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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2011 19:46:32 GMT 10
;D
Onya Doug. Always good to do a local test run if things have been a bit iffy with the gearbox or motor. You would be surprised to see just how much fuel can be saved if ya travel at 90kph instead of 100.. 110KPH when towing.
Its a big difference... Unfortunately i cant keep my foot off the loud pedal weather i am towing or not.. so i just pull up at the bowser ..... and pay up. Have a great holiday. Reddo and co.
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Post by cruisindoug on Sept 12, 2011 7:41:53 GMT 10
Thanks guys the ute went well on the hols - from Brisbane to Evans Head, over the range to Queen Mary Falls, and home without missing a beat. Great holiday especially when there are no dramas with the car!
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Post by cobber on Sept 12, 2011 11:47:23 GMT 10
G'day Doug, Makes all the difference aye? Problem is you probably had your heart in your mouth for the first few K's..... but now you can feel confident next trip Cobber.
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Post by cruisindoug on Oct 4, 2011 17:25:56 GMT 10
So … have a couple of days off before we go away, figured I would just potter about with the ute and van today to make sure everything is Ok before heading up to Rainbow Beach… Coming back from the Evans Head trip the ute developed an exhaust leak – seemed to be coming from the flange gasket and since I had that apart doing the transmission I figured it was probably just not seated properly, so simple fix I’ll start with that …. Pulled the flange plates off and the gaskets look fine, and look to have seated properly … hmmmmm. Put it all back together with a heap of exhaust sealant and fire it up, yep, still leaks! Stick the head under the bonnet again and start feeling around the flange area for an exhaust leak, when I notice a bit of movement coming from under the heat proof tape wrapped around the header, move a bit of the tape back and sure enough, it’s got a cracked header! Bugger! So….. may as well pull it off and see how bad it is …. Its pretty bad, its certainly a bloody big crack!!!! Then as it’s coming off I notice this …. Double bugger!!! Thinking its done a head gasket, start cursing and swearing, mumble grumble etc etc … But then I take the manifold gasket off and see this …. Not anywhere near as much work to change the welsh plugs aye! But it looks like I will have to take the Commodore to Rainbow Beach unless I can come up with another header tomorrow … I will see if it can be welded but I doubt it will be able to. So… has anyone got a spare rear GTR type header for a red six kicking about? ??
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Post by humpyboy on Oct 4, 2011 18:05:18 GMT 10
I'll ask at the club tomorrow night Doug, ;D ;D ;D bloody Deja Vu
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2011 19:28:27 GMT 10
Hi Doug Ooooooooooooo Bugga. Cant help with the header. They do appear on ebay at times .. but always travel in pairs and cost over $200 if your lucky enough to outbid every man and his dog .. or doug... that are chasing em. Why not just bung a set of new Headers ( extractors to us old blokes) on the car. The next 186S /GTR header you get might not be all that good anyway. They have a bad habit of eroding away at the pipe flange or pulling the studs out when bolting the engine pipe up. New headers wouldnt be any more than $250 and i am sure they make em to suit red motors in FJs... OBTY.. do all the welsh plugs in both the head and the block while ya can get a go at em on that side Some people use brass. I use the metal ones. You wont be able to do the one in the back of the head....unless you want to bore a hole in the firewall to get a shot at it... Have fun Reddo
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Post by Roehm3108 on Oct 5, 2011 9:05:15 GMT 10
Practically speaking a more realistic cruising speed will be more like 90km/h as the van gets to swaying very easily at 100km/h, just coming into an open area or having a truck overtake gets it to start swaying and feeling uncomfortable, this is much reduced at 90. I might look in to sway bars Hi Doug I know I might be flogging a dead horse here, but I would view that swaying with some concern. It may well indicate that the tow vehicle is lighter than the van or at best not much heavier. Anti-sway bars may well be what you need, if the margin is so narrow that you get the wobbles from passing trucks. To my mind, tis better to be safe than sorry for all concerned. Cheers ray
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Post by firefighter on Oct 5, 2011 9:40:15 GMT 10
G'day Doug Like Ray I might be flogging a dead horse.........Have you read this info re towing vans .......If you have swaying some thing is wrong www.towingguide.com.au/Cheers f/f ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by cruisindoug on Oct 5, 2011 18:40:01 GMT 10
Hey Reddo, what you said makes sense - its not like its an original car that I'm messing with! I reckon you're a bit light on with the $250 though, they seem to be around the $400 mark But at least they will be new, and with the price of the second hand ones and the unknown nature of buying old bits, I reckon new is the way to go ... Lisa, Ray and f/f your not flogging a dead horse, I have all ready picked up a set of load levellers and the plan for today WAS to sort through the van, get it reweighed (have done too much stuff without keeping track so need to reweigh), calculate / and set up the ball weight and fit up the load levellers. With the ute broken I'll be doing all that before Canungra! Lisa the Maleny trip was a bit spur of the moment! ;D ;D Thanks for your thoughts everyone, Cheers Doug.
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Post by Roehm3108 on Oct 5, 2011 19:05:47 GMT 10
Good to hear the news Doug.
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Post by cruisindoug on Oct 31, 2011 20:59:51 GMT 10
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Jellybean
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Any weekend away is a good weekend!!!
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Post by Jellybean on Oct 31, 2011 21:43:35 GMT 10
Will be nice to hear those throaty carbys instead of the tractor exhaust ! You must have replaced nearly every nut, bolt, washer, gasket and splitpin on that six banger !!! Must be good to go forever now.? Canungra or bust... Cheers John
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2011 17:59:20 GMT 10
Hiya Doug The carbs and headers look great mate..... However......After seeing the condition of those welsh plugs ya yanked out i cant believe ya didnt just whip the head off and do the rear plug while ya had the zorts and inlet manifolds off... Keep a tin of bars stop leak .. or.. a couple of eggs and a shaker of pepper in the glove box for when the rear plug starts squirting.... Or..buy the plug and keep a chisel and hammer under the seat ready to make that hole in the firewall from inside to carry out an emergency road side repair . Lets hope its Canungra and .... no bust. Happy sailing old mate. Reddo
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Post by cruisindoug on Nov 1, 2011 20:13:56 GMT 10
G'day Reddo and John Reddo - I'm banking on the rear welsh plug to hang in there for a couple more months ( ) till it all comes out when the ute comes off the road for a nice new paint job.... ;D ;D ;D Always carry some stop leak nowadays (thanks OB!) but hopefully she'll be right! Only got to do a few hundred km ...... And John, reckon your right there has been plenty done on the driveline this year, my hip pocket knows it! And its all comming apart soon (plan to pull the motor down while its off the road for a refresh). Just another thing on the adventures of the ute, yesterday while in the exhaust shop up on the hoist one of the mechanics says "have you got a front end knock?" Yep I says, just started a little while ago, haven't got into it yet to check it out also pulling to the left under brakes - why what have you seen? "All your wheel alignment shims have fallen out!" Booked in for a wheel alignment on Thursday ..... Cheers Doug
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DND380
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Post by DND380 on Nov 1, 2011 21:13:49 GMT 10
Very neat headers.........
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Post by cruisindoug on Nov 2, 2011 5:20:07 GMT 10
The headers are by Advance Headers in SA, cost was very reasonable at $375 delivered for the stainless ($280 delivered for non stainless). Fitted up great with the only slight work needed was removing about 1 or 2 mm from the rearmost port flange to clear the inlet manifold.
Most of the other brands started at around the $400 mark for non stainless, but none of the "mainstream" makers made extractors to suit my combo so was glad to find them and a pleasure to deal with people that make what they say they can make!
Cheers Doug
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Jellybean
Full Member
Any weekend away is a good weekend!!!
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Post by Jellybean on Nov 2, 2011 21:19:33 GMT 10
Have you got a heat shield on you starter motor ? On ours the extractors ran real close to the starter motor and it didn't like cranking after a long trip. My sparky told us to put a shield on, which I was going to but we pulled the six out anyway.
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Post by cruisindoug on Nov 2, 2011 21:40:27 GMT 10
I have a bit of clearance there John, its running one of the new high power starters from Bosch, they are a fair bit smaller than standard. But thats a good thought simple to do and might save a drama ... Cheers Doug
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Post by cruisindoug on Nov 11, 2011 19:51:04 GMT 10
Dropped in the 3.36 diff I picked up a while ago today, seems to cruise heaps better at 100km/h even though its only a couple of hundred revs. I reckon I'll be happy with this ratio as it still has plenty of poke around town for me. Little van test coming up with the run to Canungra, bigger test going up and over the range at Christmas!
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Post by Geoff & Jude on Nov 11, 2011 19:55:44 GMT 10
hi doug
hope all's well on the canungra run - it's always nice to know that all those little bugs have finally been sorted out (at least that's what i've been told).
geoff 'n jude
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Post by kiwicamper on Nov 13, 2011 20:14:26 GMT 10
Sorry to change tack on your thread , would you have seen a camper called a linda star in aussie . i have one and trying to find out more info . love the site and will post new phoots soon on what i have done so far . bob has sent some articles and will contact soon which has been great . thanks love the ute . had a wb and knoiw have a chev ute .
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Post by Franklin1 on Nov 13, 2011 21:40:11 GMT 10
G'day kiwicamper, For information on the Linda Star, click here
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Post by cruisindoug on Nov 23, 2011 8:51:47 GMT 10
OK so the sway bars seem to make a difference to the stability of the van, but as usual, its not as simple as that with the ute! There isn't enough clearance to the towbar from the drawbar for tighter turns, so it will actually push the attachment on the tongue around on a really tight turn... So the question is, whats the most efficient way of rectifying this? I'm thinking two ways, source a longer hitch, or have a new attachment plate made up that allows clearance for the drawbar. Any suggestions gratefully received! Cheers Doug.
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Post by cruisindoug on Nov 29, 2011 17:26:18 GMT 10
Another little problem solved ... Should provide ample clearance, I think it would jackknife before hitting again. Just need to monitor it for movement on the tongue and weld some stop bars on it if needed. Cheers Doug.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2011 18:34:45 GMT 10
Hiya Doug Mate.. me being the for ever pesimist thought i better ask the question. "How thick is the lump of plate that you have weleded the sockets into??"
Most "D"plates that are held on by towballs i have seen are cast iron and are quite thick so they dont bend and the weight on the towball is transferred through that platte to the tongue/gooseneck then on up through the towbar bolts to forece the nose of the car down .. aka.. load levelling. If the plate you have used is Mild steel it would need to be even thicker than the cast iron original jobbie??
As there is no photos of your set up form side on i cant pass final judgement on wether what you have fabricated is up to the task. Others might say i am wrong.. just throwing up a theory on mild steel as opposed to castings. Just a mugs perspective mate.. i am probably wrong.
Good luck.. Regards Reddo
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