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Same problem as my aluminium Holley. It's a combination of hot engine bay, ally carby and shit fuel these days. These 3 factors all contribute to this problem, this is why: XD-XF bonnets are low and the engine bays are cramped so heat has trouble escaping, particularly if the car is left sitting there for say 15 min. The aluminium body of the carby conducts heat much better than the die-cast zinc Holleys, so the fuel heats up more in the bowls and emulsion wells. Lastly, fuel these days (especially E10) is much more volatile than that of years ago, ie evaporates at much lower temperature. Not a drama in 99% of cars on the road as they are fuel-injected (under pressure). Carby cars have the fuel sit at atmospheric pressure in the bowls. Here's how it all happens: As the car sits there turned off, your carby becomes a very expensive and complex saucepan sitting on top of a very expensive and complex stove (your engine). Fuel boils in all of the circuits (including your acc pump) but particularly in your emulsion tubes. This happens more here because the engine is drawing vacuum through them so the fuel boils even more easily. So instead of liquid fuel being mixed with air inside the emulsion tubes, (normal) you have fuel plus a certain amount of vapour mixing with air (not normal). This is way too lean to start the engine properly. This is your situation, and it's called "vapour lock". Sometimes even pumping the throttle doesn't work because the fuel's boiled out of the acc pump circuit too. There are some things that you can do to help stop this. * Adjust your bonnet hinges so the back of the bonnet has a larger gap to let heat out. Looks a bit ghetto though. Alternately, you could fit a cowl or bonnet vents. * Get yourself a carby insulating spacer... Again the bonnet clearance is an issue. I used a GM Rochester type that's 1/4" thick. Probly does fuck all but better than nothing. I personally think the problem isn't so much conduction through the manifold but ambient under-bonnet heat. * Drop-base air cleaners tend to catch heat like a giant upside-down funnel too. I went with this type instead: * If you don't already use premium 98, do so. It seems to have less problem with boiling. Even after all this stuffing around, i find that i still have to live with hard starting when hot. It's just a fact of life these days. An Edelbrock air gap would work in your favour as they have no exhaust crossover (my stocker iron one does).

That was a mini-spool in that one, but seriously, he must have been driving like a dick and it's an irresponsible thing to do in the first place to turn your family car into a race car and drive your kids around in it.

Ohhhh yes! How stupid of me Jack... Never thought about the phasing. You MUST check dizzy phasing when installing MSD programmable as the timing could have the spark jumping to the previous cylinder. You'll need to sacrifice a dizzy cap by drilling/cutting a hole next to a terminal to see what the spark is doing throughout the rpm range. If it starts in the middle of the rotor tip then sweeps to one end, you need to adjust it. Ideally, you want the full range of spark advance to be covered across the entire width of the tip, and not have to jump any distance to fire. Getting this right was the most time-consuming part of installing the MSD-programmable box. Actual tuning on the computer was much easier: i got 90% there within 10 minutes. Just how you adjust an EST trigger wheel is beyond my knowledge but I'm sure some crossy heads on here know how to.

It's funny how some diffs are brilliant and others are rubbish, even using the same design. Toyota still hasn't got their LSDs anywhere near right. Bloke at work who's owned 2 Hiluxes and a Cruiser reckons their limos are absolute shit, whereas the same clutch pack design in a Nissan Patrol he reckons work really well and for a long time.

My Subaru has a viscous centre diff similar to the hydratrak and on trips longer than say 1/2 hour, it locks up and chatters around corners. Mind you, it has close to 300,000 on it.

Thanks for putting the specs up... Makes it much easier for us to nut it out. 110 on the seat is decent, but not mind-blowing. Cam looks to be nothing too drastic, lift is below 0.500" so shouldn't be an issue for your valve train. Duration is interesting, 292 advertised but 214 @ 0.050". That means a pretty long, gentle ramp up and down, meaning float shouldn't be an issue. My Clevo has a similar duration with 206/214" @0.050" but advertised is only 270/280, and it has 0.512" lift. No probs with valve float to 5500 at all. There are some speedway guys who might chime in with some suggestions if they see this thread. This is just a theory, but the hi-vol pump could be pumping too much volume at those revs for the relief to deal with, causing pressure to spike and pump up your lifters. I know for a fact that high oil pressure even for a split second can pump up your lifters and give the same symptoms as with valve float. Although not caused by the same problem, i had this lifter thing happen when my original oil pump had a sticky relief so that on startup, it would cause the oil pressure to spike. My engine would die or run like shit on 3 cylinders before the lifters bled down and came good again. Even blew off several oil filters, and made lots of mess! Changed it for a standard Melling pump and never thought about it again.

As long as you're aware of the changes it makes to the handling then i reckon they'd be ok. Just don't come a gutza on an off-camber bend in the wet... Could be ugly.

I reckon valves are floating and your lifters are pumping up. Stock springs are marginal even with a standard cam. You say you've got Crow springs but no specs, and "stage 2" dynotec cam could be anything. Do you have specs for that? Are you running a high volume oil pump?

They're quite expensive lumps of metal... On the upside though, you re-use your open centre so no need to fork out for a limo centre. May need an adjustment in driving style (ie not too early on the power out of corners or off it too late going into them) but I've been told that they are livable in an everyday situation.

You'll probably find that they actually are 1.73 but they just don't bother with the 3 on the end. If they're a positive stop, and designed to bolt-on to a stock Clevo then they'll go on your crossy.

I've read that after polishing, you get the rods shot-peened to compress the surface grain and make the structure uniform all around again to eliminate stress risers (any straight lines across it) Apparently, it should look rough like the rest of the rod. Some even say not to touch a forged rod at all, such is the importance of the surface grain.. If heating it up is a problem, maybe hand-filing is the go, with plenty of lube to keep it cool.

I'd call it a channel guide but I'm not Mr Ford dealer so buggered if i know

The spacer should help, especially if your manifold has a sharp turn from the primaries into the plenum. Are you saying you had the spacer in all along or did you just fit it now? If so, this could be why you appear to need bigger primary jets than secondaries: the sharp turn out of the primaries could be affecting your vac signal to the boosters, making you jet up to compensate. Is it an open or closed spacer? Also reading back: what secondary spring are you running, and what rpm does it open at? For your size engine, I'd expect them to come in at around 4000 rpm. Any earlier and you'll drop velocity through all four barrels when the secondaries open, and that's your dead spot. Purple or plain is mid-range, but yours really needs stiffer than that, say a brown or black. Using the primary acc pump tuning to cover up the secondary bog is just that: a cover-up.

If there's a flat spot coming onto the mains then you could try raising the float a little. This makes the mains come on sooner and harder. I'd prefer to adjust that than to pump more fuel in through the squirters. Some will argue that you shouldn't play with float levels but then why would Holley make them fully adjustable if there was a hard-and-fast rule about float settings? Your engine doesnt care about where it gets fuel from. If raising the level cures your flat spot, so be it.

I'm after 225/60R15s to suit my snowies but they have a big range including the coloured smoke ones too: http://www.highwaytyres.com.au/index.php/wholesale-tyres/highway-max-tyres

I've read a bit about these and they seem like a great deal. Now before anyone shoots me down for mentioning the word "Remould", i might point out some positives that i can see. - this brand is Aussie made - they are used by many track day racers because of the soft compound and low price - the mob that makes these is the same one that does coloured smoke burnout tyres. - they're 50 bucks each for the size i want - They're a much more environmentally friendly option than buying and importing new tyres - They're H- rated (210 km/h) and load rated at 94 (670 kg). Now the possible negatives: - being secondhand, the casing has the possibility of being damaged beyond what is visible when inspected - only 2 tread patterns available - They're a soft compound, so wear sooner - The re-moulding process heats the casing to 160 deg (too hot?) - is insurance affected? - Can't find anyone online that says they sell them in Sydney (only greater Melbourne through the branches of Highway Tyres.) I'd like to know if anyone has used them and had good/bad experience with this brand Cheers!

I watched this video of a truck remould getting done. Very interesting

Caps are cold-bonded to the carcass, whereas remoulds are done in a similar process to new tyres. They can even use a copy of an existing mould for a new tyre. I'm a truck mechanic and have seen a lot of caps and no failures on-road, only maybe one or two bubbling up on initial inflation (manufacturing fault).

The bonnet would have been ok because the paint will lay down and can be put on thick without runs. Not so on vertical panels, where you cant slap on as much at once. Peel like that is from slapping it on without enough thinner, so the job can be done with one or two thick coats instead of five thin ones, (and allowing flash-off between each). They've rushed the job. The pin-pricks are likely to be solvent boil-off, again from rushing the job. They've probably baked it before the paint has had a chance to dry, causing the remaining solvent to bubble out as it's curing in the oven.

Another approach: you could cut and shut two shock mounts to make one taller one, that's if you're a good welder/grinder and can make the welds invisible.

Difference is Ando that you'll definitely use such machinery. The only question then is.... When am i moving in?

I think that would be any car head's dream.... A shed fitted out with every known piece of machinery in it to do any job conceivable. I knew a bloke who lived on a few acres and his old man used to collect mills, lathes, English wheels, presses, you name it... Worst thing was that he had no use for them, just liked having them there. Bastard. I love shiny, freshly machined engine bits. Seems almost a shame to assemble them and hide them away inside the engine.

Wow put some of that on your toast

You could take a plaster mold of an iron one and then mold them on there in epoxy

Here's a challenge Ando.... Try putting the firing order and the 76DA number on it... Ok put the gun down.... Just kidding