estate_ Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 1800 in and running, got her out on the streets again and stickered up with a new wof! Got a shock when I took her off stands and the front cross member was not even 75mm off the ground ... turns out tyres were a bit soft so she's back around the 90mm mark now. Way nicer to drive, the extra torque certainly doesn't go un-noticed. Will miss the wee 1256 hammering away though ha Couple little niggles to sort yet, one of the frost plugs on the bottom side is leaking coolant so will have to whip those out at some point. Also she runs a bit warm if you have to stop for any length of time. I've got a pair of mint electric fans I'll put in, but might have to play around and find a shorter rad if that doesn't do the trick. Still need to tidy up the secondary wiring and get my head around how I’ll make the slant look a little prettier, gearbox came without any form of sandwich plate so will need to sort that soon too, but those will all have to wait a week or two till after exams. Yeah the side pipe thing really is just a product of not having any cash to get it done properly, having to swap sides of exhaust with fuel lines and kinda needing a car back on the road/out of the folk’s garage.. So as soon as I get a little coin I'll get a proper exhaust done. Also, out of interest Lawrence did you know the cat that was in it is hollowed out? hahah I'll get some better pics of the engine and update the rust work I did on the guards yonks ago when I next get round to my folks as my camera's there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted May 28, 2013 Author Share Posted May 28, 2013 Oh nah I didn't know that. Heh. The exhaust was patched up a couple times though. Not surprising, I doubt it was done on purpose, more likely that all the innards had disappeared over the course of its life. The car itself is pretty low, despite not really looking it. How is that front suspension holding up? Was always a question of how well those volvo cab shocks would last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estate_ Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Shocks are holding up fine, never been the smoothest ride but that's to be expected. Rear always has a little sway in it which could probably be helped by wider rubber and bushes but it's not too bad.I dropped off the 1256's at 73crownwagon's place and got talking about buying the 2.3 from his van when he's done with it. It's be good to have a history on the engine and if I'm eventually going to go the route of cert etc i might as well go the full way with 2.3 instead of the 1759.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivaspeed Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 Stink about the engine mounts, they are known to do that! They are a really poor design that shears off when the rubber perishes - as you've found. I've seen guys drill right through and put a bolt in it, not so tight as to make it solid mounted, but stops it shearing completely off. If you're going to get it certed then I would build some new mounts that are sort of "captured" so if they fail then they don't cause the whole engine to collapse on the crossmember. 2.3 is the way to go, you can't use the Beddy sump but the 1800 one will work, the bulges are slightly different. Overbore it, run some Chev 307 pistons - you need to machine the gudgeon boss out a bit IIRC, raises the compression loads. Beddy's were only something like 7.3:1 compression with dished pistons, whereas the 2.3 cars had flat top pistons and were 8.5:1 or something like that. Or leave it at 7.3:1 and run a turbo. You also need to get a cam ground for a 2.3 to make it rev and breath properly. It was a very van-spec motor. A few hundy spent on machining and parts and it will be choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estate_ Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 Yeah they were poorly designed, even for a vauxhall. This is going to sound silly but I'm suspicious that my front cross member is slightly wider than it should be/ warped as with both the 1256 and slant I've had to space out the engine mounts to make them fit..even then, this'll be the 3rd set of engine mounts the old girls pulled to pieces since I've had her. I've got a spare cross member under the hous so I'll measure it up and see one the engines out this week/weekend.I ended up making almost solid mounts for the 1256 out of some box section and old van engine mounts. They worked pretty well so might have a look at something like that or else like you say some captured ones would be good. From memory 4age mounts look nice and solid with the base plates of the mount kinda surrounding the rubber. Thanks for all the info about the 2.3. definitely an exciting thought. Just going to have to be slow process of collecting parts on a shoestring student budget. Guess it'll mean I wont rush anythng and make sure its all perfect. I assume the alternator and setup on the 2.3 is the same as the 1759? - just trying to work out how much is going to need sourcing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivaspeed Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Yeah all the bolt on bits are the same between 2.3 and 1800 block. So need to swap (as a minimum) the sump, the exhaust manifold and the cam cover (the van has a massive long oil filler neck). Just grab a new timing belt, gasket kit, some rings and bearings - that lot will only be a few hundred if you can get some hookups. A stock fresh 2.3 will be adequate. If you're serious, Chev 307 pistons with rings are about $50 each for new cast ones. You need to get the block machined because they are 3.875" and the std bore is 3.84". Piston need machining to fit on the std rods but it's a super easy job. As well as getting the head skimmed and a valve grind you can probably get the whole lot done quite affordably. I built my first one originally on a student budget - it can be done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estate_ Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Ah sweet thanks Geoff, great to have all the valuable insight on here. Saves alot of time wasting and headscratching over the small things. I'll certainly be hoping to pick your brain for more viva guru-like knowledge as this goes along. haha Short term horizon will be getting the 2.3, doing gaskets seals belts etc and a general tidy up so that I can get the car mobile again. I've started dealing with all the little bits of rust to stop bodywork deteriorating. And then in the long run I'd certainly love to do pistons, cam, diff, respray origional colour and potentially carbs before getting it all certed. I was looking at 307 pistons from ebay, and getting 4 new ones landed here were pretty cheap! Which was rather exciting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estate_ Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Oh and a proper exhaust needs to happen soon too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivaspeed Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Those 307 piston sets on eBay are cheap, and they're usually for a set of 8, not 4... I got a half set from a guy who had built the same before me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUL8R Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Sweet, good to see some updates! Look forward to hearing how well the 2.3 goes along with being manual! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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