louie the fly

And people say beer is bad for you. I once took a 61 Holden for a drive that I was interested in buying. We drove it around the suburbs for about 10km. When back at the dude's place I said no thanks & went on our way. In the car my missus said "you DH, you know you had the handbrake on". Nope, I didn't...

Good luck with your new position. It's a strange feeling changing jobs sometimes. Especially if you've been there a while & like it. I handed in my notice 3 weeks ago & start with a new company on May 16th. After being with my current employer for 7 years, and forming a great working relationship, I felt I needed to switch my career into overdrive.

Andy, Jim Robinson will have them.

Desotodav, we buy all our fasteners from Universal Fasteners. If they don't have what I need I generally get by with what I can get. But I have heard of Classic Fasteners before. I think I came across them at a swap meet or something. Roger (the Dodger), I have checked out the Wilcap one, but designing stuff is what I do for a living so, yet again, I thought I'd give it a crack. I'd just like to get the block hole dimensions so I can cross check what I've measured. Unfortunately I can't put the block on the CMM & digitise the hole positions. I'm just in the process of changing jobs, but my (soon to be ex) boss said I'm welcome to come in & use the machines. He's a car guy too.

Funny! I used to be into pommie bikes & like Andy said, we had loads of British Standard threads. All the old English bike stuff was British Standard Cycle 26TPI, LH & RH. A pain to get taps. I haven't progressed much with the swap other than designing an adapter to put a turbo 350 onto the 251. Does anyone have the dimensions of the bolt & dowel holes on the back of the block?

I think it depends on what look you're trying to achieve. I went for 3" in the rear & 1 coil up front. I think it looks right. I made the blocks out of some aluminium offcuts we had lying around at work. I also made some 4" blocks for a mate's 53 Chebby sled. It sat super low to the point where he had trouble getting out of his driveway. I reckon 4" is too low. Here's a pic of how mine sits. It's a bit rough at the moment due to some recent work. All those cars shown above are very nice. I'm jealous!

Thanks for the replies. I have a 230 with 3 speed, and a 250 with a 3 speed & overdrive in a parts car. Both are good runners so I'm tossing up what to do. Put the 230 back in, maybe with the overdrive from the 250, or put the 250 in, perhaps with an auto. If the bolt pattern is the same on both at least I can measure the 230 bellhousing & block and work out how to adapt the auto to the 250, if I go that way. Don't want to take the engine out of the parts car til I'm ready to use it. So much to think about. I'm in a bit of a rut at the moment and lacking motivation. Lots of things happening and no progress on the car.

Do the 23" & 25" engines share the same bellhousing bolt pattern? I.e. can I put a gearbox from a 230 straight onto a 251?

At the moment we're paying around $1.48 a litre. That's around $6.50 a gallon, which at the moment, is about US$6.75 a gallon. We just traded our V8 family wagon on a small 4cyl. It nearly killed me.

I think it's Hughforrest that has the 2 cars, but that's OK. Mine is a 54 Dodge, pretty much the same as the Canadian models of the era. From what I've seen the suspension is all the same though. Thanks for the info.

Wow, this is getting deep. I've decided to change my design a bit and go with a stem top mounting - either S1 or S3 as per the Monroe chart that was posted earlier. I'm not near the car at the moment so does anyone know what size the stock bottom mounting is? I suspect it is a 3/4" pin that the shocker mounts on. Can someone confirm this?

I am an engineering type of sorts but I'm always loath to reinvent the wheel (or the shocker mount). I like to see what others have done and what has worked for them. This is what I've come up with based on designs I've seen on the web. I considered the deflection that could result under braking & cornering and decided it needed to be boxed. I did some tests with our software and it seems like the chassis may be the weakest point of the design now. Now to get them cut and welded, then tack weld them on to the chassis.

The world is full of tools & unfortunately they run our countries.

Alshere59, thanks for all that. I did see that one on the HAMB. I reckon I can modify the design a bit based on the dimensions I can get from the pic with the ruler. The Monroe charts are a great reference as well. Thanks

I've been scouring the archives for a while now and have decided that the top shock mount is the next job on the autumn/winter list. I have a couple of questions for those who have done it. Mines a 54 model Kingsway, like your Canadian models. 1. How long (typically) are the replacement shockers? 2. What part of the stroke should the shocker be in when the car is on it's wheels? 3. If anyone has a template or photo of a mount plate I'd appreciate it. This will tell me how vertical the shocker needs to be. I think the more vertical the more efficient it works, right? Louie

The numbers might just be a part number, assuming the radiator is original. Own up, how many others of us sit in our car and "pseudo-cruise"?

I notice that the disc brake conversions have the steering arms mounted on the outside of the caliper mounting plate, and from what I see this is the only way it can be done. What effect, if any, does moving the steering arms inwards (by the thickness of the plate - 6 or so mm) have on the steering setup? Many of the kits I've seen on the web look like they use a 1/4" plate. Mine is a 54 Australian Dodge with the 3 hole spindles.

Has anyone ever done the numbers on what the spouse life cycle cost is???

Greg, I was always taught "if it makes slag you drag", meaning you pull the weld. With MIG (gas) you push the weld. I normally have my torch perpendicular to the weld plane and leaning back around 15 - 20°. This helps clear the spatter so it doesn't build up too quickly in the nozzle. Spray the tip and the inside of the nozzle with anti spatter every time you clean it. I do a lot of robotic MIG setting and you can get away with various torch angles and still get excellent results, so angles aren't THAT critical really. The most important thing I tell apprentices is know your equipment and what it's capable of. Louie

That's a start. Valiant tie rod ends are still easy to get, and cheap... Cheers

Ian, have a look here. http://rdabrakes.com.au/index.php/technical/74-brake-fluid-information.html They explain it all in fairly simple terms. DOT5 is what is commonly referred as silicon brake fluid. DOT3 & DOT4 are both glycol ether based and both absorb moisture whereas DOT5 traps air when pouring because it is more viscous. I think you should stick to DOT4 because it's easier to use, but that's just my opinion. One thing a brakes guy told me once was don't mix brands, like coolant, because each manufacturer has a slightly different formulation. Louie

My 54 Dodge (Australian production "Kingsway") it has the 3 hole spindles like the one on the left in this picture on Olddaddy's web page. Today I'm going to make a template for my brake caliper mounts and I hope to have both sides fitted up this arvo. I also want to make a start on fitting the steering rack. Does anyone know what angle the ball joint taper? I want to use some "modern" tie rod ends that are more readily available over here. Louie

We live in South Australia, just 1/2 hour from the big smoke. We were watching the news tonight and I said to my wife that we're about the only place (SA) that hasn't had something like this in the last few months, apart from 70mm of rain last Friday. Just when we're starting to recover from floods in Qld, NSW, VIC & Tassie (if I remember correct), and bushfires in WA, our nearest neighbour cops this earthquake. Lets hope they can rebuild their lives.

Bloke I work for has 2 of those 37's, a 6 and an 8. The 8 is slightly longer in the nose. He's kinda obsessed with them. Yes, he's been able to get good info from the Australian club. Don't have a spare back door ashtray do you? He needs one. Cheers..

Just wondering, if you had 6" of snow as opposed to say 3" of rain what differences would there be? I live in South Australia & we only get a few flakes a year at Mount Lofty (about 15km west and 410m toward the sun from my house). We did get 50mm back in August 96 or 97.