My Clevo build - Thoughts

[ando76 4,354]

Cam has done the seat cuts on the heads and they are very much like THOR. To the point that Cam is calling them Conan. He is doing the port work now as my business has kicked off well and I'm a bit busy to get on the grinder and do my own stuff.

Will be ready in late November so as soon as I get them home I'll throw them on the Flowbench.

After the holidays the block will go down for decking so Xmas assembly of the mighty little head Clevo is looking good.

[ando76 4,354]

 

Few bits and pieces coming together. Not having a lot of luck finding an Edelbrock performer second hand so I think I will just bite the bullet and get a new one from Summit. They are not that expensive and then I don't have to worry about someone else's port matching or corrosion issues.

[Thom 6,654]

If buying new I'd look at the edelbrock dual plane rpm air gap

[gerg 10,871]

Yummy engine parts

[ando76 4,354]

Yeah Thom but I'm after a real stock looking appearance so the performer fits the bill.  This clevo is going in my XA GS which is a rare bit of kit so I want to retain a real visually standard appearance in the bay.

[Thom 6,654]

Fair enough, I forgot about the stock looking part

[ando76 4,354]

Looks like I might have found my performer manifold - second hand and a good deal as well - thanks for the heads up Slydog

[Thom 6,654]

Rob dog allways on the job

[slydog 7,873]

Legend that Slydog bloke is I tell ya

 

I actually bought my treaded slicks off that guy and the XF ute he owns (EVILXF) is VERY serious in deed.

[ando76 4,354]

Yeah he is sending the manifold on TNT tomorrow so I should see it by the end of the week.  I got a bit of time out in the shed at home yesterday arvo so I started pulling the XF 9" diff I had on the diff tree to bits to see what ratio was in it.  Finished pulling the pumpkin out this am and surprise, surprise it is a 3.7 ratio.

 

Should make for some punch off the line.  Its a single pegger so the plan is to swap the 3.7's onto the factory LSD for around town and fun events (classic rally and Leyburn) and then fit the 3.0's for the tow down to Brissy etc.  I'll try and chase down another LSD cenrte for the 3.0's as well - just because.  I have a Strange 9" full spool here and I toyed with the idea of fitting it to the 3.7's but locked diff's on the street are not my idea of fun, especially as it gets rather wet up here from time to time. 

 

So the full spool will go in the wreckers section and I'll hunt down another LSD.  

 

All the pieces are starting to come together.  I'm a touch excited and want it done yesterday but I need to be patient.

[ando76 4,354]

Today and important piece of the puzzle turned up

 

 

Thanks soo much to Slydog for the tip on locating this manifold. I'm really happy with the purchase as it has saved me $100 which I can use somewhere else in the project.

[ando76 4,354]

yeh 3.0:1 with the wide ratio toploader will be fine dude, still plenty of punch off the line. found the ratios online:

close: 2.32 1.69 1.29 1

wide: 2.78 1.93 1.36 1

 

slotting a wide ratio with 3.0:1 in the ass will have a similar first gear to a close ratio with 3.5:1 in the back, it'll actually be a touch shorter

 

yep isky has a reputation for quality thats for sure. definitely top quality.

So it turns out my toploader is a wide ratio (RUG AR1) box. So I have 3.0's and 3.7s. Hmmm don't really know which way to go. Might be a case of try it and see. with the 3.7s and those gear ratios (wide) it could be a little too punchy.

[Trev Vaa 1,185]

dont even bother with the 3.7s 1st will be useless with that cam, stick the 3.0s in the ass.

like i said with the wide ratio, 3.0s will be the same as a 3.5:1 close ratio box in 1st gear.

and in all seriousness, stuff changing centers just to drive down to brissy, this way you'll have the best of both worlds.

[ando76 4,354]

Yeah I haven't got the calculator out yet but I think the 3.7s will be too much like you say 3.0s good all round gears. 

[ando76 4,354]

well it has been a long time without any Clevo love so today with the humidity at 96% @ 8.00am I figured I would forget any panel work or painting and just have some Clevo time.

 

 

Checked all the big end and main clearances as well as all the ring end gaps in preparation for 'Conan' to head to Brisbane for some quality machining. I'll be sending the crank down as well now as I just want it to get a bit of a linish and polish to smarten up the clearances to where I like them.

 

I also played around with the inlet manifold as part of my stock look transformation. I started with the sanding disc, then the 'seaweed' disc and then hit the flattened out runners with a series of 60,80,120 and 180 grit papers with a hammer to bring back the cast appearance. I apologise for the out of focus last shot, but it really does look all cast now. Coat of 'Ford' blue and the deception will be complete, 'Yeah she is all stock mate'.

 

 

 

 

Once that was done I grabbed a Felpro head gasket and marked out the oil return and water gallery holes and started with the die grinder to improve oil drain back and water flow.

 

 

I'll post a picture up tomorrow night of the completed block as Stupidly High Humidity is forecast again for tomorrow - NICE

[gerg 10,871]

You had me at "Clevo Time"

[ando76 4,354]

It's soo funny - I had a mate in the shed yesterday and it was clear that he truly loved Clevo power.  Turns out my block is actually a true 4V item as it has the valve cut outs in the bores. The mystery continues with GUS the XA GS. 

[NZXD 2,328]

It's soo funny - I had a mate in the shed yesterday and it was clear that he truly loved Clevo power.  Turns out my block is actually a true 4V item as it has the valve cut outs in the bores. The mystery continues with GUS the XA GS. 

 

Interesting, the 302c I pulled out of my XD (not original) came from an XB, when we pulled the heads off it, it had valve cuts in the bores also.

[Thom 6,654]

Seen a few non 4v's (mostly earlier blocks) that have the valve relifs in them

[Mr Polson 10,214]

It's soo funny - I had a mate in the shed yesterday and it was clear that he truly loved Clevo power.  Turns out my block is actually a true 4V item as it has the valve cut outs in the bores. The mystery continues with GUS the XA GS. 

 

My 302 from a XB Fairmont (according to engine no) has the valve cutouts in the bores too from memory.

[gerg 10,871]

It's soo funny - I had a mate in the shed yesterday and it was clear that he truly loved Clevo power. Turns out my block is actually a true 4V item as it has the valve cut outs in the bores. The mystery continues with GUS the XA GS.

 

Is it from an aus-built car or import block? What is the prefix on the engine number? D or square block?

[PRO250 1,506]

I have 3 clevos in the shed 1 was a 302 all have the valve cut out in the bore

[ando76 4,354]

Ok cool Dave - I'm only new to these Clevo things. 

 

Gerg - My xa-xc mad mate de-coded the engine no. and it came from a 74 Fairmont apparently.

[gerg 10,871]

Ok must be square block Aussie-cast then. Didn't know about the valve notches.... You could have had an unofficial RPO block. Ford did all sorts of funny stuff trying to get rid of the Phase 4 bits after all the shit hit the fan in '73

[ando76 4,354]

Exactly what my XA-XC mad mate said.