Fitzy

Take some binoculars! Is it Robbie's Wheelchair Tour?

Of course I'm biased, but I reckon stacked headlight Ponchos are the goods. Even in that pic minus all it's front end trim, it looks mean as hell.

Picked up newly machined intake manifold yesterday - the machining cost almost as much as the damn manifold...this is going to end up a very expensive exercise. But that wasn't the end of it, no, no, no. After bringing it home and test fitting it (fits nicely) I thought I'd make sure all the necessary fittings were indeed going to fit. Welcome to the murky world of BSP adapters. We all know about different threads, right? How to measure BSP: you measure the distance between (or across) the threads and then minus 25%. Honestly, who thought this one up? The new intake comes with an assortment of plugs and fittings to cover MOST scenarios, but not all...even though it has 'Performer Pontiac' clearly embossed upon it. I won't go into too much detail but in order to fit my PCV fitting and temp gauge sender, I needed adapters. No point going into the shop with a piece of paper with measurements on it - you need to take the manifold in and make sure what they sell you is going to thread in. At the end of the day - everything is threaded in and sealed with a light coating of RTV on the threads. I recleaned the intake to get the machinist's grimy fingerprints off it and am now waiting for new gaskets to arrive - prolly Tuesday if I'm lucky. Oh - I told machinist that I was cursed with a batch of faulty Mellings lifters. He said there are plenty of bad lifters out there. He said someone had recently fitted some Crow lifters and they failed and wrecked his engine - after the third day after installation. Tread carefully if you are shopping for lifters. I would have loved to have gone for solids, but that means new cam and apparently solids are hard on the valvetrain as there's no hydraulic cushioning. They mitigate this with a more gentle ramp on cam lobes. No wonder I don't sleep at night.

Retirement is for much older people than me. It's my newest saying. I think I felt an obligation to retire since I reached a particular age, but that's crap. I now know I cannot and will not retire...yet.

Fitzy's Rodeo is back! Had a rest from El Poncho today and instead decided to pull my finger out and install some sound deadening insulation onto the floor of my old ute - damn thing is HOT which you don't need in the tropics. I thought "this'll be easy - one bench seat, a coupla seat belts, pop out some plastic trims and there you are." That is essentially how easy it is. The ute is 33 years old and in prime condition. A coupla teeny weeny surface rust specks on the floor, so I cleaned those up and sealed them and then set about measuring, cutting and positioning the self adhesive fancy pants space age silver backed insulation. What I DID notice was that whoever had mucked about with it before neglected to reposition the big heavy duty rubber gearlever surround properly, which meant it had been just sitting atop the floor thereby allowing hot air, noise & fumes into the cabin. The gearlever aperture edge was a little beaten up so I straightened it out and that allowed the rubber cover to seal against the floor - I helped it along with some adhesive. I then replicated the torn up old upper seal out of modern thick high density foam and then put everything back together. I also insulated the entire floor and firewall - something the factory didn't do in 1990. Am yet to test drive it, but I reckon it's going to be considerably quieter now. Machinist called today and intake is ready for collection. Just need gaskets to arrive and I can then whack everything back on.

There's no shame in riding around with a rusty crappy chrome bumper. Just do that until a solution presents itself. I tooled around with my crappy front bumper for 2 years and nobody spat at me.

I have tuned plenty of cars and the instructions always seem to be the same: disconnect & plug vacuum advance hose, set timing at idle, reconnect hose and watch for advancing (timing marks separate) as revs increase. Job done. I am open (and interested) to listen to any variations on this, but this is the only way I know. Interestingly, the instructions with the new manifold detail how with it and headers and cam fitted (which is what I have) may require a slight increase in main jet size to prevent leaning of the mixture. That's another can of worms. I'll check the plugs after a few hundred miles and see how they look.

Yes, absolutely but I know that emission controlled cars used ported vacuum for all sorts of black magic. The US (CA first, I believe because of LA's incredible smog problem years ago) were well before us when they introduced emissions regs that strangled all their cars. In Australia, I think it was 1975 or 1976 that the infamous ADR27A (Australian Design Rule 27A) was introduced locally and all of a sudden, every engine bay was a spaghetti of hoses and weird black bolt on bits that choked the engine, reduced power, INCREASED fuel consumption but apparently made the exhaust a bit more friendly. Thank god for EFI. While I'm here, whilst waiting for the intake to be machined I enjoyed some therapeutic sanding & repainting all the little bits & pieces that are needed for engine to work again: nuts & bolts, brackets, etc. I also painted the sheetmetal that sits in front of the radiator. It's a bit like Christine - each day another bit gets exhumed and tarted up ready to eventually wreak havoc. Honestly, I'll be happy if it simply runs. Jeez - I keep babbling away and sending in pics but I apparently need another ten billion points to get to the next FP level of All Stars. Better strap in - plenty more crap for you to wade through comin' up.

If you were to wirebrush it, it would go to bare metal - correct? That's a mystery. Of course, you could always sell your soul to the Devil and get the thing rechromed, but you'd be in debt until beyond eternity. You COULD do what I did and get it powdercoated but there's no point dancing around it - it'll be nice & shiny but only chrome shines like chrome.

It looks a bit like that black stuff they spray under your car during rust proofing. I can't imagine it being corrosive though. Even thinners won't remove it?

Well, here's a topic that may cause some discussion. As I understand it, manifold vacuum is constant - from idle through to whatever revs you run and ported comes in about 1500rpm. When you set the timing at idle you block the vacuum hose to the distributor. Once the timing is set, reconnect and note how there is now (at least some) vacuum advance, even at idle. Apparently, that's how it's supposed to work. The original vacuum point is from the hollow carb stud, so that'd be manifold vacuum ie. constant but the Edelbrock has blind threads for the carb. I believe (correct me as you may) that ported vacuum is more of an emissions condition - something my car is too early to have. The only components I will have plumbed into the manifold are the PCV system and the distributor advance. The power brakes & auto plumb into the carb base plate. Takes deep breath and waits for 10 different opinions.

I don't know how much US fuel is excised at but if it's anything like the greedy Australian government, it'll be up to almost half. The billions they rake in do NOT go on road repairs. Instead, it ensures that the scumbags who are too lazy to go to work can sit around the house smoking cones, eating KFC and watching Dr Phill. In some places, our national Highway 1 is a narrow goat track in need of constant repair and where trucks pass each other with inches to spare. I'll always remember driving across the US on interstate highways and marvelling at the amount of concrete they must have consumed.

Hi Andy. Yep - preheat ports are definitely being blocked off. They were when I did the original rebuild. I shall keep an eye on possible contact between rockers & covers but I think it's safe, and no throttle cable for me, just a rod. The manifold came with all sorts of bibs & bobs including an alternate throttle mounting bracket. I only need one bolt to secure the rod system so that should be easy..remember those words. What I DO have to consider is where I'm going to get vacuum from for the distributor. There are plenty of threaded holes for that purpose so that too shouldn't be too much of a drama. Frosty thinks I'm going to do this for a living. I'll be hungry & homeless in a week.

Now that everyone knows the value in an old car, all sorts of crap that should have been crushed decades ago is commanding top dollar. Remember the Holden Gemini? Now an emerging classic. 70s Mazda rotaries like the R100 are stratospheric. HQ holden 4 door Kingswood with a bench seat, 3 on the tree and 202? How does 40k sound? Ridiculous. The Yanks always had cars that we salivated over: all Ford, GM & Chrysler had to do was to allow local manufacture of those cars. Much cheaper than a standalone country specific model. Don't matter no more - it all went down the toilet.

What a day. I had a list on my workbench and was sick of walking past it and making excuses why I shouldn't do this or that. I rewrote it (in correct geographical & chronological order) and jumped in the ute and drove about 200km in total and got everything done - procrastination sent packing. One of the tasks was to get the new intake machined. I went to the machinist, told them the problem and the guy looked at it and said "hmm.." Turns out it's not as simple as whacking a slice of metal off the faces and hope for the best. First of all: original intake was not touched by machinist. He said the flycut marks are factory. He told me to take the Edelbrock back home and fit it without the gaskets. If it sits nicely and bolts in, then the gasket thickness is what they'll use as a reference. I thought to myself "why didn't I do that yesterday?" Seems so obvious now. Well blow me down, I did exactly that and would you believe it, it bolts right in. The intake gaskets are .060" thick, so that's what has to come off each face. He said this is a common issue and they machine hundreds of intakes. All you budding engine builders reading this - take note. Installed new valvetrian components yesterday. Easy to adjust rockers with valley pan removed as you can see where each cam lobe is. Checked geometry, but lift is so minimal (stock half inch) that roller contacts valve stem perfectly through it's very short arc. Couldn't resist taking some pics for you - engine is looking really nice.

Latest instalment re the car: I was going great guns, new lifters, pushrods & roller rockers installed & adjusted, fitted the water pump & valley pan and was ready to fit the intake. I thought before I commit to applying sealant to everything, I'll just make extra sure that all the bolts line up. When I saw that it was NEVER going to fit, I remembered that the machinist had decked the block & heads by the tiniest amount just to true the surfaces. I looked at the old intake and after removing the old gaskets from it, could clearly see where it had been flycut to fit the newly machined heads. Bloody hell - scrape off my new gaskets (which promptly tore) and readied it to take to a machinist tomorrow to skim the sides. Then I sat down, cracked a beer and ordered yet again another set of intake gaskets. Weirdly, I test fitted the intake a while ago and it looked to be right. It was only after attempting to thread some bolts in that the error had become apparent. Never mind - I need a break from stuff anyway.

Well, the wallabies are one type and the other smaller darker ones are called pademelons. Everything else is a pest, but not these. Whilst cleaning my teeth this morning, I idly glanced out the window to see an olive tree python attempting to cross from one water tank to the other. The silly thing dropped to the ground then slithered off and found a tree to go up - better grip than a poly water tank.

So many old cars in NZ - looks like Taupo has it's fair share too.

I've managed to get you a ticket...by ship...in a container...I will provide a hammock & a bucket. If you survive the trip (unlikely) I'll pick you up from the bus station in Cairns. Come on, how could you refuse such a generous offer?

I bought a secondhand Honda powered generator a couple of weeks ago - the power goes off around here with monotonous regularity, and it needed a little house to keep it out of the weather so I knocked that up today. Another day of fluffing about with car bits & pieces. I attached gaskets to intake (note special gaskets that incorporate exhaust crossover block), valley pan & water pump. Chucked a clear coat on the rocker covers, painted the intake & water pump nuts & bolts and soaked the lifters in a bath of oil. I tested them (pushed down with a pushrod) prior to their bath and they were all squishy. Let's see if they pump up overnight. Tomorrow I want to finish my mosaic'ed laundry trough which will be the wallaby drinking fountain. I did the mosaic work and it just needs the top metal frame polished and clearcoated and I can then fill it with water, and I guess I will gingerly start adding valvetrain components. I'm taking my time with this one - I do NOT want another engine failure. In case anyone is interested, my time at the Mine as a warehouse officer will end just after Christmas, so I may go back to driving a bus, which is semi retirement anyway. Big day - time for a beer. Oh, and can I add that if anyone reading this is going to rebuild their engine, go for the Flowkooler water pump - a more efficient design, especially at idle when your big 'ol V8 is likely to get hot.

Wow - some serious work has gone into that. I also can't wait to see her when she's complete and cleaned up. Nice work. If I go to NZ and help Kiwi with his 389, will you come to Oz and paint my car?

Hi Frosty, car shows are a bit sparse up my way. There are enough local clubs and events to keep peeps happy, but due to the geography your cruising choices are limited, and travelling anywhere significant involves some distance. Because we are essentially on the edge of major human habitation, 4WDs are the preferred vehicle - I think it'd be fair to say that 50% of all cars up my way are proper duty 4WD. I have a choice of local clubs to join and every second person you speak to seems to have something tucked away in the shed, now that old cars are valuable, but I'm not really that sociable and the thought of joining a convoy of cars to some local destination fills me with dread more than anything. Showing the GP at the Atherton Car Show was worth doing though. Ha! That'll be easy - mine will be pushing me out the door to make sure I don't miss my flight!

You know what - I'd be there in a flash. I reckon Taupo was my fave on the whole trip and I would love to immerse myself there for 6 months or so. Betcha scared now, aintcha? Just because I rebuilt ONE 389 doesn't make me any sort of expert but haven't I learnt a lot over the past few years. I would be honoured to be tasked with your rebuild. For the record, I love Steinlager. Just sayin'...