sluggy

Been pushing along... 5 lug rear end rebuilt with eaton tru track for 11's. Driveshaft rebuilt and balanced, although I screwed up the size on the last U joint. All the mounts are now fully completed and in, firewall painted with extreme rattle can goodness, fuel lines 90% there. Interior stripped out. Full week on it in a weeks time, hoping to smash out wiring and get the front end on.

Dropped off the drive shaft today to Russell. Top bloke !! Does anyone on here have any 17" + chev rims (5 x 4.75") and tyres I could use/borrow ? Have done the rear swap to 5 stud and the fronts will be arriving soon to do that. Trying to sort wheels but not having a lot of luck at the moment....

Im Torn... The ratio in the current diff is 4.56:1 which is way to high, I can get a 3.14 for this which would be sweet, but, LSD's are virtually unobtanium for this year, and Id have to do a bit of a work around on parking brakes, cause theres no provision for these, it did have a drive shaft mounted drum..... So I can swap to a C10 diff (photo 2) throw an eaton tru track in there and do 11's. But the C10 diff looks sooo whimpy, the C20 is 8 stud, and manly, but single spinner... Thoughts ? Gratuitous outdoor shot because.

Turned left after doing a bit more reading. Made front mounts and a trans mount. Assuming I have all my measurements right, its in the middle, and I have about 1.3 degrees slope on the 1st section of driveshaft which is where it needs to be according to the interweb. Im swapping the rear end to a 12 bolt, so I can set up the pinion angle. Been pretty productive really ! All just tacked together at the moment. Everything is just sitting there in the photos, need to drill a few holes and bolt it all up. not 100% happy with the trans effort and may rejig it a bit yet.

Any driveshaft type people on the Forum here, or contacts ? Need to get the 2 piece drive shaft rebuilt/biggy specced and shortened slightly to handle 400 powers.

Made some progress. Engine/tranny will fit without changing the front end, so Im not changing it. Cut a notch in the crossmember to get the box in the hole. This truck was a manual so has the high hump trans tunnel, so no cab modifications required. Rear output from the trans is about 4" further back than the original. Did a bit more research, and I will chop out the entire crossmember as it isnt needed, and I think I need to get the trans output down from where it is. Its all just a mock up, hence the 1" sq thinwall spacer under the perch, but it looks like this will work, unless there is a reason why I shouldnt. The perch is out of a 77, and they are roughly 30mm deeper in the chassis rail, so spacer. The chances of finding a 62 perch is virtually nil, not many of these trucks were ordered with autos, and all the manuals use a horseshoe mount at the front of the engine and another mount at the rear of the bellhousing, no perches. The tranny mount in the photo is the original holden one, should be straight forward to adapt that to the frame with a bit of angle and some gussets. If anyone has anything to offer in the way of driveline geometry advice that would be cool. Ive been playing with transaxle based shit for toooo long, and Im an old dog to boot, cant train etc. Driveshaft is a two piece, so its set from the centre bearing to the rear axle, and I really shouldve got a measurement on the output of the old box before removal... duh...

So pulled the front end off and engine and box out over the weekend. Gearbox/driveshaft fought me for a couple of hours before admitting defeat at the hands of a bigger hammer. Have taken all the extraneous crap off the LS and changed the sump so it will clear the crossmember, will need to hang the AC compressor and the alternator off the heads, rather than off the base of the block they are in the Holdons. Pretty much every conversion I have managed to find, the torsion bar front end has been pulled in favour of a later model, basically the crossmember the torsion bars attach to is in the way. Im going to test fit before the front end swap happens, Id really like to keep it how it is... Also have obtained a 12 bolt rear end, this is off to be rebuilt and an eaton posi chucked in it because 11's. I will be doing the bulk of the conversion myself, the front end swap (if I have too) is basically a bolt in barring one mounting hole. The front end I have is out of a 77, and fortunately it is a front cut so lots of measuring to get the steering geometry right. What I do need is someone to do the welding on trans crossmember, once I get to that point. Any suggestions would be great, also at what point should I get a certifier involved, Im not cutting it up, rear diff is a bolt in, may go to a one piece drive shaft... etc... If anyone wants the old exhaust, come and get it, no holes, not rusty, but I chopped it in half to get it out

Its the length too, they are 11.53" long, seat pressure is 435lbs and .620" lift (820lbs at full lift) - 280 duration at .050" so its a pretty aggressive grind. Mechanical roller lifters. Ive seen scuffing on 3/8" chromolly pushrods on other VW engines I have built with a lot less spring pressure than the above and only spinning to 7500 ish rpm.

With your manifolds and stuff, I have some 8mm nuts that use a 3/8" socket to tighten them. Bought a hundred of them so drop in and grab them, Im in the workshop tomorrow bro !!

Just in case anyone has been thinking.... I wonder what happened to this. I have hit a major curve. The holes in the heads that the pushrods pass through are making contact with the pushrods at about 3/4 lift... File it out I hear you say, but alas, these need to seal against the pushrod tube seal, and they have already been moved so they are hard against the valve cover rail. And welding and machining opens a whole new can of worms. So to "fix" the interference issue, I will be reassembling, trying the set up with the old smaller cam and maybe go to a different ratio rocker if the adjusting screw centreline is closer to the pivot point, and hopefully I can find enough clearance to make it work. I can probably sort it and have crappy rocker arm geometry, Ill go there if I have too. Pushrods are 1/2" diameter and tapered at the ends. Because this engine is not exactly off the shelf, Pauter (the manufacturers) were contacted, they no longer have castings made and all their current heads are billet at the amazing price of $8k usd a pair (holy fuck is the correct expletive here). Unfortunately if plan A fails this is where I am at, which is why I have mothballed it for a while. This week, next weekend Ill get it together and start trying shit.

Got wood ?

Autoblast that puppy. Happy chassis, happy life, just waiting on the timber for the deck. Found some nice swiss cheese in the floor, so have some patch panels in the shed to throw in in the next couple of weeks. Truck is ridiculously solid barring the floor. Also have the C10 front end to pick up later this week and another rear end. But I found some 3.38 gears for the stock rear end (currently 4.57) which will put it at about 1600 rpm at 100 ks in 6th when the LS and auto go in. So in the name of getting it done I might go down this route.

Been daily driving for a couple of weeks now. Leads, plugs and a holley 600 worked mint on the old girl. Taken the tray off and sent it to autoblast to have all the chassis sealed up against the dreaded rust !! Got a mate machining up some boards for the bed, mounted fuel tank in the back and the front seat will be off to be re upholstered soon. Engine swap is happening end of September so anyone after a 327 give me a yell !

As per the build thread (which is lame) nearly complied, have later front and rear ends, 5 stud and goes to a coil over rather than the torsion front end. Im pretty sure the Ls/6l80 combo wont squeeze between the torsion bars/front suspension set up. The box is a monster. As pe build post, kleen to talk to people who are up for doing front suspension swap and engine swap - would like it done in the next 3 months (not 4 years like the other project...)

Soo nearly complied,has seat belts brakes all sorted, authorities blah blah. Ive been collecting a few bits, what has become blindingly clear to me is I have no time. So Im looking for someone to do some of this for me. Once its all complied, doing the LS swap, also all suspension, I will have a 78 front end and an 88 rear axle to chuck into it. Any suggestions around potential people to do some of the work would be great, preferably in aucks but can also road trip it. I have the loom all reworked so the ecu will sit inside the cab, and a 3 wire hook up to make the magic happen. also have an hptuners set up for post install getting going so not looking for an electrical genius, Im happy to get that side of it happening.

Angus we need a planning committee meeting with beer and more wheels up pics !!

I will be selling the 327 and box. Will hopefully be 3 or 4 months away. Unsure of engine/gearbox goodness as yet.

Yeah, the options are limited in the 60 - 62 trucks. There is this option - http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=366828 but I will need to check with the authorities. The plan was always to keep it stock to get it complied. Rebuild all the stock suspension, and see how it rides. Then do the conversion/cert stuff post that.

God Bless the Authorities. I was looking at a Fatman Fab IFS front end and emailed them. Here is the response.... Due to the excessive new testing requirements on welded and cast automobile parts by the Australian and New Zealand governments we have formally withdrawn from those markets and will not supply parts to those countries. They are now requiring aviation level fabrication techniques and non-destructive testing on all welded parts. Cast suspension parts regardless of quality or testing are no longer allowed on any basis, while forged parts are required to have documented individual testing done per each part. In addition, we are receiving requirements for detailed engineering analysis far in excess of normal practice and empirical testing as is currently done. These additional costs in addition to the additional shipping and Customs cost for you simply force us to this regrettable decision. We apologize for any inconvenience. Where are my cotton wool overalls. Im vewy vewy precious.

I have been looking around for a while for a new work truck, wanted to go old school and update it to modern running gear and some creature comforts. I didnt have much of an idea but liked the look of older Chev trucks, did some reading and looking and got to this point. Truck will be in the country mid April, it is currently running a 327 and manual gearbox, and pretty much stock apart from that. Plan is to get it complied with existing running gear then modernise a wee bit. I have an LS3 and 6L80 trans and all associated wires and mechanical stuff in my warehouse now (cart before horse) and maybe a front end suspension transplant from a later truck and a diff with a lower ratio. this one will be either a 4.11 or 4.56 ish I believe, so a bit on the highside. While the intention wasn't to start/have another project, Im quite fizzed up about it. Going to keep it stock looking, no fancy wheels or any of that crap. Will get some hand painted signage on it, I want it to look like it was always there.

Have been doing a bit on this. Tinware is just about done barring a couple of naca duct holes then out for powdercoat , fire system is in. Have ordered pushrods, springs, retainers, keepers, spare bearings, new rod bolts and have sorted rocker geometry, friends with mills are good friends to have. Wiring is sorted to the engine plug, really just the plug to engine to do, its a short run so shouldn't be long. 4mm steel plate welded in pedal area - floor pan was super flexi. Getting all the flexi brake/clutch lines remade as they have been in the car a while. Really not that far away... famous nearly last words.... March 2017.

Since the engine is apart, heads have gone to Marsh, there was .018" difference in seat heights so this is all being sorted. Changing the cam, decided I might as well maximise the potential, the heads are good for around 300hp NA based on the flow numbers, so biggy upsized to 280 @ .050" lifting .611" at the valve. Potentially good for 600 + ish hp at the flywheel. So will remove boost to make it tractable. The 10th December is now a distant memory unfortunately. The pushrods I need (7/16 tapered) have to be cut to length in the US (the only way they will sell them to me), so need to get cam, set up geometry (currently miles out) then order pushrods. Also down speccing on valve spring size as they were way overkill triple K900's.

Crank not cracked. Sigh of relief...

Yeah, I was pretty keen on the programmable digital one but this is the stocker, runs mint though. Very happy to throw another 009 in the bin.

Engine Porn post... A few issues found - "New Moldex Crank" .010" under on the mains, so its off to be crack tested. Heads are way over sprung, approx .770" to bind on the springs, only lifting .500" and the valve stem heights arent all equal, so off to the shop to recut the seats and sort the heights, then sort the valve geometry, and once I get lifts finalised, buy new springs, retainers, and sort from there... So not as clean and clear as I was hoping for. Maybe it is just me, but reputable people in the states have generally stuck it to me. And the Taipan has received twin 34mm carbs, digital disi and a 4 into 1 exhaust.. Running sweet now. At least one is nearly ready for Drag day !