sr2

I've been in touch with YT, the alloy Holden 6 heads they make are all 12 ports (Blue or Black mtr) and the valves are different. Big issue is the 5 thou oversize stems, I may have to just bite the bullet and replace all the exhaust guides to bring them back to standard, it would give me a lot more options. I'm still kicking myself for not turning the motor over more frequently!

This thread on Retro Rides is a must read for a little panel work inspiration and a lot of information. http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/70135 This guys skill with basic hand tools is very impressive!

Finally the fun part, time to breathe a little life into Rigamortice’ s much used and abused 186 X2 Holden 6….. A little TLC with the rattle gun and Motor came to bits easily…….. As expected the tired old girl will need a full rebuild but sadly some of the exhaust valves on Rigamortice’s Classic Vintage Yella Terra head had corroded stems from where they had been left open in one position for too long. My fault entirely, I should have been turning the motor over on a more regular basis. (Shame I can’t buy another one for $85!). I contacted Yella Terra and they haven’t made these valves for decades, to further complicate things the valve stems are already 5 thou oversize. Any help on tracking down replacement valves would be appreciated.

Wow, I just discovered this thread. Why am I reminded of the parable of "The Emperor's New Clothes". To me it sounds like something is badly broken and simply needs to be fixed?

Thanks guys, I'll check the Armstrong catalogue and Triumph out. (The bolt was bent when I dropped the diff out, if it was hitting something it would have failed some 200,000 km and 30 years ago).

As stated earlier I’d ditched the original rear lever action shocks and replaced them with a somewhat over engineered set of angle iron brackets to convert to telescopic shocks. (All the better for performing Rigamortice’s legendry “one wheeler peelers”!)…. On closer inspection when removed, the brackets were very rusty; steadfastly resisting the temptation to fabricate a new set I gave them a few days in the phosphoric acid bath (this is supposed to be a restoration project after all). With all the rust removed they looked not only serviceable but had a cool interesting grainy texture to them, a bit of rust proofing and they’ll live again….. The only challenge now is to identify the shocks. Fitted during the 70’s I’m simply at a loss to remember where they came from, (both Rigamortice and I are living proof that if you can remember the 70’s you weren’t there!). We now offer up a free, slightly sat on chocolate fish to anyone who can identify them or suggest a suitable replacement. //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/49843-sr2%E2%80%99s-1947-vauxhall-%E2%80%9Crigamortice%E2%80%9D-discussion-thread/

Wow! Why does new parts/assembly time always make us grownups still feel like a kid at Xmas?

Enjoying your build thread. I've got a good mate who has a 302 XY fairmont that's been in his family since new, great to see them still out there! Re the spray gun issue; I use a small, inexpensive touch-up gun for painting car parts. They use very little air, have far less overspray than a full sized gun, with a small 125cc pot there's less wastage and best of all I can clean the gun with only 1/3 of a cup of thinners.

LOL +1; and we still call them "yes men"!

Be very careful mate, collecting and rebuilding old tools and machinery can become an obsession. You'll soon discover that as well as vises there are old drill presses, power hack saws, lathes, bench saws,....etc. all out there waiting to be rescued, restored and then used on old school projects! Great info here on this Bench Vise Thread. http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?121511-A-Bench-Vise-Thread

LOL; an apt description, (we're talking 50 or so years ago). Could you imagine the health and safety nightmare if you tried to do the same thing today!

Yes apparently they moved to penrose when Newmarket started moving up market. Apparently they closed up shop a few years ago.

There was some wear there but fortunately I had a number of spare, similarly sized spring leafs so I cut some down to replace the worst worn. Some etch primer and they were ready for assembly. Out with the vice and G clamps again…….. A bit of heat in the right place…….. And another job is ticked off the list…..

I still remember (although some 50 odd years ago as a child) my father taking me to the famous “Snell Springs” in Newmarket to have a set of springs made up for one of his many projects. As you turned into a now long gone side street off Khyber Pass rd. you saw a decrepit brick building with heat waves pouring from derelict chimney and the sound of big metal hitting big metal with a regular almost hypnotic beat. With my dear old Dad well known in the Industry (maintenance engineer at Chelsea Sugar Works and night time “management and supervision” lecturer at the then new & burgeoning “ATI”) an awe-struck kid got the full tour- in hindsight they laid it on for me thick! The sight, smell and sound of a work-blackened man with huge arms wearing a leather apron dragging strips of dull red hot steel from a forced induction coke powered forge and forming them into leaf and coil springs with a massive flywheel press, rollers, hammer and anvil stays with me still. It was a chance to have a glimpse through the gates of Hell where steel was formed, worked and hardened with heat, sweat, muscle and experience. Problem was I was stuck with a dilapidated pair of these……. …..and Snell’s were long gone. With a little care, an old strong vice and some big G clamps I managed the disassembly with fingers still intact. Next step was a week of the ‘electrolysis pickle bath” running 24/7!

I'm interested in how you zinc plate?

I haven't a clue who he is or possibly was. I'm not sure what you mean when you describe him as being a "hater"? Does this mean he had some irrational or pathological hatred of the LVTTA or did he just disagree with them?

LOL, possibly a kindred spirit? (Only taking the piss). Being of the age that I have had considerable experience in modifying cars in both the pre and post LVVTA era's I suspect my humble opinion is worth at least worth consideration.... "Hating" the LVVTA is a pointless exercise. Hate should be reserved for individuals, not bureaucratic institutions. Having lived through the history that has led us to the present LVVTA regime it's hard not to come to the belief that we have ended with and unwieldy solution to a problem that never existed in the first place run by a self perpetuating "old boys whisky club" whose primary agenda is to justify their own existence. I'm a firm believer in automotive anarchy, it's great to see sites such as this still promoting automotive individuality and freedom. My only advice has to be break a few rules every now and then and push the boundaries as far as you can get away with it, you'll love the feeling of freedom.

Who's John Brett? Forgive me if I'm missing the obvious but after living through the 70's I'm a little slow. (They say if you can't remember the 70's you weren't there, I know what they mean!).

I use approx 1 teaspoon per 2 litres of water, using a stronger solution has little or no improved effect. The charger is one of my old-school "rescues", it has the original transformer but I replaced the rectifying circuit with a Jaycar unit, it's capable of around 6 amps at 13.5 volts (ish!). The max I've got out of it removing rust is around 4.5 amps. You end up with a black film where the rust was but it's easily removed with a wire brush or wire wool or you can just paint over it with an etch primer. The sacrificial scrap steel you connect the +ve to doesn't last long and ends up plated with rusty crud. I think the advantage electrolysis has over phosphoric based treatments is that it's less invasive i.e. you don't need to worry about damage to threads and machined surfaces. Have a play with it and let us know what you think.

More painting……. And a stack of new parts……. Why does assembly always feel like Christmas…. Some new brake lines…….. And it’s done……

As with any project that involves old cars you spend a disproportionate amount of your time dealing with rust! I’d try been meaning to give electrolysis a go for quite a while and thought now would be as good a time as any. All you need is some sort of tank, an old school battery charger, some washing soda and water…… Connect the -ve to the rusty car part and the +ve to a few bits of scrap steel and throw the lot into water with a little washing soda added, turn on the power and watch the fascinating yet friendly little bubbles forming ……… And more friendly bubbles…………… After a period of time you’ll discover that despite your initial burst of enthusiasm watching friendly bubbles forming becomes very, very, very boring and you’ll feel a strong urge to drink heavily! The following morning you end up with a fuzzy head and rust soup………. An interesting by-product of the exercise is that you will also end up with the rust gone from your car part. Before and after shot….. A bit of paint and the results speak for themselves… Can’t help but wonder if you could de-rust a whole car body in the neighbour’s swimming pool with an arc welder, (while he was away on holiday of course!).

The rear end was from an HR Holden, I’d filled the stud holes so as to be able to re-drill it to an HQ stud pattern and fit the larger HQ drums and backing plates. I’d built up and turned the hubs so as to make the brake drum fit hubcentric. There has been some controversy over the years as to the safety of welding and re-drilling to change stud patterns. The fact that this rear end setup had not only covered 300,000 plus Km but had taken the full impact of a T-bone accident speaks volumes about how strong the hubs still are..... The drums had finally come off with the judicious use of a sledge hammer, everything was seized and the right rear hub (where the maniacal lady courier driver had hit it may years earlier) was anything but straight………. It’s often said that ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ but of late I’m firmly of the opinion that combining the lack of an appropriate tool with a good mig welder and the obligatory collection of scrap steel under the work bench is the mother of many a good man-cave invention! Problem; how with no slide hammer how do I remove a 45 plus year old, rusty & bent (that bloody girl in her L300 again!) axel from the diff housing? Not the prettiest solution but surprisingly effective………. At this point Rigamortice decided to remind me who really was in control and proceeded to piss oil all over my clean garage floor! The next job was to tear it all down. The diff head looked in surprisingly good shape; bearings were smooth and still lubricated, crown wheel and pinion showed near perfect wear marks (many years ago my dear old Dad had the patience to teach me how to set up diffs) and only the planetary gears showed a little more wear than expected (those damned “one wheeler peelers” strike again!). I made the call that that the existing diff would be fine for the time being. I had a spare set of HD/R axels so I dropped them off at the Steel Surgeon in Manakau to be welded and turned (too big to fit in my lathe). Not only was the price less than what I’d expected they had even had drilled the new stud holes their jig; great guys, great service. A new set of bearings and they’re ready to go…..

The last few months have been a bit of a blur, I started getting busy at work and then Targa time came around very quick…… https://www.facebook.com/gazapowell/videos/10206888860212021/ I also had to invest a bit of garage time into giving my latest middle aged crisis a birthday……. Then all of a sudden it was holiday time and I and the very lovely Mrs sr2, our son and a bunch of his friends were packing the van to head up North to stay at a mate’s batch……… Even the view from the batches garage was stunning………. Back home and back to reality; lurking menacingly in the garden was this……..

Outlook is the easiest way of keeping track of WOF's, registration, wife's birthday etc.

Thanks for all the info guys, I was looking at making rear suspension leaf spring bushes for the latest project. Just found out Basis have them new in stock, bloody amazing for a 70 year old car!