355 VN Group A Replica

[VKCOMMO]

Got the bulge on yet or am I going to beat you in the bulge race?

[wnt 17]

ok mate but ye i have been on sevral difrent dynos and have got difrent readings every time it all depends on how they set the dyno up and keep up the good work i finally sat down and read the hole lot mate and this thing has come a long way next wor the engine work bug i bet

[mischa]

Got the bulge on yet or am I going to beat you in the bulge race?

Pfft, you can have your crappy buldge race, id rather get in what i next got planned for it

ok mate but ye i have been on sevral difrent dynos and have got difrent readings every time it all depends on how they set the dyno up and keep up the good work i finally sat down and read the hole lot mate and this thing has come a long way next wor the engine work bug i bet

Yeah ive always been told that, dynos seem pretty redundant then if you cant trust any of them? Engine bug! Me?! Never!

New engine is here!

Details,
Engine is out of a VR that had 126,000Km, was rebuilt but never put back in a car so unstarted.
355 - 40 thou with ACL pistons
276 crane hydraulic cam
stainless roller rockers
reconditioned heads with LS2 springs
rollmaster red timing set
motor has been balanced
msd billet alloy distributor injection
Basicaly all new components (water pump, oil pump, balancer, etc...)

The plan is engine out, tidy up and paint of bay and new engine in. In short that is!

[wnt 17]

that sounds mint mate u should of went the crane 286 hydrolic thats whats in ming and god it idels nice and lumpy and what manifould u got on it i wona stroke ming but have not desided yet on 383 or 355 but i gona do that after i have more fun with standed bottom end . i will be watching this car its coming along nicely and u had a look at mi shita

[mischa]

Yeah well thats what it came with, stock manifold. Dosent bother me ive got other plans for it later on...

Yeah ive seen your car, had a look when you put it up. Hows hiding the wiring going? Something I might think of doing.

Some pictures from PC that i can manage to get.

[wnt 17]

its bit of a night mear but lucky i had a spear harness to help me with extending some of the wiresgot to finish it off when pull the engine back out to do more mods ur thing is mint and i want ur brakes

[mischa]

I like my brakes Made the brakes feel a bit spongy tho... even tho they where advertised as not having that effect.

Anyway got some new headlight glubs and parkers. Phillips Blue Vision and LED parkers to match.

Installed my temp numberplate lights, dont know when ill get around to doing it properly as i want to do some fiberglassing on a spare garnish to try and recess them up in the garnish and smooth out the numberplate mounting holes so they wont be seen with smaller plates. (dan you will be proud of me, I used screws to secure it this time!)


Also got a Group A steering wheel for it, might need a retrim but ill also need a boss kit for it. Im picking that up tomorrow, its out of a group a to HSV horn pad and all

Some photos I took after washing it after the cruise on the weekend.



And the daily sitting at work, looking worse for wear...

[rch-13z]

looking good misch - needs some rims though..

[mischa]

Thanks rich! Rims! What do you thinks on it! Not going bigger then 17" cause i want my sidewalls.

I got some pics from PC I need to upload, in one of them you can see my fuel tank leaking haydz style.

[rch-13z]

sorry I'll rephrase... bigger rims - sidewall? really? it's not a daily so 19's would be combforable

[walesy]

just read your whole thread, its come a long way mate nice work, will go like the clappers with the 355, also where did you get the brake upgrade from and what sorta price did you pay, im looking at upgrading mine on the WH

[mischa]

sorry I'll rephrase... bigger rims - sidewall? really? it's not a daily so 19's would be combforable

How many 19inch slick tyres do you see getting around If anything I would get some lightweight racing wheels to match what the VN GRP A racers had at the time, yes they where 17. All the way up to VZ they used 17's to my noledge. I could possibley go 18's for a daily then...

just read your whole thread, its come a long way mate nice work, will go like the clappers with the 355, also where did you get the brake upgrade from and what sorta price did you pay, im looking at upgrading mine on the WH

Thanks walesy! Always love the complements Yeah trying to sort out things for the 355 now, should be starting the swap soon but ive got a pretty booked out next to months with family stuff on the weekends but will see how I go!

I got the brake upgrade from a sponser on here GSL Rally Sport, you can see him in the sponsors section and theres a thread in there about the upgrade. But I would also give Not_An_Abba_Fan a pm and see what he can do for you cause he sells them aswell and last time i saw prices he was cheaper.

[walesy]

thanks for the info mate

[rch-13z]

How many 19inch slick tyres do you see getting around If anything I would get some lightweight racing wheels to match what the VN GRP A racers had at the time, yes they where 17. All the way up to VZ they used 17's to my noledge. I could possibley go 18's for a daily then...

VN Group A wheels... drool

I'm talking about wheels whilst it's street driven - for track definately like the OZ racing wheels would look sick

[mischa]

thanks for the info mate

No props walesy!

VN Group A wheels... drool

I'm talking about wheels whilst it's street driven - for track definately like the OZ racing wheels would look sick

lol, yeah I could but thats way at the bottem of the list. OZ racing wheels would look awsome but i might have to settle for somthing a little more in my price rang cause i dont need the extra 0.01 of a second the light weight wheels would give me Maybe the VX rims painted white? If only i knew someone who photoshoped?

For now lets get this engine in! Im umming and arring over what intake to use or keep it stock or even wipple.... Only prop with that is the 9.5comp, dont know if thats to high to be running 10psi or not.... ill find out in the coming days/weeks. But for 250rwkw on a stock 304 wipple im looking at some nice power on my 355 if i did get it

[Haydz]

hi mischa

after reading your update. i was talking to my foreman at work . who's involved in drag racing

and he said that 9.5 comp wont be too high for 10 psi and that hed recommend you put in some cometic head gaskets which will bring the comp down abit anyway and protect you!

then he asked me about the rest of your setup. and i told him. he seemed to think your diff wont last. but get to that when it becomes a problem.

[mischa]

Thanks haydz thats great info, i was thinking of getting thicker head gaskets if I went SC. But I think im going to just shove the engine in right now with the stock one cleaned up and run it in and later on put the wipple on.

Yeah well will get to the diff, dans seems to last at over 200rwkw so mine will last un-blown but after ill go off how bad dan blows his diff! Dont forget we got a top diff guy

[Haydz]

LMAo at top diff guy. dans on his 2nd rebuild remember.

well id trust what my foreman says. i mean you dont get a reliable sub 10 second car doing things dodgy

[mischa]

Yeah well im sure ill be happy with a 355 for a while just like dan is with his. Hopfully ill be close enough to 200rwkw with a good zorst and tune to keep me happy. Proberly scare the shit out of me if i went wipple and doubled my power at the wheels in one go!

Like I said when i took dans car for a spin on the weekend, sorry about that dan im sure the neighbours will forgive you!

[HoldenManDan]

Yeah well im sure ill be happy with a 355 for a while just like dan is with his. Hopfully ill be close enough to 200rwkw with a good zorst and tune to keep me happy. Proberly scare the shit out of me if i went wipple and doubled my power at the wheels in one go!

Like I said when i took dans car for a spin on the weekend, sorry about that dan im sure the neighbours will forgive you!

lol misch i couldnt tell if u were being sarcastic about the diff guy! Yours has been ok hasnt it? Mine's only good in a straight line, the factory style lsd's arent really known for being that great to begin with.

Haha i dont really care about what the neighbours think, but dont intentionally wanna piss them off lol! Its all good though. I am happy with it for a while, but the power bug is always on my mind now!

10psi with 9.5 comp will be awesome fun, but perhaps a little more boost with a little less comp will be the best result down the track! Are you having second thoughts about changing pistons and cam?

Get that five-oh ready to come outta the vn!

[mischa]

lol, yeah my diffs fine so far. Only thing is if I change the pistons the whole balance of the engine goes out cause they would of been balanced with the crank, so if i can avoid it i will. Not to fussed on changing the cam but just wondering if it could be run SC'ed.

Anyway took the tank out today, no breather hoses in sight and a nice wet patch of fuel ontop of the tank. Also done some research and VN-VS V8 use the same internal pump even tho the VN's also had a external so the purpose of it or why it was removed i dont know but im thinking a 044 intank will be fine for now and i can get rid of the external. Thoughts?

Here's some picks of where im upto, got a air die grinder today and used it with a wire brush bit to clean the tank. Got one side done primed and painted, i think the primer looks like millitary green...


The hose connecting the pump intank,


And the nice and shiny filler neck,


Also got the radiator out and lots of little things dissconected from the engine getting ready to take it out. Thought I might post up a picture of the engine since I havent yet to, btw ill have some chrome rocker covers and a silver sump when its in.

[VKCOMMO]

Bye Bye 5L. Hello greasy and dirty, but empty bay

[mischa]

Thanks Jack, Keza and Dan for helping get the engine out! got it done in about 3 working hours I would say.



Also we avoided draining any fluids,

This thing is awsome!

Heres everything sitting in the garage, now its onto cleaning up all the parts to go on the new engine then the bay gets painted while in the meantime I can proberly put the tank back in.

[VKCOMMO]

Yeah. We got there about 1230, hour for lunch and supercheap run and it came out at about 4, so good timing with it

[Haydz]

Good work man I would have been over giving you a hand but you had to do it the one day I go away lol.


i happened to be trawling ebay and have come across the group a book ive been refrencing at tafe if your interested/


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Holden-Commod...item3cb71cac75