372 replies to this topic

[SmacT]

Well, the usual ups and downs - second block is good, but I'm at my third engine machinist. First guy was good, but taking way too long for me so i went and got it. Second guy insisted rope rear main and didn't want to machine for a chev rear main, now on the third and he seems great so far - does what he says, when he says he will do it. I can see why people end up giving up on projects, this stuff is pretty annoying, The engine should be back in the car by now, I had the second block to a machinist at the start of June, but anyway...

 

One head needs six new valves and some welding to repair where the rampant piston gave it a smack. I have a forged bottom end at the new machinist (Scat 4340 crank, callies rods, srp true flat tops), will choose a camshaft soon. The old solid Clive cam in the 383 was a symmetrical lift cam, it turns out, really old school and a bit fo a beast at .612@50 and 266 duration. Will go a Crow solid roller cam at this stage, even though the pin oiler lifters cost well more than the cam itself.

 

In the mean time, I have wired in the cabin side of the new Haltech R3, been able to ditch a bunch of wiring at the same time as the Haltech will run it all (EWP, Thermo fans, small fusebox, etc). I also set up a head unit, which connects wirelessly to the Haltech with the Haltech Connect app, allowing me to use it as a gauge, and even tune from in the car in real time. Cheap way to have a full set of gauges, and no need to drag a laptop around with me when I do longer drives or drive and drag events.

 

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Also been fixing/modifying small things that had annoyed me, it is a bit of a mark 2 build in some ways! Can't wait for the day she fires up again.

[Shiney005]

The modern cams blow the socks off the old ones.

[tuxedo123]

Looking forward to seeing this build back on the road again soon. Lots of inspiration here for my own build.

[SmacT]

Still waiting for the engine to be machined, it's about half way through, which is on track. Meanwhile, though:

I trimmed a surround for the head unit and got it all wired in. I am not sure I will keep the smaller unit yet, it's just for maps, will see how I go when I start driving it. Might be too many screens...



Got the glovebox light working for the first time since I got the car, will trim the computer bracket next.



Made new front brake lines, the old ones looked rubbish.


Repaired ASR sump turned up.



Cleaned the oil out of the radiator, tested it, added rivnuts to mount it and the AU fans, plugged where I don't need a sensor, etc



Painted the passenger side door handle after making a mess of it the first time.



In a nod to the late forum great, Bigfella, I finally painted the yellow horns matt black. That would have made him happy.



Fitted a neater 5mm spacer for the TKX for pinion angle than what I had.



I have done a heap of other small things, really just want the engine back and get driving again! Soon, soon...

[neglectedtorana]

Hi Sam,

 

Well done as always, nice to get the little bits done. 

Is that a battery cable on your gearbox? Do you have the battery in the boot?

 

I read some of the other threads on batteries in the boot and there seemed to be a mix of run the + cable under the car or through the interior under the carpet, interested to know where you went?

 

Cheers, Tom

[Shiney005]

In a nod to the late forum great, Bigfella, I finally painted the yellow horns matt black. That would have made him happy.

I was looking for an old message from him yesterday, but they have all disappeared from my inbox.

[SmacT]

I was looking for an old message from him yesterday, but they have all disappeared from my inbox.

Oh really? Maybe the account has gone. That's a shame.

[SmacT]

Hi Sam,

 

Well done as always, nice to get the little bits done. 

Is that a battery cable on your gearbox? Do you have the battery in the boot?

 

I read some of the other threads on batteries in the boot and there seemed to be a mix of run the + cable under the car or through the interior under the carpet, interested to know where you went?

 

Cheers, Tom

Hey Tom - that's my main "engine" earth. The TKX makes it easy with numerous spots for it, so I earth to a crossmember mounting bolt. gets it away from any heat, takes it out of the engine bay, etc. I run my main power cable from the boot inside the cabin down the passenger side, there's a good spot for it on LX sedans up against the sill plates. Battery in the boot is earthed to the rear bumper bolt. Time again, I would have run the main power cable down the center of the car, under the console and on top of the transmission tunnel (inside the car). I would also have put the bulk head connector in the transmission tunnel, rather than the firewall as I have now, to make it neater, easier to avoid any heat. That wouldn't have worked with the T5 box I originally had, but plenty of room with the TKX. But anyway, it worked great when I was up and running.

Edited by SmacT, 24 September 2025 - 09:16 AM.

[neglectedtorana]

Hey Tom - that's my main "engine" earth. The TKX makes it easy with numerous spots for it, so I earth to a crossmember mounting bolt. gets it away from any heat, takes it out of the engine bay, etc. I run my main power cable from the boot inside the cabin down the passenger side, there's a good spot for it on LX sedans up against the sill plates. Battery in the boot is earthed to the rear bumper bolt. Time again, I would have run the main power cable down the center of the car, under the console and on top of the transmission tunnel (inside the car). I would also have put the bulk head connector in the transmission tunnel, rather than the firewall as I have now, to make it neater, easier to avoid any heat. That wouldn't have worked with the T5 box I originally had, but plenty of room with the TKX. But anyway, it worked great when I was up and running.

 

Thanks Sam,

I thought about down the centre on top of the tunnel but didn't want it to be possible to stand on it if someone was in the back seat, would need some good protection.

I am still thinking about it but I like the idea of having the battery in the boot

[SmacT]

Yeah, no one sits in my back seat so I wasn't worried about that, but if they will with yours, then down the side works well. Hackshop Garage just mounted a battery in the boot of a LH sedan in Youtube, have a look!

[SmacT]

They did it almost exactly as I did.

[Rockoz]

One issue that worries me with typical rear battery installations is what happens when there is a problem.

The run from the battery is generally an unprotected circuit.

No fuses or circuit breakers in case of an issue.

 

A typical car battery in a short circuit situation will allow a current of above 2000 amps to discharge.

It wont be for a long period, but will be enough to cause significant problems.

 

Have you ever tried welding car sheet metal with an arc welder at 100 amps?

Try it. But on something that you dont need.

 

Just food for thought for those doing it or thinking about doing it.

 

Cheers

 

Rob

[SmacT]

One issue that worries me with typical rear battery installations is what happens when there is a problem.

The run from the battery is generally an unprotected circuit.

No fuses or circuit breakers in case of an issue.

 

A typical car battery in a short circuit situation will allow a current of above 2000 amps to discharge.

It wont be for a long period, but will be enough to cause significant problems.

 

Have you ever tried welding car sheet metal with an arc welder at 100 amps?

Try it. But on something that you dont need.

 

Just food for thought for those doing it or thinking about doing it.

 

Cheers

 

Rob

Yeah, I have seen some scary boot mounted battery set ups. I have it fused off the positive post with a quality fuse as recommended by an auto eleccie mate. A definite must.  

[Rockoz]

Hope that fuse is a really well sealed type. Like fully encapsulated.

A fuse of the size required to handle the starter motor current is going to let off some great fireworks if it blows.

I would be carrying a spare fuse too as they will sometimes fail at inconvenient times and not through an actual fault.

 

Cheers

 

Rob

[neglectedtorana]

Yeah, no one sits in my back seat so I wasn't worried about that, but if they will with yours, then down the side works well. Hackshop Garage just mounted a battery in the boot of a LH sedan in Youtube, have a look!

 

Thanks Sam,

I'll have a look at Youtube.

No one besides the dog has been in my back seat, its more just in case the engineer asks where it goes or has any concerns

[SmacT]

An unbelievable sum of months later, I got the engine back from the machinist. I dropped it all at the assembler and a week later it was together and back in my garage. If only everyone worked at his pace... I got it back late November, so pressure was on to get it ready for the tuner before Australia shuts down for Xmas. There was a bit to do before hitting the dyno (below).

 

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I got it home and back in the crossmember, added the flywheel, Superpro chassis bushes (the original brand new rubber ones had shat themselves before I even drove it, really), clocked the gearbox again just to be sure (it was a new block, and was within spec without touching it), added a new spigot bearing, fitted the TKX clutch and box, fitted a new reconditioned steering rack and tie rod ends, etc.

 

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Fitted the crossmember/engine and box back to the car, tailshaft, the painted exhaust, etc, etc. I can do this stuff with my eyes closed at this point. This fact does not please me. Then it was time to terminate all the wiring and decide where to run the coil packs, something I ummed and ahhed about for ages. I also had to modify the heater box (again) as I reversed the fuel rails so I could have the new fuellines I made up enter/return at the back, not the front.

 

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I finally decided on coil location, and kinda ruined my clean-ish engine bay. I do like you can see them, they are out of the heat and will be a talking point ("why the pharrk did you put them there?") at Toranafest. Down the track - some billet rocker covers with the coils mounted there.

 

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So after all that, I missed the tuner by a few days, so I did the first start up then parked it up over Xmas. That was annoying.

 

Then it hit the hub dyno in the last week. There were a few minor niggles - the TPS was junk, a small leak from the rocker cover of course. But also a weird moment where it wouldn't grab oil pressure again after an oil and filter change, so we had to take the oil pump off and pack it with vaso. It was run-in on the dyno, then tuned. I like running them in on the dyno, so you can load the rings and really bed them in nicely. It's a roller cam, so that wasn't an issue.

 

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The Haltech R3 is so good to work with. It allowed me to test lots of things before even running the engine and I can see what's going on at all times, including current draw on any circuit, etc. The engine is sequential ignition with LS2 coils and Ice VT dizzy, the same YT -9 alloy heads, 1375cfm throttle body and ProPaw Intake from the 383, a solid roller Crow cam, BAM lifters, forged bottom end and 12.2:1 comp. Early days, but so far it drives better than I expected. Not quite as much bottom end torque as the 383 had (you can see the hole in the torque curve), but smooth and more than enough grunt. The Superpro bushes feel great at first, too. Lots more driving to come before I make any solid judgements, but so far the work was worth it. Mostly. It has ended up being almost a second rebuild and it's a better car for it. I have a few events lined up for it, including the one I killed the 383 at last year.

 

I much prefer driving it, than working on it. And drinking beer from a stubbie holder with my own car on it. Best Xmas pressie I got.

 

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[Shiney005]

Should be close to 600 at the flywheel????  They work on 30% drivetrain loss don't they? Or are the hub dynos more accurate?

Just to go back a bit, what make of rod bolts were in the 383?

[SmacT]

Should be close to 600 at the flywheel???? They work on 30% drivetrain loss don't they? Or are the hub dynos more accurate?
Just to go back a bit, what make of rod bolts were in the 383?

Hi mate - hub dynos take out wheel spin on the rollers, so yes, more efficient. Some reckon they also add a little horsepower as the engine is no longer turning wheels and tyres, but not sure it's much. The tuner reckons it would have done 420-430 on a roller dyno and so roughly a 550hp engine, pretty standard for a grumpy 355. I am happy with it! And it sounds pretty good.

Rod bolts were ARP, older ones, but the rod bearing was the real problem, seizing hard at high revs and snapping the rod bolt, which led to catastrophe. Running arp everywhere in this engine and forged everything. Some good oil mods too. Better not break!

[neglectedtorana]

Congratulations and well done Sam, happy times having it back together.

What are these events you have planned?

 

I'm considering the NSSCC tarmac rally sprint Feb 12th, looks pretty technical compared to a hill climb so would have to take it easy 

[SmacT]

Congratulations and well done Sam, happy times having it back together.
What are these events you have planned?
 
I'm considering the NSSCC tarmac rally sprint Feb 12th, looks pretty technical compared to a hill climb so would have to take it easy 

Thanks Tom, feels good! I have a club event in May, Coota 400, basically drive to Cootamundra and send it down the air strip for a couple days. I am not really into drag racing, but it’s fun and social and good to use the car.

I am considering Drag Challenge for the same reason. I would prefer something like Optima Steeet Challenge though, a variety of driving events in a relatively safe environment. Blowing the engine was bad enough, hitting something hard would be worse. Ha ha.

[SmacT]

This is the dash layout I have settled on for now on the head unit. You can choose to see anything the Haltech can see, I want to keep my eye on these things for now. Great set up and only cost $200 to do.

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[Shiney005]

I see they have shortened the Coota 500 to 400 meters.  The near 200 MPH runs must have had the organisers a bit worried.  Racewars over here at the Albany airport saw cars over 220 MPH before it was canned in 2020.  Could you imagine the speeds if someone turned up with one of the Horsepower Heros cars from Summernats?  3,700 HP and a sticky set of tyres over a standing kilometre in a HQ? 

[RallyRed]

Scary thought!