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Lord Gruntfuttock

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Everything posted by Lord Gruntfuttock

  1. Lord Gruntfuttock
    That's a good idea. I pretty much just use mine for motorbike parts and pushbikes etc, so a touch up gun would be fine, probably better suited to my wheezy compressor actually... Just back from Repco, picked up a gun kit that has nozzle, needle and air cap, for all of $10. That, plus the cleaning kit I grabbed should see me right for a while (all I do is lay down primer). Especially if I actually clean it properly, did some youtubing and I've been a bit slack in that dept...
  2. Lord Gruntfuttock
    So Sunday, another cracking day so decided I may as well paint some other bits as I had a tin of light grey durepox primer. Set about prepping the sump, air cleaner lid and water pump, planned to get a good epoxy primer coat on these bits and finish with Ford blue. Rolled the engine over and pulled sump... Looks pretty good up her skirts, although I noticed the rubber on the harmonic balancer is koozed, so another thing that needs replaced... Lots of rust to remove from the sump, big job but cleaned up ok after about an hour of toil in the sun... Air cleaner parts much easier, a couple of slaps of of tergo-strip and the old enamel just bubbled off, and a quick sand had it ready. Mixed paint and prepped and set to... But. Seems my supercrap gun has an issue, couldn't get a decent pattern flowing, despite several attempts at cleaning it. Eventually got it spraying but shit it was painful. Only bonus is I got a nice dimple effect on the last thing I did (alternator fan) that actually looks pretty trick... Anyway, got a couple of decent coats on and should look good with a light sand and some colour, definitely an improvement on what I had. Probably my fault for not cleaning the gun properly previously, but this is how you learn eh (piss-poor preparation and all that)... Shopping list: Paint Cone strainers Gun cleaning brushes Decent gun (future) Skill (will be a struggle)...
  3. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Well that was a frustrating weekend. Decided to get a lot of the dirty stuff out of the way, stripping and painting parts while the weather was kind. Saturday spent ages cleaning up random bits, started at 7am as I was going for a cruise/beer in a mates Leyland around 12, and I'd planned to get the first coat on before I left then get another one later on, with a final coat on Sunday. I'm no painter but I've used a bit of durepox on bikes, and have found 3 decent applications on clean sturfaces works bloody well as a primer/top coat, and it is a nice satin black. But. After cleaning up all parts (sanding, wire brushes, elbow grease) and degreasing, masking, sorting out hangers/compressor/gun/mask/gloves and degreasing again, I popped the tin and the bloody stuff had gone off, just a gooey, rubbery mess. Arse... Shot into town but automotive/industrial shop was closed, so tried the domestic branch. The nice lady listened to the sweaty, filthy, deranged bloke's sob story and rang around to see if they had any. They DID have a 4l tin out the back, but at $180 it was too rich for my use - I don't use a lot and I just had visions of this tin going off as well, so I called it quits, and thought of all my prepped shiny surfaces rusting until I could get some paint on Monday at the earliest...
  4. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Here 'tis... Durasealed the cover as well as the scody inside pages, would happily stick this on my shelf now, and saved a bit of coin...
  5. Lord Gruntfuttock
    My FA had a rudimentary regulator in the cct that prevented that (zener diode or similar). Single wire going to small device that earthed to frame from memory. I assume the QT would have something similar?
  6. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Dunno if anyone has done a thread on a Tech Manual restoration...? Anyway, scored a Haynes manual cheap (ok free) for the old Honder, but it looked like rats had been shagging on it, and every time I picked it up I was showered with confetti with snippets of Haynes info onit. Useful stuff in there but the thing was effectively unusable, and I was scared placing it in my technical shelf would inflict the pox on my other reference books - 'twas pretty bad... So I found some decent sized pics on th'web, and set about fixing them with my awsome Picture manager/ MS paint skills (basically copying good bits and straightening lines etc). Donor pic 1... Donor pic 2.. And between them cobbled up this image... And back page did the same, donor pic... Stage 1 cleanup... And painstakingly recreated the overwritten text by copying/creating individual letters and pasting them in place... So with decent looking front and back covers I just printed and pasted to thin card that I glued to the remnants of my manual (placed weights on the thing while the paste set). Then I covered the worst of the internal page cancer with clear duraseal (think it had been attacked by acid or similar). And I ended up with a very useable manual, (that will probably get covered in oil stains if I ever get around to working on my mini-bonneville)... I'll post a pic when I get home of the completed item. The wife thinks I'm nuts, but I love fixing pieces of crap that should probably be biffed in a skip...
  7. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Brushes arrived from China, slightly large so had to file them down a bit to fit (before and after here). Also shaped contact surface with a small half-round file. Hardest bit was filing the metal base down to fit in the brush holder as there is bugger-all to grip... And held them in place with a small drill bit while I slid in the rotor... And assembled it with bit of copper-slip on the main screws for next time. Feels really good when I spin it, only needs the fan and pulley painted and fitted to be complete... And these arrived from stateside, went for the steel version which is higher spec than I need, but they are smaller than alloy jobs and I'm hoping to fit them under the stock rocker covers... And had a look for suitable headlamp buckets. I 'think' 65-66 or 70 mustang units will fit, and they're making repos for around $20, so just gotta work out if it's worth gambling they work, vs modifying some generic 7" buckets, or patching up my ones...
  8. Lord Gruntfuttock
    I use old bike spokes in the drill. Little 'hockey stick' bend at the end works great...
  9. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Came down with a case of the 'while I'm in theres' and pulled grille and headlamp assemblies off for a tidy up. Like the Hamster wheel power plant...? Headlamp buckets etc looked ok, just some surface rust and a lot of dirt (I thought)... But a clean up with the wire brush revealed more rust than I thought. Will see if I can find replacements easier than patching these up... But apart from that I cleaned a few small bits up nicely. Would have liked to get some paint on today but not enough hrs available. Will have to try and get some on after work this week (hate leaving bare metal)... Really just trying to keep making progress while waiting for bits to arrive. I was going to strip and paint the headers, but I think I'll leave this till things are up and running so I can cure them the right way (don't want to compromise the cam run-in etc) and these are just cosmetic so can wait...
  10. Lord Gruntfuttock
    No progress today, had to fix the ride-on so a day on the tools, but was chores 'stead of fun... I did order a cam however, heard back from Comp Cams with their recommendation, and went one higher, cos it's a bit lumpier. Could bite me in the arse regards driveability but more power is good, right... It's the XE262H grind, should really pick up around 1800rpm thru to 6, but torque is pretty flat, and it's as much cam as you can go on stock converter. So cam and lifter set on the way, hopefully get thru customs better than the roller rockers did...
  11. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Keep as stock as man. Sympathetic upgrades for driveability and period add-ons ok, but any more will ruin the vibe. Great score...
  12. Lord Gruntfuttock
    OK, found this (bottom of lifter) so pretty sure I’ll slide a new lumpy-stick in… Been reading up on cams, and my understanding is as follows: Lobe separation - under 108 degrees will have a rough idle, aim around 108-112. Duration and lift should operate in tandem (must balance one against the other). Duration - the longer the duration the higher the rpm power range, aim for around 220 (actual) for usable power. Long intake duration decreases cylinder pressure, and anything over 220 the intake vacuum starts to drop. Lift - match to heads, not much advantage over 0.550 regards airflow, aim for around 0.500. Overlap – helps scavenge exhaust gases, aim for less than 55 degrees for street engines. Gotta remember it’s a street car (ie do not over cam) - It will rarely be used at 6000rpm and I do not want to have to buy a high stall converter (the accountant is getting twitchy). So looking at cam specs, the following grinds look good: Comp Cams Xtreme Energy 218/220 Duration @ 0.050 493/500 Lift 110 Lobe separation 1300-5600rpm Lunati Voodoo 10350702 219/227 Duration @ 0.050 499/522 Lift 112 Lobe separation 1400-5800rpm Just started looking though. In other news, the roller rockers have arrived but have been intercepted by customs. Looks like I’m paying some gst now on things I have got in ok previously…
  13. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Bum. Self parking is pretty handy. On mine it's part of the main shaft sprocket (yet to be confirmed)...
  14. Lord Gruntfuttock
    ^^ Yeah was wondering how much was marketing cheese. To me the sound comes as a result of choosing a cam, not t'other way round. Now looking at all sorts of cam profiles to see if I can decipher the black magic...
  15. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Indeed it does. "Thumpr Camshafts are the hottest cams to hit the streets in more than a decade. Thats because they give you the big cam sound your looking for, with out the drawbacks. Applying a camshaft design originally created for sports car endurance racing, they incorporate early exhaust valve opening, long exhaust duration, and a generous amount of intake and exhaust overlap. Best of all, Thumprs will not negatively impact power output or streetability." Will check them out. Cheers...
  16. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Anyone got any cam suggestions? Motor spec in build thread. Don't want anything too outrageous...
  17. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Appears the lifters may have a bit of pitting, so prob time for a new cam (more $$$). Anyone got any suggestions? I'm sure cams have come a long way since this one was slid in... - Holley 600 vac sec carb - Edelbrock RPM air gap intake - Edelbrock Performer RPM heads (1.90 intake) - Hydraulic flat tappets - 0.30 over bore. Standard pistons - Pacemaker Tri-Y headers - C4 trans Bear in mind this is primarily a family cruiser. Don't want a cam that needs high-stall converter or anything, that only starts to breathe above 2000rpm. A cruiser with a bit of a rumpty tump idle that winds out occasionally is the goal...
  18. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Pulled water pump and looks pretty good (only a few yrs old and done bugger all work). Really just rust from sitting, a bit of a spruce up and it'll go back on... The cavity on lower left was full of green water however, don't think that should be there so maybe had a leak I couldn't see. A lick of paint and new gaskets should see it good for another few years... Will look at heater hose tubes too and knock in new ones if they look a bit scody...
  19. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Are you any better off with a 253 than the 202? I know 8s are cool and all, but so are tweaked 6s (triple carbs mMMmmm...) and the old 253 is a bit erm, average. No offence meant, guess I'm just remembering how I turned down a mint 186 4 spd HG coupe cos it was a 6. Would love it now... [Edit] sorry posted before I read you're selling. My point still stands though : )
  20. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Great build thread, cheers for the history. Proper old school. I'm also gonna scour junk shops for an old vise, just cos...
  21. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Hopefully digging all the loose crap out of the block and fresh gaskets will cure the old girl of her hot flushes... I'll check the water pump and have the radiator flushed because of the loose crap in there, but these were replaced/checked a couple of years ago so should be fine. Rad is the 3 core job and in great nick. CHI heads look great, I just didn't know enough about them.
  22. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Had a better look at the old gaskets and I think I found a leak into the cylinder. This would explain the heating issue, losing coolant without any water showing in the oil (or vice versa). Just a trace of rust between the water passage and cylinder, think I expected to see something more obvious... And a look into the water passages at the rear of the cylinders from the top revealed this. Pretty much a natural trap for any crud circulating the heads that I couldn't get at from the frost plug holes... A $2 Supercheap magnet tool got most of it out, and I vacuumed the rest with a bit of tube stuck into a small car vac. Looks much betterer... So hopefully all is good with the block and I can move on with cleaning surfaces and putting bits back on soon...
  23. Lord Gruntfuttock
    And I pulled the heads the other night. Disappointingly there was no solid evidence of a gasket leak that may have been the reason for overheating. A couple of cylinders however did have dark exhaust valves, which may indicate a valve seating problem? Could be weak valve springs from sitting maybe? Anyway, will post pics later, it's valentines day so I should be able to get some quality shed-time...
  24. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Gah, been crook, but did get back into the alternator. Started with the rotor. The non drive-end bearing was stuck. Really stuck. Didn't want to lever against slip rings so had to cut it off with a dremel blade... And turned the slip rings smooth and gave it a clean up and coat of urethane... Then looked at the mangled stator. A winding had snapped off, 2 diode solder joints had come apart and one of the insulating spacers appeared to have melted, perhaps during a previous attempt at soldering on a diode... I unsoldered the windings from the diodes, and reattached the loose ones after testing them. Best way was to use a small lpg torch under the plate to get a nice pool of solder, and place a tinned diode on it. I held the wire with long-nose pliers to act as a heat sink to avoid koozing the internals... Then stripped the insulating coating from the stub of snapped winding... And attached a new lead by crimping on a small sleeve, plus solder. This was a bare bit of copper wire so added some heat shrink tubing, and tied it back in position before another coat of urethane... And machined up another spacer that I araldited in place on the cleaned up diode plates... And fitted the stator back in the non-drive end casing. All diodes test ok, no shorts and the winding resistances look right... And I'm pretty much stuck now until my brushes arrive. Still got to paint the fan and pulley but it's looking ok...
  25. Lord Gruntfuttock
    So I refitted the frost/drain plugs and filled the block with a radiator flush treatment to see if that made any difference. Left it in half an hr then drained it thru the sieve again, then popped plugs and hit it with the water blaster... Blasted every passage in as many directions as possible, and got quite a bit of gunk out. The white bits were stuff that accumulated in the old alloy intake manifold after it sat for years... Looked much better after that... I know they're not perfect and it should be properly cleaned, but I'm trying to just do the top end, and I have see far worse than these, so we'll see how it goes. Dried out passages with air and the crappy prelim stuff is done - should be ready to pull the heads off next... Just needed to order the wife and No 1 daughter to push the old girl away for the night... I did help by mowing the bit of shaggy lawn they had to push it over...
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