Commodore Valuables

[Dr Goggles]

Actually the crank bolt pattern for a manual VN V6 Series-1 auto is different to the bolt pattern to the manual. Later engines went to an eight bolt crank that was the same pattern for auto and manual.

But there is a fix, CRS makes a flywheel for the VN V6 Series-1 that bolts up to the Auto crank allowing you to convert an auto to a manual. PN is FW32 I believe.
.

....ta V'ness I've been sweating the details and seeings how the proceeds of sales at the Rod Shop aren't going to rebuilding the Bronze Aussie I figured I'd do the thinkin' myself. CRS want over $300 for the adapter or nearly $600 for the special Auto crank flywheel . I'm getting an adapter made for under $200 , the flywheel was $165 which gives me $235 to spend on beer .I have also worked out that the manuals and autos used different starters ...what gives there? If you know the secret or can lend me the decoder ring it would be much appreciated......

[blownvn]

Wow, $600!

They price themselves out of the market don't they?

Last thing I bought from CRS was an adaptor kit for the hemi six to Torqueflite auto, it cost $350 and it had absolutely everything I needed and it worked great... actually it still works great.

As for the auto v manual starter, couldn't answer why except to say "Bloody Holden."

[Dr Goggles]

.....the adaptor is half made ....what I'm yet to work out is the counter weight .The flywheel has evenly spaced holes ( with a counterweight between two of them)however the flex plate has a one-way fit so I've got to have a sit down and think about it , or alternatively save the brain and ask someone who knows .I asked around yesterday about the starters...the general concensus was ...."divino"

[Dr Goggles]

Wow, $600!

They price themselves out of the market don't they?

Last thing I bought from CRS was an adaptor kit for the hemi six to Torqueflite auto, it cost $350 and it had absolutely everything I needed and it worked great... actually it still works great.

As for the auto v manual starter, couldn't answer why except to say "Bloody Holden."

......actually the CRS stuff works out as good value for money usually, mainly because you know it will be right , if you've got the time and like to work stuff out for yourself then save the money , and hold your breath...I've had lots CRS stuff over the years and it's saved me a lot of grief .

Anyway I got the adaptor made , at the last minute the machinist flipped the pattern for the attachment holes over so it didn't fit he did it for much less than he quoted so I went back , gave him the difference and he made another one , sorted.

We put the engine mounts in and made a crossmember for the gearbox on Sunday but couldn't get it level across the car , turns out the gearbox mount holes in the bellhousing aren't perfectly indexed to the block and the whole thing was rotated about 3-4 degrees anti-clockwise .Yesterday we reversed the manifold (took ages , 'bout 3 mins) so that the throttle body is at the front because in it's usual position it wouldn't fit in the body.It'll mean doing something cunning in order to get the alternator mounted but compared to some other things it'll be a cinch . It's only a little motor but in our frame it looks like a mountain!

Lining up a tailshaft that's only got an inch or so of tube is not easy ....there was a lot of " whadayareckon" going on....no points of reference and the shorter it is the quicker the offset angle , all I can say is it "looks" right.....

[DirtyDave]

run the altinator off the tail shaft.

[Dr Goggles]

run the altinator off the tail shaft.

..........well there's that , or , I found a pushbike dynamo under a tree where we were camping this year...might just stick that on a wheel

[momec]

I think d/d was serious Doc, btw it does'nt matter how long you make this thread theres still nothing of value on a Commodore
Seeya Chris

[Dr Goggles]

I think d/d was serious Doc, btw it does'nt matter how long you make this thread theres still nothing of value on a Commodore
Seeya Chris

D/D's right ,the only thing that makes the alt' on shaft thing problematic is the side loading issue ,it's been done plenty of times before...and on the other point Chris , like I said there's always change under the seats and fuel in the tank.

[Dr Goggles]

.........got more done on Sunday .the patterns for the plating in of the drivers compartment are done and we're nearly done sorting out the footwell , Reverend Hedgash is a artist when it comes to cardboard ! ....to be honest he's an artist full stop .We've chopped the bottom of the tank , things are starting to come together fast .Graeme bought a box full of mandrel bends so soon we'll have the exhaust built , initially we'll be running it dead stock gas N/A so we're aiming to send one pipe right out the middle of the tail ......any comments are welcome.

btw , how much of pain are the selector tag nuts on Aussie gearboxes...what are they 11/32 UNF or something ?...dropped into a wrecker this morning to get some more, " dude , I don't know where it went"....it won't be the last time.

[Dr Goggles]

..........looking for a bit of inspiration we decided to cut the build frame ( the frame was like a six-poster bed that we used to support it and get everything true)up and put the Tank on the ground for the first time . Oh Baby!!!.....it looks just like the renders that the Reverend did years ago


.Hooray!!!!....um, it's kinda low , 850 mm so we can put it under the kitchen bench

there'll be pictures on Landracing.com soon so check out the "Australian belly tank " thread on build diaries to have a geezer.......it was just the fillip I needed to get back into it full-steam.......tomorrow we're back in to it

[momec]

Your building it in the kitchen. Well done you really are good Aussie blokes congratulations thoushands of men around the country are proud of you.
Keep at it.
Chris

[Dr Goggles]

Watch it Hano' the Rev's cookin' up somethin' for you......and BTW yeah I can cook but I'd stop short of calling myself a snag , which is slightly different from a silly sausage Gary

[Dr Goggles]

....been going through the clutch hydraulics this week and slowly making a bit of sense with it...tomorrow is tank day again...hopefully we'll be making a start on the exhaust too.

more reports soon.

[Dr Goggles]

Well, time rolls on and so does the tank build.We've got both sides of the exhaust built and I've started on the water tank which is gonna be a whole work of art of it's own.......the process began with the King of Cardboard ( known elsewhere as Reverend Headgash) building up a mock-up...in order to maximise the volume , it sits above the gearbox coming within' 5mm of the back of the motor ( yeah I know that doesn't give us much room for the motor to torque over)and stopping 5mm before the rear bulkhead.It looks as though we should be able to get about 45 or 50 litres in there (having not punched the numbers we don't know exactly)...it of course has to be removeable and also has to have baffling so its going to be like a chinese puzzle made from steel , yes steel because Aluminium is out of the question at the moment ...I ve decided to use 3mm plate for it because we'll be using it as the top structural member......the fuel tank mount is largely done and I've also finally got the gearshift to work without it feeling like rubber , nearly finished the firewall , we cut out the front floor and , well , heaps of other stuff...three days solid working on it from today so more progress soon [/img]

[Dr Goggles]

This week we built the tailpipe and rear collector , we went 2&1/2 inch off the collector at the headers and then into a single 3 inch which exits at the very rear tip of the car.We figure that getting it out there has two advantages , it doesn't disturb flow down the sides of the car and the cooling ( and therefore collapsing ) gases might have a bit of a "taming" effect on the wake left in the air. Who knows , we might even get a pound or so of thrust that way too.... .Hoisted the motor half a dozen times yesterday because the gearshift side extractor won't come out on it's own...put it in check it , tack it , lift the motor again , weld it put it back in , check etc, etc , etc .So ,the big piece of skin missing off the back of my index finger ?I dunno , the motor dropped into one of the mounts at one point and my finger was between something , and something else.....I recited the entire Websters dictionary of coarse talk along with the Viz magazine Profanisaurus as well.........frig it hurt.

One of the downsides of sending the exhaust out the very back of the car is that it means we have this very big , very hot thing inside the car.....running underneath the fuel tank...the lowest part of the fuel is closest so it's gonna boil the fuel unless we find some clever shielding or , dash it , get a new tank......

We've largely finished plating in the front of the car leaving a "cut-line " around the front of the cage so when the Rev' crashes it we'll be able to cut him out ......though we might need a thermonuclear lance to do it.This all means we are starting to nail( special metal nails that are cheap and almost as strong as welding ) the outline of the floor.....the outer body ( the actual belly-tank) is just a skin and so there is full panelling and a separate floor made from 5mm plate that runs full length.The aluminium with be attached to a thin skin floor sheet ( we think!!)

Rose joints have tidied up the gearshift , 'bout bloody time it finally "snicks"....two more have made the throttle linkage a neat little thing .

The clutch and accelerator pedal are both foot shaped ( yes left and right ) so we were in a pickle over what to do with the brake pedal( what, two big toes , none?).....it's a reworked VW pedal that was part of the original pedal set that I made for the car.....it comes off the floor , it works , we like it.

The water tank is largely done with the inlet yet to be finished.....cripes it's tight , and ,um, heavy....it's 45 kgs empty and holds almost exactly 60 litres....it looks just like a two foot long steel coffin .

Just noticed this week that "Australia's fastest V6 Commodore " is doing high nines at 137 miles per hour........hmmmmm fooly sick mayte!!!!! ...In time they might want to change that to "Quickest"