Shaving the engine bay. First time.

[streetholden]

Hey guys, finally gettin around to doing my project after so long. Tho this is my first one im hopeless.

Iv gotten everything fixed out of the engine bay, im going to cut the battery holder out too.

What do you guys do with the trany lines, fuel lines, brake lines, wireing loom and so on?

Do you guys just remove it all and replace it a later date?

Also should i take the steering rack out and so on? leave the k frame in and leave it jacked?

Sorry about all the questions, but this would be my first engine bay.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

[DANNY8]

I pulled pretty much everything outta mine. Only thing left was the fuel line, and the rear brake line, but I undone a few of the tabs holding it down, and pulled it away from the panel and held it there with a string while I worked on it and it was painted. Also, the car was sitting on a gadget that clamps to the seal panels and has wheels on it, so we could still move it around.

[streetholden]

sweet thanks, im planing to drop a 304 in and no sure what holes i should keep, could i fill them in and drill new holes at a later date and still get a roadworthy?

Also on the drives side wheel arch.. why is there a dent in there, i dont see a point in it, just curious to if anyone knows what its for?

Also is it leagal for me to remove the plates, you know the ones with the body numbers and what not? i can just drill them all off and put them back on at a later date?

[Pub247]

i beleive its been suggested it was clearance for aircon on old v8's not sure how true that is but i'd personally knock it out.
Best way to take dents out is with heat and hammer and dolly work from the outside in and your way around it

[streetholden]

Thanks mate, still a little bit more to remove before i get started on any panel work. Its a shame i cant work on it at night, bloody neighbors lol.

Also to Danny8, What happened to your wiring loom hole lol?

[DANNY8]

sweet thanks, im planing to drop a 304 in and no sure what holes i should keep, could i fill them in and drill new holes at a later date and still get a roadworthy?

Also on the drives side wheel arch.. why is there a dent in there, i dont see a point in it, just curious to if anyone knows what its for?

Also is it leagal for me to remove the plates, you know the ones with the body numbers and what not? i can just drill them all off and put them back on at a later date?

Wat holes to fill depends on wat ur gonna use. Obviously you'll need to keep the hole for the steering column and brake booster, and maybe one for wiring, but the rest can prolly get welded up. If ur keeping the heaters you'll still need the whole for the heaterbox, and if it's a manual you'll need a whole for the clutch cable.

My engine bay above was gonna be for a manual 173.....but now going an auto 304. Not having heaters, and now don't need a clutch cable, but I think I'll just fill the holes in with some rubber on the other side or sumfin. Will worry about that when the engine bay is all done with the 5.0L in it.

About the complience plates, you have to have them. I'm pretty sure they gotta be somewhere within the engine bay.

[streetholden]

Yea the plates are in there, just wondering if i can remove them for the paint and then rivet them back in after. and dont you need a heater at least for road worth or is that just the de-mister?

Heres a few pics of it currently.

[ari666]

looks like you have your work cut out for ya

i drilled off my plates and stuck them to the fire wall. looks my tidier IMO. if you really wanna make a job for yourself, try cutting the fusebox mount off and running all your fuses inside the car. i hate that stupid box and am gonna do that mod when i finally lose my mind completely.

*was this car on ebay recently?

[streetholden]

Yea, it was at that stage i was moving out with my gf, but as young Females tend to do, she ran off with another guy and i got to keep my car

i was going to put the fuse box in the car, under the glove box or in it. the compliance plates im not to sure, but ill work it out, just got a problem witht he heater box now lol.

[DANNY8]

Don't worry mate you'll get there. My engine bay looked nearly as bad as urs. I think if u use a high pressure washer u should get most of that oil off. Mine had a huge oil leak on the passenger side....can't remember how it got there but there was oil all along the chassis rail, down under the headlight, under the gaurd, was a bloody mess. Just do it bit by bit and you'll get there.

Here's a pic of mine not long after we started, here u can also see wat I mean about chopping as much of the apron off as possible, then u can easilly drill out the pop rivets holding the remaining sections on.

[streetholden]

sorry about all the questions, but iv searched for about an hour now and could find where its fastened. I bet its right in front of my face, i dont have much light, still working on getting some flood lights for the garage. I cant figure out how to remove the heater / aircon unit, you know the big black bastard under the dash. I need to remove it because theres 4 barbs in total coming off it into the engine bay. Iv attached some pics to better help describe what im on about.

Well i found the nuts holding it up but by fark they look impossible to get to, im going to have to buy a 1/4 socket set

[DANNY8]

Have u got a service manual? I'm not 100% sure about how to get to them, so I ended up looking in the service manual, it didn't show much tho, I think I ended up breaking the bloody thing to get it out lol.

The 1/4" socket sets can come in handy, only just bought one the other day

[micky69]

thank god you have created this thread mate, i've just acquired a vk calais 5L and about to start on the engine bay! i've been searching the net looking at many different builds to get a good idea,,,,
i'm going twin turbo on mine since i've never done a v8 turbo yet,,, hopefully your engine bay comes out tops i'll keep you posted on anything i find that may help lol

[streetholden]

Hey, no worries lol, VKs are the best car in my opinion, im up to cutting the battery plate out, now my step dad said drill the spot welds, well 3 drill holes later, didnt even release that little section, so now im stuck grinding it away. Ill update more photos when i get the final stuff out of the way.

[streetholden]

Before the clean:



After the clean:

[vkwalks39]

G'day, good on ya for having a go. Gotta to love the vk's. To clean up those rust spots, theres a sand paper disc for the 100mm grinders, they WILL get rid of those nasty spots. And for the black heater box you will need little arms, cause theres a couple bolts that are between boxs and the flywheel, you probaly need a 10mm long socket like a spark plug socket. I hope is will help mate. Cheers Jason.

[tivoom]

hi been I've been keeping an eye on this thread what or your plans for paint act can't wait to see it finished as im looking for a vk wagon as project car so keep up the good work

[MEANVY]

white ox, you done time huh?

haha. just kidding, make sure you post up pics when it's all done.
would love to see how it turns out

[streetholden]

I cant wait, as i dont have a job its going to be awile till i get it done. Still need welder, bog, spray gun, air hose, sanding discs and primer.. then i have to buy the paint. The color is going is a Clubsport red. But untill i get those items im stuck. Not to mention is always raining here and theres a shit load of moister in the air i dont want to leave it sitting in bar metal.

[micky69]

no job hey!!,, when i was 18 i had no job, i bought a vk for $100 it had crows feet all through the paint!! i took every single panal back to bare metal. 1 panel per day and once the panal was completly bare i used pressure pack primer cans to keep the panels primed,,, until i was ready to completely rub it all down and prime again,, long story short is having no job is good as you have more time the those that work but also no job means waitin for that fortnightly cheque to get some gear lol... i'm in the opposite boat now mate i have the money for all the gear but i don't have any time to actually do any of it lol i love vk's and i'm so happy i've just got another one :-)

[DANNY8]

no job hey!!,, when i was 18 i had no job, i bought a vk for $100 it had crows feet all through the paint!! i took every single panal back to bare metal. 1 panel per day and once the panal was completly bare i used pressure pack primer cans to keep the panels primed,,, until i was ready to completely rub it all down and prime again,, long story short is having no job is good as you have more time the those that work but also no job means waitin for that fortnightly cheque to get some gear lol... i'm in the opposite boat now mate i have the money for all the gear but i don't have any time to actually do any of it lol i love vk's and i'm so happy i've just got another one :-)

I'm a bit of both.... only work weekends, earn good cash, and do stuff all during the week.

As good as it is, I can't live at home forever......but I think me and my bro will prolly buy the house off my Mum anyways so we prolly won't move lol.

[SweetWagon]

Also on the drives side wheel arch.. why is there a dent in there, i dont see a point in it, just curious to if anyone knows what its for?

Pretty sure the dent is for clearance to allow fitment of other motor's for overseas models

see below

[streetholden]

hey guys, got some bad news, wont be completing this car after all. Just got a unit and there is no where i can store the car and work on it. So its got to go

[crewsy]

keep it at your mums

[streetholden]

she wont let me lol. which sucks, and how did you know about that? do you know me?