Grey Power !!!

lunatic leprechaun · Post by **lunatic leprechaun** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 5:08 pm

triple su's with trumpets & with grey manifold to suit $650(evilbay). head shaved ported & polished, fully reconditioned with oversized 179 valves for unleaded $900, extractors delivered to door $200. grey power
jim

Trev · Post by **Trev** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 11:34 pm

ratbox wrote:
Thommo wrote:My impression was red motors = brake upgrade in the other states.
I stand corrected.
in NSW only if you go over 15% bigger you need the upgrades engineers report, same thing it's a silly rule but i like it the 15% is based on CI not HP
by the books 138 gray about 60 factory HP 149 red about 100 factory HP close enough to double

That is the same here in Vic RB n Thommo.
RB, when you say HWY driving it just makes me think of all the nationals trips I've done in my red motored EK, I am always in the company of at least 1 and up to as many as 8 grey powered cars and they cruise along at 60 to 70 MPH all day, what else do they have to do? I even thought of sticking one in my car and getting rid of the red

, because every time we stop for juice I am putting $30 to $40 in and the grey ones are using $20 to $25.
Trev

.

mrs ratbox · Post by **mrs ratbox** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 3:17 pm

craig sorry it seems like i'm bagging greys i'm not trying to

they just don't suit me

don't know trev

the hotty grey and some stockers were fine around town and short trips but an hour into a long trip with the hotty grey if the car wasn't sold already

the grey was out and a red was going in just seem to have smoother power/acceleration and i'm not one to sit behind people

and first chance i'm off around them not an easy thing in particularly a stock grey

forgot a dressed up red will look just as kool as a grey just a grey is more period correct for an FB/EK

Thommo · Post by **Thommo** » Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:34 am

Craig wrote:Thommo how do you find the lightened flywheel in the hills does it lose power ?

Its hard to answer that one Craig,
I went from a worn out old smokey motor to this one.
You would really have to swap flywheels on one engine to be able to compare them.
What I might have lost in flywheel momentum, I have more than made up with engine power.

Cheers
Jeff

FB MAD · Post by **FB MAD** » Sun Nov 01, 2009 4:28 pm

Flywheels main objective is not only to dampen the power strokes and therefore make the engine run smoother but to aid in the vehicle takeoff from a standing start.It obviously enables a clutch to be used to break the power transmission when gearchanging as well.

Lightening a flywheel assists in allowing an engine to pickup revs quicker as it's using less of its power in trying to get the flywheel rotating quickly and using that power gain along the driveline to the wheels themselves.

Downside of a lightened flywheel is, in theory, less of a smooth running engine and more engine revs/power needed to take off from a standing start.

With a mildly lightened flywheel there would not be much loss in engine smoothness nor much loss in takeoff ability.But with a radically lightened flywheel or even an aluminium flywheel it can make a fair bit of difference.

I had an aluminium flywheel made by Better Built engines in a 308 a few years ago.It weighed ( from memory ) 6 kgs as opposed to the original V8 Holden flywheel weight of 17 kg ( again, from memory ) and I noticed a definate difference in the engine characteristics before and after fitment of the alloy flywheel.

Engine was less smooth and takeoffs required more throttle but revs were gained a fair bit quicker.

weddo · Post by **weddo** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:41 am

My Grey-
Bored 40th
Step top pistons - Mazda rings
Polished rods
Steel gears
63/30 cam
Fully balanced
Head planed
Chambers reshaped
Late model commodore valves
308 valve springs
Opened ports and port matched to manifiolds
Tripple late model SU's on altered lynx manifold
Performance extractors
100rwhp @ 6500rpm and 168kph (dyno)

Drives well and plenty of power when needed

regards
Weddo

Cal · Post by **Cal** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:30 am

Geez, 6500rpm in a grey?

Stygian · Post by **Stygian** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 1:03 pm

weddo wrote:My Grey-
Bored 40th
Step top pistons - Mazda rings
Polished rods
Steel gears
63/30 cam
Fully balanced
Head planed
Chambers reshaped
Late model commodore valves
308 valve springs
Opened ports and port matched to manifiolds
Tripple late model SU's on altered lynx manifold
Performance extractors
100rwhp @ 6500rpm and 168kph (dyno)

Drives well and plenty of power when needed

regards
Weddo

Awesome weddo

Assuming 30% driveline loss, you must be putting out close to 145hp at the flywheel...GREY POWER!

FB wannabe · Post by **FB wannabe** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 2:45 pm

Hi all, Absolutey love this thread! definantly needs to be a sticky! I have read it twice so far and could read it another 10 times and not get sick of it

. I, probably like many others on here, have had a few reds over the years but have never owned a grey before and it's facinating to read what is achievable with a motor that so many people disregard. Reading all this it appears the old 3 speed crash box isn't up to the task.

So my question is, if you were going for just a warm grey for the street (nothing over the top) what would be a good gearbox to use? I dare say the Aussie four speed would be an option but personally I wouldn't have one of them in my car if someone gave it to me! I had one in a LX SL/R 202 back in 2000 thru till 2002 and hated it. Even after it packed it in and I got a recon box and shifter for it it was even worse to drive, as if you were a bees dick off selecting gears it would miss it, especially going from 2nd to 3rd. I assume as soon as you go to 4+ speed you can no longer keep colomn shift? Also is there a good auto people have used and reccommend. I remember reading years ago about a workshop that replaced the trimatic with the 4 speed out of a vn commodore and said although a bit of work would highly recommend it. It was done in a fb /ek ute with a red motor.

Also as a side note, I was in Sprints the other day picking up a rear seal for the for the 3 speed crash box and the guy there told me that he had a bloke in there that needed a set of points for a grey. After looking around on the computer he found the last 2 sets in the system and the customer purchased both of them. Reason for both sets is apparently no one is making the points for greys anymore? I hope it's not true or someone starts making them again

Post by **Blacky** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 3:02 pm

Forget about points - http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5853

lunatic leprechaun · Post by **lunatic leprechaun** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 4:44 pm

i'll second that blacky. go the pertonix points to electic conversion kit. cheap as chips and just a tad easier than the xr700
jim

FB wannabe · Post by **FB wannabe** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 8:56 am

Yuk! what about if I am a restorer......

Lucky I aint that fussy.

Really good info there! it's good to have it all in the one place.

lunatic leprechaun · Post by **lunatic leprechaun** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 9:01 pm

you wont even know unless you take off your distributor cap!!!!!
a restorers dream
jim