Hi Harv,
Revised order from FE FC Holden Car Club of VIC is 16 please.

Please let me know re payment etc.

Cheers,
Trevor_B

Thanks Harv,
I will check with the VIC FE FC Club members and get back to you soon.
Cheers,
Trevor_B

Thanks again Harv for your efforts
Trevor_B

Any update harv??
Got some VIC members who keep hassling me for when they can buy some head gaskets 

Cheers,
Trevor_B

Trivia for today: Apparently Holden always assigned the right hand part number as an even number (hence the left as odd number) 
Trevor_B

Posting for another Club member….. 
Looking for a FE-FC front windscreen lower stainless steel trim piece.
Appreciate if anyone who has a spare could message me with details that I can forward on.
Thanks,
Trevor_B

I know this is a very old topic but...

Norm Darwin's article in the Feb edition of the Automotive Historians Australia magazine has an interesting outcome about JP-481.

Check out page 8: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/579ae8c9725e25911c587e32/t/63fbed62306fcc2ae530ec35/1677454706047/AHA%2BFebruary%2B2023%2BNewsletter.pdf

In summary, according to Norm, a bloke was sentenced to 3 years jail in Oct '22 for fraud related to JP-481 

Trevor_B

Thanks for your efforts Harv, it is appreciated.

Don't think the cost is that critical 

Hi Harv,
Please increase the order for the VIC FE FC Club to 20 after our meeting last night 
Cheers,
Trevor_B

Hi Harv,
Your pricing is pretty darn good at $46 + Postage even if purchasing only 1 that means $71 posted.

Repco is selling a Permaseal AD880 standard head gasket for $115 (+postage) see https://www.repco.com.au/en/parts-service/car-engine-parts/gaskets/permaseal-cylinder-head-gasket-ad880/p/A9686897?kwSearch=ad880

Thanks for your efforts looking after us Grey motor owners 

Cheers,
TrevorB

Hi Harv,
Please increase the VIC FE FC Club's order to 15.
Thanks
TrevorB

Hi Harv,
Can you put the VIC FE FC Club down for 10.
If you get close but can't get over the line to 50 we might be able order some more....

Cheers,
TrevorB

So, to close out this post I should advise the solution to Miss Mullum's vibration issues.

From the advice offered there seems to be 3 areas that need to be checked or considered. The first is tailshaft balance. Luckily for Miss Mullum, this was the final answer. Next on our list to check was to check the tyres for balance/buckles, Robbie is still going to do this as they have not been checked for a long time. Last was going to be diff/tailshaft/motor angles (Fraser's solution).

The tailshaft imbalance on Miss Mullum was a tricky one. When Robbie got the car around 7 years ago it had a bad vibration around 55mph. He had the tailshaft balanced by a company in Cheltenham VIC - there was an improvement but still a definite vibration from 55+, still there at 65mph (GPS speed). So we swapped it with another newly balanced tailshaft from the same workshop. This made a slight but noticeable change. Robbie decided to get the original shaft rebalanced again but at a different workshop (Knox Driveshafts in VIC) requesting they pay particular attention at the revs for 55mph+. The engineer also replaced the front uni (although wear was very minor.....) and balanced the shaft for $220. We reinstalled the shaft and Robbie tested it to almost 70mph (on a 110 road of course  ) with no signs of vibrations. So it was 3rd time lucky in this case!

With regard to the diff/tailshaft/motor angles, we measured tailshaft at 3.7 degrees and motor at 3.9 degrees (diff obviously at 0 degrees). This results in a front uni angle of 0.2 and rear of 3.7 degrees. Using a CAD package I was able to find the best compromise for wedging the diff on Miss Mulum was at 2.5 degrees which gave around 0.7 degrees at both unis so the wedging option would has some benefits. Fortunately we did not have to go down this route.

So Robbie is now happy (and so are his fellow Club members who were getting a little frustrated going on Club cruises at 50mph  )

Trevor_B

Hi,
I live nearby to Cockatoo and haven't seen any other local FC's. There is a guy in Emerald who has been selling FE parts but doesn't have a car and http://Olden1.com.au also lives in Cockatoo so he may know?

Trevor_B

Great outcome Frazer 
Thanks for sharing how you addressed this.

Robbie has just picked up his rebalanced tail shaft so will see how that goes otherwise it's tyre check next then the wedges option.

Cheers,
Trevor_B

Thanks guys,
I admit to having "try different wheels/tyres" on my checklist and so will revisit this when we try the re-balanced tailshaft. I think we just run out of time when checking things out.

We ended up addressing a clutch issue, the old clutch pedal not returning up properly. Robbie had advice from a mechanic familiar to FE & FC's advising to replace the hose section of the clutch hydraulics. First thing I checked was if the master cylinder piston was returning....nope, it was stuck about 20mm from the circlip. Luckily I had spare new rubbers for it so reco'd the master cylinder (bore was still in great shape, assume you put a new one in Kevin). Then the boss called drinks so missed out swapping the tyres from one of the 3 other FC's I have at hand 

Will update when we try re-balanced tailshaft then tyres.
Cheers,
Trevor_B

Thanks Frazer & Clay,
Given the car is completely standard I hadn't considered tailshaft angles.

When the re-balanced shaft is refitted I will check this just to see what angles they are.
Trevor_B

Hi guys,
I have been attempting to help resolve a vibration problem in a mate's FC Holden Sedan - one of Kevin Woollard's great resto projects, "Miss Mullum"
I am so impressed with the work done on this car by Kevin, it's like a 12 months old car now with hardly a mark on it. It's current owner is taking very good care of her.

One issue he has had though is a vibration at 100+Km/hr. All signs point to a tailshaft issue with that drumming harmonic sound appearing around 100, the kind you hear then feel in the seat of your pants 

The tailshaft had been balanced a few years back which seemed to help a bit. We tried by replacing the tailshaft with another re-balanced shaft with new unis however the vibration was still there. Might have been a little worse but hard to tell as the more you focus on it the worse it seems??

Checked other possibilities like engine mounts (still in great shape and no real movement), rear suspension mountings and rubbers (all looked good with no movement when leverage applied), even the gearbox extension housing bush clearance didn't seem too bad (about 10-15 thou movement at the yoke).

Our next move is to get the original balanced shaft re-balanced again requesting a 100% balance.  And no, the cardboard inner tube is not loose....

So any ideas, thoughts  or past experiences would be welcome. It's not like the car is undrivable, just frustrating that such a beautiful car has a little blemish.

Again Kevin, Miss Mullum is a beautiful car and a credit to your work!

Regards,
Trevor_B

Hi Ken,
I bought a Bullet Pro Elite JL35A 4T clear floor hoist back in 2016:
https://interequip.com.au/product/bulletpro-elite-jl35a-m-2-post-clear-floor-hoist-4-ton/

Cost me $2700 picked up from Tullamarine VIC - they used to keep stock in NSW as well when I bought it. Looks like they still sell on Ebay but at a much higher price now: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/122561672250?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28

I installed it myself with the help of a mate. Has probably done 100+ lifts since then without any issues. Mine is 240V and plugs into a normal power point.

Agree that you will need to check the slab for thickness and strength. Mine went into a new shed so I thickened the slab to 200mm locally for the posts. Maybe you could do local cutouts and put in a 1m2 section each side to 200mm thick?

Trevor_B

Hi Al,
While you are considering the correct finish to use, here is something else to think about...

If your guards have been worked a lot, say to remove rust and/or dints, the metal can be thinner than factory which can cause starring in the paintwork from stones being thrown up by the tyres. I have seen this on a car that had been resprayed on months beforehand.

I guess this would be less of an issue if you never travel on gravel roads but still a remote chance on sealed roads too.

I decided to use dynamat type material directly above the tyre just in case...

Just a thought.
Cheers,
Trevor_B