445 replies to this topic

[LXCHEV]

A few photos of the brand new 9" housing that I finally picked up in mid 2018....

 

Heavy-duty pumpkin, thick wall axle tubes, billet ends, McDonald Bros Racing mounts.

 

I wanted to try something different with this one, so decided to have it powder-coated in satin black. Really happy with the finish. I'm hoping now that if I just give it a good clean every few months that it holds up well and proves to be long-lasting. Time will tell.

 

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[LXCHEV]

I had planned to finally do a rear disk brake conversion, but wussed out stuck with HQ drums for now.

 

So since I had a clean slate, I thought I'd do it properly.... here's a quick before and after following the purchase of an old set of backing plates... no mucking around - straight to the powerder-coaters for a sandblast and satin black.... it's so nice working with clean parts!

 

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I had the sway bar done at the same time, the theme now is definitely all black. Unfortunately these U-bolts don't seem to fit over the axles tubes on the new housing. Real close, but just not going to squeeze over. Can anyone recommend where to pickup a larger set?

 

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[LXCHEV]

So then it was time to make up brand new brake lines. Here it's finally starting to look like a complete rear-end again...

 

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All new brake shoes, wheel cylinders, nuts, washers etc.... I took the opportunity to upgrade the axle studs on my 31 spline Mosers from 7/16" to 1/2" (but at standard length as I didn't want long exposed studs with open wheel nuts). Now I can still use standard closed wheel nuts. This upgrade was a long time overdue for a car that does see the strip from time to time, although I've never had any problems at all with the standard studs. Good peace of mind I guess anyway.

 

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Back together with my 3.7 ratio Truetrac...

 

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I also installed brand new drums (the only thing I'm not allowed to powdercoat!!) and had them drilled out to fit over the larger 1/2" studs. At least they come with a bit of black paint on them.

 

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This should hopefully keep me out of trouble now for a while. Although.... I'd actually like to build a fresh centre as this one does have a tiny whine in the gear-set. Seriously, nothing is ever finished is it!!

[LXCHEV]

With the car complete once again (how many times do we say that), I've been getting out to as many local events as possible and just cruising everywhere. It's been a great Summer so far.

 

Guess what though - I'm clearly getting old! I removed my ultra low springs (VP IRS Commodore ones that have been in for the past 20 years) - and went back to Pedders normal lows. There's normally 5 of us in the car anytime we head out these days (3 kids across the back), so I'm making everything as practical as possible. Like I said, getting old! I even removed my dump pipes and re-installed tail pipes to shut it up again. Always a tough decision that one! Both my wife and kids have bagged me out and say the car sounds too soft now. It probably won't last long before I'm back under there putting it back...

 

Anyway, we got out to a Saturday Night @ Peninsula Link meet a couple of weeks ago - check out the intro to this video!

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=Yv4TBikU7MQ

[76lxhatch]

... the theme now is definitely all black.

Excellent. Bright shiny stuff is poor form

 

I'm clearly getting old!

Glad its not just me! Practicality also means enjoying the toys more often so its not such a bad thing.

Doing things right also seems to be a side effect, not likely to have any diff problems now, good stuff.

[Tiny]

Beautiful mate!!
You’re going to love the true trac centre, exactly the ratio and centre I run and it’s wicked!

Hope you are well!

[LXCHEV]

Just sharing a couple of photos from a recent wedding job. Had a great time cruising through the heart of the CBD before finishing up with a photo shoot in Hosier Lane (one of Melbourne's more colourful lane-ways) - an incredible location!

 

 

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[yel327]

Every time you do a wedding you end up glad you built a sedan. I remember thinking that with the ‘57 Chevy every wedding it got used for. Didn’t stop me building a HK coupe this time! Love that lane in Melbourne, spent hours in there playing with photos.

[LXCHEV]

Yeah the sedans are certainly a tad more user-friendly for weddings. Air-con would be a welcome addition though!

[LXCHEV]

Long time between updates - but for anyone interested, I've been playing with carbs.... (some of you may have seen this thread talking about street carb choices)...

 

I recently sold off the 750 Ultra HP (pictured left) and took a gamble on downsizing to a lesser spec (but hopefully more tame/street mannered) 650 Street HP....

 

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One of my primary drivers was simply wanting dedicated vac ports (booster/PCV/trans) - something the old carb had none of. I was also extremely intrigued by the idea of a smaller venturi size generating more air speed and creating a stronger signal (and hopefully leading to more responsiveness). The risk of course with a smaller carb on a 383 is the potential to sacrifice some top-end HP...

 

The new 650 Street HP in place....

 

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Previously with the 750 I struggled to see 4" of vacuum at idle. With the 650, this instantly improved to just over 6" straight up. The car certainly feels better - it's stronger and much more crisp - particularly at low, mid-range and with part throttle.

 

I had it on the dyno earlier today to see how the 'out-of-the-box' tune was....

 

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For a really good comparison of the 750 versus the 650 - firstly take a look at a previous dyno graph...

 

750 Ultra - 230.9 rwkW:

 

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Now with the 650 Street HP (no other changes) - 229.5 rwkW:

 

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And another graph of the same, but with air:fuel logged:

 

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We were happy with this as the starting point - it's right in the 'safe' window, but certainly on the fat side. Which means there might still be a little more power to unleash if we lean it out a little more. We're going to look at the air-bleeds next and try not to touch the jets at all.

 

What I found quite interesting was the effect the air-cleaner had (before and after dyno pull is simply with and without air-cleaner).

 

The real test will be the quarter mile. But so far, this change has been excellent!

[Peter UC]

Well that's a good result, effectively the same power for both! Did you play with the cruise mixtures when you were on the dyno?

[LXCHEV]

Yeah we looked at the mixtures and made some observations, but didn't make any changes. He's not equipped with the air bleed kit and really didn't want to change either jets or power valves. We're both convinced there will be some good improvements still to be made.

 

As a side-note - I'm still quite keen to install an Innovate air:fuel gauge. Then I can experiment at my own leisure.

[LXCHEV]

Great weather in Melbourne over the Easter long weekend. Managed to get the old dinosaur out twice, with the full family of 5 on-board. No updates and nothing exciting to share on the car these days - just enjoying getting it out and about...

 

Always enjoy a cruise out to Emerald, passing the Puffing Billy trestle bridge on the way;

 

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Then a nice long drive out to Marysville, through the Black Spur (which I note has been resurfaced). Sadly, I reckon it's been a decade since I've driven this road;

 

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[Cook]

Nice one Brett. I had my car in with Eric last month to fire it up for the first time and run the cam in.  Not that I know anything but I do respect his knowledge. Cheers Ron

[LXCHEV]

Awesome - first fire-up is a great milestone! Eric loves the old cars and is quite fussy, so you were in good hands. Do you have a thread on your hatchback on here?

[Heath]

It's a great look on a twisty road with the A9X scoop and the stainless wiper wings...

 

A decade without doing the spur is a bloody long time. I mean really you need to be doing the Reefton Spur to have much fun nowadays unless it's 3am. I think you should plan another drive out there soon.
I'd be happy to passenger if you want some company.

[Cook]

No thread on my build Bret as bulk of the work has been done by others that know what they are doing.  Cheers Ron

[LXCHEV]

You should still start a thread Ron - we're always keen to see more Torana photos! It's all about the journey, regardless of who does the work.

 

Heath - great idea, we'll have to organise a trip, haha! We should get some cars together one day for a pub lunch cruise.

[Ice]

Still looks a million $$$$ after all these years Brett 

Timeless car keep   brother 

[LXCHEV]

That's the plan Gene - thanks mate!

[LXCHEV]

Small update on the old blue dinosaur...

 

Since stepping down from the 750 Ultra carb in my experiment with running a more conservative 'baby' 650 Street HP, I'd introduced a wicked stumble right off idle - which has been annoying me for the past 9 months (but I'd learnt how to live with it). But I don't like band-aids, much prefer solutions...

 

I was suspicious that the new PCV valve I'd also installed might be to blame (it was just some generic later model type PCV, certainly not designed for low vacuum old Chevs) - so I removed it and bingo - the flat spot was gone and the car feels a million dollars to drive - crisp and smooth everywhere.

 

We put it back onto the dyno at Goody's Garage to reset the idle mixtures (managed to refine them a bit more which was good), and then it was time for another experiment...

 

I reported previously that the 14" x 3" Ryco air filter was robbing 10rwkW and this bugged me. So I decided to do 3 tests:

 

Baseline from last time on dyno - best run with no air filter was 229.5rwkW.

 

Now with the PCV removed:

 

1. Ryco air-filter (red line) - 231rwkW. Observations: erratic behaviour down low (seen in both power and torque curves), air:fuel went 11.8, 11.9, 12.0, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.2, 12.1

 

2. No air-filter (blue line) - 234rwkW. Observations: air:fuel went 12.1, 12.2, 12.1, 12.0

 

3. K&N air-filter (still 14" x 3") (green line) - 237.1rwkW. Observations: both power and torque lines super smooth. Air:fuel went 12.5, 12.4 - near dead flat.

 

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And that final test was actually the 7th consecutive pull, so things would've been getting hot. I still find it funny that it performs better with the K&N over no filter at all. And I'm certainly not chasing power, but it's always awesome to see a nice little increase like that.

 

For interests sake, my idle vacuum has now also progressed from 4.5" with the old 750 Ultra, to 6" with the 650 Street HP, and now to 7" with the removal of the PCV valve. The manners, drive-ability, crispness and smoothness are finally the best I've ever experienced with this engine.

 

On that note: this engine has now clocked up it's 10 year anniversary. I got Eric to do a leakdown test for housekeeping. He reckons the results shocked him (super consistent and quite incredible for an engine like this after a decade) - best was 7%, with the majority at 8% and one at 9%. Handy reference and I hope to now go another 10+ years, touch wood!

 

Check out the Mustang - a mates new car - you could eat your dinner off this thing...

 

Bring on the Summer cruising - I hope we're allowed out soon!

 

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[rodomo]

Every little bit counts.

[V-SLR5000-P]

Nice result Brett. Like you l have been guilty of trying to drive around a problem rather than actually fixing it. Is your idle vaccum enough for your brake booster to provide adequate assist?

[LXCHEV]

Yeah brakes are awesome and always have been in this car (I intentionally run the smaller 6 cyl booster for this reason) - from memory that's something that dattoman had suggested to me about 20 years ago!

 

As a side note though - if I do jump on the brakes in an extreme manner, the car can want to stall.

[Cook]

Hi Brett.  Great result.  I admire anyone with a black car.  Just keeping the window surrounds on mine looking nice is a nightmare.  Did you end up doing anything with the throttle cable/bracket?  Cheers Ron