Vlad's rides thread

[Tinker]

Great read Vlad as allways... Allways get your moneys worth with your posts. Nice work.

[vlad01]

Cheers!

Oh and I bolted up the mount and all, retested the clutch and the cable feels way better now. Must have just needed to settle into it's new shape or whatever. Smooth and effortless like the previous one from Dellow.

[vlad01]

Ordered some new plugs, genuine GM ones, much cheaper than the crappy NGK ones too New leads also since mine died sitting around somehow.
Will pick up some full syn dex3 and fresh exhaust sealant later today.


Ended up finishing the last few things for the box install. I still need to order some Rares fuel pump plugs to get the terminals I need to finish the VSS plug repair.

But getting there now. Installed the floor plate with button heads and nylocs so it's removable in the future. Used the Wurth dab off since it's not sticky like melted road tar, rather it forms a nice dry skin whilst being only tacky on the inside, so it will seal well without the horrible oily mess that is normal butyl mastic.


Can start putting the steering column back, but need to get some thin small stainless cable ties to tie the heat sleeving near the column and header for the clutch cable since it is way bigger than needed, this is the only size available with Kevlar fabric that I could find. All others use fiberglass which I hate working with and has a much higher heat capacity, which allows it to store up heat that then melts plastics and rubbers it's in contact with, Kevlar doesn't do this due to it's way lower conductivity and low heat capacity. Kevlar ones don't fall apart like the fibreglass ones do after a little while either which makes it ideal for long term use in a daily. The stainless cable ties will allow me to constrain the sleeving to a much smaller diameter so it doesn't touch the column and header tube, much easier to do this without the steering column installed.

I'd also like to run the wires for the flex table controlled relay that will be my virtual neutral safety switch for the cruise.

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[vlad01]

Chucked some new plugs in, pretty fouled, plugs arrived within the week from QLD. Leads have still not arrived though, ordered them on the 2nd with the plugs and they only sent them out 2 or 3 days ago and by bloody fastways, guess that will be a month

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Got some thin stainless ties locally and managed to get the heat protection of the clutch cable in a more reasonable package by folding it over on itself almost all the way around with some air gap still inside, this kevlar backed stuff only comes in the one size which is pretty big for most things (also fits the PS pressure hose loosely as seen in my pics) and I have not found anyone else selling it other than Direct which is a sub brand of Roadsafe. Will be nice to see more size options for this kevlar stuff as the fiberglass stuff is not suitable for protecting plastics and rubbers in my experience unless it's ultra thin, but then it's fragile where this stuff it very tough, I was pulling at it with pointy pliers to try to fold it in that tight spot underneath without an issue.

Anyway, came up alright, decent clearance and no longer touching the input shaft or the header there, but my hand didn't fair so well after that despite filing the ends of the SS ties as I pre-cut them first due to the limited room, they still butchered my hand up pretty bad.

I used normal cable ties up top since the heat there isn't so direct like it is down near the bottom end of the cable.
In hindsight I probably should have installed the protection before installing the cable.

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Was struggling to find a spot I could get a ratchet through to tighten the steering column coupling bolt and kinda got a spot with my arm over the Y pipe and clutch fork area where I could do little bits at a time. But I really wanted to torque it up properly.

I could always get them between the header and the clutch cable from just behind the wheel, but this header just seemed to have it's pipe in that spot and there was no way in the usual way.

Then I found a spot.

Was even able to get the torque wrench on it. 25Nm is what I could max out on that little one. Specs are 23-30, so it's all good. Some blue loctite too.

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[vlad01]

Got the steering wheel side of things sorted now.

Was sussing out the wiring side of things for the cruise control flex output driven rpm safety cutout since the T5 doesn't have a N safety switch or even a reliable option (mustangs had them but they ditched them shortly after due to jamming often).

I had already ordered some stuff from Jaydees and also got a micro relay socket from Bursons since Jaydees have been out of stock of them for many months already.

I course though, I didn't check over everything and found I also need the 6 pin ALDL plug and I also don't have enough wire left in the colour and size I want to go from the ECU to the driver side.

I will check over it all again before making another order, when the budget allows, I'll order those and also the Rares fuel pump plugs so I can do my VSS plug as I had previously mentioned that those use the same terminals and are the only current source of such.

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In other news, I moved the spare block and bits, T5 etc over to home and in the process of cleaning it up and painting it in the good cavity wax I have, brand is called CAM Wax.
When I found the cheep brown spray on wax was actually inducing corrosion, I caught it in time on my good spare crank, and cleaned it good and went over it with the Cam wax, becasue I plan to store the crank inside the block for space reasons, I pulled the cling wrap off the wax (shit photo I know) and found that indeed, this stuff actually works and can stand up to the ridiculously high humidity at the farm property without issue.

In the case of this crank, I will clean that off and cover it in general purpose grease and mount it in the two main bearings I still have in that block, the rest will remain in the plastic covered wax. I will then wax the rest of the sensitive areas of the block. Chuck in on some timber blocks vertically in the corner there. Might have to make a raised pallet type of thing to put the T5 on and have a flat area for my oil immersion container to sit on which contains all my new bits like cam, lifters, roller chains, oil pumps etc... that I have stashed over the years. Oil immersion was the only way I could 100% guarantee as new condition basically indefinitely until I need to use them, becasue the wax wasn't a proven method at the time (cos you need time to prove it over long term) I knew oil immersion would work since engines seldom see rust if the oil kept in reasonable service.

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[vlad01]

I finally got around to replacing my pads and rotors on the shitbox, only 2 years past when I said I would do it.

Due to how much the 027 rotors cost, I was planning to take the good used ones off the white car for when my VT upgrade was done, and of course, life, health and money all got in the way of those plans.

Then the VT forza pads were still not available. Apparently I forgot about even being on the waiting list for a set I had apparently asked about them more than a year ago and was informed when I asked more recently (how I found out I had already done this lol) that my pads were due to come this August.

So I decided to look for rotors and somehow things worked out and I found repco was having a clearance on the 027 rotors for $19 each! Count me in! They are normally very expensive for this model as they are uncommon and somehow never superseded the ones that Holden set out to replace, at least in the aftermarket, the more common ones are a 22mm x 290mm V8 rotor, where as the late VP ran the newer 23mm one which is a direct replacement for the older 22mm one. Somehow the aftermarket auto parts market never got the memo, making the 027 rotor a uncommon special order part despite being a factory issued superseding part for all models prior. And I think that is why the part at repco ended up on clearance, no one knows about the part and therefore it wasn't selling like the thinner older counterpart.

Well now it's done. Rotors were sad, but surprisingly the pad wear rate had slowed down a lot since I last worked regardless of the Ks I've put on since, guess that constant slamming of the brakes everyone in Melbourne does really eat brakes.

Without a doubt the rotors still continued to wear the same amount more or less per unit of distance, but the pads almost stopped wearing from when I stopped driving to Melbourne. They appear to be at the same amount as they were 2-3 years ago. So I guess it worked out well, then when I needed to get a little more out of my brakes, those same circumstances also allowed my brakes to last a lot longer.

These Forza pads are damn impressive to me, nothing has even come close to ticking the boxes.

No green fade (this was the worst thing most other brand had, DBA green ones were unrecoverable and had to be binned).
Excellent stopping power (similar to QFM).
Doesn't induce DTV (QFMs would do this on one hard pull if not warmed up, rendering the rotors toast, rotor material would be smeared over into high points).
Excellent modulation (QFMs can easily lock the wheels,being all trigger happy, making them shit for traffic).
No surface cracking (many other brands other than QFM and early EBC did this).
Decent on rotors, (2x the life at least of QFM, maybe 2/3 as good as OEM).
Exceptional at cold, (especially good below 10c, better than even OEM).
Pad life is excellent (easily 2x of a typical Bendix, maybe 2/3 to 1/2 of a modern OEM, I will have to see how many Ks I actually did, but a fair lot).
Excellent at high temp, (best pads I've tried in that regard so far).
Moderately priced. (190 bucks per front or back).


Interestingly, there has been some fretting on this washer on the left side. Probably a combo of hard cornering on round abouts and lack of regular adjusting (none at all since installed). The right side was good. My left front tyre also wear the fastest due to most turns being right hand and I take corners like a maniac lol.

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Old pads still much the same from a few years ago.

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Rotors pretty sad. I also blame the rain, each time we get heavy rain, the rotors heavily pit where the pads were touching and they are deep. Even with this much wear, some of the pits from many years ago are still visible.

Luckily on the white car I will have stockies with the OG hubcaps, so that should not happen.

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New $19 rotors, china ones but whatever. I changed the bearing cups out with new bearings, so it should be all good.

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New pads and done!

I also flick the backing shims off and toss them, they always creep out and end up jammed and scrapping against the hub, and also they make the pedal unnecessarily spongy, also makes the pads creak under depression, without them it' all good.

Causes way more issues than it solves. They are suppose to stop pad squeal?

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[Charlescrown]

That wear on the washer is normal. I learnt from a bearing specialist years ago that it's designed with enough clearance to rotate very slowly to distribute the load and wear on the bearing to extend it's life.

[vlad01]

Yeah it hadn't rotated much at all, the pattern of fretting was matched to the end of the bearing, it's an up-down wear pattern when I took a close look with some small nuggets of washer cold welded to the bearing. The adjustment was a bit on the loose side which is expected with the wear on the bearing taking most of the load. My left front tyre wears about twice as fast as the right due to my driving.

[vlad01]

Got the spare block and crank all prepped for long term storage.

Lots of the Cam wax cavity wax, did a coat, let dry for a few days, then did another thicker coat with cling wrap over the exposed journals on the crank, then waxed the wrap too to triple seal it!

Made some wood feet to keep it end on and not pushing on the crank all of the time, stops the wax going all over everything on the shelf too.

The two middle mains that I still had the shells for, got a good coating of general purpose yellow grease so it wasn't going to get stuck with the wax and that should store just fine with the grease and the bearings in place.
I was also missing one lifter, so rather than hoping the wax got in, I cut a piece of that poly bush I used for my engine mount mod, drenched it in the wax and filled the lifter bore with the poly bush, so that's well seal off from moisture and oxygen.

Fit like a glove and my oil immersion parts tub fit exactly perfect in the remaining spot. Also note that I double tub for that, in case the first tub fails for whatever reason, it doesn't make a horrendous mess.

The garage has been very fumy for over a week already, and you bet I used a chemical respirator for this, shit is nasty and gives me a headache right away even a whiff outside in well ventilated open outdoors. No way I was doing that enclosed in a garage without a respirator for hours at a time!

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[vlad01]

Went over the spare rods too.
Both crank and rods came out off my vacationer over a decade ago, that was in excellent shape despite the high ks and abuse. They were too good to toss. Unfortunately, one of the shit brands (motor spray brand) of cavity wax ruined a bunch of my parts as I found it is actually acidic and caused rust, and this crank got a few spots before I noticed. So it will likely need the min amount re-grind, it otherwise probably would have just needed a surface polish done and taken standard bearings just fine. The big ends on this crank were pristine! but fucking shit products always seem to get you one way or another. Luckily it was caught early enough that it's nothing a minor regrind won't bring it to 100%

The block was one I had left from an unknown Km engine I pinched the crank out of for my hot motor well before I ended up with the vacationer bits after I crashed the car. The bores are only slightly imperfect from moisture and water, but even a hone of 1 thou might be enough for a perfect finish. If not, the min overbore will make it right again. The block is very nice for a car that had rust holes all over, where some of them your hand could fit inside. Given it is hard to find engines and core parts in anything other than scrap value, I'll def keep this for a bottom end rebuild core. I originally bought a donor car for the T5, but even most of the T5 was rubbish due to corrosion inside and out. The engine core parts were surprisingly excellent though.


I have only the spare donor T5 left to get in there, it's about 870mm long, and after some careful measuring and determination, I found this spot I can hang it at as indicated by the measuring tape. Just need to get a few bits of ally square tube of 2 nested sizes from Bunnings to make two extendable bars to expand and lock into the two beams. That will make hanging it with some straps fairly straightforward. Lucky the T5s are light!

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