two_days_late

Hey guys, I'm just gettin my motor ready for paint, i've stripped most of the old paint off the head with a wirewheel in the drill but wanna clean up the block too. What should i use to clean this up before its painted? Do you think turps will do? its been cleaned up at the engine rebuilders but theres still a few signs on oxidization and general grime on it. Also need to strip the old paint off the bellhousing so if you could recomend a good paint stripper for use on iron that woud be great. Any other tips for painting it would also be appreciated, just spend $200 on paint for the motor and box. XR6 Blueprint blue 2k paint, should look good if i do it right! Cheers Matt

New clutch kit today. New vs Old.

Another photo of the car, think im gonna go without the flares now as i dont think they'll suit these wheels even with spacers. In more exciting news the flywheels been tapped doweled and lightened, ready for the sierra clutch. Refaced with the new dowels. On the left is the hunk of metal cut off the flywheel. Refaced after the bit was cut off. Old sierra clutch on the escort flywheel. Will get the new clutch in the next couple of weeks.

Yea i was thinking along those lines too, already got a single downdraft weber so i don't have to stuff round tuning the carbs while trying to run it all in! Sweet i'll chat to ya this weekend or something. Would be good to come check our yours, sounds like its a lot further along than mine haha. Cheers Matt

That'd be cool thanks man, problem is that the cars in complete bits at the moment, im just trying to get all the bits i need to get the engine built and wanna make sure i buy the right coil before i fork out the money. Could be really good for you to come take a look though. Looks like im gonna have to do some more research on running the engine in too. The dizzys meant to be run at idle for 5 minutes to run it in... the cams meant to be a couple of hours over 2k... and god knows how long the engines meant to be run for

That'd be good cheers bro, i wasn't too sure as i've seen coils advertised for use with electronic distributors so im not sure if you need one or its just better. In any case, i'd rather go with the best i can get. The dizzy is a bosch one with a vac advance: On the instructions he sent with it (handwritten) it didn't mention changing the coil, but i'm gonna want to uprate it anyway. Cheers Matt

Oh right, i thought it might be something to do with that. So the GT40r should be compatible with my bosch electronic dizzy, and i can just keep the existing ballast resistor and all should be well in theory... Cheers boes

sweet, gonna get all that done once i find out if my pistons need to be machined so they dont hit the valves. With the Coil, can i just put in a 12volt one then run the wire straight from the dizzy to the coil without the ballast resistor, or do i need to do something else? Where would you recomend getting one from? Cheers guys, Matt

Quoted $175 for bore and hone, plus $50 for acid dip at engine rebuilders, and quoted $160 for boring and honing, plus he'll dip it free at chevelle. He also said that they balance the whole engine together, everything from the front pully to the flywheel so to do a proper job it really needs to all be done at once. Said that'll be around $350 so i'll probably get that done once Allans checked out the motor and see's if the piston tops need to be machined to clear the new valves. cheers Matt

Oh ok, so not just a gt40 or whatever they aye? i could probably research this myself, but just easier if you guys know what does the ballast wire do? Matt

sweet as. while im at it, do you guys know if i'll need a special coil to use with my electronic dizzy? Its a proper electronic one from the uk.

yea i thought 2 hours was excessive to sit there, im sure that's what it said though. Allan should know what he's doing so i can get him to sort out the followers and that to suit the cam. Gonna ring chevelle now and get a quote on boring, i've heard lots of people warning against engine rebuilders. pitty fishers arn't still open to do it, at least he can assemble it though.

Yep will do the followers and that too. the engine was rebuilt just before i got my hands on it and the followers actually look really new but might as well do them while its in bits. Am gonna get a guy here in Giz called Allan Fisher to assemble it, used to own Fisher Automotive and most of the gizzy guys here would recomend his work i would think. has a history with escort engines too. have just a 2 barrel downdraft webber to use while running the cam in so i dont have to muck around with the dcoes then, will have enough to worry about! i think the instructions for my cam say somewhere about idling at 2000rpm for 2 hours or somethin haha. Matt

Awsome, cheers for the tips. i've got a brand new fast road/rally cam from Kelford so i really want it to be as reliable as possible at higher rpm to take advantage. the flywheel will be balanced when it gets machined to fit the sierra clutch so might as well do the rods and pistons so its all done. got quoted roughly $80 for balancing the rods but it depends on the time it takes really. thats not including lightenin and shot peening. Thanks for the piston info Unklejake, thats good to know then. I'm actually back in gisborne until january as im storing the car at my parents place up here, but i appreciate the recomendation! Cheers Matt

yea, i just thought it'd probably be a good idea as they're the standard rods but the rest of the motor is pretty heavily worked so i dont want them to be a point of weakness. With balancing am i likely to see any power improvement, or just a smoother running engine? Cheers Matt

Cool cheers, i think i'll get it bored out for now then get the rods and pistons balanced later, as i might get some new conrods yet. Matt

Takin the block to the engine rebuilders today to be bored and honed and get my balanced crank checked to make sure it actually is balanced (cant trust trademe). First question: If i try and put the new pistons in the bore now they clearly wont fit (which is what i want coz its gonna be bored out to the piston size). but if i turn the piston upside down the top fits in snuggly, so its like the piston is narrower at the top. is this normal or have i got some dodgy pistons? Second question: do you think its worth gettin the rods and pistons balanced while im there? What sorta gains do you usually get? also is it worth gettin the rods shot peened and how much does this usually cost? Cheers Matt

banana box's from the supermarket are pretty tuff.

Got some TSW Apex's 16" wrapped in 205/45 Bridgestone ZR's. Will get some new wheel nuts and the front air dam in the next few weeks then its off to be paneled. Cheers Matt

Wheels arrived today, pretty good condition might just need a paint. Tyres are 205/45s Bridgestone ZR Directionals and all look pretty warrantable to me, so im happy with that.

true, so you think even 205's will be too wide? cheers bro

215/40 16 for $90 sounds pretty good but i take it thats a pretty cheapo tyre? at least they're out there anyway. How wide do you think i could go on those TSW Apex's? I might grab that dudes email methodz, will see what the tyres on the mags are like for now though. might do for a while. awsome, wanna get this car goin!

Eagle F1's are pretty expensive though right? Anyone know how wide these TSWs i just brought will be and how wider tyres you think i'll get on them? What kinda price will i be lookin at for some (cheapish) 40 or 45s? at least 205. Cheers

15's were gonna be $750 new without tyres i think. Ah well deals done now, didn't do it throught trademe though so hope i dont get ripped off.

It says 3 are warrantable and 1 is border line so will be sweet for now. They should come up like new with a touch up and a repaint. Cheers Matt