Vlad's rides thread
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Charlescrown
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Re: Vlad's rides thread
When I see all the work you have done to make the headers fit properly makes me wonder if the dicks that make them ever try fitting them ont a car before they sell them. I'v always had issues with that type of product where a bit of R&R would improve their product immensely.
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vlad01
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VP II executive #2 - Location: Kyneton, Vic
Re: Vlad's rides thread
Maybe once early on they do, but stuff changes, jigs wear out, dies wear out, variation increases. Different workers of the years might not work the jigs the same etc... All 3 sets I have from various years and decades all vary by a significant amount. This particular one was the last year they used the union coupling, that die wore out they told me and I can see it in mine with all of them being over in shape. They replaced the join with regular flanges.
The other thing is that they might test the initial batch when they first made them, but A. never likely checked clearances under dynamic movement and vibration, ie. real world. B. Never liekly recheck with time and iterated on the design.
When I look at the design, there is so many spots that some minor routing changes would have made them perfect, the flange is a great example where they would have made the product not only much better, but cheaper to make! It does not need to exist and only causes issues.
The idea of that small separate piece was to aid installation. But it is literally impossible to install it without removing the steering column anyway. Believe me, I tried! Doesn't work. As soon as the column is removed which only takes about 20 min, not only does it install easily, it does so with the whole header including the separate piece already bolted up to the rest of the header. This is why I had it deleted, it goes in easy as, as long as the column is out. I have the rack out as well, but one can just remove the bolts and drop it down lower to get the same room.
I also noticed they stopped making the competition headers for the Buick, no longer listed. They fit better in some areas and worse in others. But they also could have been routed a little different and made to fit good. They need solid engine mounts to work properly. They are the ones that jam the steering column bolt on hard right turns, an easy fix with some slight routing alterations by some 15mm, so easily done. I told them about it, but I doubt anything was done.
Honestly, with the idea of a hydraulic bearing, and the amount of material and stuff that could be removed from the bellhousing by going the hydraulic route. It would be far better to fab custom headers and get it right for that particular setup.
One thing that is always overlooked is the secondary pipes/collectors. The ideal length at least for what cam I have set aside is around that 500-600mm. So the Y pipe would need to be carefully designed to meet the size and length and clear the challenging area around the side of the box and it's cross member. A modified or custom member probably would need to be fab'd to allow the best ground and component clearance and have thermal management consideration since the cat can't be in the stock location to achieve the lengths required.
If I had won the lottery and became a millionaire. I sure would start a company and start producing all the bits that actually matter and properly, even if it just broke even.
The other thing is that they might test the initial batch when they first made them, but A. never likely checked clearances under dynamic movement and vibration, ie. real world. B. Never liekly recheck with time and iterated on the design.
When I look at the design, there is so many spots that some minor routing changes would have made them perfect, the flange is a great example where they would have made the product not only much better, but cheaper to make! It does not need to exist and only causes issues.
The idea of that small separate piece was to aid installation. But it is literally impossible to install it without removing the steering column anyway. Believe me, I tried! Doesn't work. As soon as the column is removed which only takes about 20 min, not only does it install easily, it does so with the whole header including the separate piece already bolted up to the rest of the header. This is why I had it deleted, it goes in easy as, as long as the column is out. I have the rack out as well, but one can just remove the bolts and drop it down lower to get the same room.
I also noticed they stopped making the competition headers for the Buick, no longer listed. They fit better in some areas and worse in others. But they also could have been routed a little different and made to fit good. They need solid engine mounts to work properly. They are the ones that jam the steering column bolt on hard right turns, an easy fix with some slight routing alterations by some 15mm, so easily done. I told them about it, but I doubt anything was done.
Honestly, with the idea of a hydraulic bearing, and the amount of material and stuff that could be removed from the bellhousing by going the hydraulic route. It would be far better to fab custom headers and get it right for that particular setup.
One thing that is always overlooked is the secondary pipes/collectors. The ideal length at least for what cam I have set aside is around that 500-600mm. So the Y pipe would need to be carefully designed to meet the size and length and clear the challenging area around the side of the box and it's cross member. A modified or custom member probably would need to be fab'd to allow the best ground and component clearance and have thermal management consideration since the cat can't be in the stock location to achieve the lengths required.
If I had won the lottery and became a millionaire. I sure would start a company and start producing all the bits that actually matter and properly, even if it just broke even.
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vlad01
- Posts: 8549
- Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:41 am
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VP I executive
VP II executive
VP II executive #2 - Location: Kyneton, Vic
Re: Vlad's rides thread
Headers are all done.
More details on the results of the pressings for clearance here.
viewtopic.php?p=136047#p136047
Gearbox done,
Some build pics since the last update and a few little tips.
Bit annoyed the bearing galled the housing, but it will be fine since the sealant is the Permatex oil resistant formula. Same thing happened on the last box, but not the previous one. I think it's becasue I was pressing these in via the top ledge to prevent the bottom blowing out, but installing from the bottom of the bearing makes them much more level and self leveling during the first crucial few mm of insertion. Lesson for next time. So I'll do that for the first bit,then when it's going in nicely, switch to pressing on top so it doesn't break the blind end out that I recall doing once in the past.
This time with the new bearing, I supported the counter with some bits of ally strips to raise the bearing off the cup. Worked a treat, no more bearing noises or jumping. Another valuable lesson.
The newer version of the reverse brake cone is thicker as an improvement, but a slight mod is needed for it to freely clear and move inside the extension housing as intended. I used a sharp wood chisel and a die grinder to clearance the inner radius and stop. From my best measurement, it's about 1.5mm smaller inner radius than the old weaker Borg Warner version, Tremec one is much beefier. The old version is known to break off the tab, I saw an example on the Tremec/BW gearbox FB group and it was a good heads up to this as I already had the newer cone and had not looked at it until then.
Filled, leak checked and flushed. All good to go.
The last part of shimming the input was a massive headache. None out of two different shim kits or the used ones I had there worked for the correct preload. I was needing an in between value.
Eventually I found a stack from the T5 I built in 2016 or there abouts for the red VP, there was finally a combo of two used ones that were spot on. So out of maybe 30 shims, only two used ones worked. I was also short on the 1st needle rollers, they don't come with the genuine rebuild kits, eventually I found one all crusty at the bottom of my T5 esky where all the ok and various other T5 junk ended up over the years, I found 3 of these needles, only 1 was good!
I got there in the end and it all seemed to have worked out well, so I am happy with the way it tuned out, was just way more time and messing around than I ever imagined, nearly 2 years to get this box done with the amount of stuff ups and headaches getting bits for it.
More details on the results of the pressings for clearance here.
viewtopic.php?p=136047#p136047
Gearbox done,
Some build pics since the last update and a few little tips.
Bit annoyed the bearing galled the housing, but it will be fine since the sealant is the Permatex oil resistant formula. Same thing happened on the last box, but not the previous one. I think it's becasue I was pressing these in via the top ledge to prevent the bottom blowing out, but installing from the bottom of the bearing makes them much more level and self leveling during the first crucial few mm of insertion. Lesson for next time. So I'll do that for the first bit,then when it's going in nicely, switch to pressing on top so it doesn't break the blind end out that I recall doing once in the past.
This time with the new bearing, I supported the counter with some bits of ally strips to raise the bearing off the cup. Worked a treat, no more bearing noises or jumping. Another valuable lesson.
The newer version of the reverse brake cone is thicker as an improvement, but a slight mod is needed for it to freely clear and move inside the extension housing as intended. I used a sharp wood chisel and a die grinder to clearance the inner radius and stop. From my best measurement, it's about 1.5mm smaller inner radius than the old weaker Borg Warner version, Tremec one is much beefier. The old version is known to break off the tab, I saw an example on the Tremec/BW gearbox FB group and it was a good heads up to this as I already had the newer cone and had not looked at it until then.
Filled, leak checked and flushed. All good to go.
The last part of shimming the input was a massive headache. None out of two different shim kits or the used ones I had there worked for the correct preload. I was needing an in between value.
Eventually I found a stack from the T5 I built in 2016 or there abouts for the red VP, there was finally a combo of two used ones that were spot on. So out of maybe 30 shims, only two used ones worked. I was also short on the 1st needle rollers, they don't come with the genuine rebuild kits, eventually I found one all crusty at the bottom of my T5 esky where all the ok and various other T5 junk ended up over the years, I found 3 of these needles, only 1 was good!
I got there in the end and it all seemed to have worked out well, so I am happy with the way it tuned out, was just way more time and messing around than I ever imagined, nearly 2 years to get this box done with the amount of stuff ups and headaches getting bits for it.
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vlad01
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VP II executive #2 - Location: Kyneton, Vic
Re: Vlad's rides thread
Bought a new programmer, my GQ 4X died mid program this time last year. I couldn't justify the price of a new one and I was disappointed that I probably barely got over 50 or so writes with it over it's life before it shit the bed.
I tried the T48 and was not disappointed. I got an entire accessory kit as an add on option for far less than the GQ type, its way more compact and better quality, nicer to look at too. The software is very similar and as far as I could see it had all the same functions. Even the one I use a lot which is the buffer offset upon loading the bin from file.
Worked perfect out of the box and no weird issues with win 10/11 drivers or compatibility modes that were always a thing on my GQ.
Other news, I got some fire ring style exhaust gaskets after noticing the blow out on one of the ones on the VR engine when I removed it, the Pacemaker came with the fire ring type, so I called them and sure enough they still had stock of that type, so I bought 3 pairs, two for spares.
Ordered an NPC flywheel and clutch kit, flywheel is a nice bit of kit, however, my old arch enemy, an Exedy OEM type clutch kit, I sent that right back. So when I get a refund for that, I'll order the Xtreme kit instead, I'm not going through another Exedy drama again
Flywheel was mirror balanced, the clutch kit didn't appears to had been. I am keen to get the new one balanced, but my usual Duggan balancing doesn't answer their phone? I heard years ago they were down to one or two guys, their sons or something? So I am not surprised.
if I can't get anyone to do it, I'll just install it. The Xtreme kits so far have never been out much at all unlike the Exedy ones lol.
The flywheel is a bit lighter than stock. Interestingly, they have holes for dowels for both VS manual and the potential for ones to be used in the manufacturing indexing holes. But.... None of the cranks I did a quick test fit had them align, both cranks including the car were out similar amounts but in unique directions. The crank on the car was slightly out on one bolt hole too, which binds slightly, so I need to get a round file and give it a slight tickle to get it sorted. This suggests that at least with the bolt patterns and indexing holes, they weren't all perfectly the same and vary from batch to batch I assume. The dowels aren't needed, so a non issue. But if one were building an engine from scratch, having the dowels sorted during the machine work would be of benefit, especially for a high powered engine.
You'd probably just drill whole new ones in place of the VS manual ones and make them much bigger since those type are tiny and do jack shit other than help locate the flywheel during install.
I tried the T48 and was not disappointed. I got an entire accessory kit as an add on option for far less than the GQ type, its way more compact and better quality, nicer to look at too. The software is very similar and as far as I could see it had all the same functions. Even the one I use a lot which is the buffer offset upon loading the bin from file.
Worked perfect out of the box and no weird issues with win 10/11 drivers or compatibility modes that were always a thing on my GQ.
Other news, I got some fire ring style exhaust gaskets after noticing the blow out on one of the ones on the VR engine when I removed it, the Pacemaker came with the fire ring type, so I called them and sure enough they still had stock of that type, so I bought 3 pairs, two for spares.
Ordered an NPC flywheel and clutch kit, flywheel is a nice bit of kit, however, my old arch enemy, an Exedy OEM type clutch kit, I sent that right back. So when I get a refund for that, I'll order the Xtreme kit instead, I'm not going through another Exedy drama again
Flywheel was mirror balanced, the clutch kit didn't appears to had been. I am keen to get the new one balanced, but my usual Duggan balancing doesn't answer their phone? I heard years ago they were down to one or two guys, their sons or something? So I am not surprised.
if I can't get anyone to do it, I'll just install it. The Xtreme kits so far have never been out much at all unlike the Exedy ones lol.
The flywheel is a bit lighter than stock. Interestingly, they have holes for dowels for both VS manual and the potential for ones to be used in the manufacturing indexing holes. But.... None of the cranks I did a quick test fit had them align, both cranks including the car were out similar amounts but in unique directions. The crank on the car was slightly out on one bolt hole too, which binds slightly, so I need to get a round file and give it a slight tickle to get it sorted. This suggests that at least with the bolt patterns and indexing holes, they weren't all perfectly the same and vary from batch to batch I assume. The dowels aren't needed, so a non issue. But if one were building an engine from scratch, having the dowels sorted during the machine work would be of benefit, especially for a high powered engine.
You'd probably just drill whole new ones in place of the VS manual ones and make them much bigger since those type are tiny and do jack shit other than help locate the flywheel during install.
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Last edited by vlad01 on Wed Nov 26, 2025 10:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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vlad01
- Posts: 8549
- Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:41 am
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VP I executive
VP II executive
VP II executive #2 - Location: Kyneton, Vic
Re: Vlad's rides thread
Also some progress on the PS hard lines for the cooler.
I ended up buying a bender and cutter for cheap and nice decent ones at that!
And this very cheap but nicely made straighter...that didn't work
It was too loose, no adjustments, well until I got hold of it and removed all the rollers in one plane and replaced them with bolts and nuts to be able to adjust the rollers remaining in the other plane.
Also ended up removing the opposing rollers in an alternating pattern to get the mechanical action of the good ones. And it actually worked! I forgot to take a pic of the modded version, so hopefully that makes sense what I explained? These were only 35 bucks, and it did the job in the end after making those simple mods of removing most of the guts.
After a few failed attempts to get the bends good, I found that filling the pipes with fine dry sand (so it can be just poured out after) did the trick for all of whats done so far. The last bends to do are 135 deg, but they fail on my practice piece. So another minor trick I am going to try by installing a hose clamp at the entry of the bending tool should hopefully stop the pipe dragging through and ruining the bend. I bought some more pipe to practice before committing to the real thing.
Before I do that bend, I need the ends beaded because after those bends are formed, the tool in mind won't be able to turn in there. I found that the Parker beading tool which is about 1100-1200 AUD here, can be bought as the old original WW2 production on ebay in VGC that people sell as collectors items for about 400-500 AUD, and I think I might just fork that out and get one. The new production is just a period correct repro of this old tool and even the new parts are interchangeable., the tool in a way never went out of production and still being sold as the new production into the various fields today, aerospace, military, aircraft, auto etc. So if you get the OG old tool, the new dies fit them as replacements. That price range for a near mint ww2 article that I'll use is actually a pretty good deal.
I ended up buying a bender and cutter for cheap and nice decent ones at that!
And this very cheap but nicely made straighter...that didn't work
It was too loose, no adjustments, well until I got hold of it and removed all the rollers in one plane and replaced them with bolts and nuts to be able to adjust the rollers remaining in the other plane.
Also ended up removing the opposing rollers in an alternating pattern to get the mechanical action of the good ones. And it actually worked! I forgot to take a pic of the modded version, so hopefully that makes sense what I explained? These were only 35 bucks, and it did the job in the end after making those simple mods of removing most of the guts.
After a few failed attempts to get the bends good, I found that filling the pipes with fine dry sand (so it can be just poured out after) did the trick for all of whats done so far. The last bends to do are 135 deg, but they fail on my practice piece. So another minor trick I am going to try by installing a hose clamp at the entry of the bending tool should hopefully stop the pipe dragging through and ruining the bend. I bought some more pipe to practice before committing to the real thing.
Before I do that bend, I need the ends beaded because after those bends are formed, the tool in mind won't be able to turn in there. I found that the Parker beading tool which is about 1100-1200 AUD here, can be bought as the old original WW2 production on ebay in VGC that people sell as collectors items for about 400-500 AUD, and I think I might just fork that out and get one. The new production is just a period correct repro of this old tool and even the new parts are interchangeable., the tool in a way never went out of production and still being sold as the new production into the various fields today, aerospace, military, aircraft, auto etc. So if you get the OG old tool, the new dies fit them as replacements. That price range for a near mint ww2 article that I'll use is actually a pretty good deal.
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Last edited by vlad01 on Wed Nov 26, 2025 10:26 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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vlad01
- Posts: 8549
- Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:41 am
- cars: VP I S
VP I executive
VP II executive
VP II executive #2 - Location: Kyneton, Vic
Re: Vlad's rides thread
I also bought this thermal tape. It's just straight aluminium with a high temp adhesive. And boy does it stick!
https://heatprotectionproducts.com.au/c ... oll-silver
Figured I try an experiment and if it works, it stays there.
It was mighty satisfying to put on. It should help with reflecting IR from the headers being so close. I normally didn't have too much issues as long as there was no physical contact which there is now ample space, but anything I can improve on, I'll give it a try and in the end of the day, either way I will learn something valuable.
Today I tried this out on the shitbox. Sort of like OEM+ engine mounts Felt no vibration or anything different after the drive, high load or gearing down felt no issues. This will restrict the max travel in both directions, and I think this would be of great help when clearances are tight but one wants OEM dampening that solid mounts can't provide.
Most say to install on the passenger side when it comes to solid mounts, but I think that the driver side benefits more due to everything being so tight there, the pass side has no such issues. Can't hurt to do both sides, or if one was on the seious power, a solid one on the left and this on the right would still be decent on dampening. As soon as you go to two solids, the NVH goes to shit, one OEM x solid vs two OEM is barely any different in my experience.
This mod took less than 10 min (exuding actually swapping the mount obviously, that took more than an hour becasue series 1 cars all have the POS dipstick in the way of the damn engine mount bracket bolts!
). I am going to leave it in there for the long term and see how it goes as the mount ages.
https://heatprotectionproducts.com.au/c ... oll-silver
Figured I try an experiment and if it works, it stays there.
It was mighty satisfying to put on. It should help with reflecting IR from the headers being so close. I normally didn't have too much issues as long as there was no physical contact which there is now ample space, but anything I can improve on, I'll give it a try and in the end of the day, either way I will learn something valuable.
Today I tried this out on the shitbox. Sort of like OEM+ engine mounts
Felt no vibration or anything different after the drive, high load or gearing down felt no issues. This will restrict the max travel in both directions, and I think this would be of great help when clearances are tight but one wants OEM dampening that solid mounts can't provide.Most say to install on the passenger side when it comes to solid mounts, but I think that the driver side benefits more due to everything being so tight there, the pass side has no such issues. Can't hurt to do both sides, or if one was on the seious power, a solid one on the left and this on the right would still be decent on dampening. As soon as you go to two solids, the NVH goes to shit, one OEM x solid vs two OEM is barely any different in my experience.
This mod took less than 10 min (exuding actually swapping the mount obviously, that took more than an hour becasue series 1 cars all have the POS dipstick in the way of the damn engine mount bracket bolts!
). I am going to leave it in there for the long term and see how it goes as the mount ages. You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
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vlad01
- Posts: 8549
- Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:41 am
- cars: VP I S
VP I executive
VP II executive
VP II executive #2 - Location: Kyneton, Vic
Re: Vlad's rides thread
This is the modded cheap straightener tool FYI. Works decently well now and should work with small sizes being adjustable with the bolts and nuts.
These Buicks have become a lot harder to find now. These were the only used decent heads I could find, owes me around 400 and still needs the seats going and probably new valves as these two, even from different engines have very sad looking valves.
When I drop the flywheel and clutch of to Duggans this week, I'll get them to freshen these heads up for the shitbox since it's been pushing gas into the cooling system for many years now and some coolant consumption, all post being locked up from total coolant loss some 7-8 years ago. It's getting worse now, so I'm prepping these heads for the worst case not knowing what I'll find.
Clutch arrived after I got a refund from NPC and went for the Xtreme HD kit again, I am sticking to them now since they have been consistently good in a decade of using them on and off. They have a much wider disk area over all other brands I have used for the same flywheel and pressure plate size, so utilizing all of the area available.
Starting to prep the floor plate/tunnel and manual patch loom. Converting the auto one to manual, but struggling to find the plug or terminals for the VSS, the wires are brittle there and need to be cut back and re-terminated. Luckily the auto ones are much longer than the manual, so all of the brittle part of the wires get chopped off anyway when making the length correct. Can't fine the terminals anywhere though. They should be the same as the ones for the fuel pump/sender ones sold new by Rares, same plug type but only 2 pin instead of the 3 pin I need.
These Buicks have become a lot harder to find now. These were the only used decent heads I could find, owes me around 400 and still needs the seats going and probably new valves as these two, even from different engines have very sad looking valves.
When I drop the flywheel and clutch of to Duggans this week, I'll get them to freshen these heads up for the shitbox since it's been pushing gas into the cooling system for many years now and some coolant consumption, all post being locked up from total coolant loss some 7-8 years ago. It's getting worse now, so I'm prepping these heads for the worst case not knowing what I'll find.
Clutch arrived after I got a refund from NPC and went for the Xtreme HD kit again, I am sticking to them now since they have been consistently good in a decade of using them on and off. They have a much wider disk area over all other brands I have used for the same flywheel and pressure plate size, so utilizing all of the area available.
Starting to prep the floor plate/tunnel and manual patch loom. Converting the auto one to manual, but struggling to find the plug or terminals for the VSS, the wires are brittle there and need to be cut back and re-terminated. Luckily the auto ones are much longer than the manual, so all of the brittle part of the wires get chopped off anyway when making the length correct. Can't fine the terminals anywhere though. They should be the same as the ones for the fuel pump/sender ones sold new by Rares, same plug type but only 2 pin instead of the 3 pin I need.
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vlad01
- Posts: 8549
- Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:41 am
- cars: VP I S
VP I executive
VP II executive
VP II executive #2 - Location: Kyneton, Vic
Re: Vlad's rides thread
More dramas with the NPC stuff. Flywheel doesn't quite fit.
They made the flange too wide. I got measurements to have it corrected and they said they would, but after providing that, I've only had silence. I asked if they would change the design going forward and they said no, because they never had an issue. Said it must have been my engine in particular. But I made a few videos for them to make it easier to understand and see the issue more in person, I demonstrated it on two different engines and it was the same problem.
The flange being so wide that it interferes with the bottom of the sump, gasket and dust cover, it is also 1mm from the block's boss around the seal housing which is too close for my liking. It needs some undercutting towards the outside, or they need to change the design to have the flange narrower like the factory ones or the billet ones from Dellow conversions. I would have cut my losses and got a Dellow one, but they only make them to order and no longer list them, from what I read on their site, it's a min of 8 week turnaround.
I need to have it in over xmas if I can. So modding the NPC one locally at Duggans while they re-balance it and add the clutch balancing to it all at the same time seems like a much better idea, at least I can effectively communicate the requirements and not waste money on shipping stuff back to NPC. That alone would pay for the modding at Duggans. Quite disappointed with NPC to be honest.
The bolt holes are 8mm exactly and the bolts are 5/16", so there is basically next to no wiggle room for drill hole variation and surprise surprise, two bolts bind against the sides of the holes. So I am going to ask Duggans to also enlarge them to 8.2mm if they can, so it's still snug but the binding is eliminated.
Crude writing I know, I can't hand write to save my life, so hopefully all that makes sense to them if they need to look at the notes.
Unrelated, but I nearly finished building a storage shelf and integrated work bench at home and started moving the important stuff over. Bench top isn't quite done yet, I need to borrow a drop saw to so the rear and side buffer boards to stuff can't roll off and fall into the abyss. My tool drawers will get mounted in the space underneath. All these years and I never had a workbench. So this is a big deal for me.
I had some interesting challenges with getting racking to fit with the NBN and network stuff being in the worst place possible in the whole house. But the solution came up great. Fair bit of customizing on these racks to get it to this point. I fixed wider yellow tongue sheets up top with a buffer board at the back for the same reasons of preventing stuff from falling between the wall and the racking since I can't get to anything that falls in there. This will allow me to safely store my NOS in box bumpers up there and a bunch of other lighter but large items that need that overhang.
I found that panel LED light for 50 bucks at Bunnings which has 3 power levels as well as 4 colour temps, warm, medium and cool. I found medium and full power to be good for my eyes. Was tricky getting it to mount. I used the wall bolt hooks and through bolted it to the board above, it was a few mm short, but that actually was a good thing. I recessed the holes to get enough thread on the top side which allowed it all to be below the surface, so when I slide things on that shelf it won't catch on any of it.
I sealed all the board except the bench top (since I'm not done with it yet) in a water based varnish to give it durability against humidity long term, some of the boards are MDF before I found better yellow tongue boards that fit the size. MDF def needs to be sealed, it goes to shit over time just from moisture in the air and the dust from just touching it make my lungs itch pretty badly, can't be good for you. Sealing them has stopped the dust at the very least.
They made the flange too wide. I got measurements to have it corrected and they said they would, but after providing that, I've only had silence. I asked if they would change the design going forward and they said no, because they never had an issue. Said it must have been my engine in particular. But I made a few videos for them to make it easier to understand and see the issue more in person, I demonstrated it on two different engines and it was the same problem.
The flange being so wide that it interferes with the bottom of the sump, gasket and dust cover, it is also 1mm from the block's boss around the seal housing which is too close for my liking. It needs some undercutting towards the outside, or they need to change the design to have the flange narrower like the factory ones or the billet ones from Dellow conversions. I would have cut my losses and got a Dellow one, but they only make them to order and no longer list them, from what I read on their site, it's a min of 8 week turnaround.
I need to have it in over xmas if I can. So modding the NPC one locally at Duggans while they re-balance it and add the clutch balancing to it all at the same time seems like a much better idea, at least I can effectively communicate the requirements and not waste money on shipping stuff back to NPC. That alone would pay for the modding at Duggans. Quite disappointed with NPC to be honest.
The bolt holes are 8mm exactly and the bolts are 5/16", so there is basically next to no wiggle room for drill hole variation and surprise surprise, two bolts bind against the sides of the holes. So I am going to ask Duggans to also enlarge them to 8.2mm if they can, so it's still snug but the binding is eliminated.
Crude writing I know, I can't hand write to save my life, so hopefully all that makes sense to them if they need to look at the notes.
Unrelated, but I nearly finished building a storage shelf and integrated work bench at home and started moving the important stuff over. Bench top isn't quite done yet, I need to borrow a drop saw to so the rear and side buffer boards to stuff can't roll off and fall into the abyss. My tool drawers will get mounted in the space underneath. All these years and I never had a workbench. So this is a big deal for me.
I had some interesting challenges with getting racking to fit with the NBN and network stuff being in the worst place possible in the whole house. But the solution came up great. Fair bit of customizing on these racks to get it to this point. I fixed wider yellow tongue sheets up top with a buffer board at the back for the same reasons of preventing stuff from falling between the wall and the racking since I can't get to anything that falls in there. This will allow me to safely store my NOS in box bumpers up there and a bunch of other lighter but large items that need that overhang.
I found that panel LED light for 50 bucks at Bunnings which has 3 power levels as well as 4 colour temps, warm, medium and cool. I found medium and full power to be good for my eyes. Was tricky getting it to mount. I used the wall bolt hooks and through bolted it to the board above, it was a few mm short, but that actually was a good thing. I recessed the holes to get enough thread on the top side which allowed it all to be below the surface, so when I slide things on that shelf it won't catch on any of it.
I sealed all the board except the bench top (since I'm not done with it yet) in a water based varnish to give it durability against humidity long term, some of the boards are MDF before I found better yellow tongue boards that fit the size. MDF def needs to be sealed, it goes to shit over time just from moisture in the air and the dust from just touching it make my lungs itch pretty badly, can't be good for you. Sealing them has stopped the dust at the very least.
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vlad01
- Posts: 8549
- Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:41 am
- cars: VP I S
VP I executive
VP II executive
VP II executive #2 - Location: Kyneton, Vic
Re: Vlad's rides thread
These are the terminals I am trying to find, if anyone knows even what make and family they are, that would be very helpful.
Also I am in the market for some good replacement dies for my Pro's Kit ratchet crimping tool for smaller gauge ranges of open barrel crimp terminals. Specifically ones that are no wider than 3.2mm at the smaller sizes as mine even though I had them modified to remove the strain relief to be able to do a wider range and size combos by separately doing the stain relief, the wire part of the die is still too wide and goes past the ends of the barrels which damages the terminals in a way that weak breaking points are created on the more common sizes with EFI stuff.
Also I am in the market for some good replacement dies for my Pro's Kit ratchet crimping tool for smaller gauge ranges of open barrel crimp terminals. Specifically ones that are no wider than 3.2mm at the smaller sizes as mine even though I had them modified to remove the strain relief to be able to do a wider range and size combos by separately doing the stain relief, the wire part of the die is still too wide and goes past the ends of the barrels which damages the terminals in a way that weak breaking points are created on the more common sizes with EFI stuff.
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Charlescrown
- Posts: 2076
- Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:58 pm
- cars: V8 VR Commodore BT1
LB Lancer 2L turbo & Delco
Starion TBI with Delco
Mitsubishi Lancer EVO4 track car
NA MX5
3 vintage motor bikes - Location: Padstow NSW
Re: Vlad's rides thread
Nice work as always. Love the pipe bends. I have a question abt the heads. You mention a certain model Buick head as being the best. I have a set here I took off a VN many years ago. Is there a way of Iding them by a number or casting design?