103 replies to this topic

[LXdamo]

Yes.. well...

 

Lack of motorvation at the moment.Silly season is here and have been busy.

But...

The engine is in the car with the gearbox bolted up behind it.

Found a couple of other little issues with clearance here and there but nothing too major.

After hitting my head about thirty times under the car lifting the gearbox in i decided to lock the shed and forget about it till i get home next time.

 

So i'll let you all know what is happening when i do something to it!!

[TerrA LX]

Did you have a win with the front end?

[LXdamo]

Just a quick update,

So the front end is in the car with the engine and gearbox bolted up.I have to trim about 5mm more out of the bottom to get a little more clearance on the sump.

Went and bought some steel to make a new gearbox crossmember and then it got a bit too warm in the shed!!

It is booked in for the start of April for the extractors to be made, so the crossmember has to be made by then.

Other than that, i think i will have finally got it to where i'll be half happy with it.

So until i have the extractors made, it'll be a bit quiet and then flat out on it.

[LXdamo]

Well its been a while, as usual.

A few things have been going on in the shed but nothing too major.

Firstly just to prove it isnt rusted to the floor in the shed (mainly for Greenmachine's benefit) it did roll out onto the drive way to get turned around

 

I ended up sending the car to get extractors made to suit the front end/engine/gearbox.

the 1 5/8" pacemakers were going to be a bit small and didnt fit anyway.

So it was away for 7 weeks and then it came home.... with no pipes. Well when i say no pipes that isnt totally correct. i had a box full of mandrel bends, some collectors and some lazer cut flanges.

Apparently what i wanted couldnt be fitted in my car. 1 7/8" primaries 17" long, into 2 1/4" 17" long secondaries into 3" collectors....

I might have been a bit frocked off, so i bought a battery powered bandsaw ( Milwaukee 75mm  one of the best tools i have bought) and thought id give it a go myself........

10 hours later of hate fuelled work later, both sides of the pipes were tacked up and in position right back to X pipe After the gearbag crossmember.

I went and bought a new welder with the money i was going to spend on the pipes and maybe a little bit more, but it made me happy.

So thats where it sat for ages. I got the TIG sorted out finally and welded everything up.

They arent the prettiest pipes and i dont care. they fit, they are bigger than what the alternative is and I made them.

 

After sandblasting

 

A few months ago i went and got some plates cut for a bit of chassis strengthening. these should do the trick.

 

 

More to come.....

[UCANG]

Awesome mate!

 

Short version of the pipe story thats for sure! haha

[LXdamo]

And now for some more news.

I Made a trip to a dyno shop whilst helping out a mate and got talking about the big peice of shiny crap that was sitting in my shed.

After working out i had just about all the bits i needed i thought it was about time to see if it run. Booked a day on the engine dyno to run it in and then give it a tune.

Got everything sorted and loaded up the ute and dropped it off.

Went down the next monday when it was due to fire up and had to make some hoses, fix a few small leaks.

 

 

Ended up having to use the pacemakers on the dyno as my extractors hit the frame..Started getting a little bit excited.

Anyway, primed it with oil and got the water flowing through it, fuel pressure was set and we were ready for a start.

Had a guess with the dizzy and turned it over...

Big backfire and this happend..

 

Something for the shed wall.

A quick phone call and a drive, a new starter was fitted up. moved the timing a bit more and had another go.

It fired up and lumped over for a couple of seconds and stopped. Nothing too bad. adjusted the timing a little more.

Bit more fuel and had another go. fired up straight away and ran at about 1300 rpm, instant 45psi oil pressure and a smile on my face.

Had the timing light on it and adjusted it up to somewhere close and the revs picked up instantly to about 3200 and sound angry!!

Dyno operator went straight in and looked at his gauges and shut it off straight away.

No oil pressure.

Smile gone.

Bewildered looks on faces.

Checked over fittings, oil level, oil filter and pretty much everything else.

Decided to pull the oil pump and found 

 

 

Well the day was over. A little disheartend but shite happens. Unpacked off the dyno, put it back in the ute and drive it home.

Chucked it back in shed and went to the pub.

Will be dropping it off on thursday to the friendly engine builder (TK) to see how much damage has been done.

Luckily it didnt stop by itself but i still want to check it out properly.

Big thanks to Chickenman for coming down and helping out on the day.

 

More updates when i see how bad it is...

[koalasprint]

Probably no damage done. I had mine on the dyno for the first start, cam run it and tune too. No oil pressure either. The dyno guy was very quick to shut it down. He found the problem which in my case was caused by too much permatex and completely dry gears in the oil pump. He put some vasoline on the gears and cleaned up the permatex. For the next start all was good.

 

I'd ask your engine builder to drain the oil and have a close look at it for any sign of metalic specs. Be there to look for yourself. My fingers are crossed for you.

[bullitA9X]

Great to see you getting some work done on this beast damo can't wait to be cruising with you mate...

[LXdamo]

Cheers guys.

News was ok. Glad I had it looked at by the guy who built the engine. New set of conrod bearings in it now, oil pump repaired and other bits put back in the valve train that had popped off.

Hopefully no more backfires so it wont hurt anything else.

Now, as soon as I can get it on the dyno again, it'll be running again!

[bullitA9X]

Cheers guys.
News was ok. Glad I had it looked at by the guy who built the engine. New set of conrod bearings in it now, oil pump repaired and other bits put back in the valve train that had popped off.
Hopefully no more backfires so it wont hurt anything else.
Now, as soon as I can get it on the dyno again, it'll be running again!

Good work big fella when is it going back to the dyno guy soon i hope mate....

[LXdamo]

Better news this time.

Engine has been on the dyno, run in, tuned and didnt blow up.

Had a few little issues with an oil leak from the sump and some unusual readings with just changing oils.

But was stoked with the end result.

Ended up making 553HP and 502Ft/lb.

Holds over 500hp from 5000rpm right through to 6800 where its still making 550hp

Massive thanks to TK383 and Con from Competition Automotive who were still tuning at 10pm on the dyno.

 

Started welding the chassis kit in and its going pretty smootly so far. Now waiting to get home to do some more work the bloody thing!

[TK383]

Definitely an interesting dyno session, learnings were had!

 

Now you just gotta finish the car.

 

mms_img-1090986410 by tony knight, on Flickr

[LXdamo]

Definatley Nulon for the win!

[TK383]

I'll remember that oil comparo for quite some time!

 

Cheap shit FTW.

[koalasprint]

Quite a high reving engine, must sound pretty good! I bet you're over the moon, especially considering the drama you've been through. Congratulations.

[bullitA9X]

Wow damo that will go beautifully in my a9x or sons hatch lol.... with the oil a lot of people are raving about ulx 110 they claim 8-10 hp more from just using there oil and back it up with dyno sheets??

[LXdamo]

Haha your a funny man Mr bullit...we can slot in for a bit and see how strong your gearboxes are if you like?

As for the oil, I have exactly the opposite proof! picked up 8hp and 10 ftlb going back to nulon mineral oil. 

 

 

kaolasprint- yep it sounds pretty awesome.nothing like a bit of mechanical torture to put a smile on ya face!

[bullitA9X]

Haha your a funny man Mr bullit...we can slot in for a bit and see how strong your gearboxes are if you like?
As for the oil, I have exactly the opposite proof! picked up 8hp and 10 ftlb going back to nulon mineral oil.


kaolasprint- yep it sounds pretty awesome.nothing like a bit of mechanical torture to put a smile on ya face!

Im sure the aussie 4 speed would handle 550hp frOcking lol... yeah i have never used ulx 110 its just at all holden day they had a stand with all the dyno reports ect so who knows.... have you tried the oil mate???

[TK383]

Coz it's in here & not fully public - you didn't hear it from me!

 

We did the run in on nulon 20/50, got the tune 1/2 dialled in & switched to ULX110 20/50 when it was time to start leaning on it.

We lost power straight away, up to 20ft/lbs through the mid & 15hp up top.

We were worried something was hurt - but it was back to back with no other changes & motor seemed fine, so once we had satisfied ourselves it wasn't the motor at fault we finished off the tune on the ULX110, got all the power back plus some.

I had to get back to the shop, but Damo & Con did another back to back - dumped out the ULX110 & refilled with the Nulon 20/50.

Power picked up 10hp right through with no other changes.

 

It would seem the ULX was either behaving thinner than the Nulon at temperature or it is more prone to aeration (from the long stroke), either way the hyd roller lifters did not play nice with the ULX.

 

I still believe the ULX110 is a great oil, but I won't be using it in hyd roller motors any more, I'll continue to use it in solid cammed engines tho.

[bullitA9X]

Coz it's in here & not fully public - you didn't hear it from me!

We did the run in on nulon 20/50, got the tune 1/2 dialled in & switched to ULX110 20/50 when it was time to start leaning on it.
We lost power straight away, up to 20ft/lbs through the mid & 15hp up top.
We were worried something was hurt - but it was back to back with no other changes & motor seemed fine, so once we had satisfied ourselves it wasn't the motor at fault we finished off the tune on the ULX110, got all the power back plus some.
I had to get back to the shop, but Damo & Con did another back to back - dumped out the ULX110 & refilled with the Nulon 20/50.
Power picked up 10hp right through with no other changes.

It would seem the ULX was either behaving thinner than the Nulon at temperature or it is more prone to aeration (from the long stroke), either way the hyd roller lifters did not play nice with the ULX.

I still believe the ULX110 is a great oil, but I won't be using it in hyd roller motors any more, I'll continue to use it in solid cammed engines tho.

Cheers for the info mate and i wouldn't take what you said as bagging ulx 110 it's just what you have experienced with it...

[koalasprint]

Update time????