hey guys,

i have heard over the years rumours that the first 100 or so walkies were straight out of the larry perkins garage, or the engine was more specifically. im not sure if anyone here has heard that or not....?

so, to answer the rumours: i work at BP refinery in western australia. BP bought into Castrol recently and as a result we had big larry as a guest speaker here one day. so at the end of his pep talk when he was signing photos, i asked the question and he reckons nothing publically available such as the above example has EVER come out of his workshops. EVER.

now of course he could have been bullsh!tting me or whatever, but just thought i would share my experience.

cheers,
adam

straight from the Horse's mouth hey, but maybe he's been told, or paid to say that, as you said!!!!

Somehow I don't think its true, look at the name on the car Walkingshaw, although him and Larry were bed buddies at that stage.......

the old walkingshaw ay!

A mate of mine in aus has seen the internals of both prior and post 100, and he is certain the prior has the most precise clearances he had seen in a walkinshaw engine.
ie. Not production line stuff.

So if Larry didnt do it, maybe someone else did the work.

2c

Geez, you guys are gettin a few VL's in your collection over in NZ!!!!

Good to see!

of the 750 made the better quality walkys were after the 500 car mark when they did the second production run. apparently the build quality is better. As for the internals its anyones guess.

There are so many rumours about the walkies. I have heard the opposite, that the last 250 were slopped together because it didn't matter for homologation rerquirements. The only definite difference that I know of is that the very early models had Crane roller Rockers, and the later ones had Yella Terra roller rockers.

That is not right! My walky is in the last 50 to be built and it has Crane gold rollers! Other cars past the 500 mark i have looked at and all have had the same rocker gear aswell.

That is very interesting. I was with the owners of 2 walkies on the weekend that were both in the 500's, and they both had yella terra rockers. Mine is no. 37, and it has the gold crane rockers.

You learn something every day!

Have you guys had your cars since new??? If not they could have been changed... Just a thought...

Just wondering if anyone knows whatever happened to the 50 or so Larry Perkins V8 blocks that were specially cast in the early 90's. Apparently he had to have blocks modified so he could race with a modified block. This was probably in 93 when he had the only Holden motor when everyone else went to chev. I have read an interview with Larry and he confirmed this. They also had LP cast into them. Does anyone own one of these things

First 500 were better qaulity I asm led to believe, last 250 were slapped together.

I reckon there all just as good as each other. Be lucky you've got one, there nice cars regardless of when they're built

last 250 were a last minute order.
Being worse quality... not sure about that, i can imagine they were a little rushed.. but i do know they did get new moulds made.

P.S. the guy/company that originally made the moulds currently makes fibreglass boats ;) i visted his workshop, and he has a few very fine souveniers.

P.P.S. his signature is on the back of every 'original panel'.

P.S. if i remember correclty he was saying something about the first few batches had to be recalled as the fibreglass moulds were warping after the received there coat of paint and were cooked.. don't know how they got around it, i'd assume they just made them thicker.. but there's a fact for ya's ;)

There is at least one Walkinshaw with a modified engine from the factory and the car has paperwork to prove it along with a few other mods. Original owner said it was a Perkins modified engine but the papers don't state his name on it.
As for differences in the first 500 versus last 250 i would rather have one of the later ones as they didn't get the rear wheelhousing beaten like the first 500 did to comply with CAMS rules although i'd happily own one of the earlier ones espicially the one with all the not really available options.
SirGeo, The bodykit panels were manufactured by several different companies at the time. Now if one guy made al the moulds and supplied them to the companies involved then that would be fair enough but to have signed each panel these companies produced, somehow i don't think so. Try 750 plus sets of panels with over 20 pieces per set. Maybe he signed the moulds but not every panel they produced.

Corsa

I thought there were 4 original bodykit suppliers. I've owned 2 walkinshaws and the bodykit finish on both were excellent (001 and 149). I had a mate that owned one in the 600's and the rear door moulds stuck out quite a lot into the wheel arch. I dont think the number has much to do with the build quality, probably who built the bodykit parts does though. Its just a thought anyway. As for the panel beating job in the boot, well personally it doesn't bother me as I didn't even notice until someone posted the diagrams on theis forum.......

From what he was telling me he made the original moulds from the 'concept walky' (if thats what you want to call it) from that the rest were made. And yes more than 1 company made the actual kits, and someone from each company had to sign off each print to say it passed 'quality control'. If you've got an original walky and are willing to pull off a kit piece chances are their will be a signature on the back of it.

This guy is actually very big in the speed boat racing scene.. his name is on the tip of my tongue, but it just won't come to me for some reason...

[QUOTE=SirGeo]last 250 were a last minute order.
Being worse quality... not sure about that, i can imagine they were a little rushed..


the last 250 weren't a last minute order. In December 1987, 750 was already the figure quoted for units to be built.

Typical!
You aussie send the last slapped together ones over here:mad:
Glad my one is imported #127:D

the back of my bodykit peices are signed by "Scott" in red texta :)
and it also has the dates..