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Steve,

I'm thinking that you have an instance of Example 1: driven plate chatter.

Try this out: When stationary, at idle, when you go to select a gear and the groaning noise happens, turn the ignition off *without releasing the clutch*. If the groaning noise stops immediately, you have a ...

Steve,

As Blacky says. Leave the bush in engine oil for a day before installation. Don't use grease.

Spigot bushes almost never give trouble. And the sintered bronze bushes are quiet in operation. So tell us what the clutch/gearbox noise is, and we'll do our best to diagnose it. Apart from the ...

Fud,

Yes, the industrial motor will have the EJ main bearing caps, and the conrods with the long nuts too. Because it's got all its original accessories, it won't have been molested, and you might find it's a fairly low-hours unit.

Pushrods: Grey motor pushrods came out in two (well, three ...

Hello, trainspotter here . . .

Holden kept making grey motors for industrial applications for quite a while after the introduction of the red motor. I reckon this engine is a 1965 build. By the way, take a look at the distributor rotor. Some industrial grey motors had a centrifugal cutout rotor ...

Ed,

That is definitely the wrong spark plug. Waaay too much reach. You want something like the Champion J12Y (13/16" hex, 14 mm thread, 3/8" reach). Grey motors take the same plugs as small-block Chev V8s, but with a different heat range.

ETA: 3-1/8" bore, 3-1/8" stroke equals 143.8 cubic inches ...

Brett,

If the fore-and-aft position of any of the control arms changes, then your caster will change as a result and you'll have to tweak it back. Camber and toe-in should be relatively unchanged.

Do the work and take the car for a drive. If the car pulls to one side (thinks . . . HR front ...

Brett,

If there's equal spacing between the lower arms and the crossmember front and rear, then the arms are in the right position. If the bushes haven't been screwed all the way into the arms (hex hard up against the arms), then "just" screw them in until they're home. If you have to start all ...

Without meaning to be too much of a smart-arse, the answer to your question is "that depends".

I gather you want to swap the entire EK rear axle for an EH rear axle.

If you are keeping a king-pin front suspension with drum brakes, then in my opinion swapping the EK rear axle for an EH rear axle ...

Harv,

What Clay says.

In an FE/FC you can use an FB/EK steering column with FE/FC steering wheel and indicator stalk. Good idea also to use FE/FC indicator switch.

If you go an EJ-HR column you lose one of the three mounting bolts at the steering box end, plus you have to use a different steering ...

"CSIRO radio telescope array is a sight more interesting than Parkes imho"

- except that the visitors' centre at Narrabri is unstaffed. And you got there during the every-two-years radio astronomy school too.

You didn't perchance use the little steerable parabolic dish to troubleshoot your ...

Harv,

One-and-five-eighth inch. Unless you have a very early head, in which case 1-1/4".

Rob

Ed,

The founding father of the Humpy club in NSW made a dog-leg shape adapter bracket so he didn't have to change front engine mount plates when putting later grey motors into FX/FJs.

You'd bolt it straight up to the late front mount plate. The adapter would be shaped so it bears hard up against ...

Ed,

I just noticed a reference to modifying an FJ front engine mount plate to suit a J-block. Here's what you need to do:

1: The oil drain holes in the EJ front main bearing cap are lower than in an FJ. You'll need to rework the FJ front engine mount plate to suit. If you have the EJ front engine ...

Craig,

What you said about coolant temperature swings on warmup: My FC's got an improved head gasket and a three-row radiator core. Coming back from WA one year, I started off from Ouyen when the ambient temp was about ten degrees and saw the same thing. Coolant temp in the cylinder head went up to ...

Steve,

I haven't read all the thread, but my experience with the aftermarket "grey" harmonic balancers isn't good. The only one that's been on a motor of mine fractured the hub and was quite loose as a result.

"Officially" I recondition original equipment grey harmonic balancers. But car-related ...