G'day guys and girls,
Great site you have here. Well I must be upfront from the start, I have an EJ ute very straight but just need some advice from other grey motor owners. Everyone knows EJs are the ones that everyone wants to forget about haha. Hence why I'm straight to the experts fb ek owners.
I have just done a transplant from a donor car. Gearbox and engine, the motor was shagged. What I am hoping for is some advice on who/where I could get some work done on the original engine ( reco) and who if anyone still recos crash boxes? Any advice would be muchly appreciated. I'm in brissy and happy to travel for the right mechanic/workshop.
Regards,
Rusty
Crashbox Repair
Re: Crashbox Repair
G'day Rusty
The engine can be done by any reputable engine reconditioner,although the parts are getting expensive. Someone else may have a Brisbane name for you to try.
The gearboxes are very simple and easy to do. You can get a kit for them in a couple of places. About $150 from memory. If you have any machanical apptitude at all you should be able to do this part .
But then I don' t think you would have one of these if you did not.
Regards
Brian
The engine can be done by any reputable engine reconditioner,although the parts are getting expensive. Someone else may have a Brisbane name for you to try.
The gearboxes are very simple and easy to do. You can get a kit for them in a couple of places. About $150 from memory. If you have any machanical apptitude at all you should be able to do this part .
But then I don' t think you would have one of these if you did not.
Regards
Brian
Re: Crashbox Repair
One of our forum members 'Harv' is in the process of writing a user's guide for crashboxes. I think one of the first things he'll tell you is that EJ onwards boxes are different from previous years and some parts might not be interchangeable.
Suggest you PM Harv and he might be able to recommend a good transmission place or give you some guidance on DIY.
Suggest you PM Harv and he might be able to recommend a good transmission place or give you some guidance on DIY.
Alan
Member No.1 of the FB EK Holden Car Club of WA (Woo-hoo sweet!)
Member No.1 of the FB EK Holden Car Club of WA (Woo-hoo
sweet!)
Re: Crashbox Repair
Rusty,
No shame in having an EJ - damn fine cars. If she's had a (grey+box) transplant, the first trick is to stick your head under and take a look at the bottom of the gearbox. If you're seeing a sump on the gearbox, you've ended up with an FX-EK crashbox. If there is no sump (but there is a sideplate), then the transplanted grey box is an EJ one (most likely transplant).
The operation of the two types of grey crashboxes (FX-EK and EJ) is near identical, but the interchange of parts is minimal.
They are simple internally, and little harder to reco yourself than putting a kit through a carby. Rare Spares/American Autos do an overhaul kit, though I would suggest trying Status Engineering in Victoria (their kit looks identical to Rares, and is somewhat cheaper) - Status sell their kit routinely through eBay. Status can also redo the whole box for you for ~$600 (e-Go freight will be about $50 each way from Qld to Vic), and can reface synchros (not cheap, but the only place I know that can). Can't recomend a gearbox overhauler in Qld - SunnyTim may be able to though.
If you want to pull it apart yourself, I can send you a copy of the EJ shop manual - PM me a name and address and I'll send a copy by mail.
Cheers,
Harv.
No shame in having an EJ - damn fine cars. If she's had a (grey+box) transplant, the first trick is to stick your head under and take a look at the bottom of the gearbox. If you're seeing a sump on the gearbox, you've ended up with an FX-EK crashbox. If there is no sump (but there is a sideplate), then the transplanted grey box is an EJ one (most likely transplant).
The operation of the two types of grey crashboxes (FX-EK and EJ) is near identical, but the interchange of parts is minimal.
They are simple internally, and little harder to reco yourself than putting a kit through a carby. Rare Spares/American Autos do an overhaul kit, though I would suggest trying Status Engineering in Victoria (their kit looks identical to Rares, and is somewhat cheaper) - Status sell their kit routinely through eBay. Status can also redo the whole box for you for ~$600 (e-Go freight will be about $50 each way from Qld to Vic), and can reface synchros (not cheap, but the only place I know that can). Can't recomend a gearbox overhauler in Qld - SunnyTim may be able to though.
If you want to pull it apart yourself, I can send you a copy of the EJ shop manual - PM me a name and address and I'll send a copy by mail.
Cheers,
Harv.
327 Chev EK wagon, original EK ute for Number 1 Daughter, an FB sedan meth monster project and a BB/MD grey motored FED.
Re: Crashbox Repair
Wow Guys,
Thank you for the insight to date. Harvs thanks for the recommendations and I will take you up on the offer of the manual for the EJ ( when I figure out how to PM).
The donor car was another EJ that we have so things were a straight swap. The Gearbox seemed fine the donor but now it seems the synchro has gone gear clash from 1 to 2nd and top to 2nd. I have thought that maybe it was the type of oil placed in the gearbox. I'm unsure, has anyone heard of it being an issue? Or is the sychro, I do understand that its hard to diagnose an issue via forum. But any suggestions would be great. The only other thing I would ask is could it be a misalignment on the selector when it was transplanted it can be massaged into gear without clash.
Harvs how much does it cost to get the synchro done with Status?
Again thanks,
Rusty
Thank you for the insight to date. Harvs thanks for the recommendations and I will take you up on the offer of the manual for the EJ ( when I figure out how to PM).
The donor car was another EJ that we have so things were a straight swap. The Gearbox seemed fine the donor but now it seems the synchro has gone gear clash from 1 to 2nd and top to 2nd. I have thought that maybe it was the type of oil placed in the gearbox. I'm unsure, has anyone heard of it being an issue? Or is the sychro, I do understand that its hard to diagnose an issue via forum. But any suggestions would be great. The only other thing I would ask is could it be a misalignment on the selector when it was transplanted it can be massaged into gear without clash.
Harvs how much does it cost to get the synchro done with Status?
Again thanks,
Rusty
Re: Crashbox Repair
Rusty,
The box should have SAE90 gear oil (not engine oil) in it, filled up to about 1/2" under the "pissing out the filler plug" level when cold (bend a bit of coathanger to make a dipstick). 'Orrible stinky stuff
.
It is possible to adjust both the selector and control rods, though if you are getting clash in both 2nd and 3rd, it's more likely to be crook synchros (especially if you can coax the gear changes in without clash at the right RPM). The manual copy I'll send you has the adjustments in it for the rods - start there as it costs nothing. From memory the synchro refacing was $200 with Status (not sure if that was per-synchro or per-pair).
Cheers,
Harv.
The box should have SAE90 gear oil (not engine oil) in it, filled up to about 1/2" under the "pissing out the filler plug" level when cold (bend a bit of coathanger to make a dipstick). 'Orrible stinky stuff
.It is possible to adjust both the selector and control rods, though if you are getting clash in both 2nd and 3rd, it's more likely to be crook synchros (especially if you can coax the gear changes in without clash at the right RPM). The manual copy I'll send you has the adjustments in it for the rods - start there as it costs nothing. From memory the synchro refacing was $200 with Status (not sure if that was per-synchro or per-pair).
Cheers,
Harv.
327 Chev EK wagon, original EK ute for Number 1 Daughter, an FB sedan meth monster project and a BB/MD grey motored FED.