EFI_LC

Bloody nice pics mate..... Gimme more!!!

The next race meeting at PowerBuilt International Dragway is the Southern Muscle Car Wars, incorporating the Kevin McInroe Trophy + a BEARS bike class - Wednesday 6th February (Waitangi Day), 2008 I'll be there, just hope my old diff holds together, its whining like hell.

Well I went to the drags not totally happy with the performance of the engine and apart from one half reasonable run I had good reason. I had plenty of grip which was good I guess but the carbs were running rich and I wasn't running as much advance on the dizzy as I used to as the revs have increased and I never wanted to detonate the new engine. On approx 12 degrees total advance I managed a few passes around 15-14.8 but on the second run I managed a 14.215@95.74mph which gave me encouragement and I reckon there is at least .5 seconds improvement still there with most of that in the dizzy without getting the carbs jetting correctly. The idle jets I settled on were what I could find at the time 65s as the 45s which were in there to begin with were too lean so I'm trying to source some 55s to get it running ok to around 3500rpm. I have found that one carb is set different to the others and will fix that this week, I have been swatting up on the carbs and have some other stuff to check on as well. I don't like the airfilters I have at present and will have to get trumpets for optimal performance.

Drags this weekend at Ruapuna and a $500 prize in the burnout comp. This is the South Island Drag Racing Champs, 20th January There should be some some nice cars including that new V8 Morry. Then Feb 6th (Waitangi Day) its the Southern Muscle Car Wars. I'll be there will you?

Shit this thing is lumpy at idle.... get the revs up over about 1800rpm and it pulls like a school boy. Still got a bit more tidy up to do before I take it in for a WOF Thursday but I can see I'm in for some tyre shredding over the next while Noisy, Nasty lil shit but I like it already and I havn't taken it over about 3500rpm. WOF then maybe a drive to AshVegas and back to run it in. Better make sure a fill my 20 litre with avgas before I go though. I'll be at the drags this weekend with it as long as I can get enough mileage done between now and then \ I'm looking forward to the Waitangi Day Muscle Car drags as well.

Ok so its finally back in the old girl, first few photos are without the gearbox cross-member holding the back of the engine up. It seems like an eternity since I had my car on the road, I dunno how people can go without there projects for 6 months or more as I am getting withdrawal symptoms from just 2 months. The Triples are mounted and I am still sorting out the plumbing, I will get everything functioning using as much stuff as I can from before then when everything is ok I will do a further tidy of the engine bay. I like the silver (high heat paint) better than the blus they came with and I will see how long it lasts Heres the 253 I bought for my son, if it doesn't go into his HZ I might use it in my Commodore, bonus it comes with an economical Quadrajet with mechanical linkage. These carbs have very small primary venturis and huge secondaries which is ideal for hot motors for economy when cruising and from memory are 780cfm when fully open. They sound great on a V8

Very nice, I would be keen on the next one. Let us know exact dates locations etc and I'll try and make that day free and I will try and get my mate in his 1 family owned XR Ford to join me. Good to see the old metal and some very nice examples of Aussie classics which is my preference although I just like most older stuff.

New roller rockers, hardened pushrods, new guide plates, new studs, new double valve springs, ported inlet/exhaust, oversize valves, composite head gasket etc. Triple 45DCOE Weber carbs, Pacemaker extractors, all port matched and machined to line up. Dialing in the Cam A few other things needed but getting close now to dropping it back into the old girl, many things have been done that needed doing after some parts had been upgraded and if the engine had been assembled would have caused a few problems. Thank goodness for an experienced engine builder. I hope to have the engine sitting in today and hopefully have finished rewiring it by the weekend and have it running. My engine builder pulled the carbs apart and reckons they shouldn't be too far out for this motor although they did come off a higher spec engine and will still need a bit of tuning to get the best from them.

Well I read an article in a book about how to get power from engines and this prompted me to think about what my engine builder told me about my oils. You have protection vs power vs viscosity loss with most oils so I have been researching this quite a bit and even looked at Additives and Octane boosters which searching this site gave me some interesting tips, thanks Head_Tech. I used to use Toluol regularly before Unleaded was introduced but as unleaded already used aromatics i decided to stop using it. The way I see it I would pay $100 for an engine part to gain 5hp then why not pay that much for oil for an overall HP gain and endurance. I am looking at Diff, Gearbox and Engine(after its run in on mineral based oil) With my engine I want something readily available and with additives but most oils these days have had these removed as they are harmful to catalytic converters it doesn't make my job any easier. I am tending to sway towards Valvoline VR1 which offers protection for pushrod type engines and is 20W 50 which would suit my older engine better than the lighter oils. What are the views here about oils and additives?

Yep thats me I should have the LC out at the next meeting on the 20th Jan but I dunno about entering it in a smoky contest as the motor will be still in test and tune stages. I loved the Commodore Group C cars back in the early 80's and used to go to every round in Sydney at both Amaroo Park and Oran Park. Many of the drivers complained about Amaroo and eventually it was removed from the series as it was small and narrow and crashes were common. I saw dick Johnson Roll about 6 times in spectacular fashion just 10 metres from where I was sitting one day. Brock GM-H, Moffat Ford, Johnson Ford, Richards BMW, Fury Nissan, Grice, Perkins, Francevic Volvo, Skaife, Bowe, Longhurst, Wilmington, Masterton and heaps more were household names back then. This VK is just too good to butcher into a Brocky look a like in my opinion. It is just so original

A couple more things I have done so took some progress pics Spent the day sorting out and painting the engine bay. I am a bitch to myself sometimes.... I started work at 10pm last night had 2 hours sleep this morning then spent the day working on cars lol... Its great working night shift but sometimes I cant resist getting up and into it without much sleep. 2 brand new Bridgestone Potenza The tires take a hammering as you can see by the rubber everywhere.

Well you might talk me into it as I have a race 202 engine with lots of goodies including triple webers, after I get tired of it in my Torana maybe I could transplant it here Yea I noticed the plates on trademe and thought sweet bonus.... I could ask for a new set and get white ones I suppose but I like old school black ones. I'm actually thinking of entering it in a smoky contest after the 20th January drag meet here at CHCH, I wonder if light truck tyres smoke much... I didnt do anything to the VK and devoted my entire day to the torana. Man gotta admit this is a smooth baby to drive compared to my Torry but hell the Torry has so much power you wouldn't even pick its the same engine lol.

Worked on the front of the VK and its come up pretty good until I find a mint bumper. Panel beated the bits into shape as well. Red grill will get a painted same colour as trim and I will redo trim all round soon. $40 for grill, headligh and indicator. Gearbox was easy fix! The shifter boot was back to front, once I turned it its all ok and stays in 2nd gear now. The boot/mount was removed when I bought the car obviously for this reason.

I have let the Ute go and with some of the moola I bought this fairly Geniune VK aprt from the shunt in the front I need to do a few things to tidy it up further but as its going to be my daily drive I don't plan on spending much on it. $850.00 = Cost (Trademe) A guy bought it off trademe a couple of weeks ago but his falcon shit its ECU so after paying nearly $1200 for it and putting 2 new tyres on it he had to sell it. The gearbox has 2nd gear thats a bit dodgy sometimes but as I have a fully rebuilt 5-speed in the garage that I picked up cheap it can be replaced if I decide to. The bumper and grill will get replaced as soon as I find a cheap one or else I'll get the heat gun on it and reshape it then weld the broken bits. The engine has a low end miss which appears to be a sparking issue, heaps of spares in this department as well and will look at it over the next week or so plus if I get stuck I will ask someone who used to do warranty repairs on Holdens of yesteryear who may help. Motor purrs and runs clean and cool. I also bought a 253 with all the bits + auto for my sons HZ sedan but if he doesnt want it I may throw it in this Heres some picks.

Finally got the old motor and box out of the car. I stripped the sump, oil pickup and clutch (1/3 worn) from so I can use them for the new engine. Shpped around for a high volume oil pump for the old girl as I was advised it should have one when revving past 6000rpm and definitely need one for 6500rpm+ and was quoted some rediculous prices until I asked the right person and paid just $166 for a brand new JP one. I have removed the old heater box remnants and will block the holes with some panels, I removed the original Battery holder as the carbs would hit otherwise. I need to ask about a battery in boot with WOF guy. I still need to get hold of a regulator for the carb pressure which I believe is about 5psi Getting closer to dropping in the new motor now.

Yea I made a bit but reckon he got a good score as well tho, 4.5k is cheap enough, he was asking about cheving it, told him ya can bolt it in by buying the bits so that way certing is simple. Did ya tell him what I paid for it?

Back in the old days...... A guy told me about a paint job he did with a brush that was supurb, ya heat the paint until its hot but dont boil it and ya use a really good quality soft brush and paint. The heated paint flattens like magic and drys quickly to boot, he used to swear by it. Hey Fuel are you trying to make ya car blend into the wall? could be a good anti theft thought making it the same colour as the wall mate.

Its trying to tell you it wants more fuel.... (Give me more carbs)

I wish my engine was ready but its still in bits, I am getting the last few things for it... My mates LJ Torana XU-1 holds a lap record there and he is either going to compete at Ruapuna or Levels but not sure which coming meeting it was. (I don't know Anton personally but the guy who does all the work on this car is my engine builder for my LC Fast Saloons: Long Circuit: 1.11.84 Anton Stevens Holden Torana Feb-05 Love the old stuff racing

More pics of the parts.... Temporary head until I get a custom built unit is 10:1 compression Yella Terra 12-port (Bathurst 12000) Blue motor configuration stage3 fitted with 1.740" & 1.550" valves, 56cc chambers, dbl springs 127lb on seat. Triple 45DCOE Webers, on a Redline inlet manifold and Redline linkage kit Roller Rockers by Comp Cams, adjustable and mounted on new 7/16 studs and guide plates. Weight matched flat top pistons, Race series ACL Larry Perkins Solid lifters by Comp Cams Brand new race version harmonic balancer ACL race series gasket and bearings Flat top piston, ACL race series on 3.3 rods (starfire which are stronger than 202) Kelford designed a race spec cam to suit the new specs Pacemaker Headers to extract the unwanted It is coming along and after the short block is assembled I will throw the head on then paint it, I will look at making a crank scraper and baffle the sump as well.

They are a bullet proof motor most times, I guess they are under stressed I had a HB Viva years ago and for a laugh started it and put a brick on the accelerator while it was parked outside my house in Westport and went in and made a coffee then went outside and watched and waited.... and waited.... and waited.... it smoked and smoked and revved and revved and after about 10 or so minutes of watching it i decided i couldnt stand the full on revs any longer so turned it off.

Ok so its time for an update of the torry... I finally have finished doing other things and now have turned my attention on my #1 project. Here is my modified standard inlet from a carby black motor. A 4-barrel adapter plate welded onto it and the centre plate removed to allow the full 4 pots to be used. I used this as an experiment with a 450CFM and a 600CFM Holley. Heres all the old EFI wiring which I have now removed to make way for the triple Weber set. The Yella Terra head which I will decided what to do with after I get a quote to upgrade this or start from a fresh black head. The Pacemaker Headers are considerably bigger than my old standard efi black motor flows so will help in the power stakes.

Another HQ has come out of hiding I picked up a '72 ute 202 3 on the tree couple of weeks back for a steal in North Canterbury, I might see you around CHCH one day I hope. It looks good on the wheels mate

You could try an additive like wynns for oil as this sometimes helps but if its really loud then i doubt it.

Maybe the cam chain has jumped or the timing has jumped out it would explain lack of power and then stop and also an unusual sound when winding over... im no mechanic but what u describe is compression escaping? Broken keyway?