wagoon

Looks like it was there from factory, only it looks better.

I have just paid $3500 for a full engine rebuild that included new pistons, new double valve springs with damper, replace every bearing in the motor, head work including resizing valves and enlarging the head to match valves, fully balanced engine from harmonic balancer to pressure plate and I could keep going. If you take out all the performance work I had done the bill would be under 2 grand.

So if your budget is 4 grand then you will easily be able to rebuild your motor(or buy a secondhand one for a couple hundred) and still have money for buying parts

I know it double the price but a brand new Kaaz lsd is $1100-$1200.The kaaz unit will outlast a factory rebuilt lsd by a long way and put up with more punishment.

The most important thing I have learned from the kind people here is when starting a build you need to know:

1.How much money you are prepared to spend on the car. Not just the engine but the whole car. Clutch, diff and gearbox will swallow alot of money if they keep breaking.

2.What rpm is the engine going to see. Do you think the red line is where you look at changing gear or do you change when the car needs it.

3.What is the car going to be used for. Building a car to do burnouts will have different parts to a cruiser and the burnout car wont like cruising.

You need to answer the questions honestly and accurately. If you do then the people here will be able to help you, otherwise everybody including you are guessing on what will be best and you will probably end up with a busted car and no money.

Is that $280 quote to remove the old manifold, supply new gaskets, modify new extractors and then install new system onto car. Still expensive if it is but makes a bit more sense.

For labour costs I work on $80/hour at a small mechanic shop and $100/hour at a large chain mechanic like midas/ktas.

Yeah the turbo 700 has plenty of aftermarket support here so you don't have to go overseas for parts and it is a 4 speed. The only real downside is that you would be fitting a gm part.

cough turbo 700 cough

Be careful when modify the shroud on the mig. By cutting the shroud the contact tip will be closer to the job therefore changing the setting on the welder because you have reduced stickout (stickout is how far the wire sticks out past the contact tip into the weld pool). If you do shorten the shroud you will need to reduce the diameter of the opening as the gas will not flow as directly into the weld pool area and cause porosity which will be very hard to see in there and cause all sorts of problems. And just turning up the gas flow a lot may not be enough.

I like it

Running second till someone else spins the car sounds like a front runner to me. Well done on the work so far and thank you for openly sharing the info.

Unfortunatly crossflows by themselves arent worth anything. To give an example 18 months ago I sold a stock XE gl with 120,000 kms on it in above average condition for $1050, thats an entire running car. You can buy a running alloy head crossflow for well under $300 and as unfamilia said very low km engine can be a draw back.

Do stick with it cause you will end up with an awesome car with character not some bland grocery getter with a turbo.

The way I got my head around it is standard dizzys are variable timing units controlled by either vacuum or electric. A locked dizzy is non variable timing. The 6al2 programmable uses a locked dizzy but varies the timing by taking out timing from the locked figure. The advantage with this is by using a laptop you can control the timing at 100rpm intervals.

Where did you get power for the over ride? Was everything working before you put in the over ride?

Paul, I was looking for pretty much the same as you not so long ago. I broke a major rule of modification: make a list and don't change it. If you change your focus you will pay ALOT more, doesn't mean you will be worst off but you will pay more.

Some cheap extra insurance is these bolt on non adjustable roller rockers which are perfect for a hydraulic cam which you are looking at. They come with a lifetime warranty and are a very nice bit of gear, I had a set until I broke the above underlined rule. Part number SCP-1069BL but you have to order direct from USA as it's for an american V6 but will fit a crossflow, $205US from summit racing.

When I started looking for info on crossflows I had owned several high performance cars but never had undertaken a major rebuild project before. Since talking to people on this forum I have ported this cylinder head which is the same as yours

and I am now working on deburring a cylinder block and modifying oil galleries. People here are more than willing to help, I would have never been in the position I am in today if it were not for this forum. I now own a solid roller cam crossflow that made 347 flywheel horse power and ran 11.5 in a cortina with a previous forum member. Another forum member found a cylinder head for me that cost $200 to buy(it flowed 330HP (209cfm) when I purchased it) I have spent a further $600 on porting the head (the machine shop and machinest was recommended by a forum member) and will flow 230-240cfm. I have had to rebuild this solid roller cam engine(this is the cost for breaking the above rule) but it will end up being an engine from my dreams.

The most important thing I have learnt from the many years of false starts on projects I have had is be honest with how you are going to use the car and be honest on your budget. These 2 things will be the biggest deciding factors on building your car.

Mate best of luck building your car and never be afraid to ask questions.

If they are 6 inch wide you might have a chance but Im pretty sure they still hit. Anyone confirm this?

No. The offset for au is close to front wheel drive offset over +30 someone will know exact. X and E series have +6 offset. The rear may fit but the fronts will not

My mate actually got sick because of the noise vibration and sound waves, basically made him sea sick cause the sound bounces through the floor into the rear window and into the cabin right into the back of the rear seat passengers.

You can put any exhaust on the car and try and make it sound good but the trick is to put on an exhuast that will enhance the performance of the car then tune the sound. Slys right it depends on the engine as to what size and configuartion will best suit

I had an xy sedan dumped before the diff, use to rattle the windows on the house during warm up. I loved it cause I was young and didnt care, but it would set off car alarms all the time. I had a mate that had been in the front of the car no worries, 30 minute trip up the highway with him in the back and he threw up and had a massive head ache. Dumped exhaust is completely impractical, dangerous and illegal as said above but so it dropping a car more than 2 inches.

coming a long very nicely. You will be running in no time.

Less than a month ago I had to do the piston research. I rang that place and was told they did not have acl pistons in stock. I am still waiting on a reply to the 2 emails I sent at his request for specifics so make sure you ring and ask first before you commit to anything. I rang here http://www.precisionintl.com They are the importer for hypatec and had pistons on the shelf in the size I needed.

Acl race series are no longer made and you will be very lucky to find a set brand new at a retail store. If you ask nicely there are people here that have spare sets of pistons, good used sets are fine. Hypatec do make new pistons and have 3 different dished piston (29.3cc 20.5cc 5cc) and a flat top. Be aware that the hypatec have a larger compression height to acl which will require skimming the top off if the engine is at zero deck height already. Regarding engine compression it depends what fuel you are going to run as regular unleaded will need less compression than 95 or 98 and lpg can have a bit more depending on quality. Camshaft will also dictate compression as you have mentioned med to large cams, large requires more comp and diff gear change.

Hitting 6000rpm regularly is high for a reliable unbalanced crossflow, yes you can do it and many have but a balance is worth $200, alot cheaper than another rebuild.

My roller cammed 250 when the previous owner had it made 347fwhp and ran 11.5 in a 1210kg cortina. This was on pump fuel and not revved over 6200rpm. Funnily enough the person mentioned in OP swore by four barrel carbies as the best thing for crossys but with my above engine, the previous owner could only manage a best of 11.8 with a four barrel carby OOOOOOPPSSSSSS

the engines going to scare me just as much as others Sly

I think the one thread that captures the knowledge of members and willingness to share is the crossflow porting results thread. How many forums can say they have someone doing flow work and posting the results for FREE

If you want a good engine combo ask here. I did and with the help of members, my setup is going to far exceed what I was thinking I could achieve. No bullshit this would have to be the most helpful and friendly car forum I have used and there have been a few.