FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

After reading another post, steel cranks in greys came up. Correct me if I'm wrong, aren't ALL grey cranks steel? Didn't the iron cranks only come out on reds, during the EH run? (sorry for mentioning another model)
Colin.

Found that from a while back

Cheers
Dave

Hi Colin & Dave.
The crank in the Grey motor was well & truly the "Archille's Heel" of the motor. There were other design flaws, that with a bit of modification, you could fix. i.e. the restrictive head design.

Just a couple of rules to keep in mind.

a/ Get a Grey to breathe, it will REV!
b/ Get a Grey to Rev, you need to support the crank.

Open up the ports, get a set of extractors, a good carb set up, nice cam, big valves & some bridge caps. Give Burnsy a call. He is repo-ing main bridge caps & they work a treat for you everyday Hot Grey. They bolt into the existing set up & provide that much needed support.

If you want to go all out. The Vauxhall Steel Crank out of the 60 - 62  Cresta's are the bee's knees. It is by NO MEANS a bolt-in, out in your backyard execise. It takes a hell of a lot of work. Re-aligning the bores etc. There is one down here that will rev to 8,000 all day & drive the guy home in peak hour. THAT is with a standard style head with big mods (No Repco head or anything). BUT, this motor, over the 10 or so years he has been developing it, has cost in excess of $20,000. Eats XU1's for breakfast. He went through 6 blocks to get the right one & even then, it went porous after a few runs & he had to strip it down & get it re-sleeved.

Another car here, is a Buchanaan. This car has a Vauxhall steel cranked Grey, running a Repco Crossflow head. It is the fastest Grey powered car in the country. It competed at the 2004 Grey motor get together in South Australia (The actual name of the event escapes me) & blitzed all opposition. It is a beautiful car.

Grey motors in the early 60s dominated the powerboat scene. The world record holder in the late 50s, early 60s was a Grey powered "Hydrafoil" called something like the "Wymarea" (Have it here, but can't be fussed looking for the exact name), that ran a "Dunstan" rotary valve head. This was unbeatable until the Yanks changed the rules, so their boats could win (Don't they always?). The boat is somewhere on my photobucket site.
Another rule with the Grey motors on the water, was that as long as you got past the 6,000rpm stage, it would keep on going. But at 6,000 for more than a minute or two, it seeemed to like to explode. NOT GOOD in a small boat.

PM or email me & I can send you the link to the photo.

I will get photos of these cars oneday & post them for all to see.

Rob J

The danger point for a Grey Crank is 6,250 rpm.  Harmonics at that rpm will break the crank.  When running  a worked Grey, go through 6,250 quickly.  That's how I used to drive my FC Van in the mid-80's.  I used to get 7,500 rpm in first & second.  It was able to get 5,500 rpm in top, through a standard driveline, on 205/60R13 tyres fitted to 7" rims.

I don't know what was done to the motor, I bought it out of the Trading Post because I'd 'worn' the other one out on daily driving to Campbelltown.  Externally, the motor had Perry extractors running through a 2" pipe to a Cooper 'S' sports muffer (retrieved from a dumped Cooper S) then a short pipe ending in a triple 2" angle piece in front of the lh back wheel; inlet was a stock carby with big jets and a cut down air filter (sides cut out of a stock housing).

Brett

Wow!!! We know where you got the motor, but where did you get the tacho? 7500rpm is maybe possibly achievable with your fingers crossed, earplugs fitted, and wallet at the ready, but surely not with stock ignition. Points run at twice engine speed and will start to get bounce at higher RPM. You can fit a tighter spring to the points, but the speedway guys were generally running magneto's to get over this type of problem. I had a red six that ran to 7000rpm, but with lots of head work, multiple carbies, twin points in a regraphed Mallory dizzy, and a huge coil.

Not doubting the story, but I vote the tacho was wrong ;-) This is BIG revs for a grey, or any Holden six for that matter.

Cheers,

Craig.

Hi Craig.
It is possible. Trust me. I will try & get the exact top rev count that these 2 cars down here have achieved, but I can tell you know, that 7,500 is & has been done. The boats would rev to 8,000 with a special head.

Rob J

hi guys

our current motor, standard head with 202 valves, shaved, 40 thou over bores etc etc revs 6000 easy!!! once its got a tacho hooked up ill let yas know exactly how it revs

Funnily enough - I've always found that if the revs get too high then it's better to change gears which means you will accelerate faster!   :o :o :o

true story   :o :o
earlee

As always, Earlee. Your insights are astounding ;D ;D ;D
Thanks
Rob J :P

I took my motor to 8 with a stock VH commodore ignition and and it bent the flex plate, my new motor (same block EVERYTHING elde different) will probably go to 6 max but should be much quicker.

I took my standard grey to 8500 rpm and it still wanted to rev more.  
Then I changed the selection for the number of cylinders on the back of the tacho from 4 to 6,






now its just a standard old slow revving grey!!


lol
earlee ;D ;D ;D

Yeh, Yeh :P
I gotta admit, I had a HQ GTS Monaro that was a genuine 350 factory, but when I got it, it had a 202 6 in it. The 350 had gone. I used to flog that around, until I found another, 350 from a Statesman. I bunged that in, did a little headwork & was amazed at how well it revved! Man, this thing would spin like a 6. That is, until my Uncle who is an auto electrician, asked if I had changed the little switch on the back of the tacho :o :o :-/. Once I did, then it went back to being a hot Chev, not a mega revving Chev.

Rob J

Earlee, you win the prize, because these engines just don't rev like that without major work. Well not twice anyway..........

And Rob, I never doubted that it hadn't been done, I was talking to Des West and he said they used to rev them up to 8000rpm when racing FJ's. But those engines had MAJOR work done to them, including trick stuff like lengthened pushrods and really wild porting.

And Darcy

Along with all the other mods, did you increase the oil pressure/volume? High revs, only 4 main caps, no oil filter, standard oil pump. Not the receipe for longevity.

Can't wait for the 'rev off' at next years Nats.  

Cheers,

Craig.

Ahh, OK.
Sorry Craig. I should have read that a little better. Yes, they WILL rev, but YES, they do need that work. A lot of it.

Maybe that would be a great new event at the Nats.  ;D

Rob J

taliking about somethign new for the nats-that sounds great!! i rekon there should be something for all the hot greys out there!! would be kool...:O:O

I'm glad you liked the idea of a rev-off. I vote you go first :-)

This could be a real money making device for the clubs.  I know I'd pay money to see it ;D

How about resurrecting the slow drags, but this time include all the modifieds.
I once had a 253 Statesman, it too would rev well past 7500, till I remembered the little switch on the back of the tacho.
It is SO cool giving the grey a rev, sounds so sweet. I have a self imposed limit of 5000. Stock bottom end. It's good to see all you guys keeping the greys & not getting tempted with the red, etc.
Colin.

Wish you luck trying to find a high volume grey motor oil pump!!  I just picked up a NOS kit for my rebuild because I wore my fingers out ringing around trying to find one or someone who would make one ::)

Hi Guys,.
Burnsy. I have a secret method of getting your stock Grey motor oil pump to pump at a higher pressure. Bloody easy, but you need to open up all the oil galleries for it to work to full effect. I will put it up here when I have a few more minutes. I am standing at the front end till in my bakery, waiting for an oven load of Crusty Continetal Viennas to come out of my ovens & I just CAN'T burn them...Whoa, there is the timer now!!
Backsoon.
Rob J

Ahhh, NOTHING like fresh bread.
Beautiful!

Anyway...In the body of the oil pump, there is a little spring, with a small ball bearing on the end of it, that sits in behind a little split pin. This is the pressure release valve. If too much pressure/oil is being forced through, the spring will depress & the excess oil will flow back through. Trick is, get a couple of little washers, the same diameter as the hole where the spring/ball bearing are & put them in behind the spring. This basically makes the spring stronger, so MORE pressure is needed to activate the bypass effect. Get my drift?
BUT, like I said, you have to have the oil galleries opened up to cope with the extra flow.

I will email you soon with more details if you need them. Sorry I haven't replied to your last email.....you know me :-/

Rob J