two_days_late

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

Edit: If your still in town i can give you a hand to sort it out, its only 1/2 an hours work if that.

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

Make sure that the crank and flywheel are balanced separately, and then as a unit, and then mark the orientation of the flywheel on the crank - or get it dowelled at the same time. Also, it's important that the rods aren't just balanced, but you need them to have the same centre of gravity - so weight needs to be taken off both ends...

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

Put in the new ECU from the wreckers this afternoon and it seems to be running sweet now, drove it round for ages without a prob.

Cheers for the help boys,

Matt

Just let the car idle till it died then tried startin it a few times and nothing happened, so unplugged air flow meter and tried starting with same results. So plugged back in and still wouldnt start.

Just gonna try this computer anyway.

cool thanks,

Gonna go grab one from the wreckers now and put it in, can get it for $175 with a warranty. Doesnt look too hard to get the old one out, just gotta pull the glovebox out really.

Didn't get the sparky to plug in a laptop, just gonna give this a shot first. Pretty sure its not the air flow meter, pulled that out and it looks new. Car will usually start and drive for about 5 minutes then just dies and wont start again for an hour or two. Giving it heaps of gas doesn't do anything, its definate dead when its dead.

Will let you know if it works, fingers crossed.

Cheers

Matt

Talked to an auto sparky and he's pretty sure its the ECU. How hards it too change one of them? Should just be a couple of plugs yea? ... and where would i even find it on this tank, usually somewhere on the passenger side in the cabin no?

Cheers

Matt

If the plugs are fouled can you just give them a bit of a sand with some wet and dry sandpaper or do you think they'll be poked? No idea when they were last done, definatly not in the 6 months he's had the car.

How do i set the idle stepper motor?

Let me know how you get on with your mates one sexychevette.

Will pull the intake apart in the mornin and see if its dirty, and whip out the front 3 plugs and see how they're lookin anyway.

I can think of much worse cars to change spark plugs on, like quad cam turbo subarus for instance

Haha yea isn't it like 4 hours labour from a machanic or something ridiculous?

Cheers guys,

Matt

Oh true, engine also coughs a little when you give it a good rev too.

Will pull the the air intake off tonight when i get home and check out the sensor and the throttle body.

Thanks for the replies,

Matt

Unplugged something before and gave it a shot which i think might have been the airflow metre (only plug i could see attached to something before the intake) car started and seemed to idle ok. Gonna put some more gas in and try goin for a drive later, might have been run too low.

Cheers

Matt

Hey, thanks for that man. The car should still run without the air flow meter plugged in shouldn't it? Might try unplugging that and see how it goes. Think its gonna be best just to get a sparky to look at it.

Cheers

Matt

Hey guys,

Not old school but dont know any other machanics down here in Welly so thought i'd give you guys a shot.

Flatmates got a mid 90's 3 litre auto dimante and its playing up. Has had a problem idling for ages but it was sweet if you just kept your foot on the gas a little when you were idling. Now it only runs for a while then just cuts out, turns over fine but after its been driven for a few minutes it takes a while before it will start again (runs for a second or 2).

I know nothin about these engines, seems like maybe shit in the fuel line/filter or somthin? But could be ignition module or anything? If anyone knows what it might be or might be able to fix it on the cheap that'd be awsome.

Cheers

Matt

banana box's from the supermarket are pretty tuff.