Losh's VR Ute build thread

[Skylarking]

@losh1971, stop giving that mechanic your money as it seems he’s playing you for a mug by not advising you appropriately or standing by his workmanship.

As suggested, get a cheap daily runabout and park the ute (in your huge shed when it’s done) as it will give you better options to work on the car yourself... learn slowly and proceed with caution and you’ll probably end up with a lower cost and better quality than your to do things yourself.

Maybe there is some local car club or tafe diy course you can do. Lots of info in the www, mags & even YouTube.

Get yourself a good torque wrench and an engine hoist, maybe even build a rotisserie so you can really do some body work and paint in style... You’ll learn heaps and it’ll cost you less in the long run

 

[figjam]

I am sure that we have all had a 4 wheeled WOFTAM sometime in our lives. How much money can a 20 year old spend on a 1957 Mk2 Zephyr ? $$$$$
And I flogged off my HQ LS Monaro 11 years ago because I lost interest in fixing it to my preferred standard. 50/50 thoughts now about it, glad to see it gone at the time, but would like to have it now to cash in on the current ridiculous prices.

Going back to your original posts, and you seem to have had problems from day one, and have spent too much time and money on it to scrap it now.
As suggested, buy a beater that goes, don't spend money on it, take the ute off the road until it gets fixed ....... to your satisfaction, not just plugging holes in the leaky dam wall till next hole appears.
Don't make a hasty decision you will regret in 2 > 3 years.

 

[losh1971]

Painted the reinforcing bumper today. I used some SCA epoxy enamel. I figured it really only needs to be white and shade or type of paint is not critical under the plastic cover.
Probably just polishing a turd but I had everything I needed so nothing spent. I still have to figure out what to do with the rad support. Its fairly tatty and has lots of surface rust. At a minimum it needs wire wheeling and paint.

 

[Immortality]

I don't think .010" off the heads will effect lifter pre-load as the stock style lifters should have a reasonably large pre-load zone.

It is unfortunate that this has happened but such is the way when working with old stuff, sometimes opening it up and disturbing something that was ok leads to unintended consequences.

If it was me, I would rip off the intake manifold myself. Because the gaskets are new you will be able to re-use them, worst case, put a very thin smear of sealant on the inlaid rubber seals and I'm sure they will be fine. I know this has been done before successfully.

With the intake off you can inspect the lifters and the cam lobes for wear. Personally I think it might be a bearing issue as the glitter wasn't magnetic. I would use a torch and try to inspect the cam bearings and look for signs of wear or bearing material been squished out the side. The Buick 3800 V6 has a quirky oiling system that depending on how well (or not) the oil gallaries were drilled and the installation of the cam bearings can cause poor oil feed to the cam and main bearing(s). Hell, even the addition of the heavy duty valve springs on tired cam bearings may have been enough.

 

[losh1971]

I have it going back to the garage on Thursday. It will cost me money to have him tear it down but it is what it is. I don't have the gear or place here to tear it down myself for a bit until my shed is finished and I can bring my tools down. Good to hear he can reuse the gaskets that was my hope. I have an inlet set but would like to keep it for another engine if I can.
I regret putting the new heads on this engine now but again hindsight is a great thing...... I have tracked down two places with engines, one is a private bloke who wants $450, he is a 1.5hrs away, the wrecker 3hrs away wants $440. My concern is hearing one of these old engines running doesn't necessarily give you a good indication of condition. Mine sounded fine and burnt no oil but was of poor condition in some other ways.

 

[Fu Manchu]

A cheap daily: A new ZB or maybe a Gemini.

 

[woteva]

A cheap daily: A new ZB or maybe a Gemini.

A Gemini will cost more than a ZB.

 

[vr304]

A zb.... oh dear

 

[figjam]

A zb.... oh dear

Carsales have only 2 available in Tasmania. That would make them rare, therefore desirable, and a good investment for the future, like a Maloo W1.

 

[losh1971]

I heard back from the mech and the problem lies with the lifters. Apparently there is some metal transfer but he is not yet sure why. It appears the lifters have not jammed and the plungers are fine too. From what he can see it has not affected the cam. The metal at this stage does not appear to be bearing material. He is unsure what has gone wrong though, which is a problem. Apparently only two lifters were affected.