harvs ek 327 wagon

[FJWALLY]

coming together Harv - always the little stuff that takes ages

Is the heater hose grommet the rates one your having trouble with - are they a bit small and loose?

[Harv]

Yep, it's the Rares replacement heater grommet that is giving my trouble. They fill the firewall hole well, but are manufactured from very thin rubber. If the hoses are not dead straight, they put a side-loading on the rubber. The side-loading pulls the grommet out of the firewall. The original grommets were a lot thicker, and can take the side-loading.

Cheers,
Harv

[Errol62]

Good progress Harv


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[Harv]

Getting closer to the 2nd engineering inspection. Got some welding assistance from the brother-in-law to gusset the diff saddles, flared in the brake proportioning valve, rewired the wipers (after some assistance from Ken - many thanks) and finished off a lot of fiddly stuff.

Got the thing to fire (plugs were fouled with coke from running at idle up and down the driveway). Need pixie-fingers to get at some of the plugs… worse than working on Minis.

The to-do list:
• Cable tie the split-corrugated tubing behind the dash to stop it rubbing on the wiper arms.
• Refit front bench seat and front seatbelts (holes are already drilled, seatbelts already threaded through bench seat – bolt up job).
• Refit shifter shroud and gear knob (bolt up job).
• Refit fuel filter (removed for "the damn thing won't fire" troubleshooting).
• Test-run: check speedo works within 10% now it is free.
• Take vehicle to exhaust shop and fit new/more mufflers so that it passes the noise test.
• 2nd engineering inspection.
• Blue-slip.
• Rego.

Some stuff to do post-rego (weathershields, exhaust tips, diff girdle etc) but nothing that will stop the thing running.

Cheers,
Harv

[Errol62]

Don’t forget to remove excess noise reduction and lower even more after rego Harv. Nearly there. Whoop! Whoop! Exciting.


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[Harv]

Don’t forget to remove excess noise reduction and lower even more after rego Harv.

Loud pipes save lIves

Cheers,
Harv

[rosco]

Loud pipes save lIves

Cheers,
Harv

not to deaf people, they don't......

[EK283]

No Photos Harv ????


Regards Greg

[Harv]

Didn't get a chance for photos... kids were home for school holidays, making it more than a little hectic.

Cheers,
Harv

[Harv]

Got the new mufflers fitted, which has quietened it down somewhat. Still sounds good, just not like a V8 Supercar . The neighbours pigeons are appreciative. The test runs have shown up a few things to fix:

• Repair and calibrate speedo. Did a lot of testing, looks like the speedo head has a problem (sticky). Won’t return to zero all the time, and the error (difference between speedo and actual speed) is not a simple ratio (changing gears alone won’t fix it). Have pulled speedo out and apart, soaking internals in WD40. Fair bit of crap came out. If it is not freed up when I get home next, I will swap it for the spare speedo. More road tests, then buy the correct speedo gear set. Suspect I will need to replace both drive and driven gear, so tailshaft out and gearbox rear extension off.
• Tailgate latch disengages, and tailgate drops down expectantly. Latch is adjusted OK (tailgate panel lines up with rear quarter panel). There is a lot of slop in the tailgate handle. Pulled it apart, the handle has a square shaft. The square in the locking mechanism is flogged out a bit. With the tailgate locked, you can still turn the handle and open the tailgate. Tried packing out the shaft/mechanism slop with PVC tape, no joy. Think I have a spare tailgate lock assembly, will see if it is less flogged out. Might have to put some heavier springs in the latch to hold the two locking rods out.
• Cargo area floor latches don’t engage anymore to hold the board down. I used fancy Dzus fasteners, very sexy looking when the cargo floor was just a bare board. Now that it it carpeted, the carpet is too thick, preventing the fasteners engaging. Can't buy longer Dzus fasteners, and fastener catch spring is flogged up as high as it can go. Will have to pull the carpet, drop the fasteners under the carpet, then fit some cover plates over the carpet holes. Trial on one of the fasteners was successful. Cover plates on their way via Aussie Post.
• Reorient one of the handbrake brake cable brackets. Had to turn it to get the new mufflers to fit. Will have to pull rear carpet to drill and bolt again. Will have to replace the adjacent seatbelt reinforcing plate as it was notched to suit the original location. May have to bribe the children, as none of them like helping Dad fit seatbelt bolts.
• Repair firewall grommets. Some have popped out. Will have to glue the heater hose grommet in – the Rare Spares one is so thin, the hoses pull the grommet out of the firewall. Don’t have a thick original one.
• Indicators do not want to self-cancel. Not sure why, thought they did previously. Will have to pull the steering wheel and take a look.
• Choke is sticky. Will pull cable and check.
• Paint guard inner lips where paint rubbed off. The 205 tyres were too wide on the front. Have changed back to 195. Some paint touchup under the guards to do.
• Tune carb for idle. Car is running way too rich. Fouls plugs, and then runs rough or won’t start. Mongrel job to get the plugs out, but doable. Spoke to the engine builder, all the tuning he did was for maximum power. He doesn’t tune at all for idle. Should be a relatively easy fix.
• Plumb transmission oil cooler. Bought a cooler, have it fixed in place. Need to reroute the rubber hoses to put it in series with the radiator cooler. Trans in/out lines identified to ensure correct lineup. Not the biggest cooler in the world, but biggest I could fit into the space I have.
• Fit thermostat. Car hates running cold, and winter is coming. When I first got the engine, it would boil with the thermostat installed. Checked it was on the right way, checked it opened in a cup of boiling water. Couldn't work it out, so threw the thermostat on the bench and ran without it. Spoke to the engine builder, no reason it should not work. He supplied another thermostat free of charge (same Tridon high flow one as the one I bought). Will try it. Could be the fancy swivel-joint thermostat housing, or the ally inlet manifold holding the 'stat shut.

I suspect the Holley red fuel pump is going to drive me insane. It whines that loud it is like having Johnny Cash in the boot. It's rubber mounted midships, just naturally noisy. Works for now, but may get replaced with an (allegedly) quieter Carter pump at some stage.

Cheers,
Harv

[Errol62]

You’re bloody patient. I don’t get why the tuner doesn’t set up idle but I guess he only does “racing cars”.

I have the same experience with the front rubber although I know your front end geometry is different with the commodore setup. Still get people trying to fit 235 60 14 up front. I can’t even get that to fit under the rears.

You’re getting there, forensically.


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[Harv]

I have the same experience with the front rubber although I know your front end geometry is different with the commodore setup. Still get people trying to fit 235 60 14 up front. I can’t even get that to fit under the rears.

I only get away with the 205's on the rear because of the funky Commodore 26P rims I had to run to clear the front suspension. It shifts the whole tyre 20mm inboard compared to standard.

Cheers,
Harv

[Errol62]

Running 205 65 13 on the rear. Not sure of the offset. They rubbed on the inside with body roll but not enough to be an issue. It’s illegal that’s all.


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[WesternWagon]

Getting close Harv, looking good


Gazza

[FireKraka]

Keep at it Harv crossing things off the list gets you that bit closer every day.
Neil