harvs ek 327 wagon

[Harv]

Finally got the list of things the engineer wanted done. In addition to the stuff above:

• Square up steering column mount bolts. I mounted up the LH Torana break-away mounts using two bolts up through the dash lip. As the dash lip is curved, the bolts don’t sit square. Will probably have to make up some packing wedges out of scrap ally.
• Fit spring washers to front brake calliper bolts. Holden didn’t have them, but looks like Harv needs to. No big deal.
• Exhaust too loud. I mustn’t have heard him mention this over all the exhaust noise . Spec is 96dB at 4300rpm… it currently puts out 97dB at idle and 106dB at mid-throttle. Gunna break my heart to put another muffler set on it, though the neighbour’s pigeons will probably appreciate it .

Did some homework with the help of Hoppers Stoppers, and think I have the brake issue sorted. The You-and-I VH151 vacuum brake booster is of very small volume (1.4L). When combined with the engine’s low vacuum (13”Hg at idle), the resultant vacuum power is very low, causing hard brake pedal after a few brake applications. To resolve this, I’m using a Protek VT1 vacuum tank (3.1L). The vacuum tank is coupled to an Aeroflow AF49-150 electric twin piston vacuum pump, controlled by a Hobbs switch. The parts arrived, and I got them mounted, but haven’t finished the wiring yet. The vacuum tank dominates the engine bay. Part of me says I should hide it under the guard, but another part of me says that this wagon is going to get used a hell of a lot, including gravel roads. I’d rather have something I can see an maintain, at least for now.

Cheers,
Harv

[In the Shed]

Hey Harv,
Reading your bit about the exhaust noise reminds me of an experience one of our club members had when he went to register his 1950 AJS motorcycle. He restored the machine from the frame up and had original exhausts made. Took it into the inspection station and they said .... no too loud!

Took the bike home made up some wire mesh tubes stuffed them with heat proof insulation, installed them in the mufflers and reassembled the exhaust. Job done got the rego slip then proceeded to remove the temporary baffles. Not that I am suggesting you would try such a thing!

Stephen

[Blacky]

There is a possibility I may have also been guilty of the same ruse Stephen however our material of choice was chicken wire and steelo pads

[Harv]

I had an uncle-in-law who was notorious in his youth for loud exhaust. Before coming in to town for a weekends mischief, he would stuff the muffler full of Bryllo pads. Tootle around town for the evening, then open up the throttle on the way home to blow out the pads.

I got a warning from the engineer not to stuff the EK wagon mufflers... maybe he is psychic.

I'm thinking of a couple of flanged mufflers, and get muffler shop to supply flanged spools in the same length. Figure that way if I can swap them back and forth easily to make it compliant.

Cheers,
Harv

[Harv]

Managed to take a photo of the rear axle spring mounts. These were supplied by V6 Conversions when they narrowed the VP Commodore diff. I can now see why the engineer was not happy, and wanted them boxed by welding a rectangle of plate where the red arrows are. The RHS used for the spring mounts is only 1.6mm wall thickness, and likely to squirm quite a bit under load.

Optimized-Spring mount pads.JPG (372.46 KiB) Viewed 1041 times

Cheers,
Harv

[Errol62]

1.6 may have been ok if not for the 1 1/2" lowering incorporated in the mount. The extra height would require boxing even with 3mm. Looks like you have eight leaves in your springs. You won't be charging the speed bumps in the supermarket car park.
Cheers
Clay


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[Harv]

You won't be charging the speed bumps in the supermarket car park

By the time I get four kids and their assorted belongings into it, I reckon the bumpstops will get a workout.

Cheers,
Harv

[Harv]

Didn’t manage to get much done on the EK whilst I was home… Number 1 Daughter’s ute took a bit of time.

The material arrived for the rear bumpstops though.

Optimized-bump stops.JPG (720.07 KiB) Viewed 968 times

I need to shift the bumpstops rearward, and need to limit suspension travel. Had a good conversation a few weeks back with Graham White Urethane, who consults for Whiteline Suspension. Plan is to replace the factory rubber stops/plates with polyurethane blocks. Attach the blocks using bolts and washers, recessed into the blocks. Will have to curve the bottom surface of the blocks to match the subframe arch. Graham cast me up some blocks. The height is good, though I have erred on the side of caution with the length - easier to cut some off than buy new blocks.

Cheers,
Harv

[FJWALLY]

see how you go with the urethane Harv but they may be as rough as guts if you hit them often - I run Timbren bumpstops on my 4x4 as they are a progressive compound and allow the axle to slow before coming to sudden stop.

[Harv]

Graham was similarly worried that the urethane can be a little harsh. The drama I have is that I need to provide an absolute suspension limit (to prevent the diff pumpkin coming through the floor). Too much squish, and the diff will bottom out - I need to be pretty confident of the maximum travel. Graham's recommendation was to trial the solid blocks, and if it is too harsh then to begin drilling relief holes in the blocks to allow some room to squish. Need to go gently adding holes though.

Cheers,
Harv

[EK283]

Hi Harv,

If you have to weld the diff saddles why don't you just weld on stop bump stop brackets as well, might safe you a whole lot of mucking around ?????

Regards Greg

[Harv]

Thought about it, though the main drama is the need to restrict suspension travel. If I use bump stop brackets, I still can't use the standard rubber bump stops, as they let the diff travel too far (i.e. they are too short). I could sit spacer plates underneath the original bump stops, or make new rubbers (with urethane), or make the weld-on brackets 4" thick, but figured that it would be just as easy to change the mounting slightly with the urethane blocks.

Cheers,
Harv

[EK283]

Still scratching my head with this one, and the engineers limiting suspension travel.

I measured mine yesterday and I have 120mm from the center of the diff (9 inch) to the floor and I have 110mm to the bump stops.

From what I can see nothing really different to stock, except for the larger diff.

Have you got raised springs or is the commodore diff different in some way ?

Thanks Harv I am just curious and don't want to miss something myself engineer time.

Regards Greg

[Harv]

Might be something in the axle tubes. I haven't got the measurements with me, but from memory it is just over 100mm from the diff crown to the floor, and 160mm from the axle tube to the subframe rail. I'll retake some better measurements and photos next time I'm home.

Cheers,
Harv

[FJWALLY]

You need to know how much your bump stops compress also as even the harsh holden bumps will compress more than you think under a bump load - having only 10mm difference between diff to floor and axle tube to bump would mean you will have contact at some point I reckon as 10mm for rubber compression is not much at all. - I would be putting some rubber on the floor to dampen any impact - something with a soft compression rather than stiff
Maybe some airbags on top of the hangers would both improve your ride and give you more control over travel.