Muncie

Look like triumph shocks to me out back

Castrol gtx 20/50 and moreys used to be my go to and my dads for well 30 plus years never any problems and to be fair we both gave our British cars death.

Next plan is to sell my red car and order a 12psi pulley kit im tossing up buying a air to air incooler plate which slips under the blower and allows the use of a conventional front mount intercooler they arent cheap though. I talked to a guy in nz who has played with one in great detail running a water to air intercooler that goes under the blower he ended ditching it and going water alcohol injection getting huge gains. Im on the fence now alcohol is easy and effective and if you run out the holden ecu is clever enough to kill the timing back enough to stop detonation preventing damage.

So this week has been all about tidying up the calais. After steam cleaning i found a lot of new gaskets clearly visible on the engine so at the very least the heads have been off, following on i jacked it up to check it out underneath the only thing i noticed out of the ordinary was a weeping trans cooler hose heading to a Huge cooler a slight tweek on hose clamp and no more leaks. The tyres were toast all round so ive been on the hunt for some new wheels I'd noticed Auto66 in Hamilton a car dealership has mainly late model holdens fitted with new wheels, was pretty sure they must have a few sets of factory wheels laying around Was i wrong! They had 2 full shipping containers of them and a stack just outside in the yard. So $600 later i had a 18" set off a 2012 commodore loaded in my backseat added bonus they had the correct profile and size new tyres for my vx. I had to reem out the hubs a few mm was straight forward and they are on and look nice and stock

I found pairing air shocks with a second set of shocks gets the best of both worlds. I tucked a kyb up the guts of the springs of my triumph and used the air shocks in stock position to lift the bum when loaded with lads/beer to stop the dog with worms look. You also need a valve for each shock or air will shoot over to the other side making the car keel over when you chuck it into a corner.

There's a section in the bible somewhere with crossflow ford and holden 6 tuning tips. Moses bought them down from that hill a while back written on slate.

Red an green i think i might have a problem I need an ls1 to round it off as a set.........

Gave the calais a full on service today much to the rounded off over tightened sump plugs disgust. Seriously so much more grunt very surprised how noticeable the basics perked it up. Measured 4.8 litres of oil into it and after 20 or so ks checked it oil is invisible on the dipstick and rocker covers are spotless inside.

So thought I'd start a thread as after selling my triumph to zebradude i needed a tow bar..... and something to accommodate the holden transplant i kept from it enter the $1499 vx commodore with the cracked head 1$ reserve on trademe. Upon arriving to collect i was met by a morbidly obese women who promptly showed me to my prize informing me it wouldn't get me home (like fuck it wont i thought) i filled the dry overflow bottle which immediately emptied itself onto the grass and topped up the radiator. I had a rummage around the back of this car and found a empty coke bottle filled it with water jammed it amongst things in the engine bay and put the overflow hose in it and set off in the dark from middle of nowhere bay. No dramas at all 9 months later and several radiator flushes later and 1 plastic overflow tank calling this the best car ive owned. Bonus score just realized it is also packing king springs and some form of lovely shocks after wondering why it handled so damned well. Enter vx commodore number 2 was looking for mags and spotted this on Facebook it was on for 2 grand i got the guys number and forgot about it for 3 weeks come into a bit of cash decided i wonder...... yup still had it arranged to look mags were gone when i got there but damn the leather upholstery was mint and all the electrical goodies worked for a calais. Fuck it was grubby though popped the bonnet an spotted the blower an contained my excitement just long enough to get it for $1800 straight to wash world got all the grime off to reveal quite severe stone chips everywhere, looks nice in rain at least. Just gave it a full birthday today fluids oil coolant and celebrated with some sneaky rain snakys. So now comes the hard choice do i cull the plain v6 and keep its suspension for the calais or drop my v8 in the lumina add race seats and hit the track? Keeping the calais as a daily or up the boost and race that. Spoiled for choice at moment will get some photos up soon.

Got an uncle running a 4.2 stroker pre ecotec motor in a class one off roader makes 298kw on engine dyno naturally aspirated. Has smashed his albins gearbox recently so im seeing potential with this thing if i do things sensibly and dont get carried away doing it to fast.

Paid 1800 bucks wof reg im the 3rd owner as well, Bad points it has stone chips over everything but the roof. Good points are it fucking flys leather seats electric everything and it all works will swap over my suspension from my other commodore lower firmer and good shocks and get the paint sorted. And up the boost a bit then plan for some intercooling before giving it some stick.

Mace engineering do a few good intercooler options all slip under the blower Surprisingly cheap really. wasn't looking for another project seems to be happening though.

Just carefully cleaned a sparrows worth of feathers covering the mesh in the air flow meter this morning making way more blower buzz already.

Pulley kit will be happening for it might buy a 10psi pulley and a 14 in case the engine doesn't like it. Be happy just to do a few dyo races a mid 15 quarter would make my day its a calais so really is too heavy to be very fast.

Was thinking of slapping a 14psi pulley on and rigging up some water alcohol injection. E85 injection could work well here maybe? done 300000 ks would hazard a guess it had a rebuild recently as its 1000 ks off a service and the oil is like golden syrup perfect.

Bought a parts car today which after 20 bucks at wash world is looking like a keeper now. Anyway its got the supercharged v6 in its a vx commonwhore as it is its pretty bloody rapid seeing i only bought it for the upholstery im thinking i might bang a pulley kit on and up the boost for some low buck dragstrip action. How far can you bump it up before shit gets hairy engine wise?

i just do that kind of shit with a micro roller no over spray no gun to clean. Mainly because i did a few commercial painting jobs and have boxes of the things handy for dings etc sands up nice.

My mini did the exact same thing was a combination of things the slave cylinder wasnt returning (poked) replaced that and when i bled the clutch found the line had collapsed internally. 65 ish in parts i found the clutch plate was seized to the flywheel locked in first key off and rocked it back and forth. Started up and was a good one mine sat for 3 years though. Unbolt your slave cylinder and see if you get drive while aimed way from fences etc.

You can squeeze a 13" wheel on a mini provided you are prepared for big flares. I got mine sitting on 16" works at one stage it moved and rubbed on full lock reality was they were too big. depends what your prepared to move to fit the wheel you want anythings possible 13s look great 14s at a stretch with tiny tyres.

Whats the deal with snow tyres? They offer so little traction i dont see how they are legal in nz in any towns it doesn't snow. I failed a warrant on them heaps of tread etc changed them wow never again. Maybe for burnouts.....

Bet a triumph motor would fit your wiper setup lucas splattered those units on alsorts.

You need Castrol oil and a nice big glob of moreys in your sump hell moreys works in most things power steer diffs its good value.

Cheeky bugger Connor my girlfriend and i both agree he should sell it to me......

Will come up with something to get some sexier wheels on or at very least drop it over current ones. A landy roof would be cool if i can find one, A tow bar to hang a bike rack on would be awesome too.

Bugs me the wheels aren't in centre of wheel arch but for amount of work to move the axle i think I'll learn to live with it. It is so gloriously shiny yet haggard right now i better sort some plates so i can get some mud on it.