cult45's 45 recovery and remobilisation (4 Viewers)

[Pauciflora]

G'day Cult,

I'll keep an eye out for some of those chrome mesh headlight protectors for you. I reckon you should think about sticking a vintage RACQ club badge on it somewhere. Your persistence has paid off.

Cheers,

Ben

 

[cult45]

G'day Cult,

I'll keep an eye out for some of those chrome mesh headlight protectors for you. I reckon you should think about sticking a vintage RACQ club badge on it somewhere. Your persistence has paid off.

Cheers,

Ben

I'm okay for those trinkets man, got a different plan!

 

[cult45]

Got a few decent runs today with the new water pump and re-routed heater lines. Cruising around in traffic, no traffic, small inclines etc it wanders between 180 and 200 but never over. This is sans shroud. Not too sure how it'll fare turning another axle or in hot weather though. I'll keep an eye on those temps and see how it fares off road once the new exhaust [and therefore front DS] is all in.

At the moment it's dieseling [running on] after I shut it down. It also has a high idle. I did some searching and the general consensus is that it's either ignition timing or a vacuum leak. It's a stock Quadrajet. Thoughts?

I also have a small braking issue. Since owning the truck I've always had to prime the brake pedal once or even twice prior to use. Once it's primed however it pulls up great. I figured it was a leak somewhere and if I replaced all the hard and soft lines that I'd excise the leak and have peace of mind. But it hasn't, and tonight I found myself with the brakes stuck on once or twice. Other than the remote booster, all braking components are new or rebuilt by professionals. Thoughts?

Other than that the truck drives great. It tracks true, it's tight, has no rattles or squeaks whatsoever and for a 45 year old machine its pretty darn good. I'm still building trust in it, but it's shaping up to be a good rig.

 

[84TROOPY]

Good stuff Dan. Now drive it!

 

[cult45]

Good stuff Dan. Now drive it!

Thanks Pete! I owe you a carton.

Spent Saturday morning installing the new-to-me handbrake cable courtesy of the catskinner. The cup on the firewall is different between models necessitating the change. Plus it was brand new. Thanks cat! Those who've done this will know you have to drop the tailshaft, drain the transfer oil, pull the handbrake drum off.. etc..

Bought a timing light and spent all this morning on the internets learning about how to correctly time a Holden V8. Turns out timing was wayyy off and the idle had been wound up to compensate. Got all that sorted. But it still runs hot? Next step is to buy a shroud from a V8 Commodore [donor engine model] and fit that up. I tried with a Toyota one but the diameter of the fan is too big and skims it.

Tell me something. This thing runs great, it's now correctly timed with the correct mixture and idle speed. But about 3-5 mins into any journey the temp spikes to 220..230..40..50? Naturally I shut it down asap.

What gives? It spikes crazy, then drops crazy, then settles, then spikes again. Faulty gauge?

 

[chappohj47]

Just caught up on the build Cult nice work mate sounds great

 

[sneaky]

Could be a dud thermostat not opening early enough.

 

[ozcrusier]

Cult
It could be how you have it plumbed just been reading up on the holden V8 donks and your supposed to have one of those pipes running from the pump to the manifold to aid with cold starts as it lets the coolant bypass the thermostat. With out it when thermostat shuts the coolant spikes hot then thermostat opens engine cools down thermostat shuts temp spike again then engine runs hot again.
Google Holden 253 308 temp spike.

 

[cult45]

Fixed that on the weekend oz!

Radiator shop Wednesday.

 

[cult45]

'Got a Commodore shroud?'

'Yep.'

'How much?'

'If you come pull it off yourself - fifteen bucks.'

'Seeya in 20 mins.'

There was one laying in the tray of a VG ute

Gonna cut the thermofan off and run the V8 engine fan.

 

[cult45]

Mr. Impulsive here bought ^ that shroud without checking if it would fit. Ended up using the old shroud and took it down the radiator shop. He gave the engine and radiator a decent flush [no crap] and pulled the t-stat to find it was a 91* one. He installed an 82* one. Left me the keys and everything and trusted that I'd come back Monday to pay him if all goes well #oldschooltradesman #buthesyoung #notcomplaining

Picked it up at 6am and took it for a burn in the 57* air. Some stop-start, some inclines, some local roads [20-40mph] some highway [55mph]. It spat a little coolant at the start but then stayed watertight from then on. Temps ranged from 180-200 but mostly 180. It leaned towards 200 when it needed to pull with this sticky damn wheel cylinder. I'll take it for a run later today in the heat, see what eventuates.

 

[cult45]

Lunchtime run at 75* F = great. Needle never got over 200, not even in heavy traffic. In fact in heavy traffic it came down to 180 all by itself. I'm going to attribute that to the shroud. I did notice that low speed + low engine speed = rising temps. So chugging around on a hot day wouldn't be wise. Fan clutch engaged like it should. You can tell when it's engaged because it sounds like six B-29's all at once.

I'd like to put this thing through some resistance though, see how it really goes. Sand and mud would have to be the worst, but I think if the cooling system was in good condition and you had high-ish engine speeds then you'd probably fair pretty decently. Proof will of course be in the pudding.

Now that it runs cool enough, next stop: brake shop for sticky wheel cylinder.

 

[cult45]

Went for a drive today, early this morning, at lunch and late this afternoon. Caught up with the young @84TROOPY for an ale. Also painted my rims, fitted up a new pumpkin gasket and watched back to back episodes of American Hot Rod. Happy dayze!

This week is brakes, carb tuning and if I get time - exhaust.

 

[cult45]

Twin system installed today! 2-1/4" for the price of a 2"! Sounds crackly..

But lower operating temps now that new exhaust is on??

 

[sneaky]

Its breathing better, not as restrictive, better flow.

Trucks looking good.

 

[cult45]

Its breathing better, not as restrictive, better flow.

Trucks looking good.

Brakes tomorrow, and if he doesn't tell me I need a new master [unlikely] I'll come visit! F**king finally!

 

[cult45]

We have lift off! It stops, it steers, it starts - it even runs cool [enough]. Turns out it was brakes that needed adjusting! Could have knocked me over with a feather. Thought I'd done all that? Anyway, after two years, umpteen sets of plans, a squillion wrong turns and ignoring all good advice - it's done.

Although I was thinkin tonight it'd be nice to clean and repaint that engine..

..kit out the carb..​

..rewire the truck..​

 

[landcrusher909]

Looks Great Mate, Time to step away and just drive her and enjoy the ride

 

[cult45]

Looks Great Mate, Time to step away and just drive her and enjoy the ride

Thanks Rob T! When are you gonna come down and rive it for me?

 

[cult45]

Took the rig for a mission today for a work meeting. Across town at 1pm, 45 sets of traffic lights, big delays, bulk traffic, stop-start blah blah blah. 185F the whole time, 195F on occasion, 210F when parked up. It's funny, now there's no rattles, no exhaust leak, no cab shaking itself off the mounts, all I can hear is the sweet sound of vac secondaries sucking hard and the whine of the tranny.

Service day tomorrow! #thelittlethings