Ol' Rusty - FB/EK Sedan

[Errol62]

Went back and read your Carby overhaul. Spot on. I was lucky to find three good ones that didn’t need bushes. Amazing focus you’ve got mate!


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[funkyscooter]

Thanks Clay.
Worth mentioning that I have rebuilt the carbs and replaced the OA7 needles with SW needles. Why? Did a bunch of reading in my SU handbook where I found all the fixed HS6 needles that were used on cars where the capacity per carb was at least 1000cc. I then scraped all the data from https://sucarb.co.uk/technical/needle-comparison which is an online spreadsheet of SU needle data, imported data into excel and made a few hypothetical scenarios and assumptions to come up with this chart of the most likely fixed needles to work as a starting point on a triple carb 1 3/4 HS6, 202 red with a mild cam.

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Should have purchased a range of needles (new OA7 or KU, KO for a leaner profile at lower revs) , but at $66 for a set of 3, that could start to get a bit pricey, so went for the needle that is used as the Rich option on a twin carb 2138cc Triumph TR4.
The richness down low on the SW was a bit off putting, but I did some internet research on lumpy cams which suggested a richer needle at low revs is preferred due to overlap.
It is at this point that I can confidently say I know nuffin bout nuffin when it comes to engines and cams, so worse case the old OA7's can go back on if these SW needles don't work. Or I can have a crack at re-profiling them. But that is all a long way off - need to rebuild the engine first.

[Errol62]

I went with recommendations from a guy I know on the GMH Torana forum and afr dyno-ed flat 12.5 800-6000rpm wot. I think needles are TW. Red springs. ATF damping.


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[funkyscooter]

You discussion on the Torrie forum was part of my research . In the graph I have included the TW. 12.5 seems like a good result.
Went RED springs too for the dampers. Also ended up mixing and matching the piston dampers till I got them all in the recommended 5-7sec window for the piston drop test.

[funkyscooter]

Took the xmas break to finalise the boot popper. What started out as a quick test fit to prove the concept ended up being a slow and painfully boring repetitive fitment as each of my brilliant ideas literally unravelled. From a fraying cable, to the lock not engaging when closed, to just the general gymnastics required to get it all in and bolted up, I was pretty ready to ditch the whole idea. But hey, had the time, so I stuck with it and in the end I have this.

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Install is something like this.
Run emergency release cable through hole in hinge bracket.
Feed bare solenoid up into the lock area parallel to the bottom edge (just fits) and turn so that it is facing the lock mounting hole. With other hand, drop popper mounting bracket/pivot down through the hole and attach the hard line between the pivot and the solenoid before attaching the solenoid to the mounting bracket with two bolts. Not as easy as it sounds.
Attach a second hard line from the pivot to the popper to the lock pivot arm, and also attach the emergency release cable, making sure neither foul the other.

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This is the main modification from the previous posts. Was not super happy with the popper pulling the cable, which is pretty violent and I figured would stretch/ break the cable over time, and then I would have no emergency release either.

Now slide lock and popper into place and bolt everything up.
Finally, clamp release cable leaving a little slack in the line.

Much happier with this as now the popper and emergency cable are independent of each other.

Moving on. Time to delete a bunch of holes in the boot lid, and at the same time add three more.

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Used a bit of copper with a tread tapped into it to hold in place when welding to delete the 12 holes for the HOLDEN letters and winged it for the hydramatic badge.

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As the pooper appears to work, no need for the lock.

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Short time later,

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Holden badge was a birthday gift this year. Liking the slightly less understated FB branding.

[funkyscooter]

But not done yet. Body deadener. If I'm stripping the paint off then this has to go. Could use heat, but that ends up in a mess so went with the trusty chisel instead.

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Much time later, and then som more as I tried to extricate all the loose bits of bitumen with a vacuum and air gun.

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Wax* on.

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Wax* off.

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*wax and grease remover.

Quick scotchbrite and lashings off easyphos to keep the brown bugs at bay, and its as good as ready as it will ever be for primer

[Errol62]

I love that Scotty! Very thorough taking that stuff off. Kero works also.


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[Blacky]

Another easy way to remove body deadened is dry ice - makes it super brittle and can remove with a scraper in no time

[funkyscooter]

Pulled the front and rear windscreens out for an inspection. Front is toughened and has a chip and wiper scratches so need to get a new one. Rear looks good and if you squint in the right light you can even see the safety watermark top centre of glass.

Grabbed all the stainless trim out of the crumbling rubber, and after inspection I need to do a bit of repair to the bottom piece of the front windscreen.

Does not show up well in the camera but the passenger side is pretty rough. Various gouges and scrapes.

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Only way to get in behind to tap them out is to cut the bottom out of the trim and weld it back in. Marked with tape and cut with a 1mm Dremel cutoff wheel.

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Much tapping and hammering and ready to weld in. Except all the tapping and hammering has stretched the trim. Cut out bit is a good visual guide to how much it moved.

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Spent a bit of time with the shrinking disk and then gently eased the lip back into a better position. Gambled on tacking it at each end, with the hope that if I went in from the ends that it would naturally close up.

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Tacking along, using a bit of scrap copper and a steel ruler to hold the copper over the weld when tacking.

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Ground off the tacks the filled in the gaps to create this blobby mess.

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Ground off the weld and then dress with a file, then 80 grit on a block to reshape the trim.

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Still a bit wavy in the light but a bit of an improvement me thinks. Put it in the pile to be sanded and polished.