Hold(en) my beer - Monaro, Ute and Commodore content

[SturdyHSV]

Took TB Ute to get the aircon regassed turns out the MOT tester has a Monaro


Aircon sorted, topped up oil, coolant, tyres etc, and packed up for camping at Caffeine & Machine



Got a nicely shaded spot



Wherever I go today there's a Holden



Dogbear approves



Time for a few beers, it's Le Mans after all

[SturdyHSV]

Well, long time no post. Ute survived Le Mans weekend, although the plastic end tank on the radiator split a bit some weeks later, so I'm waiting on an aluminium replacement at the moment. It's pretty common on the Monaros aslnd VXR8s with age, so not too fussed.

I could use the Monaro's old one and update the cooling system but I don't need more projects at the moment.

With some time off for summer shutdown I set about fitting the H&R coilovers to the wagon, and some VXR8 brakes, which are 4 pot AP calipers all round and much bigger discs.

Long story short, it looks the duck's guts.







Turns out the big rear calipers and the dished rear wheels don't play together, so it's stock milk bottle tops out back. Ho' hum.

Took it for its MOT and passed with no advisories.

It sits really nicely. Ride is also still comfortable, feels much flatter and positive turning in, but it looks so good, which is really why I did it.



I finally got around to getting on with the Monaro too. The main bearings had really chewed on some quality metal chunks, the worst being this one, number 1 right next to the oil pump that was generating the swarf.



Crank journals look / feel fine, so ultimately new bearings all round and back together it went.





I've ended up seeing a lot more of this sexy clutch than I expected, so I suppose that's a positive thing...



Mated back to the gearbox and then the awkward dance of getting it back in the car. The rocker covers being at eye level isn't scary at all.



There's loads of room at least



But despite all of that room, I'd not put the leveller in a very useful spot, so ultimately couldn't get it back in this evening as it hit the panel above the firewall. So I had to get the other engine support out to take the weight and put the gearbox on a jack stand so I could re-align the leveller to keep it out of the way.



Will get it in place tomorrow evening and get the prop back in and wiring, headers, steering column, crank pulley (hopefully without splitting this one...) etc.

I'm aiming for an MOT Thursday as we have a work car meet on Sunday that I'd like to make it to in the Monaro...

[SturdyHSV]

seefarr said:

Fantastic to see the Munro getting some love.

I imagine it must be so difficult after spending so much time and money on it for it to have issues. If it were me I'd probably sulk and leave it to rot in the corner, especially if I had that many other cylinders sat outside to make beautiful V8 music with!

I sort of expected there to be problems because of the longer stroke, which I found out could be a concern after I'd bought the kit, so I was sort of expecting 'something'.

That does seem to be sub-optimal, in terms of the skirts are clearly taking a bit of abuse at the bottom where they're pulled out of the bore, but the swarf invasion was entirely because of my own mistake refitting the ATI damper, so I'm relatively at peace with that, should've taken a little more care lining it up and everything would have likely carried on much longer.

I'm sort of happier that I had a reason to take it apart really, because now I've seen what's going on inside instead of having to guess / imagine, and so can feel a little more confident in it this time around.

I think it's helped by the Monaro being the only manual at the moment, and thus ultimately the most fun to drive, so I do actively miss it.

[SturdyHSV]

So pleased with how the wagon sits now



The engine is back in the Monaro, bit to do tomorrow but we shall see, MOT in the evening

[SturdyHSV]

Well I reckon that's on without splitting anything, so an improvement over last time!

You can bet I checked it was lined up about 5 times

[SturdyHSV]

Random progress shot, had to take the dog for a groom / pick her up, and had a meeting at 15:00 I'd forgotten about, and needed more coolant, so a few interruptions, but made good progress...



It's now mostly an engine as far as I can tell, cranked with no plugs in and built up about 38psi of oil pressure just on the starter motor, so that's pleasing.

Sadly the FAST fuel rails shafted me once again, weeping a little from a couple of fittings despite furious torquing. I can only assume an o-ring has dried out perhaps being out of the car for a couple of months and isn't sealing now.

Need to wait for the fuel pressure to drop before taking it apart and I'm somewhat done for the day at this point!



All that's left to do is obviously put the plugs / leads on, the gearstick gaiter, and the small matter of putting the exhaust on. Oh and the bonnet / bumper.

No MOT today then, but I'm pleased the car is basically 'done', will be back on the road soon enough, just in time for winter

[SturdyHSV]

TheDoggingFather said:

This thread has not helped my yearning for a V8. Being the other side of the big 4 - 0 having never had anything with 8 cylinders or that steers from the rear, feels intrinsically wrong, right?

Add in my general preference for the Antipodean way of life, due to tireless hours of watching various YouTube videos,(originally MCM, but very much pushing over to the Skid Factory, Benny's Custom Works etc as I'm not 17 anymore) finding the Aussie outlook and general demeanor more palatable to our cousins across the pond. Makes the idea of a Holden very much the preferred route, especially as you sit on the correct side of the car.

Kudos to you OP for having the kahunas to build a stroked LS as an introduction to building an engine. It's been a fantastic read (this has taken a fair amount of the last few days, powered by the British Summertime), with a general levity that made long passages of super geeky stuff still very entertaining. The Monaro and Ute are great, but the wagon , especially now the suspension is at a more appropriate height.

I've not really been on PH much these days, but this reminds me why I used to post/read hear, Keep up the great work!

Very kind of you, cheers

Agreed that the upside downers do seem to have the slightly more relaxed disposition that the UK could benefit from, and their cars seem to reflect it.

Dropping the wagon has really made me love it that little bit more, I must get the exhaust fitted now because a bit of a woofle would really complete it. Oh and a supercharger of course

[SturdyHSV]

Avenicus said:

Glad to see the collection is all getting some love

Cheers, Ute's radiator arrived today and my partner has offered to help swap it in (she likes driving the Ute ) so could be a productive weekend!

I ordered some coilover spanners which have arrived so will be checking the adjusters on the wagon are nice and secure, and will see if I can raise the rear a few turns for some extra clearance if / when it's loaded up.

TheDoggingFather said:

Definitely needs the supercharger war cry, then you can have all three levels of Bogan transport

We really need Summer Nats... Worth growing a mullet for.

Summer Nats is a bucket list one for me, looks like my home from home Their power cruise style trackdays as well, where everyone takes it relatively easy in a group then blows the tyres off for the whole straight

I got the Monaro fired up last night, even with ear defenders on the open headers were ridiculously loud. I tried to film it but it's just a boomy drone as the phone mic could not handle it, even stood up the drive. Being in the same small space as it, you could feel the bass of it pressing against your chest, it really is ridiculous.

It was idling a little high which was unexpected, I'd cleverly left the narrowband O2 for the passenger side hanging in mid air (as I'd put the wideband into the header), so this no doubt didn't help the first attempt when it tried to settle to an idle, but even sorting this out, second start up it was idling at about 1,000 - 1,100rpm, and when it went to settle it would hunt and then die.

It was frankly too loud to do any diagnosis, so I'm going to put the exhaust on to make it a bit more bearable and then investigate a bit further. I'm hoping it's just something silly I've missed or it needing to re-learn the idle a bit as the battery has been disconnected for months.

[SturdyHSV]

Ute back together despite some typical faffing about...

Popped it apart, inevitable coolant spilt despite trying to catch it in a tray.



Installing the new rad, can see the typical quality of proudly made in the USA parts..



That 'leg' should have a rubber mushroom around it and still fit within that hole, not even close

In the end, cut the rubber mushroom down, cut that leg short and it at least sits in fine, not as solid as OEM but it's not as if the rad is going to jump out.



Snorkel setup

Been out for a test drive having got it up to temp on the driveway and filled up the coolant etc. and all seems fine and leak free.



Back up to 2 working cars!

Bit of F1 quali now, will likely have a dabble with the Monaro tomorrow.

[SturdyHSV]

Well it's mostly a car again, after the concern of the high idle / hunting I got spooked so left it for what felt like an age in terms of productivity guilt, but has actually only been 6 weeks or so.

Interior back together was the first step, hopefully better insulated around the shifter this time so less NVH, the tiniest of air gaps introduces a surprising amount of hiss.



Exhaust on with the help of a mate which made that a surprisingly painless process when there's someone else to hold it up as well

Little startup video, sounds decent and happy. YouTube has made it a short so I'll fight with the PH linking to try and embed it. Took a few attempts but got there in the end...



Little oil leak from the oil cooler AN line that I will need to nip up a touch, otherwise seems in decent shape, so will have to sort an MOT and get back to using it at last!

Edited by SturdyHSV on Monday 16th October 09:08

[SturdyHSV]

The screen on my trusty phone of 5 years died, and the replacement has such a better camera that thumbsnap won't accept the photos now, so have a wordy one

Sunday was a lovely bright day, so I spent a few hours tinkering to take advantage of it. The E36 had been rattling from the top mounts since replacing the front springs, so fitted some replacements and also did the drop links whilst in there. No more rattles and a slight improvement to the front end feel. That thing continues to be both joyfully easy to work on and deceptively fun to drive. The tyres on it are ~13 years old, so a set of Michelin Cross Climates are going on this Saturday, probably doubling the value

There was a sidelight out on the Ute (standard 501 bulb) so swapped that out, otherwise it continues to perform faultlessly.

Monaro wise, removed the sump guard and snugged up the AN fitting that was leaking slightly. I also bled the clutch again (an easy one man job when the remote bleed line is long enough to sit submerged in the reservoir!) and the pedal / clutch is now back to how it was before, firm throughout the travel and bite point about mid way. Some wipers fitted too, as I'd stolen them off it to use on the Ute, Bosch AR22U and AR20U.

Ran it up to temperature, gave it some rpm etc. and no leaks from underneath at all, so replaced the sump guard and happy that's all buttoned up.

I was tempted to pop the bumper back on at this point and call it a car, but I thought whilst access is to easy why not take the headlights off and use that restoration kit I bought ~18 months ago

I'm not convinced I've done a great job of the restoration, the driver's side was terrible before hand so that's definitely an improvement, but the passenger side looks largely as it did before, possibly still with a slight haze to it from certain angles so possibly not helped much there, but I'll reserve judgement until they're back on the car.

I've ordered a ground strap, the most significant ground on the car is where I've put a large amount of connectors etc. in a big stack, and I'm wondering if perhaps a slightly poor quality ground is causing the odd ABS sensor fault. The plan is to tie this major ground in to the battery -> chassis ground that's also nearby and generally clean up the area (access made much easier by the headlight being out)

I did also pick up a delay on relay (some time ago) as a way of making the power steering pump come on immediately instead of the slow start it does now, so again while I'm in there I may look to get this wired in.

I'm in a tinkering sort of mood at the moment so feel like this is a good time to tick off some of the little things, especially if we get some more mild weekends.

Apologies for the lack of pictures, cheers if you've read this far!!

[SturdyHSV]

Had a decent bit of tinkering again today.

Tidied up the main grounds, these were a little crusty and given my ABS fault seems to go away when cold and such, I thought maybe a poor quality ground somewhere could be related.



Doesn't hurt to tidy these things up anyway and it's quite pleasing.



I also finally got around to something I'd been meaning to do for ages... Sort the power steering pump wiring.

So aside from 12v and ground, the pump has 3 wires. One brown/white for diagnostics which can be ignored, a black for 12v ignition in, and then a blue/white which is an alternator signal.

The intention being you start your Astra and the pump doesn't put a drain on the battery, and then once the engine is running, the pump jumps in to life.

You can just connect both to 12v and it'll work, but it then goes through a very long startup where it builds pressure, which is novel, but inconvenient.

I naturally was unaware of this when I first wired it, so went the bodged together route.

So today I finally put an adjustable delay on relay in line, so now the pump jumps straight in to life after (currently) 5 seconds.



I also mounted it somewhere accessible so I can easily adjust the time if needed.

I've also popped the headlights back on, and mounted the bumper again, so it's once again a car!



I'm going to have a bit of a dig in to try and find out exactly what the ABS fault actually is, I'm naturally still assuming my extending of wiring is the problem as that's really the biggest thing that's changed, but will have a bit of a look anyway, it would be really nice to get it legitimately sorted out.

[SturdyHSV]

Lincsls1 said:

^^^ Always enjoy reading your content mate.
Your posts often re-ignite my passion for my Monaro.
The engine and bay look fantastic.

I also read your piece on cam choice too, via FB thru my girlfriends account. Interesting stuff. Thank you for bothering to put something like that together.

That's very kind, cheers for that

Hopefully the cam piece was helpful or potentially even interesting I like helping people out with picking stuff or what have you, but thought it'd be useful to give a bit of an overview because it's such a frequently asked topic and I know how intimidating it was when I first started researching/reading up about it.

I like to try and understand things properly before buying, and actually gave up on getting a cam the first time around because I just felt I couldn't get enough decent info to make a decision, wasn't until a couple of years later I finally actually went around again and picked one lol

I'm looking forward to driving mine again as it's been a while now and with the APs on the front it's actually probably now driving the best it ever has!

[SturdyHSV]

Lincsls1 said:

It was both useful and interesting. Maybe you should include some links to low rate loans too.

Yeah, I reckon the APs are a bit of a game changer for the Monaro. Transforms the drive, quite simply because of the confidence they inspire. And that's even at standard power output.

Out of curiosity, what sort of pedal travel would you say there is with APs on a Monaro before it starts to brake well / feel firm under foot?

I only ask as with mine it's almost immediately a firm pedal and great braking, which is VERY different to how it used to be, and I'm wondering if that's just normal APs or if the hydroboost is making a difference to the feel

[SturdyHSV]

Lincsls1 said:

The APs on mine are very strong and immediate. That's probably what makes them inspire so much confidence.
That's not to say you can't modulate them easily enough though.
More than capable of properly working out the ABS, I felt the standard ones were barely strong enough to even engage it on normal dry roads.

Agree on the standard brakes not troubling the ABS at all I'm sure they probably could, once, when new and not too hot, but yeah, they were very poor.

The brake pedal now is the best I've felt in a road car (admittedly without much exposure to a wide array of modern performance cars...), it feels very immediate, but without that 'curl your toe and headbutt the dash' over-assistance of modern hatchbacks, it feels like a very progressive relationship between force put in to the pedal and corresponding level of braking.

Sunday's tinkering (it was another bright day so any excuse to be outside in the sunlight at this time of year!) revolved around the wagon. Since fitting the coilovers the rear right can rub over sharp bumps. I had previously clearanced the arch a touch (and painted it) but it still happened a few times.

Jacked the car up and could see the two spots where it had rubbed off the paint. I clearanced it a touch more and gave it another coat. I also adjusted the coilover up to raise the ride height, I think this side was a touch lower than the passenger's side.

After a brief lap around the block to settle it back down, measured the rear ride heights and it's sitting more evenly now, the driver's side is possibly 5mm higher but without it being sat on a completely level surface I'm just guessing really. Hopefully that's resolved the rub!

[SturdyHSV]

fred bloggs said:

Nice work on the car. would love a passenger ride sometime !
What did you use to clearence the arch ? I picked up an arch roller for £25 on the bay.

An angle grinder

I'd be curious to try an arch roller, but have heard mixed results with Monaros or VEs so would be a bit nervous.

Likewise with yours, I'll get mine MOT'd and we should arrange something

It will just make me want to buy yours more though (if it's still for sale) and I really need to concentrate on the projects I've already got

[SturdyHSV]

Polly Grigora said:

Hi, noticed your topic on the first page, been a long time since reading here, good to see you've got the motivation, many fade away into obscurity

Have you managed to keep your sanity during sorting out all the nagging problems?

Does your alternator not have a D+/61 output?

Good to have you back, I've made more or an effort to keep the wiring tidy in case you were watching

I don't know if it does, I hate electrickery remember! Appreciate that would be the correct and far simpler way to do it!

To be fair my motivation has been up and down, but most problems have been an opportunity to do it a bit better so not too bad. I'm not convinced by the look of the pistons that I'm not going to end up with so much piston rock that I have no oil control at all and need to rebuild it, but at that point I'll be buying a block with longer sleeves, so an opportunity to go for the magical 427ci

[SturdyHSV]

fred bloggs said:

Its probably in bed untill spring, but for a few small runs to warm the oils, perhaps Santa pod early next year. The australia day at ACE is always shi77y weather ,and I hate the drive there, so Ill more likely give that a miss again.

I flip flop so bad about selling, There is plenty of other cars that catch my eye, but its just so rare and its now how I wanted it. Im off to the states in feb, so going to try bringing some heads back in luggage ;-)

It's really got everything you'd want to do for sure, it's very cool

Niffty951 said:

SturdyHSV said:

Little startup video

Sweet mother of all that is holy. After reading pages and pages of the rebuild, beautifully documented by the way, appreciate your honesty not trying to cover up the little mistakes we all make.

I got to this video and my god! It sounded better than I ever imagined it would. That's about as good a noise as I've ever heard a car make at idle! The satisfaction must have been stratospheric to hear that again after the hard work and cold fingers.

Cheers, I am really pleased with how it sounds, although it'd be nice to get it idling ever so slightly lower! It's very grumpy below 900rpm though because of the cam overlap, but it sounded properly nasty when we were trying to get it to idle at 850rpm the first time round a year ago (it's at ~950rpm now).

Here's a warm idle video, simply because I keep finding myself filming it

[SturdyHSV]

Polly Grigora said:

Good to know and good for you which is obviously the main thing - This is your work right

Buying a block? How difficult is it to buy one delivered?

Nope, not been watching your wiring escapades that you post here as haven't read through your topic for a long time

Not now but some day soon will catch up with where you're at

What do you reckon to bks to motivation? As and when has always worked for me

Whatever, keep the faith

Your topic is better than many

As and when is good, although it does lead to me regretting that the car isn't on the road as I want to be using it!

Buying a block would be easy enough, plenty of suppliers in the US that manufacture them, don't get me wrong, going to be very expensive, I would be surprised if I have any change from £8k once it's in the country, maybe even 10

But once it's done, I wouldn't have to worry about the reliability with the stroke etc and in time that cost would be forgotten (/ mentally amortised over many years )

Got something in the works for the Monaro that'll possibly be unique over here, so that's exciting too, definitely in the "post engine build" euphoria where all other tasks seem pretty small in comparison!

[SturdyHSV]