435 replies to this topic

[Statler]

Cool!

[derrin71]

Have been mucking around with the fuel pump and filter. Had to move them as my blue plate guy says i can't have them in the spare wheel compartment so i've had to mount them under the car. While i have the tank out again i have changed the fuel filler spout as i have to have a ULP one, i simply modified the commodore one, cut the torana one off and fitted the commodore neck to the tank.

[dirtbag]

Looking good Derrin. Just so you know, the unleaded neck isn't necessary for a mod plate any more as leaded fuel is no longer available anyway.

Good job with the wiper motor too. If I wasn't so lazy I'd do that as well : )

[derrin71]

I'm just following instructions from my mod plate guy in regards to the fuel filler. At least now the fuel cap should seal better than the notoriously leaky old style ones. No more fuel leaking down the back of the car.

[ls2lxhatch]

The NCOP (WA) still requires an unleaded fuel restrictor and labels even though unleaded fuel is not available. If the rule has not been revised/deleted then the engineer can not sign off on the car without the restrictor and labels. Last time I checked WA had not deleted the rule. Common sense is often not an option when it comes to government departments.

See page 11 item 2.4 of the checklist to be completed by the engineer.
NCOP9 Section LM Fuel Systems 3 Feb 2006

Edited by ls2lxhatch, 01 May 2010 - 01:34 PM.

[derrin71]

Remade my front brake lines today, i wasn't happy with my first effort.
The lines run through the chasis rails and under the lip on the firewall that the passenger side line normally runs on top of.
The mastercylinder and booster are off a VK V8 and i believe are the same as an A9X. This gets rid of the ugly proportioning valve and will work well with the 4 wheel discs i am running.

[derrin71]

Fitted the battery box today, the cables are routed through the bottom of the box. There is a drain in the bottom and the box will be eventually be completely sealed to comply with Qld rego regs.

[derrin71]

Fitted up a set of AU F----n thermo fans the other day. Apparently they are awesome for keeping an engine cool. Just have to be carefull about their power draw. I mounted mine upside down which looks a lot neater and the wiring loom ends up on the bottom and points to the passenger side so i can put the relays etc under the passenger side guard. The shroud needed a fair bit of trimming to make room for the hose outlets etc. I also trimmed a fair bit off the shroud to get it to sit closer to the rediator. By the way the radiator i have used is the one out of the donor commodore. It fits neatly between the chasis rails. I used the original commodore mounting hardware which i simply cut off the commodore and adapted to the torana.

[ls2lxhatch]

Make sure that the battery you put in the box is a sealed battery. The fumes given off by an unsealed lead acid battery are explosive and corrosive.

You also need to make sure that the battery hold down straps are strong enough to handle the forces involved in an accident.

[derrin71]

Thanks Baz i've already spied on your thread and will be doing something similar.
The battery is secured in the box with a conventional battery hold down clamp, the box will eventually be gully sealed, there is a pipe running from the bottom of the box through the floor and venting above the diff housing.
Fitted up a gilmer belt drive today! I've always wanted one of these, i just love the noise they make!

[derrin71]

Bought mine off e-bay for $150, it's a pro comp motorsport one. Fits pretty good except for the balancer pulley, i need to make up a spacer for this one. Just using washers at the moment. It seems that the kits might fit a number of engines and they only change the belt lengths to suit.

[derrin71]

Wired up thermo fans yesterday, 40amp fuses and relays as suggested by Baz, all wiring will hide under the LHS guard, have installed a Davies Craig fan controller as well, it sits on the radiator support panel.

[Statler]

Just curious m8, did the alt bracket bolt up to the the VN heads ok?

Edited by coolngroovy, 07 June 2010 - 12:30 PM.

[355LX]

Just curious m8, did the alt bracket bolt up to the the VN heads ok?

The Torana bracket will bolt straight up to the VN heads no problems.

Great looking build mate, making great progress!!

[dirtbag]

Looking good. If you want even more entertaining whining sounds you can't beat a gear drive. Both of my torries had them as I think the novelty of them is great : ) The amount of people who asked if my car was supercharged was hilarious. Unfortunately for me though, the answer was no : (

They're cheap and easy to fit too, which is a bonus.

A lot of people said they were bad for street engines and interfered with balance harmonics and crap, but in the 150,000+ km's I did I never once had an issue with either of them.

[derrin71]

Yeah, i will probably fit a gear drive as well, not sure when i will rebuild the motor, might just detail it a bit and drive it around stock for a while until i can afford to rebuild it, the motor is fine and was being used as a daily driver before i got it. (unless i win lotto then all bets are off and the sky's the limit!!!!!) In all reality i just want it to be a nice street motor, probably 355 stroker.

[ls2lxhatch]

Gear drives transmit vibration to the camshaft which can cause valve train problems. Noise = vibration.

Belt drive is considered by many to be the ultimate cam drive system.

[dirtbag]

Yes Andy, I agree that the belt drive is probably better than a geardrive in a perfect world, but I ran two cars with them over a combined period of about 7 years and never had any issue. I only used them though as I like the sound : )

[ls2lxhatch]

The difference if any between a gear drive and a belt drive would need to be measured on a dyno.

It would be interesting to see how many engine builders recommend using a gear drive over a belt or chain.

[dirtbag]

In all honesty Andy I would be surprised if any builder of quality/performance engines recommended a gear drive over chain/belt. I've never had an engine with any more than probably 350 -380hp so I needed to get my jollies by making them sound funny : ) hahaha

[derrin71]

Have seriously started to look around for some wheels. I want to run the same size wheels and tyres front and rear so i can have the same size spare as well. Any ideas if 17 x 8" or 15 x 8" rims will fit on the front of an unflared LX? I want to run 235 tyres. Not sure if i will have 15" or 17" rims until i make my final choice. I have measured up and i think that i need 4 1/2" backspace if i run 8" rims. Anyone?