v6+t5 into '76 holden hx kingswood wagon

[Dogsballs]

OK, i've sold off my old vn commodore without the stroker (just a stocky engine) http://www.fullthrottlev6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3443&page=1&pp=15

i've bought a semi-completed conversion with a v6 + t5. This originally came out with a holden red 202 and 4 speed m21 floor shift manual transmission. The stroker is about to go into the old girl, but i'm in the process of upgrading a few bits and pieces.

http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/9692/cimg01031ig.th.jpg (http://img77.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg01031ig.jpg)
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9996/cimg01048md.th.jpg (http://img59.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg01048md.jpg)
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/3254/cimg01051mu.th.jpg (http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg01051mu.jpg)


Details
holden 1976 hx kingswood wagon
premier front (twin headlights)
mint tulip paint (yep that is a factory colour)
debadged
185x14" nankang white-walls, on 14x5" stock rims
ultra low kings springs (3" front, 3.5" rear)
power steering, running off v6 pump
cheapo soft shocks
new nolathene bushes
new brake rotors and pads
10 bolt salisbury 3.55 lsd
one-piece 3" tailshaft
3.8 v6 (soon to be 240 rwhp 4.3)
OE tubular headers
2.5" cat-back exhaust
v6 vn radiator
upgraded 3 coils system
t5 gearbox stock v6 flywheel asnd clutch
(soon to be billet flywheel and brass button sprung clutch)
alarm with immobilser
central locking
full retrim in grey velour with blue inserts
re-carpeted trunk
holden hx gts dash (seperate gauges etc)
led shift light retro fitted to tacho
bucket front seats
tinted windows
sony CD player with 5" in fr doors, 6x9" in back
electric rear window
bosch external 300 lph fuel pump
polished wiper arms

stuff in garage waiting to go in
4.3 stroker
oil catch can
1.5 L surge tank
15x3" and 15x8" weld drag-lites with 26x5 and 26x8.5 MT ET's

soon to be purchased:
bosch 044 fuel pump
billet fuel filter
adj fuel reg and guage
aftermarket headers 1 5/8" into 2 1/2"
twin 2.5" exhaust with hi-flow cats

future:
paint roof white
front sunshade
maybe nitrous or turbo :shrug:

it was originally converted about 5 years ago, but hte previous owners didn't look after it. so i've spent quite a few hours cleaning her up and fixing annoying little things. ATM she's a nice cruiser, needs a few rust spots cleaned up and the roof is fading a tad, which will give me the OK to repaint it white to break-up the green. it will be an ongoing project, so i have a daily driver which will make things a little easier.

[Dogsballs]

oh, thanks for the feedback :rolleyes: :(

[Razor789]

From what i can see it looks good for some reason Link's dont work on my latop anymore so i cant see the pic's in a larger form. Keep up the good work.

[Dogsballs]

the past few months a lot of $$ has been thrown at her to get it ready for the stroker. this includes a big fuel system, 3.55 lsd, big twin 2.25" into twin 2.5" exhaust, sort out electrics and guages, funky wheels


sunday started nice and early, 8.30 am, aeroboy came around to pick-up the engine.

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/3312/cimg0228di7.jpg
took her out to the workshop, where we proceeded to pull all the bits and pieces off the car, leaving the loom in place.

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/2931/cimg0230qf9.jpg

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/1961/cimg0231gs9.jpg

meantime we had to get teh sump off the stroker, geez whats the go with the 50 bolts on a v6 sump?? anyway, it all looked brand spankers under-neath so i was happy. got the engine out of the car with-out any drama's, pulled that sump and pick-up off and chucked them in the parts cleaner. to my surprise found that the old engine had new pistons, always wondered why it ran well for a series I. put the stroker sump on this to get it out the way.


Then dummy fitted the reversed sump on the stroker, coz the original stroker sump was relieved near the starter motor as the block was also relieved to let the rods clear. So we pull the plugs and spin by hand, and are greeted by the dreaded, tink, tink, doh! Well we worked out where it was hitting, then took it over to the vice, gave it a little heat then a good whack with the mallet hammer and it was all sweet. had to fix-up a tiny bit of warping, but nothing major. Tried again and spun clear, woo-hoo. put it on with a rubber gasket and lots of gasket goo! fitted all the extra things onto the stroker. then got to the dreaded flywheel, my mate rattled the first bolt on high-setting and pinggg, a few expletives later and a bolt head thrown across the workshop i found that he snapped the grade 8 hi-tensile bolt. not happy! anyway after a few more choice words and taking the flywheel off we got it out. decided to stick with the stock bolts and torque them to factory specs (only 25nM + 75 degs). chucked on the pressure plate etc. put it in the car, few issues with dodgy crane points making the engine twist, but after sorting that out, it went in after playing with the mounts. fitted everything up ready to go.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/8207/cimg0233ao0.jpg

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/5493/cimg0234ni1.jpg

judgement time!!!!! with my heart pounding i turned her over and actually cranked over straight away. she had a miss so shut it down quickly. checked plugs and leads, found no. 3 was fouled, so put everything back it and she ran sweet!! :D after a bit she idled no probs, no oil/water/petrol leaks either, oil pressure a nice 60 psi. took her for spin around the carpark (without bonnet), then up and down the street. tell you what that brass button clutch is either on or off, no slipping at all. just cruised up and down in 1st and 2nd no probs, then decided to pack-up and go home. 8.45pm. dropped the engine off at home and did a few laps of the block (still with no bonnet), but this is toowoomba, so no-one would care, it ran pretty good, although the clutch is very chattery, so its hard to tell if the gearbox bearing are rattly or its the clutch. Just need to sort out the bonnet (currently have raised the bonnet hinges 1" for it to close) and accelerator, plus extend the intake pipe and box that off.

http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/7826/cimg0235oc9.jpg

unfortunately the flywheel is loose so will have to sort that out as well. But at least its in, does run and sounds awesomme! Just waiting for my sun visor to arrive and rear wind deflector :dancingna

[Grimm]

fucking awesome dude. Get some vids of it once you have the last of the problems sorted out. :cool:

[Dogsballs]

thanks mate, hopefully shouldn't be long. ordered my ARP flywheel bolts today and will probably drill the crank and flywheel to run a couple dowels, stop these bolts walking

[lo_jack]

Time to treat yourself to a VB or a Redback, or your favorite regional beer I can't get in the states.

That looks really clean. What's the curb weight of that monster?

[Dogsballs]

only 1320 kgs or 2900 lbs :) , surprsingly not as heavy as it looks

[lo_jack]

Damn. No kidding that thing is 400 lbs lighter than a simillarly drivetrained fbody.

[hawgs]

Wow thats light! I would have guessed at least 3800lbs. Shouldn't take too much horsepower to get that thing down a track quickly. Cool project. :D

[Dogsballs]

these cars have sort of a 3/4 front chassis that attaches under the main body, then all the front panels are bolted on, hence the light weight. you can virtually strip all the panels off the front and still drive, as the suspension is a double wishbone attached to the the chassis. it also has very little wiring, sound deadening etc

[Dogsballs]

its all in and running OK, tune issue to sort out (only making 184 rwhp at 3800 rpm, where it gets mega rich, weird). but i got some sound clips, they are only short as putfile was stuffing me around

cranking the old girl over (note the fuel pump at start)
http://media.putfile.com/cranking-over-v6

some revs (only to 4k)
http://media.putfile.com/stroker-v6-revving

idle, starting in car then going outside
http://media.putfile.com/stroker-idle

overall the sound quality is average, all i can tell you is that it is 10x better in person :)

[Bob]

Sounds like it has some meat in the potatos.

[Ret.CFD]

Sounds damn good! Nice project!

[Dogsballs]

thanks guys. yeah a 230@50 thou, 595 tot, 108 lsa cam will do that ;)

here's the latest pic
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2792/cimg0001rd8.jpg

[Dogsballs]

woohoo, finally sorted out that weird rich AFR thing. Seems that when you don't have a block to chassis earth cable it does it, doh!

Anywayz, its back to full power and it screams all the way to redline and when you shift at high revs and dump the clutch you can feel the chassis twist :) . No further mods for a few months as i just bought a new daily driver powered with a ls1 that does 12.29 down the strip unopened. so need to let finances settle a bit.

[Bob]

Get us a video man.

[Dogsballs]

been meaning to, but keep forgeting, will take the camera home on the weekend.

[pontiacfreak142]

Dear lord, that thing sounds like a monster. Very sweet dude.

[Dogsballs]

by popular demand. please note, it was taken on a private road. roll off in second gear, then nail it, can hear it come on cam.

turn up the sound and enjoy! excuse the crappy shift, bouncing off limiter :)

http://media.putfile.com/v6-stroker-private-road

[bundymike]

hi any chance of a photo of engine mounts i m putting a vn v6 with 5 speed into hj ute any help /advice greatly appreciated I m an old Dalby boy good to hear from some one in the area
regards Mike

[Dogsballs]

i'm only down the road in toowoomba :) , can come and check it out for yourself. Don't have any pics of the engine mounts, but basically they have been welded to the back of the front x-member, then there is a long section connecting the mount to the engine mounts which are more forward 9above the x-member).

also may be selling it ;)