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Losh's VR Ute build thread

vc commodore

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I believe there is a place in Melbourne that builds V6 Buick sprint car engines....From what I remember, they do them all to exact specs that are required by the speedway and from all accounts they are pretty bullet proof.....

Yeah it mightn't be much help them being the other side of the Tasman to you, but should you need me to get the details of them for you, just holla....You might be able to pick their brains
 

losh1971

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Why even go the S/C route on this engine? Seriously you have been talking about the possibility of upping the antie with power and you have concerns with your current engine....
The issue is the $4k to build the short engine and then another $1200 to have it fitted along with the new heads. My current engine could have a simple problem, such as lifters that could save me $5k but then again I could fit new lifters and still have the same issue. I need to find a decent garage but I just can't find one.
 

losh1971

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I believe there is a place in Melbourne that builds V6 Buick sprint car engines....From what I remember, they do them all to exact specs that are required by the speedway and from all accounts they are pretty bullet proof.....

Yeah it mightn't be much help them being the other side of the Tasman to you, but should you need me to get the details of them for you, just holla....You might be able to pick their brains

There is a bloke here who builds Buick sprint car engines but it's $4k for the short motor plus a cam. I had him listen to the noise and he couldn't identify the problem. Also that's just a hone and not a rebore.
 

losh1971

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I'm tempted to spend a few hundred and throw in a set of lifters, just on the chance that is the problem. Like I said I took a risk with the chain and it was the cause of the rattle when the new rockers went in. 18 page thread and a few varied opinions, with no one thinking the chain was the issue, except me but it took a tear down to find and fix the problem, with me working off a hunch.

I'm struggling to find much conclusive info about cam bearing symptoms, and the bloke who fitted the lifters and the heads reckons the only way to check them properly is cam out. Plus he reckons cam bearings can partially spin and not cause a major racket and damage the big ends like I thought they would. But honestly who knows??? If I was still in SA and Malcolm at Perkins was still there I bet he would know. He was a gun and knew heaps of tricks about cars, especially 1990s Commodores and Fords.
 

losh1971

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On a more positive note I spent 12 bucks at Repco and ordered a set of link bushes for the ute in rubber this time. They arrived today, and I should be fitting them tomorrow, once I have access to the pit. Hopefully the annoying knock I have is the link bushes. I was told it was D bushes. However after fitting new ones, as there was movement in the sway bar the noise came back a week or two later. I currently have Nolethane link bushes and I hope fitting rubber ones stops the noise, once and for all.
 

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Also heading to the wreckers in the morning. I'm hoping to find a really decent bonnet that I can just buff and not paint. I have been quoted $125 but I'm hoping I can get it for $85, as I bought the mat off him a couple of years ago for $40. Either way I think I can get him down a bit, even if he only knocks off $20. In hindsight I should have grabbed the whole thing, when I went there and pulled the mat, as I remember it was close to prime cond at that time. A quick glance at it the other day and it's looking a little more weathered than it was. I just don't know if the swampy cow paddock has started to cause any surface rust underneath or on top. It sort of has the classic sit in the sun for a few years and collect wet dust look to it now. Worst case scenario is I paint it but ideally I'd like to keep my remaining 2k for the tailgate. Having said that, I probably have enough hardener and thinners and might get away with just buying a litre of DeBeer 2k white, if I need to paint the bonnet as well.
 

losh1971

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I might add, the rattle I have, has the classic lifter tick for 40 seconds approx, on cold start, which wasn't there when the new ones first went in. Which also makes me wonder if I have been sold junk lifters?? And that fitting some new Delphi ones might just take care of it.
 

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Can't sleep right now, as my head is spinning trying to think what could be the cause of this rattle?

I went through an old thread I started for a different rattle, and according to @EYY, if I have spun a cam bearing the engine would most likely be knocking like a bastard by now and probably would have detonated. I would have done well over 1000km since I noticed the annoying rattle. This leaves me to think the most likely cause is the Chinese Nason lifters. I don't know if a partial spin would be as bad but I assume it would be?

The full list of symptoms are as following: slight miss on idle, yet no issue under load, a lifter tick on start up that lasts 30 - 40 seconds after sitting for a few hours, and the annoying odd sounding, almost squeaky rattle that only comes on when the engine gets up to temp, and can only be heard when the engine is idling but goes away with a few revs.

To me this is pointing towards the junk Nason lifters. I have a bit of a gut feeling about it, bit like I did when I had the worn out chain and tensioner, which proved very difficult to diagnose by listening to it running alone and required dismantling to know for sure.
 

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Just got back from the wreckers. I had a look at the bonnet I was hoping to buy but sitting in a swampy cow paddock for around two years has made it deteriorate quite a bit. I looked around and found two or three other bonnets in about the same condition.

It wasn't going to be worth spending $125 on a bonnet that requires almost as much work as mine does to get it looking smick. I have to decide now whether I hook on the trailer on my return trip tomorrow and bring back my dodgy bonnet and fit it while I take a few weeks to paint my current one?
 
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losh1971

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Replaced the link bushes just now. Below are the old ones. Hoping the knock will be either gone now or greatly reduced.
@vc commodore in your opinion do you think those link bushes are bad enough to cause a knock, worst under brakes?
20210227_161154_resized.jpg
 
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