Nath

Mucho appreciado guys.

Hey guys, just tossing up some engine options and had a question: Say I wanted to replace the 200 I have in my XD with a 250, can I use an XF 250 without having to use all the extra pollution crap (XF's had more emissions stuff than XDs right?). Or would I be better off looking for a crossflow out of an XD/Cortina that's closer to the same year as the one I have to avoid all that? Could probably just say screw it and use one anyway and no one would find out/care, but just wanted to know if it was 100% above board or not.

Should be fine... Its not like I power skid everywhere and bounce it off the rev limiter. Guess I'll find out whether it's ok or not if I break one.

What box would you recommend then? I thought T5's were pretty good. Careful and cars doesn't really go into the same sentence when I'm involved haha. Luckily I've already re-done most of the suspension - it corners pretty good even now. Still yet to upgrade the leaf springs though (using blocks atm) and there's still a few bushes I've missed to do though.

That's plenty of poke for what I'd want. Definitely want to stick with carb stuff as well so that kind of limits my options for newer engines. As much as I'd like something that'd eat the RX-7 in the backyard, that's probably not a good idea to attempt for a first time build. I'd be happy with something that sounds good and scares commodores. 200hp + crossflow torque goodness should be pretty fun with a 5 speed, MSD Programmable setup and good diff behind it.

I'd be happy with a reasonably mild build. Its a semi-daily/cruiser, not trying to turn it into a drag car. I'd rather keep it simple for a first time build, and I already have a lot of spares and good parts for a crossflow anyway. 200hp seems like a good target, I'd be thrilled with 250. Should be plenty of poke for what I'd be using it for with a t5 and good diff ratio behind it.

Cheers guys, got the answer I was looking for. It's not so much a matter of chasing big power - otherwise yeah it'd make a lot more sense just to chuck an AU motor or Barra engine in there... I wanted to have a crack at rebuilding one myself, and doing a crossy just makes a lot more sense since it's cheap to buy one, parts are cheap as well, and it's ridiculously simple. Might even know someone who can help with the machining side of things, and while I'm at it I'd definitely put a few go-faster bits in there. If I make a total soup sandwich of it and blow it up it doesn't really matter, can just buy another block for 200 bucks, transfer all the parts over and start again. I'm sure a E or AU series motor would fit some of that criteria, but I don't really want to be messing around with EFI, and I passionately hate wiring. Not having a go at anyone who does it, since it's definitely a good choice for practicality, but throwing a newer type of engine in an older car just seems wrong. Not like, sleeping with your sister wrong, but every time I see something like that it just kinda seems a bit off.

Mine is pretty much the same mate - Reads 3/4 when full. I never trust it. Put it down to the shitty old sender that needs a good cleanup - Just haven't gotten around to it yet. I've had two different clusters in mine and had the same problem with both. I'd try giving the sender a good cleanup first - as per VDO's linked thread. I know for a fact that if you use E-10 it will mess with the reading a lot as well because of the way the sender probe thing (technical term ) works - VDO would be able to explain that better than me. If the needle has times when it's constantly jumping around then it could be a bad earth - I've had that happen as well. I had a combination of both at one stage.

Not with that attitude!

Sweet. I'll give it a crack. Can't hurt, the paint is shit anyway.

Hey guys, Anyone had any experience with this stuff before? http://www.amazon.com/Fw1-Cleaning-Waterless-Wash-Carnauba/dp/B009UZ1TE2 My brother just got some at this random servo and did his Daihatsu in it, came up pretty mad (although it seems to have removed a bit of paint). Came up pretty awesome with the buffer wheel. Not cheap though at like 30 bucks a can. My XD needs a good clean/wax so I was thinking of pressure washer, shampoo, dry it, then this stuff. Does anyone know if it's any good, or stay away?

Someone with enough money to buy the remaining 13 if it explodes?

Haha mate I have literally the exact same problem. It's just a vapour line from the fuel tank, pretty sure it goes back to the carbon canister. Same thing happened to me - filled up to the second click (normally only do the first) and then was suddenly standing in a puddle of petrol. My temporary fix was just not to fill it up that much - Maybe one of the other guys can chime in as to whether it's ok to block them off or not (i'd say probably not?). As for replacements, if you find out let me know since I need one too

Louvre for sure. It's just cooler. Blinds belong in a house.

Good stuff! Glad it's nothing more serious.

From what I've noticed a lot of the time water leaks have a habit of dripping halfway across the engine bay from where they actually started. If you've got none of the other symptoms of a rooted head (hehe) then I'd say just drain and block or bypass the manifold water passage off and see if it makes a difference.

Could be. I'm gonna be captain obvious here and suggest it could maybe be a loose hose clamp or something on one of the water passage fittings on the manifold? If you think it's coming from the manifold itself you can always just drain it and block the water passage off as a temporary fix. I did that to mine to try and keep the manifold cooler and I've had no problems with it. Just used some of that dynasteel putty and blocked up the brass fittings.

Could be wrong but I think it has to do with the vacuum advance from the dizzy to the carby. In fact I'm probably wrong But I have heard something similar to that as well so would also be interested to know.

Looks a bit like this one. Hmm....

Can't help with your problem but dude... That thing is awesome. Looks mint.

So much bling in that engine bay. Jealous.

Anyone know any good ones? Don't know anyone, or even know anyone that knows anyone that can recommend someone that knows anyone. I've emailed a couple of places regarding quotes on getting the XD taken back to bare metal and resprayed, but no-one's gotten back to me yet. If anyone from here has dealt with any good ones I'd love to know - kinda taking shots in the dark here. Cheers, Nath

Good post - pretty much answered the question and narrowed my options down as well. Never had a reason to get something like this done before, and couldn't really get a straight answer from anywhere else, so thanks for that. Still, it has to be done, body can't stay how it is. But definitely not on that budget. Already been thinking about alternatives. Would be pretty retarded to get a paintjob worth three times as much as the car (probably more), only for some stupid asshat to run his shopping trolley across it a week later in the carpark at the local Woolies don't you think? Personally I think most stuff involving cars in general is bullshit expensive. E.g. Cost a mate of mine 4-500 (can't remember exactly) to get an alternator changed in his Barina. He knows SFA about cars. 200 for the new alternator and another 200 or whatever for a couple of hours labour. I get that the guy has to make a living too, that's fair enough, Not the mobile mechanic's fault. But when it all adds up it's still criminally expensive, no matter who's fault it is. When you add up number of hours you'd spend working to pay some muppet to do it for you, vs hours just learning to do it yourself, 9 times out of 10 you're still better doing it yourself. x10 if it's something you're gonna have to do more than once in a few years. Can already hear the disparaging remarks from here, but hey, when trolley meets car a couple of times. at least it won't end in tears because I'm not 15k in the hole and it wasn't immaculate to begin with. Like Stumps said, gotta learn sometime.

Some apprentice probably got an arse kicking for it.

Awesome read, cheers mate.