30 replies to this topic

[dron]

Just got the approval to put my modified 308 (355) into a uc 4 door sunbird

9" diff with hq drum brakes has been sent out to be shortened

I have drumb stubs with CRS mounts for a hq front disks using the uc calipers and the hz pad support housing, All ready to fit.

 t400 bolted to engine ready to go.

 

The engine and trans and diff was in my wb work ute and have been built to put up with hi load (diesel mechanic's mobile tool box) so they are strong as I could get them  and done about 10 000kms.

 

 

[purrlx]

Sounds like a good project, any pics of the build. Good luck with it.

[dron]

Yes, If I ever work out how to post them, for now I have the starting point on a page attached to my dance studio web sight (another hobby got out of hand)  http://www.aadance.com.au/tory.pdf

[Covert]

Good stuff Darren. Always good to see another SA build on the forum 

[dron]

More pick's I just attached a new page to the back of my sight for the project

 

www.aadance.com.au/tory.html

Edited by dron, 28 May 2017 - 10:13 AM.

[dron]

Must be time for an update. I have just posted the fun I am having with the hq disk onto torana drum stubs on another thread so Here it is again. 

 

      The calipers from a uc torana can be made to fit a hq disk using the pad retainer from it's big brother (hz by memory) The caliper will not fit the CRS mounting plate. If you can make a new mounting plate with the caliper rotated 4 to 5 mm lower to the front and away from the stub it will fit. It will also clear all steering and suspension parts lock to lock as well as top to bottom of the travel.

 

       A wb caliper once the alloy ( lets say LH side) part has been put on the other sides cast steel part (RH side) will bolt up to the drum stub with the CRS adapter plate. Swapping the caliper parts is to put the bleeder to the top. I am not convinced that it will clear the steering arm so I will post the result once I test fit them. It will also need custom brake hoses mabe as the WB uses a metric banjo bolt and the UC is an imperial hose screwed directly into the caliper.

 

I have also worked out that I can get troana pacemaker headers to clear a t400 trans by cutting the trans bell housing on the LH side where the lower cover bolts on and re drilling/ taping the bell housing so the cover can still be fitted. I have the new mounts to weld on the K frame and the cross member for the trans. Engine complete carb to header so I am hoping to get it in over the next long weekend.

 

     The 31 spline 9"  now has a tru track center in it with a 3.5:1 gear set and has been set up to fit the car.  Alloy radiator waiting to be bolted in.

 

I need to work out an AC compressor mount once I have the engine in the car as well as make the associated hoses and pipes. The under dash AC that the car came out with has had alloy pipes made to replace the hoses that originally went through the firewall so the rest of the AC system should be easy to work out.

 

    There will be plenty of other things to work out along the way including the wheels and tires. Test fitting the wheels today just proved that they will not fit so I now need to find some HQ pattern wheels that will be in track and clear without flairs. I was planing to try and use old school 14" wheels just to keep the car looking like it would have back in the day.  If any one wants a set of 13 x 7 mags that will fit a uc or a set of 14x7 mags that will probably fit a hq to wb  let me know I seem to have some to spare now. If you want to swap for something that will fit my uc even better.

[dron]

Day 1 of the long weekend.

 

Engine now fits.  Trans (t400) went in well, Plenty of room in the unmodified tunnel. It will be necessary to space down the sway bar about 10 mm to clear the bell housing lower cover.  

 

              Welding the mounts onto the old ople cross member was as easy as I remember ( did one years ago) The weld on mounts and trans cross member came from a welding shop in Adelaide via ebay and fit well. The engine bay is now painted  with GM black and the engine is ready for final fit. That is about all I could get done on day 1. 

 

          Have heaps of picks including what I did to the bell housing to clear the headers. Next step will be bolting in the engine. Paint and fit the diff, Fit radiator, Alternator, Make plate for the old floor shift hole and fit the B&M shiftier. That may just about fill the weekend but if not there is always the wiring including a street fire MSD unit. Once I get some Time I will post the photos .

[dron]

OK,  Some photos of the trans mod to clear in a uc with Pacemaker extractors (5200 I think was the part number)

 tmodl.JPG   107.22K   12 downloads

 

 tmod3.JPG   97.65K   10 downloads

[dron]

And the engine mounts cut off the cross member  cros1.JPG   218.79K   10 downloads

 

 weldl.JPG   207.14K   10 downloads

 

 weldr.JPG   196.7K   10 downloads

[dron]

Engine in the car

Test fit
 in1.JPG   227.85K   9 downloads

Final fit

 i bay.jpg   55.48K   10 downloads

 

Lots more photos but I need to reduce the res and size as they are about 3.7 meg each

[dron]

IT RUNS!   

               A little loud though, No exhaust yet just the headers.  Got the shiftier set up today (B&M) Tail shaft installed, MSD connected, Gave it 3 pumps of the throttle lever (No cable yet) cranked and it sprang into life. It has a new Quickfuel Slayer 750 vac secondary carb on top and it ran without any tuning.

 

        I now need to make the exhaust and plan to go 2 into 1  2.5" over the diff tail pipe with 2 2.5" resonators at the back of the extractors and a single in/ out 3 pass muffler for now. Hoping to keep it a little quiet for now. At least until it has been inspected. I have had to use a short 2" pipe to go past the cross member from the end of the headers to keep some clearance from the floor. I will need to paint and wrap this pipe just to keep the trans and floor a little cooler, It is close to both. The off the shelf 2.5" tail pipe will need to be cut and re allined at almost every bend, It was the same last time I installed one so it was expected but still annoying.

 

 

[dron]

Exhaust on, Throttle cable on. Second pair of HQ 5" rims 32mm+ offset having tires fitted. They are too small and I cant put wide tires on them but they fit, Clear and should keep the track good for the inspection. That way I can think about what wheels to run later.  I am working at a Dance comp Sunday so this weekend will not see anything done. I hope to fit the front brake kit the following Sunday.

[dron]

Front brake kit on (UPC 280 mm kit for 14" wheels). It will not fit with stock HQ rims but some 14" wheels will fit, Some grinding of the adapter was needed and I had to clean the high spots off of the stub. All in all a good kit.

[dron]

Almost ready for inspection. No body work done yet but it is good enough for now. All 1 color now. Just need to re bleed the brakes, Add an extra exhaust clamp, final adjust of the gear shift cable,change the spedo drive gear. I then need an exhaust gas test  and book it in for inspection. Then spend the next 5 years or so getting the rest to look good.

Attached Files

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[fx48_eh64]

bet your getting excited now that its getting close

[dron]

Even closer now. Went for a lap of the block I(1st time) and it went well. the trutrack diff works well and I think all of the horses may be home. Not so good for the stocky tires that are on the back (new rims on back order after the 1st set were lost in transport).

 

  I swapped the rear brake cylinders from 9/16 to 5/8 to get a better brake balance with the 287mm upc disks / hq drum combo, Re aligned the tail pipe for better clearance, dropped the rack and tidied up the lower weld on the engine mounts and fitted a LH mirror last Sunday.

 

I also have a reworked letter of approval to modify that matches the new brake setup. Still no engineer report required on this build. I do need a brake test at the inspection center with a note that some running adjustments may be necessary to achieve the correct balance between the disk/ drum combination. (Play with rear cylinder size)

   

There is always some hold up though,apart from the missing rims the speedo drive housing to put the 45 tooth driven gear into the t400 is nil stock at Transdiff and with 42c forcast  there will be no progress this weekend.

[dron]

Hi all

         Just drive it home, About 50Kms up the freeway into the Adelaide Hills. All good, Not running hot, No leaks so all seems good. Next step is an ID check and emission test. I need to get no more than 2500 PPM hydrocarbons at idle as well as the correct (forger the amount) of Carbon monoxide. No hi speed run test just idle so I will soon find out if the cam is too big. I may need to add a cat to the exhaust if things are out of spec but I hope not.

 

      Only issue I need to sort out now is the horn goes off sometimes when turning. Never had this problem before so I will be pulling the steering wheel and having a look at what is going on.

[Heath]

Nice work mate. Must get up and boogie with the new motor! Sounds like you're ticking things off the list well.

[dron]

Hi again

               Just thought i would let people know what makes the horn sound when turning on a uc and possibly other models. The screws holding on the horn switch/ steering wheel center trim were a little long. Ground off the tip of the screw (less than 1 mm) and all fixed.

[koalasprint]

I also found that the horn went off if you tighten them too much. Probably the same issue. thanks for the info.

[Cook]

Two good tips guys.  Cheers Ron

[dron]

Hi

     Took it in for a gas test. Had the timing at about 13 before and the carby tuned best I could with a tack and vacuum gauge. I just missed the target. Looking for 250ppm hydrocarbons and got it but the CO was over by .05. Re tuned it and got the CO but the Hydrocarbons went up to 260ppm. All good form 1500rpm up. Looks like the cam is just a little to big to get the idle gas test to pas.    

 

    I now have 2 catalytic converters installed where my resonators were. It is not tested yet but it now smells like a new EFI car not the carby engine that it is. At about 2500 rpm It even gives off that unique Hydrogen sulfide smell that you get when following some cars up the freeway  . I read a bit on other forums about cats on a carby engine. Most people seem to think it can not be done but there are some that had done it and had a good result. Also older American cars had cat converter and carby's.  I will take it back to the dyno and get a new test soon and let everyone know how I get on.

 

[Bigfella237]

Maybe it's not such a coincidence that unleaded fuel and EFI came along at roughly the same time?

[dron]

Unleaded fuel is a must for a cat converter as lead kills them. As for the result of the exhaust gas test I got 0.00% CO and 45ppm hydrocarbons. Looks like the 2 cats in the carby engine Torana may have done the job.