Cam's FB Sedan

[Trev]

Info found in this forums technical section under "body paint and panel"
9689 = Baniff blue
9905 = Canyon blue
Adelaide body, Perth assembled.

[camstuart52]

Much appreciated Trev.....still re educating myself on where to find things

[camstuart52]

So a slight update:

I have dummy fitted the External Visor and with a little tweaking it will work nicely.

I ordered some parts which have started arrving such as new tail light lenses, indicator lenses front and back, reverse light lenses, carpet, peep mirrors and lowering blocks for the rear and im still yet to order front springs.

Also picking up some 185/80/13R MAxxis whitem walls which have done less than 1000ks as the other tyres arent much chop.

The front and rear seats have also been sent off for a retrim, i was able to find a material fairly similar in colour to the factory blue and I am having it done in a tuck and roll and it will look very neat. The quote was very fair i feel so its all go. whilst the seats are out i am going to POR 15 or KBS Coat the floor and then apply a sound deadener which Wayne has put me on to (Thanks for the help) then lay the carpet down and re-install the seats when they are ready.

An alternator conversion is also on the way and some seat belts are being fitted.

I have also started looking at rubbers as theres a few around the car which need replacing and most likely now, the car may have to stay as a dry weather baby until this happens as the doors leak at this stage and with new carpet etc going in im not keen on getting it wet. Is "Betta Rubber" the way to go....from what i have read on here it seems to be? I'm assuming it will be worth my while investing in the full kit.

Still trying to hunt down a 3.36 Diff as i want it to drive nicely on the highway so between that and the tyres it should help a lot.

Anyway thats all for now and I hope that wasnt to boring

Cheers Cam

P.S - Pics to come

[Errol62]

Great to hear what you are doing Cam. I love your plan to keep it honest and original.

I would consider a 3.55 diff for good cruising. You will find the 3.36 a pain around town with the grey and crash box.

Cheers
Clay

[rosco]

Ditto with Clay - Hobart has lots of hills... you'd be straining the friendship fitting a 3:36 with the grey - twins or no twins.
3:55 and 14" or 15" wheels on the open road will see the grey purr along beautifully at the limit on level ground - will take a fair bit of "life" out of the old girl on climbs though.

3:36 and those large diameter tyres will take all of the grey's torque to pull anything beyond a gentle climb.

There's some diff and tyre charts in this forum somewhere - might be worth while to take a peek at the rpms and speed with different combinations.

The grey, likes to run freely at between 2k and 3k200. Under 2k and it tends to "plod" a bit. Above 3k200 and it starts to sound "busy".
I believe the 3:55 is probably the best option if your motor is in good nick - if not, stick with the 3:89 - it's happy to run at about 110 km/h but sounds busy - they really like anything from 80 to 100... seems to float nicely around the 90 mark with good economy and lower engine noise.

My old bus used to do 3,200 rpm's at 60 mph (near enough to 100 km/h) and 2,560 rpms at 50 mph (almost exactly 80 km/h).
These were with the stock 3:89 diff centre using 13" x 175 radial tyres.

A 3:55 will drop your rpm's at 100 km/h from 3,200 (3:89) to 2,900 (3.55).
at 80 km/h from 2,560 (3:89) to 2,340 (3:55).

A 3:36 will drop rpm's at 100 km/h from 3,200 (3:89) to 2,760 (3:36)
and 2,560 (3:89) down to 2,200 (3:36) at 80 km/h.

To get what they would do in each gear - simply multiply the rpm's by 1.59 for second gear and 2.99 for first.

To get the difference at slower speeds using a 3:89 diff centre - multiply 320 (3,200 divided by 100) by whatever speed you are looking for..
The same using a 3:55 diff centre - multiply 290 by the required speed and with a 3:36 - multiply 276 by the required speed.

eg. at 50 km/h - the 3,200 in top gear with a 3:89 would be (320 multiplied by 50 = 1,600) so, in top gear at 50 km/h - the engine would be doing 1,600 rpms.

In second gear at 50 km/h with a 3:89 - (1,600 multiplied by 1.59) would have the engine doing 2,544 rpm's.

With a 3:55 - for the same 2nd gear rpms at 50 km/h, we take the 2,900 at 100 km/h from above and divide it by two (100 km/h divided by 50 km/h = 2) to get 1,450 at 50 km/h in top gear.
To get the rpms in second gear at 50 km/h, we then multiply the 1,450 by 1.59 (for second gear ratio) and get 2,305 rpm's in 2nd gear at 50 km/h with a 3:55 ratio diff centre.

You can play around with whatever gear, speed and diff ratio you like using a basic calculator.

To get the difference in rpms using different size and profile tyres - you need to get the rolling diameter from a tyre chart - find 13 x 175 and get a multiplying number for the difference in rolling diameter by dividing the larger one by the smaller 13" one..... which will be a number smaller than 1 - you then take your calculated rpms for any speed as in the above and multiply them by the (smaller than 1) number to get the resultant rpms with any tyre of your choice.

As an example only - these are not in any way what are true, but an example - "if" the rolling diameter of the 13" x 175 tyre was 500 mm (not accurate) and you read 620 mm for a 15" x 205 tyre on a tyre chart... you'd divide the 500 by 620 and get 0.8065.

So - our rpms at 100 km/h with a 3:89 of 3,200 and 13 x 175 tyres would drop down to (3,200 multiplied by this 0.8065) 2,580 rpm's when using 15" x 205 tyres... a much greater reduction than changing diff centre ratio from 3:89 to even the taller 3:36.

All the above figures I have posted are shown using my previous 175 x 13 tyres as a base reference.

When you consider changing either diff centre ratio or tyre size, OR even more so with a change in BOTH - it would be pertinent to understand that a huge change in the ability of the grey to pull the taller final ratio at the tyres.

I hope the above gives you a pretty accurate indication of what will result in engine rpm reduction.

I continue to believe that a 3:55 centre and 14" or 15" low profile tyre will be the most appropriate for your requirements.

frats,
Rosco

[camstuart52]

Well with all that information and help obviously the only choice would be a 3.55 ratio.

I have started to try and track one down so I'll continue to keep an eye out for one.

On another note I have received a few presents from Aus Post today such as: Peep mirrors, lowering blocks, FB Series Shop Manual, Carpet and a new chrome hand brake cable. I'm still waiting for seat U brackets to arrive. I also bought some new stainless bolts to attach the external sun visor with and it will finish that off nicely....hopefully tyres will be picked up this weekend.

I'm still trying to decide who the best people are to get the doors (inner/outer), quarter vent and boot rubbers through so any help is appreciated.

Cheers Cam

[rosco]

Cam,
I can't help you with rubbers - I got mine from Rares a long time ago - the front door rubbers are far too thick and we still have trouble with closing them.

If ever you use stainless bolts or nuts - please use some anti-seize compound to prevent corrosion (yes, you will get some .. salts, iron particles and other chemically bonding debris) from making them very difficult to remove.
What many do not understand about stainless steel - even marine grade... is that although it does not rust - it attracts elements in the atmosphere.. and they bond to the surface. This is why you often see rust stains on stainless steel.

The product I use for all such fittings - especially into alloy, is a product called Loctite 76769 - it is very expensive as it has silver in it - but one tub will last your lifetime - just don't lose it.

Ok - great work... you are certainly getting bits and pieces together.

And, I've just got to ask - your handbrake cable?.... I take it the handle is chrome plated, not the cable?

frats,
Rosco

[camstuart52]

Ahh no worries......I think i recall reading that the Rare Spares one cause that so I have been looking at the "Betta Rubber" options.

I'll look into the Loctite 76769 and ill certainly put some form of protective sealant on them.

Just the Handle is chrome...not the cable haha....i'm certainly not going anywhere near that detail with it.

[Harv]

Ahh no worries......I think i recall reading that the Rare Spares one cause that so I have been looking at the "Betta Rubber" options.

The early Rare Spares door seal fitment was poor, but has since been rectified. Many forum members have used the later Rare Spares rubbers with no drama. When buying them, you need to check that the manufacturing date on the door seals is 2013 or later. My local Rares store was quite happy to make this happen.

Cheers,
Harv

[camstuart52]

Good to know....thanks Harvs. I might give the Rare Spares ones a crack.

So hard to know which way to go when you read conflicting info.

[Rusty EK]

G,day Cam
I used all Rare spares rubbers in my ute , and everything fitted good and I have had no problems with the door rubbers , I did use rubber conditioner on the door rubbers though .

[camstuart52]

Did you buy them online or through a local disbrutor Rusty?

[Rusty EK]

Rare spares Launceston , but Performance Warehouse in Derwent Park is now a Distributer .

[camstuart52]

Soooooo....the direction here may have taken a slight shift haha

A mate offered me an HR front end with Torana discs cheap, to cheap to say no and he thinks he has an Hr rear to match so most likely will swap them in. Can get hold of a CRS rack to suit so is it worth the effort to swap this in and if so what column is best to swap or retro the original.

Then this begs the question should I swap in a red 186 backed by a 5 speed celica box which I can pick up for a good price which is a runner....so many questions and options. A v8 would be great but let's be honest, you then have chassis kits etc to deal with and it gets complicated.

I know It's my car and my decision but I'm after others thoughts. It's not the original grey so it's no concern to keep stock

Look forward to hearing.

[NoMAD]

Basically what do you want? Your the one who is going to have to live with it so if you don't put in what you want every time you drive it or work on it you'll be sitting there going why didn't I blah blah blah

The V8 isn't that much more work than a 6 these days anyways, best would be speak to an engineer about what he requires for sticking I a red 6 vs a V8 you may find these days it's almost identical

Cheers
Nathan