Terminal220's 1982 VH SL/E sedan

[Terminal220]

OK, so this is my first ever project. Fair one, its not a massive job but I dont know much past general maintainance. So its gunna be a steep learning curve for me. I have a pretty mint stock SL/X with a mighty starfire in her.
 
Exhibit A:
 

 
I have also  just purchased an SL/E that has a carbureted black 202 in it.
 
Exhibit B:
 

 
My plan is to remove the starfire from my SL/X and install the 202, power steering, brakes, suspension, trans, driveshaft, diff and tacho from the SL/E into my SL/X. The only thing more limited than my car knowledge is my budget, hence me not slapping a V8 or RB30 in it.
 
Have started a project discussion for when my mates cant help and I need advice........might be quite often. Dont get me wrong, i am mechanicly minded and have worked on motorcycles for the past 16 years so im not a complete tard.... but have done bugger all to cars.
 
Disccsion thread is started and the link is below
 
//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/44627-terminal220s-1982-vh-sle-sedan/#entry1368578
 
Boom, let the show begin.

[Terminal220]

So,

everything is out of my donor car except the diff, rear discs, rear hubs etc. Will have that squared away sometime next week. Motor and trans have been steam cleaned and wire wheeled and is now ready for a re gasket and paint.

 

Will take the rear diff assembly and the K frame complete with power steering rack, front discs etc to work to get them steam cleaned. Will drop a few bits and bobs inc front and rear disc callipers into the Paragon bath.......then boom POR15 time.

 

Have brought new low King springs, water pump and thermostat housing, Holley 350cfm carb, free flow manifold, trans service kit and engine mounts, so once all my shit is clean.......it will be swap time, cant wait!!

 

Oh and I just picked these up today. Brought them from a funeral home. They had been on one of their hearses but they decided to "upgrade". It's pretty cool to know that people are dying to go for a ride on these rims.......Ba dom chhh!

 

 

 

Once all this is on, it will be time to tweak the cosmetics. Will fit the rear fender and tail light extensions as well as the tacho from my donor car. Then i think i will stop there and see if I want to proceede any further. Will most likely leave it there....

[Terminal220]

Extractors have been painted and are in the oven, will be ready tomorrow. Will paint the motor this weekend and maybe look at the front and rear disc conversion.

 

Should be fitting the shiney bits next week and will be ready for install....... just need to make a date that will work for helpers.......assuming I can find some!

 

Another side project ive been working on with a friend of mine. we have gutted an old school tape player and fitted the inside with a bluetooth reciever running to RCA's that will in turn run to an amp. Have jigged it so when I insert a tape it fires up the bluetooth. The radio is still functional too. Should help keep the whole int looking stock and give me hands free as well as wireless beats. All up it has cost $75 (got a bargin sony amp for $50). Needed the amp as the old ass stereo had 2x7W output lol.

[Terminal220]

So......had a few things in real life that required my attention this month so progress was slower than i originaly hoped for. Here are the before and afters of my mighty 202 after a dry fit tonight. I am really stoked with the final product and cant wait to fit her. I have never had a nice looking motor before and this being my first project, all the nights working untill 2am in my opinion have been well worth it. Not 100% about the airfilter but a top hat wont fit as it will hit the rocker cover. This was just one I had lying around. Will most likely source a new shiney version of the triange or maybe an oval one. Running graer looks mint too. ....... fist pumping like a boss!

 

Before...

 

 

........and after. Disregard the funny looking breather ports and oil cap hole. Its just alley tape I havent peeled off yet as I resprayed the cover and ran a 340grit over her.

 

[Terminal220]

sooooooo stoked

[Terminal220]

The donor car has now been sent off to the scrappy. Garage is now clean and clear, last parts are painted, New airfilter and thermostat cover are in the post......its swap time! Four months has been a good husstle and I am on track to swap out all my new goodies this xmas break....yuss!

 

[Terminal220]

Say hello to my new 14'' friends. Before and after. 

 

 

 

They have been machined back, repaired, painted and slotted to 5x120. New centercaps and shanked wheelnuts.........CAN NOT wait to mounts these suckers

[Terminal220]

So.... the starfire is out and the 202 is in, running and holding fluid. Waiting on a longer throttle cable (should be here monday/tuesday).

 

Suspension is in, front and rear discs mounted.

 

All that remains is to change the rear bumper, bleed the brakes, fit handbrake cabe, exhaust from extractors, wire the tacho, fit the new (longer) cable and get thoses hotwires mounted.

 

Will look at a leky fan but that can wait. Runs mint, cant wait for brakes so we can take her out for skids.

 

 

 

 

 

Once i can take it out of the garage and get the wheels on ill post better pics.

[Terminal220]

After running into a spot of bother with one of the rear callipers beeing coozed and waiting forever for a new set ex ozzy to arrive, I am back in buisness.

 

Trans is working well, engine tuned as good as she can be seeing as though she is only running extractors. Mostly holding fluid...... one trans line rubber hose needs replacing. Power steering is working mint (may need to tweak a few bolts there). The front has come down a wee bit... hopefully she will come down more after a good drive. Failing that I am going to have to look and going for super lows in the front?....will cross that bridge when i get there.

 

For now, she is off to get an exhaust system fitted and recieve a full tune. Then off to the tyre shop to get the hotwires fitted with rubber. For some reason these e36 xwires have really grown on me over the past few months. Still cant wait to see the hotwires on though.

 

Getting close now!

 

[Terminal220]

Finaly got the wheels mounted, exhaust done and a tune! The vacuum advance has a hole in it so am trying to source a new one, then the tune can be finished. I have only been able to find one supplier and they want $158 for it! So may end up buying a whole dissy new or second hand and using it for parts and spares. She was running like POS last night and I found out today that the brand new thermostat has locked shut (I even boiled it and it wouldn't open). Whiped it out and drove her around without one in and a huge difference off the bat. Will slap one in tomorrow night. I aim to get some cool pics up but here is one i got tonight before it got too dark. Front /rear ride height needs a tweak......not sure if I should raise the back an inch or drop the front. Will let the suspension settle and put pics up for your guys 5c on the matter.

 

 

lovin the mags!

[Terminal220]

New pics with what I think may be the chosen ride height.

 

Power steering is now holding fluid and has had an allignment! Just need to install the hoops (hopefully this weekend) for cert. Then it is a final tweak of the interior and install some better car auido. May look at rear bumper after the plate is rivited in.

 

 

 

 

Interior and underside pics to come.

 

I settled on a 2 1/2'' system from the extractors into a 2 chamber muffler and a resornator at the back. Awesome note with no drone. 80% of the underside has been painted/rust proofed. 70% of bushes replaced including new top hats. Has had a scope up her and been on the dyno. I have a hole in my vacuum advance ......so need to get that rebuild and recieve a final tune.

 

What are your thoughts on the ride height? Intially I had it scraping low and was going to roll the gards. I then slapped this set in and felt maybe it would be more practicle as a daily driver and firewood tower. Also thinking it looks more 80's and standard. Slammed is fine if your going for the more street look ...... or maybe im trying to talk myself into it?

[Terminal220]

Progress!

 

Hoops are in, All guages inc SL/E tacho are now functioning properly and the interior is all done including car audio.

 

Just running an amplified four speaker gedup at the moe. Almost finished my PYE stereo buetooth project. The only way i could figure out to turn the bluetooth on and off is by inserting and ejecting the tape. It took me about an hour to find an old tape but hit the jackpot and found GnR appetite for destruction in an old box o crap to test it. works mint. Just trying to get other buttons to accept and reject calls when running hands free atm.

 

I could go and get a cert now if I wanted........ but brought a Borg-Warrner 5 speed with shifter and flywheel. Still need to track down a pedal box, clutch cable and speedo gear to make it happen. But thought I may as well sort it before cert..... so close to being finished! The car has been running mint, have put 1000Kms on it since the new motor has been put in. So far........so good.

 

Will put up interior pics as soon as I can.

[Terminal220]

Been a while between drinks,

 

I am on a course atm and the commy progress has slowed. Had it up on trademe and got mucked around by two buyers so now i am thinking of keeping her and progressing with the project.

 

She now has a cert and I have been using it as my daily for the past 3 to 4 months. Running sweet......has 1000hp in the wet!

 

Have almost all the parts I need for the manual conversion. I have a 5 speed Borg Warner, shifter, flywheel, old clutch,(may bite the bullet and buy a new one), a clutch cable, pedal box, speedo drive gear and a front driveshaft yolk. Am i missing anythig? I know I still need a boot for the shifter but that is a nice to have atm.

 

Will get the box droped off by Leebo at the swapmeet (bloody Legend!). Then ill drop it off at a shop to get a once over as I dont no much about boxes.

 

The motor will come out again for the manual conversion....so will toss the fan in the bin and go electric at the same time.

[Terminal220]

Next weekend the lazy Trimatic is comming out .....along with the engine and radiator. I intend on installing this stuff

 

 

The five speed has had a recon with new seals, thrust bearing and the left hand thread bolt near the back. A suitable drive shaft from a VK that has been ballanced and will mate up with the five speed. VK pedalbox and clutch cable.

 

Will also remove the clutch fan and run an eletrical one with an adjustable fan controller i picked up at the swapmeet.

 

Skids on sunday all going well

[Terminal220]

More progress........but not finished

 

So I took friday off and i dropped the Trans and engine oil as well as the radiator fluid. I removed my hoops, drive shafts radiator, center console, etc. I Installed a choke cable and wired my fan over ride wiring. note choke female left of steering wheel location.

 

 

Fan:

I had an old A/C switch that fitted perfectly next to my rear window de mister and wiper timer buttons....See pic. Looks stock as ... just like I have aircon......but i dont. Anyway, wiring the fan was a piece of cake. I had an old thermostat cover with a threaded hole at the top, so I installed the temp sensor for the adjustable fan controll unit in there after color matching it to my engine. I took a wee short cut when I got to my local radiator guy to pressure test my new (been up in the roof for two years after coming free with my car) manual radiator. He said for $70 he will pressure test, turbo flush, paint and fit my fan. I just got him to do it as it was going to save me time and i thought it a good price. The fan blows hard and is very quite. Im stoked with how much better it looks under the bonnet withouth the Clutch fan and the shroud. Will see if I get any extra go out of her monday or tuesday.

 

/url]

 

 

Manual conversion:

I opted to remove the trans with the engine still in. Mainly because i was told it will be quicker but also because I havnet done it before and wanted to see for myself. Turns out it was, everything was running sweet as untill I had to remove the pedalbox. If i was to do it again (and for VKzac's sanity) remove your steering coloum before you try to remove the pedalbox from satan inc. Wasted a good hour before removing the steering coloum and 45mins after that we had it out and the new one in after removing the blank on my firewall for the clutch cable.

The manual went in very easily. We used an old tailshaft as an aligning tool and she went straight in. Set the clutch cable and had everything mounted within an hour.

Again for Zac....I had to join the two purple wires from the old auto shifter. These are the inhibiter cables that allow you to only start the car in Park or Neutral. So by shorting/joining them, the car will always think it is in P or N and will start up. I  also had to extend the reverse light cables so they would reach the switch down on my new box.

I then ran into trouble when I found out the hard way that VK tailshafts are too short for a VH. This being due to the different mounts onto the diff. The VK front driveshaft fits perfectly allowing me to use the OE mounts for the constant veloicty/hanger bearing. BUT....the bearing is a different diameter so i couldnt just roll my old VH one and the VK one was too short. I have dropped both rear drive shafts off to the engineer to put the VK hanger bearing flange onto my VH shaft. I couldnt just swap the hanger bearings either as they have diffent splines on them. They have said it will be ready monday and then all i have to do is fit the shafts, fill the gearbox with AFT(apprently), re fit my hoops, re fit the handbrake cable and go for a burn.

Since my box is from a starfire, the shifter sits further aft (knew this was going to happen but not to what degree). It fits inside the center console (only just) but dosent contact the when in the in 2nd or 4th. Will jimmy somthing up for that in the comming weeks.

 

 

 

 

I also wrapped the headders as the VHT paint, even though I took it to work and cooked it in a giant oven to the instructions on the can....had adopted a white flakey dog turd like appearance. Re did a few gaskets that needed doing, fitted the new choke cable to the holley and generally tidied up the wiring. All done by saturday before dinner.

 

 

Boom! Will put up more once she is driving.

[Terminal220]

She is driving better than ever!

 

Took her to work today and when I got home I had to tweak the clutch cable setting and the accelerator cable and holly shitballs she is soooo much gruntyer. Doing 2100Rpm at 100Kms......so have almost reduced my cruising rpm by 1000! Box is shifting nicely and the fan is working like a boss. All in all a win.

 

A few things that still require attention:

1. The center console and trans tunnle. I have a mate making me up a sheet plate to cover the huge hole the auto shifter has left and then need to square away the cosmetics.

2. The speedo is reading 80Kph when I am doing 100. I still have the starfire speedo in the dash but didnt expect that to be a problem. Do you think maybe the guy gave me the wrong speedo gear? Or is the speedo its self the issue? I would prefer not to put the 6 cycl one in from my old donor car as it has 250,000+kms on the odo and my starfire one has 116,000. Bit of background on the speedo. The gear the guy gave me was the same as my trimatic one. My cars speedo cables end to drive the gear was too small. Seeing as though both gears were yellow and had the same diameter and teeth and they would bind and rotate togeter, I just left the trimatic one in. Im pretty sure I still have a 6 cycl speedo cable lying around so I could run it to the gear the guy game me......but dont think there will be a differance. Am I missing somthing? Any sugestions on the speedo issue would be greatly recieved. I am yet to start researching it so maybe its an easy fix.  

 

But after that....boom, think I might be done.

[Terminal220]

Alright.....been a while between drinks.

 

Have installed a 6cyl 5 speed now. Shifter is far more central and my speedo isuue has gone...... well mostly,  95Kph indicated is 100kph...so close enough.

 

Running the 5 speed with my 3.08 Trimatic diff has caused it to be a bit longer than what would have been ideal. She is still sweet and now when driving at 100Kph im sitting on 2000rpm. I think due to all the work thats been done to the motor she is still plenty torqey and happly skids to second. As it turns out the 202 is no ecco motor so ill take the cruising speed savings.

 

Just getting the OE center console sprayed to match my interor and she will be ball standard. Pics to come.

 

Also I feel she needs to be a tadd lower......just when i thought I was almost finished.

[Terminal220]

Great news!

 

The center console surround has been painted to match (although it looks weird in the pic) and has been installed with a new outer boot ex ozzy. I sourced the sheet metal blanking plate that rivets to the trans tunnel and an inner boot from my commy supplier in Nelson. The manual conversion is now 100% complete and looking stock as...................... Its the small things in life!