Commodore Valuables

[Dr Goggles]

"As a copper who pulled me up in it when she was still the workshop ute said, he lifted the bonnet and scrathed his head and said you should umpire the footy mate and I said whys that and he said well lookin at this mate all the Ford blokes would hate you and all the Holden blokes would hate you. "

....absolute gem

....before I put a new carby on her she used to struggle cold(electric choke)...one night after playing a gig I gave it a bootful across a big junction in Essendon to settle it down .So , when the cops who were directly behind me pulled me over I was a little worried .They understood totally ....in fact when they searched the boot they liked my guitars so much they forgot to breatho' me....sent me on the way with a smile and a wave.....

[gennyshovel]

The missus (ex pat revhead yank) recons theses some "stuff" available to test for cooling system leaks (like the one you cant find) ya put in the coolant,,drive,,and check with a UV black light afterwards,,,,she's had a similar prob with a cougar once,,but cant remember what the fluro marker was called??,,
Cheers,,Kat,,Mrs "T" & Tiny

[Dr Goggles]

Looks like I'll be paying out all bets on this one......there is water getting out of it .Had it on a hoist yesterday and , well , suffice to say there was water running along the subframe......welsh plug .She's cranky on start up though so it looks to be a photo finish with that old mare Gasket as well I'd say .

Thanks for the tip on the flouro stuff Tiny , but to be honest I reckon after the recent discovery if I put that stuff in the whole thing'd be glowing like nuclear waste .Beers all round ,bastards.

Back on topic.

We zipped up the fire-wall and belt mounts yesterday as well as finishing off the front bulk-head where the axle bolts on , strength wise we're tending to the overkill , massively . All along the other builders of tanks have said if in doubt use heavier guage, like the heaviest you can afford 'cause by the time you're finished you're gonna want it to be heavier and you'll be stuck for room for ballast. Let's just say it could probably take a hit from an artillery shell and you'd escape with a nosebleed . I've put about 10kg's of .9mm wire into it........just as well my house has been re-wired .

Spoke to Cled Davies this morning about the starters board thingo I built which has slats that slide down so names don't have to be moved(which leads to the occasional one being LEFT OFF , like Paul Broughan) and he said that Akatiff and co want to run at 6am.....whoa!! It's gonna be long week.....

[PJQ2]

6:00 AM start!!!
I can understand needing to get the most out of the adventure after all the effort and shipping expense, etc. But 6:00 AM, Cled's gunna be knackered by lunchtime.

Think it's up to us to make sure they settle down fairly quickly - for Cled's sake. Me-thinks a few Jamesons after dinner and a couple of late nights.

[Reverend Hedgash]

Maybe a raiding party like the one on that bloody generator last year.

Or maybe park those lads next to each other....?

Don't they know we're on dreamtime out there?

Wouldn't miss it for the world though... Sun rising, chill still in the air, alcohol still on the breath... Its going to be great.

Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain. Please don't rain.

Reverend H+

[Dr Goggles]

Hi All
We're out!.......the Jarman-Stewart bellytank won't be making the trip.We've finally conceded , to ourselves , that we'd be wasting money and likely time by rushing it now....whatever we did it wouldn't get through tech' from the point it is now and so we're leaving it at home .

Feeling kind of relieved , and really really looking forward to Speedweek.....that means I'll be writing another story about the meet so I expect everybody to keep me topped up with juicy details and little things I've missed .The spare time that has become available should let the Rev' edit some of the footage he has from the last few years too .

Les Gogg , er , hang on!

Goggles

[outbacktrev]

Who's gunna get Pete Noy outa bed that early
Cheers,
Trev

[Dr Goggles]

....been back on the bellytank case this week .Took the VW rim Au centre wheels back to have them FULLY welded , sometimes when you ask/tell an expert how you want something done they nod , and do it their way......"fully" means "fully" not four or five stitch welds.Swapped the Rod shop bellhousing that we got for the Buick for a Commodore V6 jobbie ,I've priced a flywheel and clutch kit for it..I guess I'm going to have to make the spigot bushes we need to get the Aussie 4 speed into the V6...Looks like we're not going to use the neat Gemini gimble shift that I found as it takes up too much room and go with the old two lever gear shift .Next week I get a VN to use as a mule for getting the motors sorted , I'm buying a VY from the auctions for my brother and the VN is my cut , handy (no comment guys) .Today we're going to set the bottom half of the body and that will let me start on plating the bottom , making the floor in the drivers comp' and sorting the engine and gearbox mounts, 49 weeks to go.

[blownvn]

How about some pics of this thing? As someone who has played a little with the Commodore VN V6 I'm intrigued.

I got a stock weight VN V6 down to 13.83 at the drags naturally aspirated, the same engine with a turbo now runs 11.99 at 114.7mph... this was all with 3.45 gears.

What's the ultimate aim (mph) with this project?

[Dr Goggles]

Hi Fella , thanks for the interest
The ultimate aim? ....is to have a hoot!!....Well , being polite and reasonable the class below us stands at 206 point something (blown) courtesy of the Broughan brothers so we have to aim for that don't we .The current record unblown for E Gas Lakester is 145 or so .We're running a 2.77 rear with 28's on the back so if we hook up that's just under 200 at 6000 .Between us and that are a myriad of problems ( if I knew what they were they wouldn't be problems would they)....we both need licenses and getting up through the licensing runs means a minimum of six(successful) passes before we get there so.....

It'll be a long time before we bother to build a bottom end but in the meantime we'll be touching up heads and getting an Eaton blower set-up sorted . We figure we're better off working out what kills these motors before we spend much more than purchase ($125-200) on them.We're running an Aussie 4speed which we've shortened and have just organised the necessarys to mate them. Ultimately we'd like to able to cover all the classes within E , whether or not we get a high comp' fuel motor is debatable but we'll see.

Your streeter sounds neat , tell us about the turbo.....if you wreck the body give us a call ...We'll be sorting the car for the next few years but after that it'll be engine stands and torque wrenches . PM me your e-mail address and I'll send you some build photo's...

2roo

[Dr Goggles]

....just another thing.After the post I put up about getting the wheels re-welded and stuff .......Neway wheels in Heidelberg were great about it , fully welded them up for no extra.Another tip , there's a place in Nunawadding in Melb' called Surplus Auto Parts who have (yep you guessed it) all sorts of stuff....they didn't have a new Commodore flywheel but they had a clutch kit for way less than half what I was quoted and spigot bushes for a third of my quote...I've got all sorts of weird stuff over the years from them , PM for the number..........This racing game is expensive but it doesn't have to be stupidly so.

[DirtyDave]

Dr Goggles and Rev HG.
The Dyno Dude i use in adelaide builds formula holden engines, and his pro stocker is a buick, he might have some good info..
I don't have any contact for him but will get if your interested...
cheers

[Reverend Hedgash]

Bless you Dirtington.

We operate by what I call the "Dick Smith School of Business" whereby we surround ourselves by clever people and ask a lot of questions.

If you could find his details please pass them on, I am sure there shall be use of his wisdom.

rH+

[blownvn]

You've got a PM Dr G.

I included some video links but I think a few of the others might be interested too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RXPXi1zHE8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17WyeMQzZ7c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm9CkXdihgM

Some have already said that I should take the VN out to the salt and see what it would pull in MPH. I'd have to convert it to manual though. In it's favor the VN has 3.08 gears now since I converted the diff back.

[Dr Goggles]

Ok Panel of Experts,
here's one for ya.So I find out today that the crank in an AUTO V6 (VN we're talking) is different from that in a manual....can anyone tell me why? ............is it just the end of the crank where the spigot bush goes or are there other differences ??any help or smart arse comments appreciated.