Popular Post Kiwibirdman Posted August 4, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 4, 2020 I took the Holden down for the first inspection for the Low Volume Cert. Fundamentally the car is OK, still have a list of 30 things to fix, most of them are easy, bolts to change for longer ones, Fit spring washers, confirmation that things were put back in the factory location, minor adjustments to make. I'll print the list off and smash it out. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted August 10, 2020 Author Share Posted August 10, 2020 Been working may way through the list. One of the things was the bracket for the brake booster had to come off and be checked, needs to be TIG'd and crack tested. That is OK. When I was pulling it apart there was brake fluid coming out the of the back end of the master cylinder into the booster. Also found that the booster had travel from when the brake pedal is pushed to when the master cylinder is engaged ( a gap somewhere in the booster). I had rung Sterling brake and clutch in Onehunga and Saturday and they were helpful and said bring it in we can pull it apart and have a look. This morning I went over there, via Zebra pick a part to get another master cylinder off a VZ commodore, cheaper to get another one than try and fix the leaky one. At sterling I got educated on boosters and new master cylinders. The VZ master will not work with the Gemini Booster. There goes Plan A. Plan B is now a new 7 inch Booster and new GM style Master cylinder. On order and has to come from Aus, there are non in the country that are at a reasonable price. I did get quite a few things sorted out on Saturday. Bolts changed for longer ones, Spring washers added, Lock nuts added. It all takes time. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 The Booster and master turned up pretty quickly from Oz. The shaft on the booster is shorter than the Gemini one, so it will mount directly to the firewall. All good except the wiring loom gets in the way. Found that there is a place near where I can put another hole and run everything through. I disconnected everything, felt very pleased that I had put plugs on anything that interconnects between the power train loom and the car loom. The challenge is that the plus on the relays are too big to go through the old hole in the firewall. Looks like having to separate out the connectors from the plugs, not difficult, just a pain. Also needed another hole saw, ordered on line with the Bunnings click and drive. Only 4 hours later to pick up a single 38mm hole saw. Fucking lock down!! The other challenge is the master cylinder I got from VPW was the one with outlets on both sides. I had made a point of ordering the GM LHS only type. The RHS outlets hit the bonnet springs. I might have to steal the master cylinder off my Firebird. It is a lot smaller and should be OK. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Kiwibirdman Posted October 15, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 15, 2020 A long overdue up date. I stole the master cylinder off the firebird, which was stuffed from having sat for nearly 3 years. Off to Sterling Brake and Clutch for a rebuild, the 3rd time in 25 years. Here is the booster mounted. And then with the master cylinder and brake lines. The brake lines were made out of a copper alloy tube that the brake guys said is all good for cert and way easier than steel to work with. They were not wrong. The brakes work really well. First hard stop had my 16 year old son complaining that I was going to put him through the windscreen. Had a couple of lock the brake test on the road outside the local school one weekend. Got the serious evils from the lady across the road. I had 2 of my HQ rostyle wheels widened by the steel surgeon and then all 4 powder coated. Masking for the painting. This is pig of a job and took about an hour per wheel. I have done both the fronts and one of the back wheels. Paint Finished I'm pretty happy with the final result. I bought new chrome wheel nuts and cleaned up the centre caps. Only have 3 so if anyone has one floating around I will gladly swap for some cash. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Kiwibirdman Posted November 8, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 8, 2020 Several Steps forward, one step back. Got the final wheels on, the passengers side got new repro centre caps. Wipers on, they are EH Holden and don't line up 100%on the screen. It has also been to VTNZ for a VIN number which has been issued. While I was driving it I noticed that the from breaks were not releasing. Jacked the car up and yes they were definitely not releasing. I did think that it might be the push rod in the booster being a shade too long so unbolted the master cylinder and no change. I had got the brake lines back to front so the residual valve for the rear drums was holding the front brakes on.. While I was setting up to bleed the brakes I pulled on the passengers side wheel and saw the tie rod move up in the steering rack. Pulled the boot off and it looks like the bush in the end of the rack has died. A bit of driving around and fighting the not releasing front brakes was the final straw. Started to pull it out and the cotter pins that hold the universals in place wont move. Some ham fisted bastard (me) has done them up good and tight and now they done want to move. Looking on the interweb the go seems to be soak in penetrating oil ( CRC) and this will help. Hopefully this afternoon a swat with punch and a hammer will do the trick. Also mounted a radiator overflow tank to catch all the rusty water that it like to spit out when it gets hot and then the engine stops. I have bought proper coolant to put in to it. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Kiwibirdman Posted December 4, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 4, 2020 took it down today for the recheck on the cert. All good......exccept I didn't put a heat shield between the brake line and the exhaust, I even looked at it when I did the other side .....dumb ass. Also it failed the brake test. by the 4th stop it had run out of brakes so fail. The pads that are in the calipers are probably 30 years old even though they haven't done a lot of miles. They have managed to be on 3 different cars. I don't know if they get worse with age or weren't that great to start with. I'll get them relined with the flash new material and working properly. Then I can adjust the back brakes to work properly using the proportioning valve. I had to reduce the back brakes because it was loci=king the back wheels up first. The certifier has driven it further than I have because he has to go for miles to get to an open road where he can do 100ks. He did say it drives a lot better than he thought it would. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Kiwibirdman Posted April 9, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 9, 2021 Finally got booked in for the recheck on the cert ........... and it passed. Has little temporary tag thing on the engine bay and the really cert plate will turn up sometime. Then it can go to be complied. Cert process took 8 months, mainly due to look downs, availability of parts due to ports of Auckland cluster fuck, certifier being busy because everyone is building cars instead of spending money going overseas and my own lack of motivation. Little things like Americarna, Beach Hop and going caravanning for the 9 days of the 2 long weekends earlier this year also didn't help. I also washed it for the first time, first wash in 26 years, and yes it did leak. Its had about 6 or 8 cleans with McGuires Ultra Rapid detailer to the water beaded up beautifully. Really looking forward to putting some serious miles on this car, apart from the heavy steering at parking speeds, it drives like a late model car. 25 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Kiwibirdman Posted November 26, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 26, 2021 Finally got round to taking it down for compliance. There were a few other minor issues, back brakes dragging, handbrake needs improvement, one ball joint not great, and front windscreen doesn't have the standard mark and the speedo bounces round at low speed Biggest issue is I had never got a repair certifier involved before it was painted. I have got a certifier involved who has been really good, fundamentally it is OK except for a repair that was done above the rear hatch. I have spoken to the panel beater about it. He is booked solid until after Christmas. Over Christmas I should be able to get the inside of the floor fully painted, sound deadening in and carpets fitted. That should cut the noise inside right down. It is fun to drive round, I might have to put a better fan on the radiator as it gets hot sitting still, no problems as soon as it starts moving. Not a lot of space on either side of the radiator. 11 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Kiwibirdman Posted March 15, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 15, 2022 After nearly 18 years of ownership, the EJ wagon has number plates, a current Rego Sticker and a new WOF. Getting through compliance ended up being a bit of a mission. The repair certifier passed the floor repairs and was very happy. The back of the car was fine as it got covered off under the modifications to get the fuel tank in. The only issue was a repair to the back of the roof that wasn't up to scratch. With Christmas, long weekends, Covid and all the other shit going on in the world I was 2 Days over the cut off for recheck. The VTNZ guys gave me a bit of grace and said it would be OK if it all passed. Since God wants me to pay in blood the back brakes were out of balance. It drove me to distraction trying to get them sorted. Ended up being one of the return springs has lost its tension, causing the right hand drum to drag and the brakes to apply unevenly. Autolab in Henderson didn't have a spring kit in stock, I tried everyone else that may have one in stock, Repco, Supercheap, BnT, Partmaster NAPA........ The only springs I could find were at RareSpares in Christchurch. Ordered and turned up 4 days later, which was Friday last week. Replaced all the springs in the drums both sides over the weekend and reminded myself why I love working on Drum brakes...not. Took it back to VTNZ on Monday, paid for the full recheck and got the phone call this morning that it had passed. Picked the car up and then went to AA Takapuna for a set of plates. This evening took my sons out for the first legal drive, Birkenhead, down to the motorway, over the harbour bridge and down the motorway to Greenlane and back home via a mates place in Northcote, My thoughts, its fricken awesome. Plenty of power, will spin the tires with ease, sits nice and flat through corners, sits very happily at 60 mph and has heaps left. Still some finishing off to do, there are some interior bits to finish and some rattles to find. all minor stuff. 21 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted March 26, 2022 Author Share Posted March 26, 2022 Amazing what a few miles finds We were out in it last weekend with a couple of heavy bodies in the back seat. At 50 mph got a vibration out of the rear of the car. Turns out I made a rookie mistake with the diff angle. I had originally set the angle with an Iphone. I bought a proper angel finder and at ride height the diff was 4 degrees down which only got worse the more weight and lower the car got. I pulled the diff and cut off the mounts put it back in and set and welded the mounts again. Test on the motorway was fine up to 70 mph until I took my foot odd the gas and a nasty vibration started. Now driving round to 30 mph or more it is smooth as under power and vibrating on the over run. I jacked the car up sat it on axle stands to see it there was any thing obviously wrong. With the engine running and in gear there feels like a vibration from the diff. The diff is a narrowed Holden Salisbury that I got second hand and apart from the spring mounts and black paint did nothing before putting in. It looks like a trip to the diff shop this week. Also have to fix the UJ hitting the floor, but that is another problem for later. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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