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1963 AP5

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  1. So the front end is all back together, the lower control arms went back in without too much bother and no drama refitting the torsion bars either. I set the front ride height just a little lower than standard giving it a kind of funky retro 80's stance. It would be good to go a little lower but I may need to modify the bump stops as it's not too far off them even now. Took it for a drive and even without a wheel alignment it's way better. I will get the wheel alignment done and should be all good for the next Auckland OS monthly meet. Still plenty to be done but having it back on its wheels is a good milestone.
  2. Have a friend at BNT that helped me out with friendly pricing on all the suspension parts. The special tool for torsion bar removal is certainly available for the OS community. Always keen to catch up to spin Valiant yarns, no doubt we will have an opportunity at some stage soon.
  3. More steady progress early in the week , feels like I have a little momentum going now. I removed the old bushes from the lower control arm assemblies. A little precision grinding was required to remove the bush sleeve from the control arm shaft but the bush was removed successfully. The old bushes were in a pretty bad state as shown here. I cleaned the lower arms up a little and installed the new bushes. All ready to be refitted to the car this weekend.
  4. Not too bad at all, I have the overhaul instructions for the Weber 34 that I am happy to share. So long as you are careful and take your time you can't go too far wrong. I find Weber carbs are pretty easy to understand and there is heaps of good info available if you don't mind doing a little reading. The Rochester Varajet actually isn't a bad carb either. The main problem is that they are tricky to rebuild and get working properly if you are a back yard mechanic like me. That's why a lot of people ditch them and swap them out for something that's a little easier to work with like a Weber or Holley.
  5. No worries at all, the chap at Weber Specialities told me that a 32/36 can work well on a std Holden 6 with the correct jetting. The 34 ADM is a very nice fit for these engines however they are getting a little hard to find these days.
  6. I did the shackle bushes at the last WOF however I would really like to change the rear springs. Dad did a lot of heavy towing with this car and he had the rear springs rebuilt with an extra leaf added. As a result the car sat with its arse up in the air like an 80's drag car. I have lowering blocks in the rear but they really only get it back to std ride height. I would love it to be a bit lower but it ain't happening with these springs.
  7. What can I say except big blocks in A-bodies rock!!!
  8. I thought the torsion bars would be hard to remove and they lived up to all expectations. I love it when the workshop manual says "remove the torsion bar using the special tool" but gives no clue whatsoever as to what the tool might look like or how it is used to remove the torsion bars. I have no idea how people got by before you could do a google search! I did a little research and then set about making my own homegrown torsion bar removal tool. Not exactly rocket science, you just attach it to the torsion bar with the u-bolts and give it a bash with a hammer to knock the torsion bar rearward. The drivers side torsion bar however was perfectly happy where it was and it took some committed bashing to convince it to move. This photo of the "special tool" post torsion bar removal tells the story better than any words possibly could. I decided to reverse the tool for the passengers side so I had a fresh clean end to destroy. I got fully psychologically prepared for the battle ahead, crawled under the car and gave it a clout. In stark contrast to the drivers side the torsion bar popped out with no problems at all. From there removing the lower arms was fairly simple.
  9. Managed to sneak in a mid week session in the garage and got the upper control arms refitted. And there is nothing like a good comparison pic to make you feel good about your efforts. This weekends job is to remove the lower control arms, torsion bars and radius rods. I have never taken the lower arms out of a Valiant before so I decided to consult the bible. I can tell that Dad never removed the lower arms or torsion bars because the pages in the manual are clean (almost like new). A little different from the more frequently visited pages. Removing parts that haven't been disturbed since 1963 is always fun so good times ahead!
  10. As promised a few pics of a Weber conversion on a Holden Black 6 and a little info on how to get it done. I believe Weber carburetors work better than Holley 2 barrels on the factory Holden manifold. The factory manifold on the Black / Blue Holden engine is actually a pretty flash design and the orientation of the throttle butterflies on a Holley 2 barrel is not ideal when using the factory manifold. The orientation of the throttle butterflies on a Weber is the same as the factory carburetor so I would go with a Weber if you decide to use a different carburetor adapted to your factory manifold. This is a budget set up as I used a Weber 34ADM from an XF Falcon but I have found it works very well. I picked up the Weber fairly cheap and rebuilt it using a rebuild kit from Weber Specialties in Auckland. You need to make a few small modifications to a Weber 34 to make it work correctly on a Holden 6 and I would be happy to provide more detail if you decide to copy this set up so don't hesitate to ask. Here is a view of the engine bay And a couple of photos of the carb installed on the factory manifold with an adapter plate. The adapter plate I used is an off the shelf Redline item P/N 10-218. From memory I think this adapter is designed for a Weber 32/36 so you will need to modify it to work with other types of Weber carb. I spent quite a lot of time reworking the adapter plate to get it to fit nicely with the bore size and spacing on the Weber 34 ADM. The adapter plate also needs a vacuum port drilled to ensure the power valve on the Weber operates correctly. I also had to add an additional spacer plate as shown below to allow the accelerator pump leaver to clear the adapter plate. This cost nothing but time to make the spacer and additional gaskets so no big deal. There are a couple of very convenient mounts on the factory manifold that allow you to easily make a bracket for your throttle cable as shown here. As you can see in the first pic in this post and the pic above I needed a very low profile air filter assembly to fit under the bonnet of the little Commodore so I went to pick-a- part and I found a suitable item on a twin carb Ford Laser Sport ( mid 80's model I think). I cut the bottom out and made a new base out of thin sheet metal to fit on the Weber carb. Again cheap as chips but gets the job done. So there is an option for you to think about, low budget but works well. There is heaps of little details that I haven't covered here but if you decide to do something like this I would be happy to post more info on the conversion.
  11. Our VK Holden wagon is running the set up you mentioned in your build thread. Black 3.3 Holden 6 with 2 barrel Weber carb and electronic distributor from a blue engine. It goes pretty well for what it is but I expect it would be working pretty hard in a motorhome. I would be happy to post up a few pics of the carb conversion if it would be helpful.
  12. Managed to find some time this week to finish tidying up the upper control arms. I got all carried away and gave them a couple of coats of paint and then took them into work and pressed in the new bushes. Looking very flash now. I am going to take the good advice of OS Valiant gurus and do the lower arm and radius rod bushes as well but that will be next weeks fun.
  13. I am planning on coming along, will need to ask my wife if I can borrow her wagon as the Valiant is missing a few important suspension components right now.
  14. Yes indeed, it actually needs the ride height sorted out.
  15. Funny you should say that, it's exactly what I was thinking. Upon close inspection the lower control arm bushes are not in great shape and the radius rod bushes are shot. Lower ball joints were done a couple of years ago so they might be one thing I keep.
  16. I wasn't going to start the suspension work for a couple of weeks but I had some time this afternoon and decided to get stuck in. @Valiant was kind enough to send up his homegrown upper ball joint removal tool and I was itching to try it out. I tried to remove the joint with the upper control arm still installed in the car as a couple of members had suggested but it was super tight and I had no hope of moving it. I think this was mostly due to the fact that I was only using a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar and a 3/4 drive adapter. It might have worked if I had a proper 3/4 drive breaker bar. I persevered for a while but I was afraid of slipping and damaging the front wheel arch or guard so out came the control arm and I decided to go big and get some proper leverage happening. The control arm bushes require replacement to I ripped out the guts allowing me to pass a piece of round bar through. Next I held the removal tool in the vice so I could hold the ball joint and had a go at turning the control arm around the ball joint. It took a couple of good swings but I heard a delightful little crack and the joint started to turn in the control arm. Once it started to turn it was easy to remove the joint using the breaker bar and removal tool. After giving the control arm a bit of a clean up I installed the new joint. I had a bit of fun getting the joint to screw in straight but a couple of OS members who have done this job before told me to expect this. After few false starts the new joint started to screw in nice and straight and actually went in fairly easily. While I have the removal tool in the workshop I think I will do the other side so I will see my friends at BNT tomorrow and grab another.
  17. I noticed that I was starting to wear a groove in the negative battery post by disconnecting and re-connecting the battery. I don't trust the 54 year old electrical system in the car so I always disconnect the battery when I park the car in the garage. I have decided to install a battery isolation switch and I would like to be able to operate it remotely (without opening the bonnet) to make it slightly more convenient for regular driving. I had this switch kicking around so it will do, pretty sure it is a marine switch for a boat but it has a very high current rating so should be perfect for the Valiant. The first thing you want to do when modifying a switch like this for remote operation with a push / pull style rod is to make things way more technical than they probably need to be. I cut a leaver out of a piece of fiberglass sheet that I had left over from another project and glued to to the switch knob with some hard core marine epoxy. Next I made a bracket to mount it all in the car. I had a nice piece of angle that looked like it would do the job but it wasn't quite big enough so I got brave and broke out the little arc welder. I don't weld very often so I am always stoked when I successfully stick bits of metal together. And here it is all ready to go in the car. There is room to mount the switch below the battery tray out of sight and I plan to operate the push / pull rod through the grille removing the need to open the bonnet every time I drive it. Should be way more convenient and will stop me from destroying the battery terminal posts.
  18. The replacement joint I have is the thread in type and I am confident I can change it myself. Looks like a helpful OS member can hook me up with a socket so should be sweet. The home grown solution shown above is pretty cool too.
  19. That would be awesome, I am happy to cover postage. Home made sounds properly dangerous.
  20. Really needs to be a socket as the upper control arm is made of pressed steel and is turned up at the edges. I guess it would be easier just to find a suspension shop with the right tools and get them to do it but if I can get my hands on the tool I am keen to do it myself.
  21. I purchased the required suspension parts this week. The upper ball joints on these Mopar A-bodies are funky looking things, they screw into the upper control arm and the thread is more like an interference fit than a proper machine type thread. There is a special tool available for removing and installing them however the tool costs 3 times as much as the replacement ball joint so I am keen to know if anybody has a good alternative option for competing this job. If somebody in Auckland has the tool and would be happy to help me out installing the joint I would be extremely grateful (beer will be shouted). The proper thing looks like this. Please feel free to post suggestions or offers of assistance in my discussion thread //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/56384-1963-ap5s-valiant-regal-discussion/
  22. OK I actually did some proper work this weekend. I have had these old doors sitting behind my shed for a couple of years now. They are rusty as hell but the glass is pretty tidy so I dragged them out and set about removing the useful bits. Amazingly all the bolts and screws came loose with no problems at all so no broken bolts, screws or knuckles. The glass all came out intact so I added it to the other bits of glass that I have collected up over the last couple of years and cleaned it all up. The glass is not perfect but it is a whole lot better than what is in the car so I am very happy. Big thanks to fellow AP5 freak and all-round GC @64vauxhall for helping out with some of this. The stainless trim from the old doors was also worth saving so I salvaged it all for the parts hoard
  23. Hey I had problems with the rear brakes on my AP5 a couple of years back. After pulling nearly every part of the brake system apart I found that the rear brake hose was the problem so this could indeed be the issue with yours. When I removed the hose from the car I couldn't even blow air through it. My rear brakes were sticking on and would release if you let the car sit for a while.
  24. Did it have any positive effect? I have been told that a lot of inline 6's with a carburetor actually benefit from having a functional heat riser.
  25. Yep can confirm that you can have problems when you take away the manifold heat with a std carb, especially in colder climates. Dad always said that headers make bugger all difference when fitted to an otherwise standard engine and you are better off with the factory exhaust manifold. It will however sound way cooler with the pacemakers! I have heard of people adding a water heated block where the factory exhaust manifold bolts up under the intake manifold to help add the heat that the carb wants.
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