Cut it custom by Harko FC2dWag

[TorqueFC]

harko,
         how about some pics !!! LOL

sounds liek your making excelent pregress, you must put in a hell of a lot of hours to be making such progress :):)

this is going to be one wild van, shopped, dropped on a chassis, with a BBC, :O:O:O

keep up the good work Harko Man

[SRVLIVES]

Shame the hookup didnt go ahead Shane but there's always a next time mate... Atleast you know where I live now :)

The kids were having way too much fun at Jamboroo, time just ran away from us!

Quick up date .
The big block is now sitting in place and all look's sweet ,(I think its going to work :)

I heard this today and was hoping someone onboard could back up the claim , He said "If you install a small bloke with a long waterpump you would then be able to simply remove it and replace with a big bloke and short water pump"
And at a quick glance and run over with a tape it would seem to be true.
Both are the same engine mounts and mounting position ,same position for the gearbox ,although the BB is about two inches longer forward of the mounts.

I have heard the same thing

I guess time will tell ,I have some block huggers ,a hi-rise manifold, fuel pump ,heads and sump  (good mates)

Just check the bonnet clearance with that manifold

It looks real good sitting in the engine bay , definitely worth a tim the toolmans "Urrrrgh Urrrrgh Urrrrgh"

Pity I didn't drop by, coulda caught you making 'brrrm, brrrm' noises behind the wheel!

[4hammers]

Hi Harko.
Big block modified FC Vanette done in a Nomad style. That is just too cool. I have been watching with interest & I gotta say, VERY cool & VERY clever.
I have always been a "Stockie" lover, but am on the road to being a convert to the Radical Modified style. Keep it up. I may not say much here (On this thread anyway ;)), but I have been watching from the word go.

Cannot wait until it is a goer!

Rob J

[HARKO]

Thank's Hammer ,A man of few word's but straight to the point and considerate :) ,Thank's mate I apreciate it.

Here's a couple more pic's from over the weekend ,
A few drink's and the boys thought it was due for a paint job.

Engine is only tight for the exhaust between the two middle port's on the drivers side around the steering box and it look's like it will mount real low and well behind the crossmember too so driveability should benefit well.
With the engine so far back and bucket load's of torque on tap I may have to think a little more about popping the wheels in the air (strength)  and rear suspension setup maybe. :) I've always wanted to have that sort of fun.

[Hewart]

Love your work Harko...!!
Looks awesome....!!
Keep the pics coming...

Cheers
Les... ;)

[TorqueFC]

Harko,
           the big block looks absolutely excelent sitting in there-it looks like there is plenty of room around the motor aswell, not to mention how low it is sitting. this is going to be one hell of a van-you must be bloody proud to have it at this point now-keep up the good work and dont forget to keep us posted :)

[Ed]

Nice work Harko, looks like you've been busy.

please excuse my late of reply, it wasn't from lack of interest but it was difficult to find an excuse to use a computer when outisde there was crystal water, white sand and beautiful girls in bikinis.. heh heh heh.. :P

in fact.. i never even gave my own car a second thought...  this explains why the first bolt I turned threaded the captive nut. happens to be the top corner guard bolt too  ::)

Cheers

Ed

[fccool59]

Man that looks cool!

[HARKO]

Quick update - sorry no pic's Torque lol.

Had a lazy week after returning from four week's in the shed to days at the paid job and nights in the shed :) and only managed to do a little more trimming of the tunnel ,firewall and pedal brace. and found a better position for the engine / box ,a little higher allows me to change the spark plug without tilting the engine and gives a little more clearance for big bore pipes to wind thier way out
Tomorrow I have to make some engine mounts to weld in and find an acurate height for mounting.
The gearbox mount at this stage will be HQ but am realy unsure if it will be a permanent fixture.

Its a good way to do it all at this point because I dont have to avoid any inner guards or subframe ,Just build the sheet metal around it all later.

I have no computer at the moment so be patient for some updates .

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Hey Harko, got that 'puter fixed yet? We wanna see what you've been up to.

[HARKO]

Yep Stinky the computer is fixed again but Ive had progress only in a small way by moving the factory engine mount's forward about 30mm ,I was planning on puting in some plate to bridge the gap then just weld the box section on top for the engine mount to sit on but after removing the engine and box I found that it was going to look very rough that way .
I then cut off the plate that covers a structural mount ,cut the mount out and shortened it ,reangled it and dropped it a little lower so that when the covering plate goes back into place it will fit flush with the crossmember rather than on top as per factory.

I know ,It all sounds a bit mumbo jumbo without seeing pics ,and I dont have a before photo to compare to ,but when I roll off a few more shots I'll include this area.

I'm shaping up a gearbox crossmember today from a HQ .

and some measurements that seem to be working beautifully are the powerglide although I had to remove nearly all of the original tunnel sits up nice and high ,Trans pan drops about 1/2 inch below the chassis rails.
A STANDARD sump will sit about 1.5 inches below the rails and should have 1/2 inch clearance if I choose to air bag the suspension.
The diff andgle is at 90' and the engine - box angle is 92.
That 2 degrees wouldnt be enough to cause any vibration and when welding on the coil brackets and panhard rod to the 9 inch I'll try to correct it anyhows.

Wow look at all that writing , I prefer to look at pictures myself hehe.
Thanks for the interest Stinky ,Much apreciated.

[HARKO]

Found these old pics in my camera showing the makeup of the left hand fin/tail light area.
I like the comparisom beside the uncut sedans boot angle :) .
These are great to remind me of how much work I have done !

[HARKO]

Heres some more showing the fabrication of the engine mounts ,It turned out to be a mamoth task ,Id say Ive had the engine and box in and out about 6 times up to this point...
The mount on the chassis if you look closely you will see that theres another mount under the one Ive spotted on .Kinda like an inverted U shape ,These were shortened and reangled ,Then the plates shortened and welded over them ,Then the box mounts plated off ,cut to angle ,An anti crush tube welded in then the whole mount welded into position.

I might add that with the engine on the mounts and in position if I were to move it in any direction I run out of room "Perfect fit) :)

[HARKO]

If this update appears on page 9 ,Page 8 has a heap more relevant updated pics.

The engine blocks were set at the mounts angles whilst the engine sat in position and yep they are different angles to each other to suit.
And I have ground and smoothed the welds over to try to flow them into the base ,The rough looking welds on the front are filler welds over the structural welds that kept tripping the power to the house :)

[customFC]

Hey Harko.
Nice to see the progress continues.
Thanks for the update.
Regards
Alex

[Burnsy]

Holy shite :o  I lay around for two weeks drinking Bintang and not much more, return home to find three weeks disappears in a blur that allows me to do not much more that reading the 10 recent posts each day and this happens.  

Harko, you are a legend mate.  It never ceases to amaze me what people are capable of when they fill themselves with motivation and persue their dreams.  Keep up the good work........... and the photos flowing.

[HARKO]

Well thank you very much Burnsy and Alex .
But I am yet to inform you that I have sold the nomad ...



I sold it to a young bloke from Sydn   --- Just shittn ya's hehe.
but it is about to be put back in the cue yet again ,I have to make room for the body to come off soooo the Sedan is back to the front of the cue for reasembly.


Here's an interesting photo ,Ive given the 396 loaner donk back to my mate which is another story altogether but I'll tell :) .
The poor ol FB wagon was scraping her bum on any uneven ground with the heavy chevy parts in the cargo area ,Loaded up to the hilt .

So the photo is actualy with my small block and tunnel ram ,This setup busts the myth for me because it does bolt straight in the place of a big bloke or visa versa.
Just this setup allows the carby/filter height to drop about 2" compared to BBC
The big block is 2" taller , 2"longer ,and probably 2" wider in each head .


Before I pack it up in the corner would anyone like to see anything in particular photographed ? speak now or foever hold your piece..

[SRVLIVES]

Just this setup allows the carby/filter height to drop about 2" compared to BBC

I found this when installing a 428FE Big Block in place of a 302 Clevo in an XW Falcon I used to have.

That Mr Gasket scoop you have there Harko, they come with a spacer to raise it up to bonnet level, not needed with a BB, but required with a small block.

[HARKO]

Aha I noticed those spacers could be positioned either way - So thats why .
Theres no hope of that Mr Gasket sitting on the small bloke anyways because the engine is so far back that the tunnel ram is hitting on the bulkhead and it still needs pushing back about an inch ,Doesnt suit anyways I think and the small bloke is only in there to get back some floor space for the time being...Cheers though but dont use that F word again :)

[Ed]

nice Harko!

the mind boggles.

what wil you call this car?

"Mr Muscle"

tuff as

Cheers

Ed