VS #4 V6 T Build Log

[Draimond]

Pulled the engine and decided to give everything a clean which exposed some surface rust on the chassis under the brake fluid res.
I've sanded and rust treated the area.

What's everyone's thoughts on painting that spot now?
I'm thinking of using SCA etch primer and their colour match base coat?
Clear coat over the top?
(I have some high temp caliper clear coat I could use, probably not a terrible idea given its about 4 or 5 inches from the turbo manifold).

My dodgy option is that oxy white primer (in a can) you get from welding / metal suppliers, and call it a day.

 

[Drawnnite]

Etch Prime and just whatever White is close.

Its one of those things.
If you do a half job youll notice it
If you do it semi properly youll still know it but it wont be as bad and you wont be kicking yourself for not doing it while you had the chance.

 

[Draimond]

Totally agree. I'm trying to do stuff properly. Just balancing that with limited time and money.

I ended up getting etch and sca base.

It's doesn't even slightly match the discoloured off white in the engine bay.
Looks like the correct white tho going off cleaner panels.
Photos to come.

Shouldn't be able to see it under the intake and turbo manifold... But still.
Most important is that rust is gone and metal is sealed.

Spent hours cleaning the engine bay and it still looks gruby and off. :/
That oil explosion I had a year or two ago when the remote filter hose came off has been an ongoing effort to clean and I believe it played a part in paint discoloring.

That SCA base coat... Didn't mix real great. Gave it a 1 min shake first and was getting big bursts off clear runny crap.
Gave it another couple of mins until my arms were over it and still got the same inconsistencies.
Feeling like I should have just gone an gotten the proper 2k stuff. I need it anyway to do the bonnet. Idk how much professional paint costs.... And I don't wanna know. I'm going to pay for it, eat 2 min noodles and try not to think about it.

To do list:
Finish rust repair and clean more.
Rear main seal.
Swap to modded sump.
Catch can needs a drain plug.
Make custom knock sensor bolts.
Swap auto for manual shifter.
Make new starter motor cables.
Finish engine wiring harness.
Add new fuses and relays.
Replace cooked oem wiring.
Install big injectors.
Check all hoses (fuel,oil) for degradation.
Engine back in.
Install new sensors.
Clutch and flywheel install. (New bolts?)
Make a custom oil dipstick to suit turbo placement.
Finish turbo manifold mods.
Make intercooler pipework.
Add AN fitting to rad for turbo drain back.
Finish LS coil bracket, install coils.
Mod spark plug cables to suit LS coils.
Mount Turbo OPR.
Plumb Turbo, oil and water. Got stuff to make aluminium hard lines.
Install wideband controller.
Install new fuel pump, upgrade wiring, move fuse and relay to boot, make / buy a relay / power distribution box in boot.
Install T5 transmission and make wiring.
Write another list.

 

[Draimond]

Ahhh bloody hell. Yeah so the cam looks like it wants a new one on my shopping list.

Bit of petrified thread sealant in the oil pick up too.

(Insert sad & frustrated face here)

So what's the paint code for "thrashed and seen better days, old white-ish commodore"

 

[VS 5.0]

For the science, I'd try some degreaser, compound and polish on a section of the strut tower to see what happens.

 

[Draimond]

I think a light cutting compound will work.... But I also think it'll cut through to primer in many spots.
I was kinda more just joking tbh.
This "budget" turbo build has spiralled out of control a bit. Like I'm sure a lot of them do. Now I'm thinking about stripping the engine bay for a respray... Just cause the engines out to swap the sump... I really gotta start drawing a line somewhere.
This was never meant to be a show piece, just an honest homemade street machine.

I was meant to have the sump and rear main finished after work today and engine back in. Instead, I'm waiting to get a new o ring for the oil pickup.

I couldn't even begin to account for how many little expenses and delays I've hit during this journey. It's been... 2 years now since I first started buying parts and planning.

 

[Lex]

It's been... 2 years now since I first started buying parts and planning.

& it goes on & on & on & on & on .........

 

[Draimond]

Still working on getting the bosch knock sensors in.
Grabbed an old wood lathe off my grandad, the head on this lathe is softer than the bolt I'm working on, so it keeps chewing the lathes head down and destabilizing the bolt.
I'm not going to be able to make 2 of these things with the equipment I've got at home, it'll have to go to the machine shop for this.

 

[Draimond]

Put 13 hours into the car today.
Great day for it, public holiday, cool weather.

Can confirm now that the knock sensor is 1/4" NPT Tapered 18 threads per inch.
Which is a pipe thread.

Got carried away again. Did some polishing and a bunch more cleaning. But I also got my modified sump on and replaced the rear main seal.

I had empire wiring at Murarrie make me up a big starter power wire and a few big grounds. Came out cheaper than buying the tools and parts I'd need to do it myself. So that's a win!

Enjoying doing some metal polishing and more panel work. Engine is ready to go back in. Just need to finish painting the engine bay (you know... the thing I said I wasn't going to do just a few do ago)

Also tidied up the BBG oil distro block and fitted the oil sensor. Some mods required of course. Can't recommend for an Ecotec, looks like it'd be much better on the L27 3800 it was designed for. (Only have the before tidy up photo bellow, will take a pic of it cleaned up before everything goes back on)

Check out the shiny idler pulley! Makes me very happy.

Tomorrow I'm painting and fitting 1000cc injectors!! Or getting side tracked again and doing 'who knows what' instead.

 

[Draimond]

So that acrylic paint was a bust. I found a soft spot that either didn't stick or didn't harden. Could've been a few things, I was trying to build up that area so I could level out some imperfections. But there was a couple wet days last week where I applied a thin coat to keep things moving.

Regardless, I've stripped all the acrylic white and etch primer off, with 80 grit sand paper by hand. Lost a few days and a few dollars learning stuff the hard way.

Spent about $500 getting set up to do 2k painting. Still need more stuff but shopping at an actual refinishing retailer isn't cheap.

I'm told the 2k will be much more thermally stable and so far, with one coat of 2k primer, it already feels much harder than the etch or 1k.

Now I just have to sand the 1k off my bonnet and respray it with 2k as well.

In other news, I've learnt enough fusion 360 to make a design (.stp) file of the knock sensor bolt I need to adapt Bosch 2 wire knock sensors to the factory location.
Sent a dozen emails chasing quotes.
Fingers crossed at least one of them is affordable enough to get a dozen spun up. I'll chuck the rest on eBay or something.

Photos are 1) before stripping acrylic, 2) after and 3) primed in 2k