Putting a chev 350 in a rangie, documenting it all!

[nat p]

Hay all,

Well I'm in the middle of putting a 350 chev into a rangie 1986 Efi.
The cars already got front and rear maxis 35inch simex centipedes etc ec.

The old 3.5 was using and blowing oil and dying, we got one last trip out of it but it used 8 litres of oil in 3 days. So the next thing to do was to find a new engine. The 3.5 as rally an option, but we did think about going 4.7 this would fix it. A 4.6 RR as too expensive, so a 350 or similar was the option!! POWER! We found a really good crate motor, and a adaptor so phone calls were made, the roverare ha a running 350 in a disco, sooooo this seemed the best way. It needed a really good tidy up but the price was ok and it Ran and it was already in a rangie/disco.


So went a picked it all up. The old engine and drive train came out and the new new engine and auto trans installed.

I've got pics of this was well, and I'll post them shorty. I'll try to put as much details as I am to help anyone else thinking about it.

[nat p]

Sorting out the fuel system, we had to convert the old Efi tank to carb set up. So welded up 10 mm (3/8), stainless pipe to the original base plate and welded up the hole where the wiring used to go to the fuel pump.

[nat p]

Had to cut it to fit just right.

[nat p]

The completed tank ready to go back into the car

[nat p]

Ok, the tank is installed,
I,m using 10mm (3/8) fuel line which has been feed into heater hose to protect it for 4wd duty. I was going to use the original fuel lines but they are only 6mm. A bit too small.
The motor is not a weapon by any means but we are going to show it a bit of love for more power.

I've fed the fuel line through the chassis so it's protected as much as possible.

The next thing to do it plumb it to the mech fuel pump. We went the mech fuel pump just in case we roll it, the engine might stop and therefore no more fuel.

[nat p]

Another pick of the fuel pick up

[tron6000]

Its looking good mate,

Cant wait to get it out on some tracks!

Post up some engine bay shots.....:cool:

[nat p]

ok,
next pics, heres the engine on ots way to getting a tear down.

[nat p]

oh and its going in this!
1986 RRC EFI
35 inch simex
etc etc etc

[nat p]

one more pic, then more pics and stuff of the actual fitting the engine.

[nat p]

AND its in!!!!!

ok here the engine, with tranny hooked up. AND alternator on. $60 in ebay for that fancy bracket. cheap!!!

Running the block huggers until we find a set of extractors that clear everything.

the next job is fit the exhaust, finish off all underneath.

Will be running Ford EL v8 thermo fans they fit almost perfectly. and flow enough!

[tron6000]

does any one know of any headers that fit??

[Homestar]

Looking good! I think one day I would like to do this to mine once the 3.9 I've just stuck in it wears out - maybe in about 15 years with the amount of KM I put on it:D.

Would like to check out your conversion first hand if you don't mind me having a sticky beak at some stage...:)

Cheers - Gav

[nat p]

Hay gav,
Sure!!!! We do "car night" usually every Tuesdays, except this Tuesday cos its my partners birthday. But absolutely welcome, 0417318475 I've me a call or text and ill let ya know the address.
Cheers Nat

Oh and this is just after we out it in.
We removed the radiator support panel, much easier this way. And then used nutsert to finish the job off!

Cheers Nat

[Homestar]

Thanks mate - I'll give you a call in the next week or so. F1 this week, so lots of late nights for me this week anyway.:)

Cheers - Gav

[nat p]

OK, WARNING TO ALL !!!! Chevs re NOT all the same, Eg, our engine is a bitsa. After buying 3 sump gaskets which you are told that fit... but...

We ended up buying another sump, and one piece gasket. After alot of research and talking to people, we found a Eagle Spares to be fantastic with knowledge and help. Yes they are more expensive than the web BUT you buy things once. I have brought 3 sump gaskets and wasted 10 days!!!!! BUGGAR!

I highly recommend researching the year your chev was made, what car it came out of, all these things!

We have fitted the exhaust that came with the engine. Its not a great fit. Although will do until I can find a set of headers to fit.

The car doesn't look like its progressed, and it hasn't. We continue to hit road blocks with incorrect parts. They have all been $5 parts.
no heres some more pics.

[nat p]

other updates is fittinf twin SS snorkels, We have a twin outlet sealed (we have modified it) air box/cleaner.
Heres the first one.

[nat p]

and heres one of the differences in sumps, The other main one is which side your dipsitck is.

[nat p]

The next job is Finishing off new carb, We went with the Holley Truck Avenger 670cfm which is designed for 4wds.

Then its Radiator and Fans, still deciding whether to go EL V8 fans and Rad, or use the Range rover Rad and the same fans.

After that its interior finishing/console AND Electical.

Cheers NAT

[nat p]

Has any one done this conversion? As I'm searching for some headers?

Any ideas?


Cheers NAT P

[tron6000]

other updates is fittinf twin SS snorkels, We have a twin outlet sealed (we have modified it) air box/cleaner.
Heres the first one.

That snorkel looks awesome!!

[mudmouse]

Has any one done this conversion? As I'm searching for some headers?

Any ideas?


Cheers NAT P

I've seen a 308 in a Range Rover but it had cast manifolds - perhaps you could use a set of 'block huggers' but I wouldn't expect any noticeable power gains - just look a bit nicer. Custom headers would cost a lump. Castle Auto Electrics (CAE) and darrendifillipo.com.au have a good range of DIY header kits....?

Good luck, it looks fun!

Matt.

[350RRC]

Has any one done this conversion? As I'm searching for some headers?

Any ideas?


Cheers NAT P

Hi Nat,

Can take some pics of mine (PM me an email address) and you can post them up. Someone will know what brand they are. I have NFI.

The only mod appears to be a slight kink at the end on the driver side to clear the stock crossmember. They would clear a tube crossmember with no mods.

EL thermos on a stock 3.5 RRC radiator works fine for my POS. Never gets over half on the gauge.

cheers, DL

[fonfe]

What is the chev engine?
I've heard of the old overfinch conversions and they use a Chevy lump but can't seem to find ay info on which engine it actually is! Did holden use the same motor at any time being part of GMC?

[nat p]

Its a 350 chev, 1986 crate eco engine. i ran darren difillipo they dont have an off the shelf version, so they do a DIY kit for $440. not bad, BUT I thought they would be cheaper. I will try to find an off the shelf veraion first before I spend ALOT of time making my own.

The Carb 670 CFM Truck holley has arrived!!!!! pretty keen to put it on, I reckon in 2 weeks it will be moving!!


Cheers nat

[nat p]

More pics and pieces, This time its the cooling system.

[nat p]

As ya can see form the below,

We have installed the radiator. We have used a 4 core Disco 1 rad. The reason: it came with the engine AND we only had a 3 core rangie version.
We have used a EL 6/V8 ( they are the same fans) These a great fans, I have them on my 4.6 and not even a hint of getting hot. They are very very easy to fit. Theres about 10-15 minutes on triming ( this includes double checking and rechecking after each cut). and BAM perfect. You can fit them a couple of different ways. They will fit a range rover rad well as well.
I used pop rivets cos it was easy/fast and final. The only fixed from the top. The bottom uses a standard lip which we simply trimmed the fan shroud til it fitted.
HOSES: The top hose VX buick V6 holden trimmed 4cm off the end and we used a swivel thermostat housing to make easy for ourselves (and it was cheap). The bottom hose came with the engine. The chev outlet and rad outlet are different. You can get them not sure where.
We will be using a Davies Craig thermo switch to turn the fans on. I will wire it up so there is a switch inside which as 3 settings, OFF, ON and thermo controlled ON.
I cant stress how well these fans fit.

Next is the fuel.

Cheers NAT

[nat p]

Ok,
We have now finished off the fuel system, The carb which came with the engine was Ok, but leaking fuel (only needed a kit through it) and after a look around we chose brand new 670 Holley truck Avenger (basiclly we got this for a birthday present hence the new carb). This is the perfect carb for this app. They set up for extreme angles. So noe theres a 10mm line all the way through. We were going to run a holley red BUT was told they dont suck very well. Cos our fuel tank draws from the top, maybe later. So we went with the a high flow mech pump. This system will be fine so the current set up.
Next is some heads and exhaust and BANG 300+ HP, but this will do for now. We wanted to set everything up so later therees no need to upgrade the fuel system.
We chose a clear 10mm fuel filter (sory cant remeber code) for easy of service and we placed it there so when we change it its easy to do so without spilling fuel over the engine.
After ringing around we went with the 10mm fuel line. We didnt want to run lean, especially with the changes planned for later.

NEXT IS ELECTRICAL:
Next is wiring up starter motor AND then mounting and wiring up the Coil. This "should" be easy, cos we are going to use the standard starter wiring (except we have replaced the batt cable with a bigger higher amp version). I have already wired up the starter and things did work, I think the starter motor is buggered cos I tried to jump start it and nothing.

AND the coil, we are going to use the standard wiring. I've just to to make sure that this will work.

And its also time to put earths everywhere. I have a great method to make you own. I will take pics for this one.

Cheers NAT

[nat p]

Oh I forgot, for the heater hoses, we used Torana LJ. theses are great, they have a roght angle on one side and then they are 2 foot long, so perfect for this app.

[nat p]

Ok gang, the next thing to do is earths!
Yep very boring but we all know how bad these things are so maybe i went a little overkill but I reckon it's just right.

We made custom earth leads for the engine out of 10mm black battery cable. The best way (I've found) to to fill them 3/4 full of solder wire, and then simply dunk the cable in, you can tell its a solid connection by the way it holds in there.

The way I've found to work best is to our the end in a vice grip, facing up on the stove with the end in the flame, then drop solder wire into the pot until 3/4 full and then dunk the cable into the pot and pull the vice grip out of the flame, hold the cable at the same time so it holds in place. Some solder will spill out so best to rest the lot over something you can get rid of. The solder does simply wipe off. I used a baking tray. And then washed it!
Once cooled down we covered the ends with shrink wrap for a pro finish.
I do recommend trimming the insulation and test fit over and over until the desired length is obtained. I've noticed there's a couple of different lengths so if you cut a little bit too much insulation, no big deal. Just cover it with heat shrink. By the 3rd go you Sus it out how long you need to trim.
You could use an oxy torch or something with a bit of heat, I found the stove handy cos it kept both hands free.

So as ya can see there's an earth from the left head to the chassis and then another to the body,

There's another on starter motor side which is attached to the engine mount bolt to the body.
The standard battery to body to chassis will replaced shorty. There's nothing wrong with this set up. It's just old and I've got more cable and ends.

Check out pics .

[nat p]

More pics,

[nat p]

Another pic,
Oh and I forgot to mention, cleaned the crap out of the fixing points for a good contact

[tron6000]

Nice work,

It looks like its all coming together.And cheers for the details Nat!

What coil and leads are you going to use?

[nat p]

Thank you!!
Its coming along, Dizzy is a scorcher, coil was a scorcher branded unit, BUT was ******, the inside was all worn away and there was distortion around where the lead attached (no surprises there), . Leads; I have a set of 10mm Top gun leads. which will look great! I've got a set on my own RRC 4.6. happy so far.

These will be on soon, Still figuring out the wiring. So the plan is to fire her for the first time next weekend! after mums day.

Cheers NAT

[PhilipA]

Just a word on exhausts.
You are wasting your time with headers if hoping for more power.
I recall reading an article by Hot Rod Magazine who did extensive dyno tests on Chev350s with all types of manifolds and there was no difference between "Rams Horns " and sexy looking headers.
Regards Philip A

[350RRC]

Hi Nat,

Couple of things:

You should make sure that all the weight of the radiator is taken by the grommets on the pins at the bottom, not by the brackets on the sides. The joints around the tanks will crack otherwise, especially if the radiator is carrying the weight of the fans.

If you get extractors you need to have some sort of heat shielding near the starter. Very common for Chev starters to stick after awhile when exposed to non stock heat.

Bottom radiator hose is from an Austin Tasman I think. Trying to find my original owners handbook which had all mods handwritten in to confirm. Hose is still available from some resto mob in eastern Melb burbs. Top hose on mine is just shortened RRC.

Bosch induction leads will out perform and outlast TG by miles. I don't care that mine don't look sexy.

Looking good so far!

DL

[nat p]

hay gang,

Thank you for th advice!!!! I wdo want to change that bottom hose, It is old and the inside is all rusty (ok for start up/ until I find the right hose.

Thats very interesting about the extractors!!!! Well I cant find anything atm, other than what I have found on the net.

Next week wiring/ and hopefully first start up.


Cheers NAT
P.S yep the leads are a bit wanky, but I just wanted them!

[zapata1]

I've seen a 308 in a Range Rover but it had cast manifolds - perhaps you could use a set of 'block huggers' but I wouldn't expect any noticeable power gains - just look a bit nicer. Custom headers would cost a lump. Castle Auto Electrics (CAE) and darrendifillipo.com.au have a good range of DIY header kits....?

Good luck, it looks fun!

Matt.

Gooday I have a Holden 308 in my RR classic 85 model an engineered ritters conversion original with extractors. Sweet no problem.
My son did 350 chev into rr and they were block huggers.
His problem was overheating couldn't get it cool.

[350RRC]

Hi Nat,

Found the original owner's handbook with all mods.

Bottom radiator hose (Chev to RRC radiator) is from a manual Austin Tasman.

There is a company in east Melb suburbs that stock discontinued new parts (can't remember the name........Repco might have put me on to them).

Have spoken to them 5 yrs ago and part was in stock. If you find them get one for me as well! They don't do internet sales.

cheers, DL

[nat p]

Hay all,
I know it's been ages since last blog, but been doming boring stuff. Like starter motor needed a quick cleanout, oh if ya play with chevs, these need to be shimmed. Or they don't work well, noisy.
Wiring for the starter motor is the exact same as range over. Power wire and trigger wire. We upgraded the power wire to a bigger diameter cops we had some spare from redoing the battery.


We are now up to the coil side of things, I will take pics and write a wilting diagram to make things easier. I haven't looked at the tachometer wiring. I'll figure this out after. I just want to get it driving.

The only (will hopefully) thing to do is clean up interior, going to fit a rangie factory centre console. And throttle/kick down linkage.

I'm hoping to have it running by end of this week. Stay tuned

Cheers Nat

[tron6000]

Nice work mate!

Any new pics?

Also wondering if anyone knows of an engineer in melb that could help to get 350 chev all legit?

[nat p]

Hay all,
Thanks tron! It's going well. Ok so it's now running, there still some things to do but here's more pics.
Hooked up PCv valve, vac advance, spark plug leads. Used a mec 723 coil.

So for wiring the coil, there's a 3 prong plug that went to the old coil and module. It's the white wire. There's 2 white ones, the other one has a black traser. You can check it by using a multimeter, with ignition on, it's the only one with 12v - handy!
This wire goes to the positive side of the coil. We mounted the coil next to the windscreen washer bottle, I wanted to keep it away from the heat. Standard units bolt to the inlet manifold.
And thats it, the wiring to get the engine to run is done. Next is tachometer, temp, oil gauges.
This tachometer never worked but ill give it a go before I use an aftermarket job.

Other jobs is still interior, gauge wiring, wiring for thermo fans, alternator wiring.

Cheers Nat

[nat p]

More pics
This one shows more plumbing done, brake booster etc.
Cheers Nat

[nat p]

hay all,
Well it ran and very well, and we have had the first drive, and WOW!!!! IF you think a rangie could never have enough power to churp a 35 simex you would be right, but a 350 does!! I couldn't believe it. they just have so much torque. I know I sound surprised and I was. I have a 4.6 in my rangie and this just ****s on it! And a fantastic sound to match.
The engine itself is stock, just good carb and upgraded ignition/coil. I've wired up all the gauges (except tacho)and they all seem to work. I cant remember the colours. I'll take a pick and post. I have added a pick of coil wiring. Cant really tell much from this. We used a MEC 723 Bosch coil. perfect for this app, and yes we are running EI from Scorcher.

The next pic is a accelerator cable linkage, yep, I cheated, I bought one, for $50 landed off ebay. It took me 20 min to set up and make perfect, I know thats alot for a bracket but time/money/time/time= no brainer. This made the auto kickdown and accelerator cable hell easy.
oh you best use a disco 3.9 accel cable, they are a longer and therefore easier to use. A bit of mucking around to get them to fit the the body side. but worth it.

Next is to finish off engine bay by trimming bonnet to fit air cleaner and the other snorkel and plumbing. We have used a jeggs twin outlet aircleaner and modified it to make it water tight. It is slightly hitting the bonnet so we have to modify the base plate. or raise the bonnet a touch. If you have a body lift you don't need to worry about this part.
AND
Finish off interior. It is now an auto so we are going to use a standard auto console. other things to do is fit an Auto oil cooler, a Huge one.

Well that s enough for tonight.
Cheers NAT

[rovercare]

Shhhh, you'll upset the purists:D

[rangieman]

Shhhh, you'll upset the purists:D

Coming from someone who has crossed to the darkside:eek::p

[350RRC]

Shhhh, you'll upset the purists:D

The ones who enjoy dropped liners, oil pumps that won't prime, head gasket replacements, distributor problems, camshaft wear, $5k long motors?

Or the ones who think someone will die if they upset the 'balance' of the original package?

:D cheers, DL

[rovercare]

Coming from someone who has crossed to the darkside:eek::p

Yep, not minding it either:D

[rovercare]

The ones who enjoy dropped liners, oil pumps that won't prime, head gasket replacements, distributor problems, camshaft wear, $5k long motors?

Or the ones who think someone will die if they upset the 'balance' of the original package?

:D cheers, DL

Hehe:)

[loanrangie]

Purists be damned, LR had the chance to put the 4.4 in way back when which would have made it a different vehicle.

[nat p]

HEHEHE yep, I do love the fact I can buy parts for this from Kmart. Without getting told, its imported and it should work... should!
Cheers NAT

[Jitterbug]

Great work! I am planning a small block chev / LS1 install on my engineless 90 sometime next year. I will definately re-visit this thread when I do!

[nat p]

Hay all,
Yep I know its been ages but the car is finally up and running and now driving. This only happened a couple of nights ago. Well... to a level that we are happy with.

This next installment was finishing off the auto cooler, and kick down. The kick down is pretty simple. I used the standard disco cable. This is the standard ZF cable. We used a fancy bracket which we bought off teh net, which we were able to utilize the disco accel cable and the kick down cable.

We fitted the oil cooler and flushed the trans and put a new filter in it. Pretty exciting stuff.

WARNING!!!: DO NOT do to a smaller diameter pipe. I was very surprised how much flow. When we were flushing it, I could not believe how much and the rate it did.


OK The fittings we used were;
The pipes are 1/2" the fittings are 1/2" BSP. , the gearbox and cooler adapters are 16mm >1/2"BSP see a pick of the new adapter installed in the auto (this is not my car, I found this on the net, just to show you.

So in a nutshell we removed the original adapters and fitted the ones we wanted to use.

We went with a 10 by 11 inch B and M cooler. with speed flow fittings on this end and I had the Enzed men crimp the other for a clean fittings.

Cheers NAT

[nat p]

more pics,

as you can see theres not much space there, so YOU have to get the correct adapters OR they hit the auto body. SO its ALOT easier to do this with the auto out of the car, BUT we did it in the car, We used a 7/8 socket to remove them and brought them with us.

Cheers NAT P

[nat p]

We ran the lines down the side, We trimmed,tapped the inner guards to make sure there's no way of cutting. They look fancy!! AND there's enough left over for the engine oil cooler!! - another night.

[nat p]

hay all,

Well first proper drive around the block and up a slight hill...
ok the issues that arose were;

Flat battery - reason - not revving enough, Alt is bot kicking on. will have to adjust reg so it kicks in earlier.

thermo Fans stay on ALOT after car is turned of - reason - heat soak, will cut some vents in bonnet to release some of the heat build up.

Exhaust leaks between manifold and pipe - Us being lazy not seting them well enough. Not a great set up BUT will do for the moment.

Auto temp - reason - nothing!! PERFECT after flushing it and the new cooler, it runs cool, shifts better, smoother, etc etc - Used Penrite X5. good stuff!

Temp gauge, went dead - reason - no idea... have to work at this one!

Cheers NAT

[nat p]

The small driver around the block and up the street...

[Geeman]

Hi NAT P

Hows everything going with the 350chev install. Is she all sorted and running well?. What is the fuel usage like compared to the old motor?

cheers

Geeman

[Milesey74]

This is a great thread. Thanks for sharing this with us all. Very keen to see how it ends up.

[nat p]

The new gauges

[nat p]

Ok the next instalment is here,
Flat battery issue, was knocked out by changing the alt for a new Bosch unit and a smaller pulley so the reg kicked in earlier. It now charges from just on idle.
The other thing we did to fix it was to wire the fans so when the engine was turned off the fans turned off. We noticed they stayed on for along time, 5-10 minutes which just flattened the battery.

We also fitted some great new gauges, the standard gauges are surprising wrong, well out! We fitted them down there cos we didn't want to cut the dash up, and so when you look into the cabin it looks standard. We also noticed that they are slow to react, the time it was hot the original gauge was just moving. It looks better in real life, the pic makes the gauge cradle look different, but in the flesh it's almost the exact same colour.

We also adjusted the fans thermo switch, so it comes on at 80c. Any later and it struggles to cool it down. Chev range is between 82-95. And it gets hot REALLY REALLY fast!

[nat p]

With the lights off,
Stealth!

[nat p]

A quick drive around Kew.... Ok it was a couple of weekends ago, up warburton, great fun, can't remember the track.

I'm not sure if I've done the video right.... Hopefully they work.

[nat p]

Oh and someone just asked me directly if it has upset the handling... Well, it's a range rover, they don't handle, if you want handling, buy a wrx. It handles exactly the same as my own rover v8, rangie. When we put a winch on the front we will probably put some new front springs, it has sagged a tad, but I prefer it slightly lower at the front. It's only slightly. It doesn't do anything silly like under steer etc.

[nat p]

ok,
More developments,

Its not liking the heat... at all. ATM we are searching for a bigger radiator.

I have been told that some rovers disco/RRC came with a 4 core. I've seen one ( and distoryed one) so I know they exist. Just not sure which car they come out of. I think they come out of early model Range rover classics.

That's the next step. Also checking timing etc.

Then and I think we will do this anyway is bonnet vents. It gets pretty hot under the bonnet.

He engine came with a engine oil cooler, so will add this to the mix too. Every bit helps!!!

It doesnt get hot all, the time, BUT we are going for reliability. Ex rally guy. So always build cars this way.

If I found out which model, I'll let you all know!

Cheers NAT

[350RRC]

Mine actually got up to half on the temp gauge on one of those 40+ days a couple of weeks ago. :D

Lower rad hose for RRC rad to Chev (Austin Tasman Manual) look up Auto Surplus in Mitcham.

cheers, DL

[PhilipA]

The 4 core radiators were fitted to the 3.9 autos which had the engine oil cooler in them as well as the transmission cooler.

They were not particularly efficient for a 4 core .

I recall mine started leaking where tubes meet the end tank, and it was replaced under warranty.

I was outraged that the core replacement was a 3 core NATRAD into the 4 core end tanks and I rang NATRAD and spoke to an engineer who looked up all the specs and told me that the NATRAD 3 core had about 25% more cooling capacity due to its design. I think the number was 940.

I never had a cooling problem even in low range in 40C + temps.

You would be very lucky to get a good 4 core unless you buy new as they were prone to blocking because of the small tubes. If they are still available I would probably go for a dead 4 core form a wrecker and have it recored with an efficient core. You could maybe fit a Falcon rad as detailed in another current thread.
Regards Philip A

[nat p]

Thanks Phillip,

we did think of using ford AU v8 rad, cos the fans will both directly it. Neat job.

Ill have more research. I was a surprised that it was over heating.

OK there was an issue!!!!! Thermostat was stuck! Fixing this and see where we go.


Cheers NAT

[350RRC]

Nat I've never had a cooling prob with a stock RRC rad and EL thermos with a 500k + km motor on gas.

Has done some k's with a rad leak and half water...... still goes, no head probs,
can't bring myself to pull the donk out for a rebuild for no reason.

Actually got up to a third on the temp gauge today.

DL

[PSI250]

see how you go with your cooling issue, i have an alloy rad that came out of a rangie with a 4.6L, kept it cool even in comps.

I was going to use it one day, but seems you may have more use for it then i will!
let me know if its somethig you may be interested in and we can go from there!

[nat p]

Ok the next installment,

Sorted out the cooling issues, ended up being a blocked radiator. we took psi250 offer and through in an alloy Rad, which after mucking around with some mounts, is a vastly improved design and fit. There's now more clearance between Rad and pulleys, and it look ****hot! Dont need it, but it was there, and well it was there!

We have noticed after driving, and then turning it off, the heat soak is incredible. from normal 82C to 112, yep the clam shell effect. Its also shows up how ****house the standard temp gauge is.

So next on the to do list is some vents. After doing some research, Ritter and Overfinch conversions all had vents as well, so a common trend.

If anyone has some good ones please post, its harder to choose then I thought.

I'll post some pics shortly.

We have been a bit lazy, work has really got in the way. buggar,

Things to come,

Rock sliders,
hook up snorkels
finish up interior
fit front 6 degrees cranked arms

OH OH OH I almost forgot, last trip we bent the drag bars, so sourcing and fitting bigger versions.

Cheers NAT

[Homestar]

The heat soak on my clapped out 3.5 used to reach 106 degrees on the mechanical VDO gauge after a drive, so not sure of how much of a drama it really is, but I think vents are a good idea in the bonnet - there is no room for the hot air to escape under there.

I've seen some D3/4 vents cut into the side of the bonnet and they look quite good. The RH one is easy to get as people pull them out to fit snorkels but the other side can be harder (and more expensive...)

[nat p]

Hay all,
So here's the new alloy Rad, As you can see there's alot more clearance.

The fans are held in from the top and can be removed in minutes, (its the rally prep coming out) entire rad can be removed in minutes OR parts of it for easy cleaning, and demuding.

Same fans as before.

Cheers NAT

[PSI250]

glad the rad helped.


I have seen the vents from the D pillar grafted into the sides of the bonnet.
Twin GU scoops? mounted forward or reverse?


i'll see what pics I can scrounge up.

[nat p]

Hay all,

OK the next installment. The chev's pretty much finished now. Here comes making everything else on the car reliable around it, Last time we went out, We hit some pretty deep mud... bull bar deep and we noticed mud got into the air cleaner. Yep, the snorkels are already there as is the twin outlet air cleaner, so we got off our ass and hooked them up.


Check out the pics, The outlets on the air cleaners are 4 inches, and our snorkels are only 3 inch. any bigger and we would have to cut the crap out of the car, plus, 3 inch is pretty big enough. You can really feel the air being sucked from each snorkel. We had to move things around the engine bay, but it ended up decent.

We have made it so its also quick release. There's 3 inch right angle rubber tubes in the cowl. so the stainless snorkels slide (very snugly) into them. and then on the engine side, there's 3 inch alloy tube, this is the part that is removable easily.

Its water and dust tight. We sealed the air box as well.

[nat p]

bump, someone wanted to check this out, and they reckon they couldnt find it. so bump

[Lockee]

Did you get vents on the bonnet. My old 85 that I bought with a Holden 253 then fitted a Chev had gal brick vents fitted painted black. Cheap strong from Bunnings

[nat p]

hay,

Not yet, atm looking at maybe ford focus vents, but the cars got parked for a while yep got lazy

[Jetfisher]

Gidday Nat,
Your project reminds me of the one I did...a while back now, a 1978 2 door classic..completed in 1986. Bathurst spec 327 and Turbo 400, used a Land and Sea conversion kit. Was a great thing now long gone.
Only thing I wished was that I should have used 400ci Chev small block instead of the 327...more torque.
Anyway headers..I was lucky and had a mate helping me who was a hot rodder and brilliant customiser/fitter...he built a set to fit. I couldn't find any off the shelf. Worth doing as they made it run cooler and a bit more grunt.
You do need to insulate the floor inside in front as the floor got hotter than with manifolds.
Jetfisher

[Jetfisher]

further to my last message...and as a result of having the aforementioned hot rodder helping me...I took the bonnet to a hot rod shop in Dandenong in Melbourne which had a louver press like used to create the lovered bonnets on early hot rods I then had them punch 12 louvers either side on the top of the bonnet at the windscreen end...this was where the heat seemed to get trapped at idle the fans pushed ir through and when motoring along there seemed to be a suction effect caused by air moving over the bonnet and up the windscreen which sucked the hot air out from under the bonnet..worked really well. It seems to me that the natural under bonnet flow doesn't go out via the guards
Jetfisher

[nat p]

Hay Jet fisher

DO you have pics of the vents? that's a great idea. I will look into that

[nat p]

I should give a general report, so heres an update;

Everything seems to be working well. There's only a few issues;

- Front Springs have sagged, buggar, so anyone have a recommendation, we are all ears, winch, winch bar, they did last a good 6 months.

- It does get hot under the bonnet, long term, probably put vents on the bonnets. We run the old style horn exhaust manifolds, was going to upgrade to extractors but I think this will increase under bonnet temps

- Everything else has been solid. nothing has broken, we do drive it with cuation. We let the torque of the engine do all the work. BUT its hard not to give it a boot full and watch (listen) to all 4 tyres scream in pain.


Cheers Nat

[350RRC]

Hi Nat,

I'm still using the same springs all round that were installed with the 350 by a previous owner in 1991............. Pedders 2" lift HD. No sag at all.

Someone posted some time ago that Pedders actually make their own springs.

Extractors do increase engine bay temps, with no real benefit.

DL

[blackrangie]

hay,

Not yet, atm looking at maybe ford focus vents, but the cars got parked for a while yep got lazy


Good idea! Let us know how you go with the vents

[350RRC]

Was driving around yesterday with the handbrake handle boot off while sorting out a prob.

Quite surprising how much heat is in the tunnel while moving.

DL