OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Wanted Ampol plastic bottles

Hi everyone! i know its a little bit off topic But I am actually looking to buy plastic Ampol bottles, grease tubes and tubs. Or trade mower parts for them.

It seems every garage sale I go to has one in the shed, yet I can't find any for sale online when I ask, so I thought I would ask around here. I have no doubt a few members have some in the shed. Ampol merged with Caltex in the late 1990s and were fazed out of existence by the early 2000s, so I even collect the latest plastic stuff. The 2000s stuff is actually fairly hard to get compared to some earlier tins.

If anyone has any they would be willing to move on please let me know, I don't want the contents. As I said i am happy to buy or trade mower parts for it. Thanks

That disgusts me that such a successful brand was wiped out like that due to short term gain.
I recently found an old tin, but no later stuff. I know what you mean by seeking the last stuff. In this case, it's more interesting and just as historical due to this once prominent brand disappearing overnight.

All about the dollar MF, brands don't mean a thing if it gets in the way of a dollar

I agree, its a huge shame. There are still some Ampol service stations around, like the one in Beaudesert which sells Caltex products, but last time I was in Beauy I think I counted 5 Caltex's, so I guess they wanted to make some "variety" Ampol was a very successful brand too, they had their own refineries and supply network, they just got absorbed into the service station game, to disappear forever. Now we have less competition and higher prices... Such a shame

Back when I started learning of all the Aussie brands falling into overseas hands, you name it, it was owned by foreigners, Ampol was a beacon of hope back in the 1990s. Sure enough, the enemy (the foreigner) got their slime riddled claws on it eventually and, worse, wiped this well regarded trademark out of existence -just about. Should be declared a crime to do this.

Here is the tin I found recently in hard rubbish on the kerb -only two doors away!
There is still some oil inside it.
Note, in the bottom pic, I have edited it into a mirror image of the underside of the metal cap.

Wow!!! That is a super nice can! Not easy to find in that size and especially hard to find in some great condition! It truely is an amazing find!

In regards to Ampols take over of a foreign company, it wasn't actually a take over (unlike Golden Fleece a bit over a decade earlier) the two companies merged and after a while the decision was made to use Caltex branding over Ampol. After that Chevron owned 50% of shares, and Australian shareholders owned the other 50%. However in 2015 Chevron sold its shares to Australian share holders, making Caltex Australia an Australian company! At least thats what I think has happened

Caltex Australia has established an arm in Singapore, but because Caltex Singapore is still owned by Chevron they needed to use another name and logo.

This is what they came up with.

G'day all,
Those plastic grease tubs are going to be rare, as commercial workshops would always have bought 2.5kg tubs or larger.

I even have a couple of the tin Ampol 2.5's here, which I bought in the 80's for servicing the front end of my 45 series Landcruiser. Repacking the swivel housings and CV joints took a lot of grease!

And both the front and rear wheel bearings had to be repacked regularly, as I used to take it through a fair few High Country water crossings.

I always wondered Gadge, does water ingress into the bearings after immersion of the axles? I imagine you will find a gross emulsion of axle grease and water after a few crossings.
Someone told me that the water would just dry out through heat generated from the wheels rolling.

G'day MF,
Yes, water can certainly make it into the bearings, if the diff and bearings etc are up at full road operating temperature when going into the cold water.
It's not so much of a problem at bush track speeds; though water ingress to the diff gear compartment can be, if extended axle breathers aren't fitted.

Regular repacking and diff oil changes are cheap insurance; as a failure in real 'tiger country' used to mean a long walk out, at the least. Often still does, as mobile phone coverage is crap in Vic's High Country, and not many can stretch to a satphone.
Well, no, as the assembly is sealed with 'lip' type seals, which act as a one-way valve - water can get in, but not out; even if it all gets hot enough to boil the water [which can occur on the bitumen, with sustained heavy braking].

It is possible to get roller bearing greases with extremely high water tolerance/absorption capacity [these see wide use in [e.g.] paper mill bearings], but these are exy industrial products, only available in 20kg+ pack sizes...

I can recall one quite specialised grease of this type, used by Aust Paper's Maryvale mill, that cost over $3000 for a 180kg drum, over 20 years back now.

Hi Gadge,
I appreciate your detailed explanation of how it stands. I will be thinking thrice before I ever drive through flood waters.

G’day All,

With reference to MF’s photo above of the oil tin, what is a 20/20w oil? Is it a multigrade (in which case what does it do ) or is this just a marketing jockeys way of selling straight weight 20w oil so that it sounds all ‘tech’ and impressive to the average punter???

Cheers,

Hi Gadge. I have found a couple 500g tubs, they aren't as common as the 2.5kg tins though. I found one at a swap meet, one online and 2 at my old Highschool. The company which made the tubs still has pictures of them on their website, even though they likely stopped producing them around 1997.

http://www.plastictooling.com/products.php - I might need to make that a proper link later, my internet isn't the best at the moment, big rains in Brissy.

The late 2.5kg tins are still worth something, so don't throw them out. I don't usually buy them unless they are $5 or under though, easy to find, hard to post makes for a limited market if you re-sell. But $5-10 is still better than a trip to the dump.

I have recently found a 1 litre Brake Fluid bottle, a stubbie cooler and a credit card wallet all by Ampol.

Nope, not a multigrade; just an odd way of stating a monograde rating!