Fe sedan v6 build up

[Frankiej]

I am starting a new project on an fe sedan and want to fit a v6 and vs commodore floor pan, so I guess this is the start of my thread.

[hsv-001]

I may be able to help with some advise here . Front or back rack will determine the shape of the sump and pick-up .Must say I am not a fan of the commodore floor pan because they mount low on the sills and old Holden floors are flush with the top of the sills things like the hump and tunnel seem to be far too high especially at the front .Commodore also seem to slightly narrow .I'm not the only person to have welded commodore floors in old holdens so we will wait and see what others think .I would buy floor pan rust sections and a sheet of steel and try and replace the original as much as possible. That's just me . Cheers Haydn 

[NES304]

Jason did this. Check out build 366 days

[fe350chev]

Are you going to go for a vn motor with 5 speed or auto and later motor?

[NES304]

I'd suggest the VS engine if he is using the floor from a VS.

My suggestion - Find a VS that has what you want with what extras you want (cruise etc), be careful as some come with IRS and some with live axle diff.
A series III V6 ute will have most of what you need (unless you want power window for the rear doors). Series III V8 comes ready to take a 355 crank too!

Either way let me know if you run with a VS as I can reprogram the memcal to performance shift (upgraded fuel specs and shift pattern) and remove the security from them so you won't have to buy the bloody expensive harness from Conversions place

AKS AS MANY QUESTIONS AS YOU WANT!

[Frankiej]

Wow this is Awsome and very informative already, my first issue is how do impost photos on here lol, and then the funds need to come so I can get the gear I need, I have my own panel shop which is a start but my handbrake won't take ownership until she can see it close to finished grrrrrrrr. Anyway any help on the photos and thanks in advance cheers frankiej.

[NES304]

I have my own panel shop

Ok I'm coming round, I'll upload photos, you finish my car

Read the post on Tapatalk for the mobile application Tapatalk support for mobile users

Or use a host Posting Photos - TinyPic

I prefer tapatalk as its easy to take a pic on phone and upload straight away

Or you can SMS to me or email to me and I'll upload the first few to get you started....


ANYHOO, the others want the intentions for the build....

[Frankiej]

Hey Nes your welcome to come and visit and thanks for the advise on uploading pics I will see how I go, you can check out my work on Frankie's restorations on the other big media site.....cheers frankiej.

[fe350chev]

Yes I agree with tapatalk.

[fe350chev]

Sorry I was supposed to say if you don't go with the vs graft, would you consider the vn. Personally I think if your going to go to all the trouble of a v6, you may as well go for what you want, like a modern straight 6 or v8. But with mine I want to do more of an old skool build now and have deviated from my original retro tech idea. I suppose it depends on what you wanna use the car for.

[FireKraka]

Hi FrankieJ
I did the V6 thing with my sedan and I grafted the Commodore floor hump into the FC floor in hindsight I would have preferred to graft the whole floor as you pick up all of the strenthening points etc NES is right again (I seem to be saying that a lot lately  ) have a look at the 365 days thread admittedly it is a ute floor but it shows you how it is done and the advantages.

I used the VN VP series 2 motor and auto box as I prefer the look of the engine than the ugly plastic top cover a plenum of the later engine but that was just my preference, no offence to the VS/Ecotec boys.

Don't be afraid to ask questions.

Regards
Neil H

[Frankiej]

Wow some fantastic info there guys, I finally have tapatalk and I will,put some pics up of my new project.

[Frankiej]

Here goes my attempt at putting up pics I hope you guys like what I am starting with, in the past I realised it was better to pay a bit more for a better body, this is my $2,000 investment.

[FCRB26]

really nice dress rims that i would gladly take off your hands .

whats going on in the dash what the hell are the black things look like really old switches for presumably heater or some other item?

good job posting pics too.


Nice

[Frankiej]

Hey fcrb26 thanks mate and the switches I'm not sure about, the guy I bought it of tells me it might be an x police car because it has been resprayed SA police blue and the switches could be for lights and sirens, so not real sure at all.

[Stewy]

Hi frankiej,
Good job on getting pictures up. Can you post a picture of the firewall tag to see if it is an Adelaide built car.
The colour that is left behind the dash frame looks like Royal Marine and the trim on the seats would be consistent with that.
My father in law was a SA policeman at the time that these were in service and I can confirm with him if they had the pale blue at that time or not.

Cheers Stewy   

[Frankiej]

Sure stewy I will get a pic , and I'm pretty sure your right but the car has had a respray at some stage in the police blue and I'm intrigued as to why. Cheers frankiej

[mcl1959]

Looks like $2000 investment was ok. The guards and doors look good. How are the floors and sills?
It should be easy enough to discover if the car was used by the police or other department. There should be quite a few "extra" holes in the firewall, skirts and under dash panel where the radio and other things were mounted. It is also likely there would be some filled holes in the roof where the sign went. Most police cars were standard or business sedans rather than specials but this does not necessarily always hold true as FE's and FC's were in high demand so sometimes you just had to take what you could get. There are period photos of FE special sedans as police cars.
It looks like it had a guage suspended below the dash as well. The screw and the hole look like just the right distance apart for one of those old seventies guage panels.
Perhaps it was a hottie from the seventies and the switches may have been driving lights or the like.
Ken

[Frankiej]

Hey ken your info is fantastic and I still,need to post a pic of the id tag, but I will,look closer at all the points you made and let you know cheers frankiej.

[fe350chev]

Funny you say that Ken cos most taxi's weren't specials but mine is. Sometimes that's part of the fun. I have a shortened 80's hilux Bush basher with a vn v6 and 5 speed with limited slip diff. It goes like hell. Let me know if u want some pics of the engine or anything. I'm pretty sure guys with fb/ek models have used the Toyota diff but I could be wrong. I think they run v6 early motors in those ex sprintcars. I have a straight through exhaust on mine but I still don't like the sound. That made me change my mind. How lame hey. Very torquey motor though.