Valiant

Hello Sheepers. I'm finding your overheating issue irksome too. I have a car that does a similar thing. and it's very frustrating. If vacuum bleeding it is making an improvement it makes me think there is an airlock somewhere. At a workshop I worked at in the past a car was brought in that had a V8 swap and it would overheat, all the usual had been done. We found that topping the cooling system up at the back of the manifold and a couple of other places around the cooling system made all the difference and solved the problem. Could you do something like add a couple of ball valves one at the back heater hose and one at the air outlet behind the thermostat and try to force the air out with the garden hose then shut the valves and test drive it? Or make some type of basic header tank to give the air a high point to rise to? My two cents anyway.

Thanks @RUNAMUCK. you obviously enjoyed our post Hanmer detour. @sr2 cheers for your input. I I have a pretty good handle on the required fabrication and plumbing side, there is a manual pedal box waiting in the garage, I'm expecting to spend on a bellhousing, clutch, flywheel, and drive shaft it is what it is. I've had cars with factory T5s and I'd agree with your statement about the shifting. They were good as a factory installation but I wouldn't go out of my way to fit one.I also wonder about the strength of one behind a 383. The car has everything you've mentioned except EFI, it's not the car that is dull and more the transmission, I just really like manual cars. My other Valiant has a W50 that I installed and it really made the car %100 nicer to use. I'd like to achieve the same thing here.

Thanks. No it has a fixed hub, that's enough. although it won't be a rider with the frame like it is.

Put it back together today, really pleased with how it looks. I've taken a set of BSA pedals (which look shit in photos but are awesome IRL), and a better seat out of my hoard, beyond that it's just been decluttered.

I think the Snow flake ones are BSA too, I'm not sure, It has possibly worn a few out over the last 80 years. Not everything on it is BSA, only the frame lugs by the looks.

Yeah I could do but the top tube and the down tube are stuffed. It's far too small for me also. The more I think about it the more I think I'll rebuild it with some chromoly from AFWE. I think leaving the chain stays in place and redoing the rest, extending the steering tube on the forks will be the go. I can keep the pieces of frame to reproduce the paint and transfers at some stage. Maybe I'll do it when the next pandemic hits.

Here's another one I found on trade me about 6 years ago. Another nice 30s/40s BSA disguised as a roadster. It's been hanging in the garage roof since then, I had planned to do something with it but never quite got to it. Sadly it has been in a big crash and the frame has been bent and creased so it's not a rider as it is. I have considered sweating the lugs and replacing the tubes but the paint is original with transfers and it would be a pity to loose that. Anyway with plenty of time to fill in it seemed like a good time to get it down, give it a good clean up. get rid of the crappy mudguards and so on, and push the frame back into place so it at least looked right hanging up. Bike as I picked it up. OG Paint and transfers. Yep, she's fucked Trev. Frame straightening machine. High tech stuff. Nice BSA drop outs with the cams and stops still in place. Good quality cranks too. I really like the detail in the head tube lugs and the old transfer. All the chrome has been painted black, some one has made a very throughout job of it which makes me wonder if it was done to black it out for WW2. Either that of someone has tried to give the tired chrome a cover up at some stage. Where I left it tonight. No rush eh.

Also. As @RUNAMUCK stated previously little chinese concrete mixers are shit. Concrete mixers are a handy thing to have though so when I spotted this in the scrap pile at a friends yard I pounced on it. It has a cool worm drive gearbox, the motor looks like it's off an old fridge or washing machine. The locking handle was rusted in place and the bowl was badly rusted. I fixed both and now it goes hard for what it is, quietly and at a good height to tip into a barrow. Edit. I'd like to find a couple of pneumatic wheel barrow wheels to make it easier to move around because these steel ones suck.

Anyone on here who's ever used a hot water blaster knows how much better they clean than than a standard cold water blaster. I have a little Karcher water blaster at home, it goes ok but with cold water but is a bit meh. I've heard of people plumbing them into the hot tap to make a DIY hot water blaster. Taking the hose into the house sounds like a recipe for disaster, makes the place look like a meth lab, and my garage is a long way from the house. Solution. Take the hot water to the garage 20l at a time. The water blaster doesn't use much water, I was surprised at how well it worked, and for how long. It took 3 fill ups to clean up the bike frame and parts I was tinkering with today. I probably wouldn't recommend it for degreasing the 440 out of your Grandads motor home, but for small jobs B+ out of 10.

Right. I have a friend with a late 2wd hilux, I'll see if I can drive it when things settle down and decide from there. Wikipedia says that the 2wd box has a talker first than the 4wd ones, I see what people are saying though.

Can you expand on this, where are the ratios disappointing?

Thanks Chris, got a link to the release bearing? I have a factory pedal box and would probably attach the master cylinder to that under the dash.

You shit posters can see yourselves out thanks. @sheepers You have a R154 in one of your cars don't you? How do you find it?

Yeah I'm %100 not putting that under my car.

Just to add. I have a 3/1 diff ratio so a 6 speed/double overdrive box is not required. I'm unwilling to save money on a gearbox to spend more on a diff rebuild.

No thanks.

@RUNAMUCK the boxes are on TM for $1200 to $2000 for a rebuilt one. 5th gear isn't concerning me, I'm not building a tow car.

Well well, Link in and working, took more than I thought it would, Couldn't get a spark at cranking speed, mucked around and mucked around. Swapped pick up with a Mazda/Toyota unit, brought a new battery the old one was cooked anyway still no luck. Took the whole thing back out and took it to the tuning place. LOL, G3 was looking for a different signal, changed the parameter and away we went. All back in now and working well. Japanese pick up worked out well, the advance plate is gone all together now, which simplified things alot. Also I modified this distributor to take a plastic Slant Six distributor gear. They are about $1.50 off ebay, a hemi 6 one is almost impossible to get, bronze ones are available but they wear out quickly and make the timing scatter. I have a Link and Ignitor attached to my heater box. Also added some H4 headlights, and a big relay. Now I can see in the dark! Replaced the finger chopping fan with an electric one, got all hi tech with a thermo switch even. Pics of hilux calipers fitted. This is on the AP5 but same diff. Easy to do and well worth the effort. Roller Rocker flex because I reset my tappets with a view to get this dynoed once the world goes back to normal.

@cletus, you have no other option then. Also. People, regale me with your sharnes of hydraulic release bearings, slave cylinder set ups, clutch cables, and Zbar designs

Yeah I saw them too but again they are big, long, and expensive for the reasons you mentioned. The attractive thing about the Toyota ones is the price, short length, shifter location, and the potential to use R154 upgrade parts if required.

Not that keen tbh. Price, size, shifter location, etc. I have as much room as I care to make, I'd prefer to leave the tunnel strengthener in place but needs must. Also I think weight is the main factor with the 5th gear issues, a cruiser towing a trailer could be up to 6t. Google says a stock AP is 1200KG I feel like that will give me room to move.

As some of you know I also have a V8 Valiant, it doesn't see the road much as I have a couple of issues to sort out with it which hopefully I'll start attending to soon. Long story short, one of the things I don't like about it is the automatic transmission it has. The transmission is fine, shifts well etc but it's just a bit dull. So I want to make it manual which isn't as easy as it sounds, also to quantify it has a 383, so "chuck a W50 in it M8" isn't really an option. Gear box choices seem a bit limited or expensive, There are plenty of manual boxes available ex USA but they are race orientated, expensive, and a bit agricultural looking. A833s are around but they are old AF, 4 speed, likely fucked, will need an expensive shifter etc. Big commodore and falcon boxes are expensive too, hard to come by, and huge. W5x boxes are expensive now and probably not up to the task? R154 seems like an option, they are reasonably priced(ish) but they are long, it would put the shifter in the back seat, I could move it but meh. Finally I see the R154s ginger haired brother, the R150/151. Cheap, available,strong, short, forward shifter, long input shaft available, R154 up grade parts fit. I'm not fussed by the wider ratios, I have enough torque to stop it from being a problem. Give me your thoughts, what do you know about R150/151. Is this a good idea? Valiant pic as proof of ownership.

Count me out. Thanks for the invite though.

I'm not sure what the rules are in Australia regarding LPG conversions. It's very cheap motoring in NZ, it's a bit of a job to convert but not impossible. You'll need a tank, liquid line, lock off valve, converter, and gas carb. It sounds like a lot but it's not really. The lockoff, converter, and gas carb can be picked up off ebay, I think there are locally (Australian) made components OHV I think they call them selves. I have an OHV gas system on a car and it's been faultless for years. The good part about gas carbs is they work on any angle, upside down, or right way up. You can mount them away from that manifold flange if they are further away from the motor it gives the gas more time to mix with the air. Here's a pic of something I did on a project of mine that was a similar space shortage situation and a SU carb. It works really well. I'm Pete, and that's my LPG/SU Barry sharn.

If economy is a factor is avoid a Webber side draft. Have you considered a SU? Or an impco LPG carb?