Weekend Project

[BradZ]

Been a while since i've been round here regularly, it doesn't help with such a slow internet though. Well, for those who don't know about me, i live on a farm, which means theres plenty of room for driving and riding and whatnot. Anyway, that destructive urge inside me has been calling out yet again. As they stand, i have 3 'paddock bombs'. Well, kind of. One is a 1986 Mazda 626, which was my nans old car (RIP) so obviously i can't kill it but mind you it does cop a fair flogging round the place haha. The other is my speedway racer, 1976 Ford Escort which has had a f##kload of money spent on it and it goes like a scalded cat but i can't really wreck that either. Now, the third was given to me for free..kind of. My mate brought it from the wreckers for $400, it lasted 2 days before it threw a rod and blew a big hole in the side of the motor, so that was the end of that he said and he left the car with me. Now for the project The car is a 1985 Holden VH Commodore. I dont think they have Commo's in the states, so basically they are a straight 6 3.3 litre, four door family car. As it was free i couldn't care less what happens to it. The car used a 202 blue motor ( probably makes no sense to you guys) and it just so happens my mate has a spare one in perfect condition which he doesn't need as he has swapped it for a 253 (V8). So we are swapping motors, and getting the 'Nunga' going again. The old motor should be out tommorow, swapping the sump and pickup to the new motor and it should go straight in, probably next weekend. So far, i am ripping the LPG conversion tank out of it for obvious reasons, we've taken out all the windows, replacing the front with steel gate mesh, and i've welded up a bullbar for the front I'll try and get soe pictures for you guys. bearing in mind it is hands down, the UGLIEST car you have ever seen! Sorry for such a long post.

 

[alien13]

Your Holdens are basically our Chevy/Pontiacs. Looking at the 85, it was probably either before GM got involved, or it was supposed to be a knock-off of the Chev Cavalier.

IN any case, sounds like fun, can't wait for pics!

 

[BradZ]

Yeah there are a lot of douchebags around who who have crappy old Commo's who stick Chev badges on them to be 'fully sick'. But theres a few HSV R8's rolling round here which have 6.2l Chev blocks in them. We dont have the Walkinshaw supercharged versions though like you guys do.

 

[h8z2luze]

I was going to say the HSV is pretty sick. I used to play a online racing game with a bunch of aussies and thats all they talked about.

 

[HPIguy]

That sounds cool Brad. So are you going to race it, or just beat on it? I want one of the new Holden sport utes you guys get, perfect bike hauler.

 

[BradZ]

Righto, time for another post full of self-proclaimed car knowledge.
H8'z, the R8's are a sick car but me personally, i'm a Ford man and id take one of the new FPV F6's anyday. They have 50kw less but do the 1/4 mile faster, hmm? HPI, i'm not racing the VH lol just wait till you see a pic. I do however race my Escort ( rare over here so i'm very lucky to have her). Seeing as though the internets working again, ill attempt to get a pic of the VH for you guys. Also, which utes are you talking about? The R8 Maloo, or the VZ or VE SSV? Either way, id take a Falcon FG Super Pursuit

 

[BradZ]

Alrighty, end of the weekend and i'm back with an update! Please keep in mind my internet is at less than snail pace at the moment so no pictures as of yet, i have taken plenty though. As everything i do usually works, every job took twice as long as what it should have. Right, towed the car underneath the winch, started to unhook everything, one engine mount would NOT come undone from the block so i had to undo it from itself, problem one solved. The top gearbox bolt also did not want to play the game, obviously not as the weight of the gearbox was rested on this one bolt. No problem for a bush mechanic such as myself. Pull the motor up untill the gearbox hits the shell, start the tow car and tow the VH back a few metres, hah, gearbox and motor are out of the car! So i let it down to the ground, ah what to do first. I decided i'd take the sump and pickup off as i needed them to adapt onto the new motor. This is because the new motor was from a Kingswood ute, and common sense would tell you the sump would start further back. Took the sump off, thought to myself 'prehaps this is why the died on me'. Two piston heads have blown up the nothing more than shrapnel, one conrod has snapped, and the other has bent into a bannana, which is how it blew a huge hole in the block ( i have a picture of this). Clean out the shards from the sump and pickup, and i start to chuck it on the red motor. All is going well untill the pickup deicdes it's going to hit on a wall in the sump. No problem, i'll just get onto it with the rubber mallet, which i did. Sump and pickup on, beauty. Rip off the flywheel and flexplate, all good, and put the auto flywheel on the new motor, fine, clutch on, fine. Hah this could not be going any better! Mount the coil and distributor from the old motor to the new one, as the old one has electronic ignition. Now for the gearbox, line it up, what the f**k? Bellhousing is much too big, bearing in mind at this point i have well and truely had enough of piece of poop cars and piece of poop motors, so i decided to call it a day. I've most likely only gotten the 3 stage clutch on 2 stages and prehaps have the pilot screw stuck ina bolt hole that it shouldn't be in but meh thats it for tonight. I'll attempt to upload the pics but don't hold your breath. Tommorow after i finish exams, i'll have another crack at it. But wait, Bradyn what ever did you do with the old motor i hear you ask? Well thats simple, we don't have a moveable engine crane, nor the patience to load it on the trailer again. So now what? Easy fix, grab an old bike lock, tie it to the manifold, and to the tow point on the Mazda ( paddock bomb) and away we go down the back to 'store' it. Thats all from me tonight. Cheers.

 

[h8z2luze]

haha quite a day! I have had a weekend the same. Had to put a tranny in my 1/2 ton 4wd chevy. Oh joy! Took about 12 hours.

 

[BradZ]

Update
Got the motor in and running, first the coil was hooked up wrong, so i did some bush mechanics and ran a wire from the negative on the battery to the resistor on the coil, bam we have power. Quick screwdriver on the starter and some fuel down the throat and after some violent backfiring out the carb, it started! Put it in gear, nothing. Sh!t. Realise its leaking from the cooler lines. Note, some nuff nuff lost the hose so i just re routed it straight back to itself and bypassed the radiator. A trip to Home Hardware for some bungs fixed it up. Start it, still leaking. Argh, under the car again, some silicone and a hose clamp later, no more leaking. Still doesn't move. Under the car yet again, no vacuum hose on the valve. Hm, that'll do it everytime. School tommorow, so no more messing around for tonight. Finally got a photo of 'The Nunga'. Enjoy.

 

[bergoff]

I did the same thing when I was in high school. 6 of use would get some old junkers and have a demo in the quarry or race them around the farm through the woods. It was a blast. Wear a helmet the a pillar is really hard and it will hurt trust me. Have fun.

 

[Racer 1966]

Nice,reminds me of my figure 8 racing days

 

[BradZ]

Still stumped as to why it's not moving.. Figured out its not the vacuum hose, that only helps it shift up or down gears.

 

[BradZ]

Progress! Checked the dipstick when we first put the engine in, full. Checked it last weekend, practically empty. Fill it up, start it so far so good. Put it in gear, jumps foward then POP! It seems silicone and bungs are not enough to hold the pressure or an automatic transmission. Lucky for me, my mate had brought out an identical box incase mine was completely rooted. It was then that an idea came to my head. The metal cooler lines had screw in adaptors to connect to the box and i still had some cooler line left. Screwed the adaptors in, clamped the hose together, and bent it over. Put in the outgoing line. Start it, in gear, drives! Check under the car, leaking from the other silicone and bung job damn! Make a duplicate adaptor and hose and chuck it in. Go again, it drives! Check again, still leaking!!! Never knew there was so many holes in a stinkin' trans! Plug them all up, ready to go again. Start, in gear and the motor just guts out and dies. Again and again it does this, you have to valve bounce it into a neutral bomb to get it to go and even then it usually just stalls. Get the timing gun onto it, oh poop. After some tweaking, starts, runs and drives fine! Screw the bonnet back in, as the manifold shoots flames, no air cleaner lol. After a few trial runs, 'The Nunga' is ready to bush bashing!! So, off to run down some trees! And we have a dam down the back, got the car at a 45 degree angle driving round the edge, good fun! And yes, we have caught air. A lot of air haha. And the old girl hit 110kph and still slowly climbing! .All in all, project finished, and it's a hell of a lot of fun!! I'll try get a video because believe it or not, it sounds friggin' mean! Motor has a performance cam and a lightened flywheel plus its a short stroker. But it doesn't stop there. When the funds are back up, and i find a new bellhousing i can get a v8 4sp manual from an identical car off a mate for free. And it gets better, my mate has an old turbo lying around, and knows how to set them up. Turbo V8 manual Nunga? I think so.

 

[hamz9561]

The price for the upgrades it just right, free! Have fun with your beater.

 

[BradZ]

Update. Due to the car not wanting to change gears, it requires us to revv its tits off most of the time and due to that its crapped itself in cylinder 6 so its not running too good now. And I'm after a new radiator cause the old ones gone straight through the fan. Haha, the tree was more solid than we thought.