142 replies to this topic

[mshue]

Sheeeesh... you know its been a while when ya build thread makes its way to the bottom of the second page in the Members Projects forum!!!

 

Errrr... got to find some time... 

 

But a very quick update... The purple hatch in the photo above... Sold to real nice bloke over in Melbourne... RX3 Coupe - sold... Bunch of spare parts for various cars - Sold... I've been cleansing the shed and made myself a promise to stop buying cars... at least for a while and just get on to the two Hatchbacks I have.

While looking under my streeter on the hoist, I had to really have a think about what I was doing on it last time I was working on it... That's right... Extractors... and the power steering rack I bought from Lenny waaaay back (sorry I didn't get back to you about that second rack to, Lenny!). Anyways, I have a SBC in there and the sump has quite a square bottom on it (as apposed to the rounded bottom ones) and the sump is hitting the power steering rack. Just wondering if anyone has a SBC with one of Lenny's racks installed with a square bottom sump that can post a picture of the clearance they have.

I'm figuring my options are:
1. Cut the sump for a relief as per the white paint marker lines

2. A little "massaging" from a ball pein hammer (not my style, but and option)

3. Redo my engine mounts and raise the engine higher up (and possibly back a little)

4. Move the engine toward the passenger side about 15-20mm.

 

Any thoughts fellas?

  

(its been that long I can't even remember how to add an image to the post!

Alright... I worked it out....

[mshue]

....

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[axistr]

G'day Marcus, have you checked to ensure that the mounts aren't different between sides. Its common for Chev to HQ mounts to be offset to the left. Holden used offset mounts from factory in various chev to Holden combinations.

 

Is your engine currently bolted in or just sitting there for the photos?

How much clearance do you have now?

 

Looks like your sump has already been modified. I would probably go for a mod on the engine mounts to move the engine to the left slightly as this should be the quickest and easiest way to obtain more clearance. I can't judge from the photos but doesn't look like you need much. Clearancing this way you wont need to remove the engine or touch that shiny sump. In comparison my hatch with SBC has approximately 30mm clearance from the power steering rack mount bracket. I also have the original rag joint steering coupling and 1 7/8 extractors. 

 

P.S please put a bung or similar in that open power rack hydraulic supply fitting before something gets in there.       

Edited by axistr, 07 January 2025 - 02:49 PM.

[mshue]

Hey Lenny,

Thanks for your reply.

 

The engine is mounted. I have Tuff mounts, but only used the engine side and made my own k-frame sections so that the motor was centered. I dug out the original tuff mount parts yesterday and I'm hoping to get them installed tomorrow to see how it sits. From memory, they move the motor over to the passenger side and a few measurements suggest it will sit a little higher with the tuff mounts compared to the ones I've made.

 

The bung for the port - I actually knocked it out just before I took the photo's drawing that white line with the paint pen would you believe. The little bugger fell in between the rack and the k-frame. I fished it out after I took the photo's and reattached it.

 

Yep, the sump has been modified by ASR to cater for a Daley Eng external wet-vac pump.

 

I'll post the outcome...

 

Much appreciated.

Marcus

[SmacT]

Looks good Marcus - I have an ASR sump/tuff mounts combo on my Holden engine in my LX, and despite both companies assuring me ahead of time there would be stock spec sump/crossmember/steering rack clearance, there wasn't. I needed to make up some spacers on the Tuff Mounts to sit the engine higher for the clearance I wanted. So maybe there's something in that, even though you have a different combo. The products are great otherwise, just a shame I had to space the engine higher, as it caused other problems (header clearance, etc.)

[mshue]

Hey Sam,

 

Yeah, I'm hearing you... Which is exactly why I'm working on getting the engine mounts sorted along with the gearbox crossmember (so I can consider the diff pinion angle/Uni working angle - avoid vibrations) before working on the headers and exhaust. 

I'll slip the other mounts in and see where things are at. Hopefully its all a match as per Lenny's arrangement he's mentioned. 

 

Appreciate you guys chiming in!

 

M

[mshue]

Ok. So Tuff Mounts installed. She's tight with only a handful of millimeters of space. A little tight for my liking, so I'll shim behind the engine mounting plates with some fat washers.

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[SmacT]

Ah, I didn't see Lenny had answered. Just do whatever he says!

I had the same clearance as you, so cut and drilled a standard engine mount flat section to space the tuff mount up, and all is good. 👍

[mshue]

Hey Lenny,

If you happen to be crawling around under your car at some stage, wondering if you can measure the depth of your SBC sump?

 

I fitted up the Tuff Mount engine mounts (longer one on the driver side) and I still have clearance issues. While it does move the engine over to the passenger side it still touches on the aluminum casting of the power steering rack (see yellow arrow on 2nd photo - not the best image, but...). I'm thinking that this sump pan may be deeper than others.
The 1st image shows a tape measure butted up again the sump flange at the engine side and a 300mm ruler flush against the bottom of the pan. The tape measure shows it to be 99-100mm at than point. Would yours be a little shallower than this?

 

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[axistr]

G'day Marcus,

 

See attached photos for reference. 

 

I have 9mm clearance between the power steering rack cylinder and the sump (directly above cylinder).

My sump is 90mm in depth measured from the block sump rail to the top of the rack cylinder. 

The clearance between the right-side power steering mount and the sump is approximately 20mm. However my sump is slightly rounded in this area and yours appears to be more squared off due to the sump modifications.

 

My sump looks to be an original HQ350 sump. 

 

 20250114_105723.jpg   170.47K   4 downloads 

 

 20250114_105807.jpg   177.2K   4 downloads

 

[mshue]

Thanks Lenny. 

 

Your description and images answers the quandary. 

I'll consider my options.

 

Whatever route I take, I'll post for other peoples reference.

 

Much appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to take the pics and make your post mate.

 

M

 

 

G'day Marcus,

 

See attached photos for reference. 

 

I have 9mm clearance between the power steering rack cylinder and the sump (directly above cylinder).

My sump is 90mm in depth measured from the block sump rail to the top of the rack cylinder. 

The clearance between the right-side power steering mount and the sump is approximately 20mm. However my sump is slightly rounded in this area and yours appears to be more squared off due to the sump modifications.

 

My sump looks to be an original HQ350 sump. 

Edited by mshue, 14 January 2025 - 04:29 PM.

[mshue]

Managed to drag the hatch outside and set up a temporary 'protected' area to sand blast the surface rust... Gee sand blasting is fun - NOT.
Anyways, after some effort I managed to do a good job of getting it all brought back to bare metal and scuffed back the existing high build primer to create a tooth for some new epoxy primer.

I blew out the sand a million times, vacuumed and blew it out again and again and again but man!! that stuff just kept reappearing!! I was hoping to take full advantage of spraying it on the rotisserie, but in the end I had to opt to fully spray out the underside first, then just spray out the interior without rolling it in fear of more sand falling out of a crevice!! 
I had some primer gun issues along the way so the high build didn't laydown as nice as I would have liked. The issue being that the crazy gun positions to get around the cage would block up the vent hole in the top of the spray gun cup and it would spray terribly. It would dry out and clog the hole between cup refills and catch me out (you'd think I would have learned to clean the hole out at refills right???). Nothing a few days of sanding won't fix. 

Anyways... it effectively in epoxy from the A pillars back... its a start!!

Lets see if I can keep this moving along, eh... 
 

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[Shiney005]

It would have been interesting to weigh the body before and after the modifications.

[neglectedtorana]

Nice work Marcus,

Your temporary blasting area is neater than my garage.

 

I have been thinking about putting a half cage in my car as I have done some speed events but it is road registered so am limited between registration and MA rules which is impossible to keep them both happy. Your car looks awesome!

I just re-read the whole thing when I saw your update as it had been a while, such a great build. Glad your making progress.

 

Cheers, Tom

[mshue]

Oh... Tom... I should have uploaded a picture of the temporary area I used for sandblasting... I just used some temp fence panels and wrapped some shade cloth around it and over the top. I have removed some of the shade cloth that was over the top in this pic, but you get the picture. Its been quite windy over here in Perth so it did quite a good job of keeping the sandblasting dust contained.

Yeah, half cages in road registered cars can be tricky. Not impossible that is for sure - at least here in WA. I have had a half cage passed in my 1969 Camaro, so that bit is ok. Which section of the MA Rules apply to your catagory?

 

Marcus

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[neglectedtorana]

Oh... Tom... I should have uploaded a picture of the temporary area I used for sandblasting... I just used some temp fence panels and wrapped some shade cloth around it and over the top. I have removed some of the shade cloth that was over the top in this pic, but you get the picture. Its been quite windy over here in Perth so it did quite a good job of keeping the sandblasting dust contained.

Yeah, half cages in road registered cars can be tricky. Not impossible that is for sure - at least here in WA. I have had a half cage passed in my 1969 Camaro, so that bit is ok. Which section of the MA Rules apply to your catagory?

 

Marcus

 

As my car is road registered and I only do speed events I don't need a cage however it is recommended for safety.

For MA to approve a cage it can be a half cage but the backstays must be straight and I can't have straight backstays in a road registered car if I want the back sea to be useable.

Cage manufacturers I have spoken to say the angled backstays following the roof line are strong and suitable but MA don't agree.

 

At speed events if I have a non-approved cage it is up the scrutineer to decide. I think most of the scrutineers will agree a half caged with angled backstays will be much safer than nothing and let me though, small risk though.

 

The horizontal/taxi bar behind the main hoop can be removeable so it works for road cars and MA.

 

I am likely to fit a half cage.

[SmacT]

Looking good mate!

 

More on the engine mounts and clearance - when I recently re-fitted my 355 engine, the box wasn't straight and there was less clearance to sump/steering rack then the last engine. On Tuffmounts' advice (I rang them), I put the engine crane on the engine, backed off all the engine mount bolts (every one of them) and gearbox mount nuts. I then straightened the box, nipped up the g'b mount. Then pulled the engine up gently with the engine crane, one side at a time and tightened each side with gorilla strength once I had clearance and it was level. Worked a treat. I also kept the spacers I have in there to suit the ASR sump (which clears my crank girdle). The Tuff Mounts are slotted for all this. Maybe this helps?

[mshue]

Hey Tom... yeah that is a tough one to get across the line. It really is tricky to negotiate the rules. I guess MA have their reasons to mandate straight backstays. To get that over the line, you'd have to get creative with the design. Could you consider having a horizontal bar below the hatch hinges that connect in to the main hoop with straight bars that run just under the roof line, then from that horizontal bar run the back stays down to the top of the shock mounts (cross bracing as per normal)? That would provide you the head room in the back seats and should tick the boxes for MA? Just a thought.

Sam. appreciate those thoughts in the mounts and clearance. When I get time, I will give it a shot. Well worth trying and may save me making new mounts. I'll let you know the outcome.

Managed to get the rest of the car body and doors sandblasted and epoxy primed over the Australia Day weekend (from the A-Pillar forward). Still had some primer spray gun issues. I managed to solve those issues right at the end of painting on the last top up of paint. The regulator on the bottom of the spray gun was dodgy - which is unusual as it is brand new and name brand (Iwata). Anyway, its all sealed up in Epoxy. There are a few sections on the roll cage that can't be spraypainted due to access, so I'll get out a paint brush for those bits. Somehow I managed to pick up the wrong colour epoxy from the shop despite having the paint part number memorized (go figure), so it you are wondering why the bulk of the body is light grey and the rest of it is white, that is the reason. Fortunately its just the primer and during the course of body work, it will be many colours before the final colour goes on. 

There is a range of dings, dents and previous rust repairs on the body and doors. Yep, these should have been addressed before primer, but the outcome was to get it blasted and sealed up in epoxied before the surface rust became pitting rust. The question is, being a car for the track, how much of should I repair?? There is some obvious bits that I will fix for sure, but some will never be seen... anyway, time will tell.

Bonnet, front guards, nose, flares etc and hatch are all fiberglass. I'll prep these and get them in high build next and everything will be in one colour - almost...

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