Apoc's AU3 XR6 & other assorted cars

by **apoc** » November 3rd, 2012, 8:44 pm

Did a bit of work on this today, trying to get a few things fixed that have been annoying. IE noisy tappets - THE MOST DAMN ANNOYING THING. So I got a new set from Ford:

and put them in.

Also put my painted rocker cover on, looks heaps better! The rest of the bay needs a bit of a clean now

Also set the timing using the j3, havent been able to get it into diagnostic mode, so set it to 20* advance from idle to 1200rpm, at all vac points (axeman's idea) and just set the balancer mark ~15mm advanced of the tdc mark. Was pinging on premium unleaded before, just with the lpg maps in it, which I would have thought would be fine! Much better now though, gives me a bit more headroom to tune timing as well.

Got this for tuning some AFRs - Thanks Jason!:

Found the source of another rattle I've had recently, at low rpm & returning to idle. The insides of the cat were in pieces. Pulled it out and hi-flowed it :thumbsup:

The cat might have also been the cause of my hot drivers side floor on my way to & from work recently.
Took it for a drive, the car sounds like aids now. Idle sounds nice, over 2500rpm sounds epic, but mid sounds gay, droney and loud. Will have to make some exhaust adjustments.

Might put the electric windows, EL trims & Wideband/Datalogger in tomorrow.

One day Ill give it a wash too!

Cheers! :drinks2:

by **apoc** » November 17th, 2012, 9:15 pm : **galapogos01 Likes this post**

Bit of an update with this, got the electric windows in, EL door trims, chrome handles, new front speakers, head unit and gave the inside a bit of a clean. Then painted the mirror faces white, the repainted the scuttle gloss black, and the wiper arms satin black.
Did a bit more ignition tuning too. Its getting better, but still a way to go before my tuning skills are up to par!

Pretty happy with the amount of stuff I got done, but geez electric windows is a prick of a job!

by **DJV8T5** » November 18th, 2012, 10:35 am

You must be getting pretty good at doing head gaskets lol. Car(s) look pretty good man. Seems like you have almost rebuilt half of the EB.

by **SnyperEB** » November 18th, 2012, 4:39 pm

What sort of paint did you use mate?

by **apoc** » November 18th, 2012, 9:29 pm

Thanks DJV8T5 - Yeah got it down to a few hours now lol. The only original part on the EB is the shell, steering column and fuel tank I think.

EBGLT - The mirrors are just those dodgy colour matched cans from super cheap, with a good quality clear over the top. Wiper arms are satin black acrylic, and the scuttle is gloss black enamel, over a few coats of plastic primer.
If anyone is going to be doing it though, watch the plastic primer on the scuttle. The primer bubbled some of the plastic on mine, was a scumbag to fix up. Had to scrape the plastic off.

The reason I used enamel is because it goes hard as nails. The scuttle gets a fair caning, and I want the paint to last!

Ill grab a pic of the finished job this week if Im outside during the day!

by **apoc** » November 19th, 2012, 10:27 am

The Patrol is on the road!

Also crappy pic of the scuttle and wipers this morning:

by **apoc** » November 26th, 2012, 8:38 am

Installed EF rear brakes and EF/L hand brake setup on this yesterday. Still have to adjust the handbrake, but should be good!

How the backyard looks at the moment :S

Pulling the brakes out of the EF (Easy way

):

And a random pic of the EB. Was a super nice day!

by **Dexi** » November 27th, 2012, 1:39 pm

Your yard looks like my yard! More info on xbs!!! Assuming 4 doors? Nice collection either way!

by **apoc** » November 27th, 2012, 2:16 pm

Lol thanks man. Got 2 four door XB GTs (1974 Manual / 1975 Auto), and an xb fairmont, xc fairmont & xc gxl we're using for parts. The orange mustang in the back of the pic is a 1968 coupe.

by **galapogos01** » November 27th, 2012, 2:38 pm

EB's looking good!

by **apoc** » November 27th, 2012, 2:51 pm

Thanks Jason! :thumbsup:

Going good too, thanks to your efforts haha.

I'd love to go to the GOR cruise but have other commitments this sunday

And I need new front brakes.

by **kwikxr** » November 27th, 2012, 6:34 pm

Ha, love the backyard picture. The way you guys work on that poor red EF is pretty epic lol. Pretty sure I saw it pulled over on it's side in a previous page, and now it's on it's roof :lol:

EB is coming along nicely mate, well done

by **apoc** » December 12th, 2012, 9:41 pm

LOL thanks kwikxr

its almost fully stripped now, got about everything off it I can.

Had a coil failure in the EB the other day, was a super hot day and started getting ignition cut again, then the timing got really retarded and ran like crap New coil and she goes good.

Set the tappets on the patrol, flushed the cooling system and changed the oil. Going 100%, really happy with it!

Any gas fitters on here? The line from the tank on my EB (Copper) is under the chassis rail above the diff, and has been mashed a bit. Saw it on the hoist the other day, and am a bit wary. Where should it be on a falcon?

by **apoc** » December 28th, 2012, 3:33 pm

Cleaned this machine up yesterday, gave it a full clay bar, paint clean & polish. Came up pretty nice!
Also washed and polished the patrol. Took it for its maiden bush voyage the other day, heaps of fun!

Noticed the front right wheel has been scrubbing pretty hardcore, so pulled the front wheels off and checked the bushes and camber kit.

*#%&@#%&ing useless wheel aligners wouldn't know if their bum was on fire. They had stacked the rear of the upper arm with shims, and about half as many in the front, meaning caster was non-existent. ALso had ~6mm of toe out on the right side. Left wheel was dead straight.
Camber was different on both sides, the left wheel was almost straight and the right was much less so lol :doh:

Soooo being not able to find a damn decent wheel aligner in this town, I set up the stringline, using pegs, an old EL seat, barbecue & spare GTPs. and aligned the damn thing.
Gave it ~4.5 - 5* of caster, as little camber as the shims I had would allow, ended up being ~1.5 - 2* or so. Using 2 bubble levels and a protractor lol.
0.5mm toe in on each side, new tyres on the front, and took it for a spin. Loads better, actually drives straight now. And doesn't bump steer over everything!

Also bought a tyre changer and old school bubble balancer. Should save piles of money on tyre services, and just for ease of changing tyres on 11ty cars! :thumbsup:

We also got the mach 1 painted. Putting it back together now!

Cheers!

by **apoc** » December 28th, 2012, 3:34 pm

ALso am going to Canberra for a week starting Saturday, so if someone up there wants to catch up let me know!

by **DJV8T5** » December 28th, 2012, 5:57 pm

Nice work on the wheel alignment mate, old school style...probably the most accurate way to do it anyway. Mach 1 looks pretty awesome too.

You going to the 'Nats while you are up in Canberra?

by **apoc** » January 2nd, 2013, 6:56 pm : **galapogos01 Likes this post**

Yeah it turned out really well, drove fantastic on the way to Canberra and has been whilst driving around here

. Got around 540km to 65L of gas, with a 977B, which I think is alright! Ive got the timing coming in pretty aggressively, has about as much as it can take at cruise. Had to actually take a bit out cos it was pinging in the hot weather and rev hanging around 2000rpm. Still have to reconnect the closed loop LPG control so that might help it more.

Definitely needs a blower though, feeling pretty gutless once the outside temp is above 30. Getting some epic blow-by as well, Ill be pulling the block out of the EL and rebuilding it soon. Just do a swap over, should be good.

Ill post more pics of the Mach 1 as we put it back together, it looks sooooo nice :mrgreen:

Im definitely considering going for a look tomorrow, its the last day Ill be here. Would be awesome to go and see some nice cars!

by **Commando** » January 3rd, 2013, 7:23 am

Spewing about the alignment :S So even Carmodys is a no-go?

You've picked the wrong time of the year to be in Canberra, all of the excitement of politics / Question Time is over for the summer. :ugeek:

by **apoc** » January 3rd, 2013, 8:51 am

Lol! Ill have to save my questions until next Time then

Apparently Carmodys are awesome at it, but you have to book in a fair bit of advance, the guy is pretty flat out. Heard good things about him though! I've driven a few cars he's done, seems alright.
He also does all the alignments for the local dealers, so must know what he's doing

by **apoc** » January 7th, 2013, 1:00 pm

So this keeps cutting ignition, think the TFI is shot. Bought a crane hi-6 for it, but need to replace the dizzy. Ive chucked a thread up in 6cyl tech if anyone has any ideas!

Click this right meow

by **apoc** » January 7th, 2013, 9:50 pm

Just replaced the dizzy with a random EA one I found in the shed. Seems to be a CFi unit, but works ok! The MPFI one I have failed abysmally, no spark.

Going alright so far, seems butloads more powerful at lower rpm / before 3K. Might need the timing set better though, just sort of gave it a random ballpark timing with the light.

No cut-outs or weird crap yet though, which is a nice change. Will see tomorrow.

by **apoc** » January 9th, 2013, 8:12 pm

This hasn't missed a beat since the new dizzy. Power range has changed completely, feels similar to the EL I had recently now. Dizzy may have been on the way out for a while?

Anyway, put this in. Not boosted yet, but will help with my tuning - even N/A. It idles at 20inhg, and cruises at about 18inhg. Its just pretty cool watching what happens with different throttle positions lol.

by **kwikxr** » January 10th, 2013, 6:03 am

Nice work man, vac/boost gauges are handy as for tuning. I envy those vac readings you're getting, I'm getting around 14in @ idle and around 11-12 during cruise haha

by **galapogos01** » January 10th, 2013, 7:57 am

Glad you sorted out the ignition issue!

Nathan, that's not a lot of vacuum!

by **kwikxr** » January 10th, 2013, 8:04 am

Lol, sure isn't! Guess that's the price you pay for a cam with a lot of valve overlap though, tempted to go back to a milder profile so it's closer to standard. I'd love to have 20in of vac again :lol:

by **apoc** » January 11th, 2013, 8:37 am

Thanks guys!

Had a bit of time last night, so I put the wideband, datalogger and lcd in! Tuning here I come

The impco lpg system I have is doing a fair effort, seems to be keeping it around 14:1 under acceleration, and about 14.8:1 cruise. So slightly rich, but barely. I can deal with that!

Petrol is another story though, sits at 10:1 most of the time

goes up to 11:1 or so cruising. I didnt test it for long though, may have still been in cold start mode.

by **galapogos01** » January 11th, 2013, 9:45 am

apoc wrote:impco lpg system I have is doing a fair effort, seems to be keeping it around 14:1 under acceleration, and about 14.8:1 cruise. So slightly rich

Stoich for LPG is higher than 14.7, you will be able to get it better on cruise

Nice install, mine looks very similar.

Cheers,
Jason

by **SnyperEB** » January 11th, 2013, 11:26 am

apoc wrote:Also crappy pic of the scuttle and wipers this morning:

Looks good as mate nice work!!

by **apoc** » January 11th, 2013, 8:18 pm

galapogos01 wrote:Stoich for LPG is higher than 14.7, you will be able to get it better on cruise
Nice install, mine looks very similar.
Cheers,
Jason

Yeah man, LPG stoich is like 15.7 yeah?
Thanks man, it took me a while to actually start, but only took an hour or so when I got into it.

EBGLT wrote:
apoc wrote:Also crappy pic of the scuttle and wipers this morning:
'snip']

Looks good as mate nice work!!

Thanks Shaun!

by **apoc** » January 12th, 2013, 6:21 pm

So the new dizzy didnt fix it, started cutting out again today. Ignition off & on again - fixed. So I dont know whats going on, might replace the ECU. Will double check wiring too.

by **EB_Ghia** » January 12th, 2013, 10:19 pm

silly thought?

does i only happen after rain or the car has been washed?
i had a cutting out issue in the ghia that eluded me for a bit. the rubber tubing for the front doors werent seating correctly letting water in.
it would then drip onto the ecu and make it splutter and die. as the tubing for the door electrics happens to be right above the ecu

let it dry out started every time. or swap the ecu over started first crank
so i ended up resealing it with sealant and problem gone as mine did its trick a few times driving to work

by **apoc** » January 13th, 2013, 1:40 pm

Nah it more happens when its hot. Ill be re-doing the dash looms and engine looms in a while, not really 100% happy with them at the moment! Might be an issue there. Ill put one of my spare ecus in too. Then see what happens!

Thanks for the idea though

by **apoc** » January 23rd, 2013, 8:50 am

Put an EL Futura manual ECU in this last night, without the J3 chip for now. Drove it to work this morning, didnt miss a beat! Dashpot seems to be much improved as well. Might even get another bit of gear from Jason and just pull the tune from this to modify.

by **apoc** » January 29th, 2013, 12:49 pm

EB has been going well, apart from using oil, but its not too bad. Only using a litre every few weeks :lol:

Got a few water leaks to fix, and new brakes to put on. Just waiting on a new booster/master cylinder.

Also picked up a new project the other day:

1946 Ford Freighter. Factory sidevalve V8, manual, tub back. Looking forward to driving this one!

Mustang is also on the road, have to fix a few small niggles and give it a wheel alignment, then all good. Will likely be bringing it to AFD.

by **apoc** » February 25th, 2013, 5:44 pm : **EAfalconboy Likes this post**

Update on here. Had a great time at AFD, met a few people and had a generally good time!

Not so much has been happening with my cars, have a few acoustic gigs booked in so been busy practicing for that. Work is smashing me too, apparently we're (Monash) going to become semi-ballarat uni. wtf?

-Got some carpeted kick panels from SNR for the EB & put them in. Looks good!
-Cleaned the passenger footwell, seat and mat after a friend accidentally spilt a cup of coffee in there :doh:

-Replaced the front rotors and pads. Brakes are still pretty poor (read: bloody useless), so ill be installing an xr8 booster and master cylinder, EF front calipers, braided lines and flushing the fluid. If that doesn't fix it I give up!
-Been pretty consistent with the km/l, a bit worse since Ive had the j3 out. Have to put it back in soon, getting a bit over the doughyness.
-Water leak from the back of the pump has magically stopped, dunno what the go is there. Still has water in it so meh. Still am going to put a fitting in the back of the pump when I have a sec.
-Bought a metal lid and spring kit for my B2 converter, just need to get a GRA tuning kit and Ill install my new gas mixer.

Drove my sisters stock as a rock EF falcon yesterday, the brakes on it are pretty darn good! Surely the booster difference between EB & EF arent that much? Mine's probably stuffed. The brakes are just piss-weak. The mustang has better brakes than it ffs. Ah :write:

Nothing much else to add really. Dads looking at buying a few more cars, nothing new there! XW GT and an XA GT. Hopefully things go through, it would be awesome having an XW, XA, and 2 XB GTs. And a Mach 1 mustang. Will be a lot of work though!

by **apoc** » February 26th, 2013, 6:00 pm

Just checked out the EF calipers Ive got here, one of the slides was seized on each of the calipers. I think the same problem has happened to my EB calipers!

by **apoc** » March 20th, 2013, 8:03 am

So few updates here:
New calipers, pads, discs, wheel bearings, braided lines and fluid in the EB. Brakes actually work now! Still to change the booster, but its much better.
Still havent put the J3 back in, have some time this weekend which Ill hopefully set the timing and re-flash it.
Its been loving the cooler weather, heapsa powah - For an lpg car anyway lol.

Bought another car on the weekend though:
XE GL with 104,000km. Bit of rust, its been sitting for 10-15 years! 4.1 with a 3speed, factory air con and power steering. Chucked some fuel down the carby and it fired easy as, runs like a top! Will probably just clean it up, fix some rust & add some paint, then wheels, club plates and drive it. Have a 302 and 4 speed to go in, might even put one of the 351s in it if we feel motivated.

by **apoc** » April 29th, 2013, 11:39 pm

Took a pic of the EB in the work carpark after I cleaned it up recently:

by **staunchxr** » April 30th, 2013, 2:43 pm

Love your collection mate the hurst shifter / gearknob looks awesome top job painted my scuttle and window surrounds after seeing you do it looks 100% better thanks for the idea :good:

by **apoc** » June 24th, 2013, 9:41 am

Bit of an update on this, been pretty busy so haven't got a whole lot done on anything lately.
Been buying a few turbo kits, going to make the best out of a few for my EB, then use the left overs to boost something else ha ha

Been working on my XT500, engine needed a rebuild. Has been sitting for ten years in a pile, will be nice to get it back together!

Also put the windows back in this, aligned the doors, got the engine going again, almost ready for some club rego!

Been having some issues with my EB, leaking water, P/s fluid and all manner of things. The heater pipe return into the water pump was stuffed, also the feed line for the gas converter had a split in it. Ended up having to fill it with water every drive :banghead:

Found a stainless bush the exact size of the water return hole, put it in and sealed it up with a bit of stag sealant. Its pretty tight anyway. Axed the heater pipe and joined it with a short piece of heater hose. Hopefully will be alright, I'm a bit wary of heat in that area. Maybe some heat shielding / wrap will help.

This is why we ALWAYS run coolant kids. Ive been filling up with water only, it was going through so much. Will be coolanting it soon after I make sure its not leaking anymore!

Also got a few more cars for bits - EB2 S and and EF Futura. :thumbsup:

Also cleaned the engine bay up a heap after all the fixing, heaps better. Hopefully Ill get my steering wheel back this week all retrimmed, will be good to have a decent one back again!

Cheers, hope you are all well!

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