Vlad's rides thread

[vlad01]

Thanks!

As for the heads, there is 3 variants from VN to VR.

There is actually very little to no difference in most of the castings. All internal parts of the castings appear identical, chambers and ports are the same.

LN3 heads (early VN)
Early L27
Late L27

The differences are as follow.

LN3 have some different markings in the rocker area, Saginaw logo, date code style etc.
The biggest difference is the lack of PCV holes which can be drilled out, I think they are 16mm and that will allow them to work on any of the newer Buicks. The other major difference is the wider rocker mount bosses, they are much wider than the later heads and in my opinion, these are the best heads for serious builds where one would use solid roller lifters and in turn need adjustable rocker arms. The only ones I found on the market are the Yella Terra platinum adjustable race rockers, these have a 7/16" bolt, so the original holes need drilling and tapping to the larger size. These heads leave plenty of meat around that mod. But one thing to keep in mind is that the casting around and underneath the bosses are identical, so technically there is no strength advantage in the areas that support the boss itself, it's more radial strength around the threads more than anything, so if there is no side loads which there wouldn't be much or anything meaningful because 99% of the strain is vertical (pulling on the threads) direction, the advantage the S1 VN heads have are more of a mental peace of mind than actual.


The early L27 heads, from late VN all the way to mid VP are cast basically the same as the late VP to VR heads, they obviously have the PCV holes, the rocker area lack the Saginaw logo and have markings more similar to the ecotec, 4 digit casting number, mould number, date clock and hand style markings. The boss for the rocker arms are narrower, but the surrounding casting and webbing internally is the same as the early VN. They have enough meat to be drilled to 7/16 and still fully support the pedestal for the Platinum rocker set. Just the remaining walls of the boss are getting on the thinner side when drilled out. These all run the 3/8 bolts just as the LN3 heads. These also run the 3 piece pedestal alignment brackets like what I assume VN also used, but they may differ there. I didn't have any VN S1 rockers to compare, my VN S1 heads all had the single springs and so I think those where probably the same as these heads.


The late L27 heads are identical to the ones before except for smaller 5/16" bolts for the rocker arms, bosses remain identical.
The ends of the heads have slightly different looking casting shape I've been told. So you can see those on an engine without taking them off, I still need to confirm this against the previous heads, they def are there compared to the LN3 ones though.


ACL mention that VR heads have a smaller chamber, I have confirmed this is false, late VP and VR have the same casting number and even the same sand mould identifier numbers. Even seen the same sand mould surface defects show up in both VP and VR heads as well as in the castings. The extra comp came all from the pistons, VR pistons are quite different, and would be a nice upgrade if someone was rebuilding and older engine, that extra squish and minor bump in comp is quite noticeable I feel. The diff in chamber CCs is reported to be about 2cc. I think if ACL measured this, it could be well from manufacturing variance and even something as simple as the patterns wearing out towards the end of this generation of engine, which could be those couple of CC over the entire surface of the chamber pattern. That would be impossible to see and I don't think it was intentional if it actually exists which I very much doubt. I checked with the depth gauge on my verniers and a straight edge and saw no diff to older heads when measured in a few spots, they all look 100% identical except for minor defects here and there. So for this reason I conclude there is 3 versions of these heads and not the 4.


With a little modding, the early VN heads are probably the best, at least for peace of mind for a build with the big adjustable rockers and huge springs, for everything else, any of the later heads are the go as you want an L27 engine as they are better overall, better rear main seal, better timing system, better cooling system, better PCV, easier and cheaper to get. If you have a manual, 100% the L27 is better as you have choices in flywheels. As far as I have looked, there is no aftermarket LN3 flywheel for the manual cranks, but Dellow do a auto one. But the manual engines have a good choise of aftermarket cranks as they are the same as the Buick GN cranks, so forged and billet are easy and cheap to get in the US, but kinda moot if there is no flywheels to go with them. You could have a custom made flywheel, but I feel at that point you would just go one of the billet later type cranks and be done which is the same as ecotec. There is less choices but the few there are, are good ones, Bryant cranks def make a billet one to order for the L27 - L36/L67.


Also, FYI. 7/16" is exactly 1.5875mm larger diameter than 3/8" So in reality, drilling them for the big rockers only eats into the bosses less than 0.8mm.

[Charlescrown]

Wow I didn't expect such a comprehensive reply. So as a novice I'm a bit lost in identifying what heads I have. I would have thought a casting number or similar may be able to identify just what their off. I thought there was an exhaust port layout that was completely different with the later heads.

[immortality]

I have a extra set of early VN heads here. Not much use to you however been all the way over there.

I don't need them and they are taking up valuable space on my shelves but I just can't scrap em.

[vlad01]

Wow I didn't expect such a comprehensive reply. So as a novice I'm a bit lost in identifying what heads I have. I would have thought a casting number or similar may be able to identify just what their off. I thought there was an exhaust port layout that was completely different with the later heads.

You might be thinking of ecotec heads with the different port layout.

I had a bunch of ecotec engines and parts but eventually sold them all as all of them had issues that weren't worth spending money on.

As far as I recall, pretty much all ecotec heads were the same even with different casting numbers. L67 ones were drilled for injectors in the head obviously, but I don't recall finding anything notably different between the years except VY ones have slightly larger valves fitted from factory.

[vlad01]

I have a extra set of early VN heads here. Not much use to you however been all the way over there.

I don't need them and they are taking up valuable space on my shelves but I just can't scrap em.

I'd hold on to them, the Buicks are going the way of the straight 6, hard to find and expensive, it will be worth is just for the money.

There is bugger all left here since the end of covid, so I'd imagine with them being more popular in NZ that the market demand will probably dry them up faster than here.

I know what you mean with space, I am in the process of cutting down from a 200m2 shed to a suburban "2" car garage, more like a 1.5 car garage and I still have to have space for my partner to park her car in there.

[vlad01]

Few more updates.

Random pic of the storms when setting up the firework display in Bacchus before the huge downpour got us. The weather has been really bonkers this year.

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Last week I went to Hoppers Stoppers and got myself the remaining bits apart from the pads, hubs and brand new VT calipers that DBA repro now, good quality stuff!

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[vlad01]

While I was there I got heads up before hand about the new repro group A rear caliper they are offering now.

There are exclusive to Hoppers and feature left/right/front/rear design for a bit easier install and bit cheaper to make too.

The thing I got out of it was that the Holden supplied ones from the day had a different bracket with M10 mounting threads where the Corvette ones are M12 like I have in my NOS stash, so you'll need to drill out the backing plate for the Vette ones, where these (like the genuine group A) are a bolt on solution and better becasue the meat around the holes is retained as oppose to being thinned out from the M12 mod.

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While doing the Melbourne run, I dropped the flywheel and clutch off for modding and balancing at Duggans, but I'm pretty sure I missed the xmas deadline bloody NPC!


But I did get my tailshaft, 770 bucks later! This one is set at the factory phase as per a thread I made a while ago where the common 0 and 90 deg phasing seems to be the culprit for the rear end going ballistic upon long uphill left bends under hard acceleration.

It has a brand new T5 yoke that I supplied, Spicer started making them during covid and still do, so manual tailshaft conversions are a lot more accessible now.

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On the way home I went to commwreck and got myself an ecotec oil filter adapter, my plan is to relocate the filter and associated section of the adapter to clear the belt since I am finding that in all cars I have with AC had the belt slapping the adapter right on the casting behind the filter, the ecotec ones move it down significantly and I confirmed it will solve this issue with the ample room to spare.

But then I realized the potential for 2 birds with one stone (2 avians with one rock? ) that it could well solve or help with is dry oil filter/pump starts. The buick filter is horizontal and is slightly above the oil pump, so the oil drains out of the filter within 15-30 min of shutdown, I confirmed this multiple times, and I mean drained, in many cases, almost nothing in the filter. I believe this is from the position of the filer, especially being above the plane of the pump/crank. Anti-drain valves in the filter only seldom help.

The eco one is not only well below this plane, but also angled modestly so the oil is retained a lot better on paper. I am keen to try it out and see if it reduces that bottom end knocking for a sec or few after starting while it re-primes.

I haven't confirmed yet, but I'd grab the bolts too as the one at the bottom might be longer than any of the ones on the Buick, it also will need some loctite 515 under the head and I think it's 565 tread sealer on the thread so the oil pressure doesn't find it's way out of the timing cover bolt behind that bolt since it not a blind hole and intersects the hole for one in the timing cover right behind it. There is a service note on the Holden bulletins I found regarding that exact issue where they mention it and remedy it with a newer adapter design, only dif I found was the bolt head seat is machined smooth and not the more textured raw casting the older deign has, but the 515 flange sealer will work wonders for that anyway.

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[vlad01]

Another pic of the adapters side by side.

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So I decided to finally get to doing much much needed work on the shitbox before xmas.

Rear end bushes, but I took advantage of the spare diff I had with good OG bushes in them, less wear on the diff and axle bearings, and it also gets rid of that spare that I had to get rid of anyway due to the property on the market and down sizing.


It was all total ratshit. Wow!

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The mackay bushes that only lasted a few months, then I did 2 more years on them to get my moneys worth


I changed the fuel tank and pump too. It was all leaking for years and I was jack of the fumes. I had to swap the rheostat over to the new sender (series 2 sender with return built in) as the new one was only kept at the same fuel level looking at it and so it had worn a dead spot. The one in the shitbox is worn but evenly and still was usable, so it was swapped into the sender.

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[vlad01]

All set for the sender and I tested it on the car before committing to the install.

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New tank and filler, all new hoses etc...

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Changed the exhaust with the one that came off the VR, but the system was cocked about 15-20 deg out on the y pipe flange and 30mm too short, so I got the welding/other mechanic guy that just finished up permanently at the local mech shop (owner sold due to health) I have used forever a few hours before he left for holidays to get me out of trouble, a real legend for helping me out not get stuck until the middle of Jan with no car

But wow the old one was stuffed, fell apart as I unbolted it.

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[vlad01]

Had him weld up the modded bits I literally setup like an hour before he left from his house for the holidays, fits great now and the exhaust actually fits good everywhere else unlike the previous noisy, clunky POS, evident by how much of it rubbed away on the diff/arm in the above post.

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Diff setup with superpro arms on the lower arms this time, all the brakes and what not transferred over.

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Went to do the pan-hard bar, found it was bent

Guess my NOS one gets removed from my market place listing lol.

Says it's ute and I never thought it was any dif, but actually, looks like it's more HD than the sedan/wagon ones. Slightly thicker, a notable amount heavier, the ends are spread more for what I assume is better load handling, and the eyelets are thicker too.

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So everything is done, but when I popped the bumper off to get the tow bar out to get the tank and other stuff out, the bracket for the bumper support on the right disintegrated, I had 3 spares, but all left side, no right

Ordered a pair of new ones from rares for 50 bucks. While I wait for that, I am fixing to the best of my dodgy (good dodgy) abilities, the rust and leaking around the rear and boot area as there is some rust and split seams as a result of a rear ending in a previous life. I also want to reseal the rear quarter glass so the boot doesn't fill with water all of the time, that is the main source of water, the rest is leaking in via the ruptured seams and few small rust holes at the back panel.

Got a NOS rare spares boot seal, not the right profile but hey, I might as well use it and clear excess stuff and sort an issue at the same time. Rares make them with he right profile now, two types for early and late models.


With 137k on this pump I pulled it apart to learn of how close it was to EOL, it had plenty left. Heaps of brush (~80%), commutator was about 60% left before total failure. I reckon realistically with margin for error included, 200k can easily be expected. I also learned that these use a turbine design with some neat tech

The turbine is made from a ceramic material, the housing is steel with what appears to be a DLC coating, I am 90% certain it is, very hard stuff and is extremely smooth and scratch resistant.

All other pumps that I pulled apart in the past were of a roller vane design, I was not really aware of these, I heard them mentioned but never thought this is what it meant. I feel this is no longer a failure point of the pumps unlike the vane design which I had go bad well before the brushes or the motor ever did, now it looks like the limiting factor is the other way around, commutator+brushes.

Also now I know why the older pumps got noisy as they wore out while newer ones remain quiet, it's the roller vanes that wear and howl and rattle whilst also not pumping properly or at all in some cases. These should keep pumping and staying quiet until something in the motor itself dies.

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