rob83ke70

I have alloy spacers because thats what was available at the time, and they were needed for throttle lever clearance... I had a hell of a time getting vac leaks fixed too. Robert.

AFTERMARKET ECU!!!! AFTERMARKET ECU!!!! Make that powerband come on a squidge lower so you can stay in it through every gear!! Probably not a modification for the faint of heart though. Robert.

I reckon you should find all the bits you can and rebuild it.... nothing like a bit of repair work to teach you how it all works... Robert.

hey I didn't say I'd like to OWN all cars.... but I like all cars to work on.... I don't care how weird/hard/expensive it is when I'm not paying for it :) I WANNA WORK ON A "GREAT WALL" lol!! Robert.

wouldn't matter if it was a daihatsu applause.... a car is a car (I like all cars) and it belonged to somebody, and nobody should ever have to put up with their shit being stolen. Robert.

this is assuming your clutch is working correctly too!! Robert.

it depends what part of the selector is broken. need to be more specific. I reckon everything is worth fixing if you can do it yourself, but not always if you have to pay someone to do it. if its just the gear lever thats broken, thats heaps easy to replace and should be (long time since i had five gears) interchangable with a k40 gearbox lever... should you wish to pay someone to do it, your favourite mechanic should be able to take care of it. if you don't have a favourite mechanic, I'd reccommend someone who's been in the trade a while and is ok with older cars, and sensible enough to treat everything like their own. Robert.

actually, yes the shoes are different (leading and trailing) and you can fit them the other way from memory... robert.

the trailing shoe would now be the leading shoe and would wear faster. thats about it i think? feel free to correct me if i'm wrong everyone Robert.

meh. its all much of a muchness i reckon. who wants to put a 2zzge into a ke55??? any takers??? Robert.

which gears are crunchy? heres a little trick. Change the gear oil first. now drive along at a pretty high speed (80km/hr or faster) and put it into neutral, foot off clutch, and push the gear lever as if your were going into the crunchy gear. It won't go into the gear, but put pressure on it for maybe 10 seconds. Then let go, put your foot on the clutch and change into an appropriate gear, speed up, and repeat process a few times. Maybe do that three times and then let it run for a while to cool the oil back down. Repeat for each crunchy gear. See if it improves.... you might be surprised. When you've done this in all the crunchy gears, probably an idea to change the oil again. Synthetic oils are apparently good, but I've always just been happily using vmx-m 75w85 in transaxles. Robert.

On our way home just then we had a blue ae82 sedan with yellow tape stripes up the bonnet drive past full of people who looked too young to be driving with a tyre off the rim.... turned around and got their number plate, reported it to the police, found out that the vehicle is stolen. don't know who owns it and have never seen it before, but this really really shits me that someone has stolen it!! Unfortunately I did not have my mobile on me so we had to duck home to ring the police, other than that I'd still be driving around slowly following it so they caught them! Anyone in orange if you see it this arvo, follow it!!! (preferably if you have a few mates you need to thump them!!) Robert.

I'd like to point out that I've seen a LOT of people in STOCK AS A ROCK 4k or 3k engines put up a hell of a race competing with much larger/faster/modified/healthier engines.... its all about how you drive it. I'm sure that when I build my next K engine it will be much faster and more drivable. It is all a learning experience and I reckon that it was much better bang for your buck with my modified 4k (I've spent a few grand now) than if I had have bought something like a 4ag. Much better learning experience as well. I've learnt more stuff about cars when playing with my own older cars (i've owned more than a few) than I have learnt at work or at tafe. I work on everything at the moment from really old cars to brand new cars, HQ holdens to Audi Q7's, and I reckon its an absolute blast. I just love cars.... apparently that means I haven't been in the auto trade long enough.... :) Robert.

much much much more fun to work a 4k. they aren't that bad on fuel provided you don't go crazy. basically if you can drive it around on the street, it won't use THAT much fuel :)

I'd beg to differ about the twin su's versus a single downdraught on a k motor. The su's have a much nicer design manifold for better air flow and they definitely feel much much much less restrictive than my weber DHSA2 (28/36) lightened flywheel is not an increase in power as such it just makes your engine spin up faster. Could be nice in the right applications... Robert.

I've seen 1.75's on a 5k before. Robert.

go with a 5k bottom end, and run 11:1 static compression ratio. When you assemble everything make sure you have incredible attention to detail and cleanliness. I'd reccommend getting everything balanced. I'd definitely run an electronic dizzy regraphed to suit your cam and compression. I wouldn't go any lumpier than that, it will be all sorts of fun to tune and drive that! I'd pop either 1.5" su's or 1.75" su's on it, the 1.75's are easier to get your hands on (they normally put three of them on a 6 cyl) and I'd consult someone about what needles to run in it. I'd get your flywheel lightened too, as well as having everything balanced. And I reckon 2" exhaust would not be too big. I have a 2" on my 4k. Don't expect it to be very streetable, and expect to have to rev it to 8000rpm. Might be worth putting solid lifters in it should you go with a 5k. I'd fit a thermofan to it on a shroud, and maybe a gilmer drive on the alternator. I'd most definitely run a 4.3:1 diff and a 5 speed box, if you use a t50 then see if you can get a gearset that has less of an angle cut on the teeth or straight teeth (will be much noisier) because you lose less power in axial loads through the gearbox that way. Run maybe a 75w85 or similar in the gearbox/diff too. Lose any extra weight in your car as well. The fussier you are the better the results. Its all about getting every last little bit of HP out of it and then reducing every last kg. Even if you don't get as much kw at the wheels as you originally wanted at least you will have a fun little engine to drive. Robert.

I've got a new rocker cover gasket sitting at work (the old one is leaking) and I was thinking I would get to have a look when I replace that. The way its burning oil I think the valve stem seals are really really bad or the rings are gone... hopefully just the valve stem seals. I'm headed down to work today to repair the clutch pedal (the hole for the pushrod assembly is flogged out) and maybe grease the caliper slides and replace that gasket. I'll probably find something interesting to do :) If you aren't doing anything, feel free to come down :( I've got 4 matching (near new) black steel rims off a kia rio jb to go on it, and 4 pirelli p6000's lined up from jax, all I need to do is pop the new steering rack bush in it (the rack was moving side to side about 50-60mm because a D clamp was loose and now the bush is flogged out) and get a wheel alignment and we are all set :) Robert.

Hey AE93 Seca with a 7A-FE engine fitted. Having never had the tappet cover off an A series engine, can anybody advise me on the (I'm)possibilities of changing the valve stem seals without removing the head off the engine? I've been told that you cannot physically do it as the valves are too constrained by the lack of space around the cylinder head. Anybody got around this? can you hold the valves in place with a leakdown tester, remove the camshaft and the shim/bucket assembly and then carefully push on the top valve retainer with a large screwdriver, remove the collets, remove valve spring and replace seal and then reassemble? reckon it would be possible? I put a flush through the engine oil and then put fresh 15w40 in it, and I think that it may have had a thickener type additive in it before I flushed it as now it blows lots more blue smoke than it previously did. I have added stuff that apparently softens oil seals (hopefully valve stem seals will soften) and it seems to have cleared it up a little bit. I can't see smoke most of the time driving it now provided I don't let it idle a long time or go down a hill under high vacuum conditions. This all being said, at 200,000km is it likely I have a worn guide causing my problem? Robert.

Hey Keith were your hs2's shorter in length than my hs4's? Robert.

My spacers are on there so as to prevent linkages fouling the manifold... other than that I wasn't overly worried. Heatshield would be a good thing too. and I added to SU-midel's retirement fund by buying the spacers (made of aluminium) off them. I can't remember what I paid though. Robert.

I've been told to stiffen the front up and leave the back relatively soft to get better traction due to weight transfer... Robert.

the second longest one (first one without the eyes) and just put it in the pack as appropriate? don't worry about upside down on top or anything fiddly? Robert.

thats the same part number as an EB/ED/EF/EL falcon isn't it? WR7LCX or WR9LCX in a bosch flavour maybe?? can't quite remember. Bosch numbers go the opposite direction to NGK. I just can't quite remember if thats the right suffix or not... Not a fan of giving things the lawnmower treatment (champion plugs) especially not in a 13/16 hex size, the champion plugs in that size seem dodgier than the 5/8 hex plugs... I could be imagining it though. Any good parts place (ie NOT repco in orange) should be able to get you a cooler plug in whatever brand. Robert.

its a ke55 and it has an (apparently) aftermarket rear swaybar that looks factory and gets a mention in the gregories manuals.... handles much nicer than the ke30 did (didn't have a rear bar) but it axle tramps something chronic. As bad as the front wheel tramp in the aurion I took for a drive the other day, which was mental to drive no matter how you look at it :) I'd love to get some more traction as well as stopping the axle tramp. The car gets used in khanacrosses, motorkhanas, hillclimbs and descents/supersprints so we ask a lot of it :) I'm always up for pics of everything! My boss thinks that if I put a short leaf upside down on the front of the pack it will snap (flexing the wrong way) and he reckons I should add it upright to the front section, bolt it to the centre bolt and place it in the clamps at the front. Robert.