chevrolet I did tell her that the car I was inquiring about had a overdrive and the brake modifications. Maybe I will contact her again and confirm more details on the car, she said she would pass on my details to Dave's children.
My interest is in the brake mod's where the cars owner had changed the brake system to obtain 60/40 leverage between the front and rear brakes

Paul, Ray Sherwell had a standard bodied 1928 four door sedan that sat on 17 inch master wheels that he drove everywhere. The Chev 4 engine was highly modified and I believe the car was fitted with an overdrive of his own design. It would not surprise me if he also modified the brakes. I think you may be getting the modifications done to the 28 confused with Daves car which was not modified in any way that I am aware of. If memory serves correctly Ray claimed the 28 would do 80mph.He was a very cluey man.

hi 345chevy. I know the car was a 6 cylinder as the owner explained how he modified the cooling system by using a bypass pipe adaption from the rear of the head and it was definitely not a 28 Chevy unless I have Alzheimer's or it was a dream. I believe it was a 34 or 35. Anyway its fun looking for the mystery car and owner.
Cheers Paul.

Hi Paul, I have played with 1934-5 Chevs since 1968 and know a lot of owners of similar year cars but do not remember any being modified in this way. Personaly I wouldnt worry too much about the brakes. If they are adjusted properly and use the right linings they will pull up fine.

To go back to the start, Dave Wolfe's car was never modified and remains that.He would never have been at a swap meet on the Gold Coast at any stage. I am sure that if anyone knew of someone up there doing those sort of modifications people like Ron Daw would know them.