hopper stoppers advice

[fe350chev]

hi

just wondering, a car with a chev 350 (fc) should be ok to use hq hopper stopper stub/brakes conversion hey as hq range had this motor? and the car is considerably lighter. has anyone done both, some use au brakes etc. i would think using good calipers and disks that hq types would be ok with all other necessary mods?

[John253a]

The answer is speek to your engineer, it's his call on what to sign off on,
I spoke to mine about another project I had and I needed 300mm roters fitted to chance from turbo to supercharger, on a 3ltr diesel, and the cost outweighed the upgrade

Is your already part signed off or past in 2nd inspection it not I think you'll be dreaming to run full Vic reg with a 350 unless you fit a hq rails to it a reg as hq, otherwise fit a injected 5ltr and stroke it to 5.8(355ci)
This way you pass the new laws, in Vic the REG weight is 1250kg so a 5ltr I the biggest legal.


Also the au brakes are 286mm I think (they are just under 300mm) and you cam run std vt twin piston calapors as the hq had a 68mm single bore disk calapor, and vt are twin 34mm from memory,

I did the au conversion on my hq in 2000 or 2001, I thought it was worth it,

[fe350chev]

Na you cant go over a 253 here in Vic but the car I am doing is not going to be registered in VIC, (Ill keep that close to my chest on a forum but the state where it will be registered it's up to an engineer). Im just wanting real life examples of the thing actually stopping well etc. Victoria sucks and is killing the industry. The taxi will be registered here though which is standard car. Sounds like it would stop well then if you did it to a HQ. If I was going to do a V8 I want the engine I want not a small one, if that was case may as well go turbo 6 cyl, 2j or blue motor hyped up or something. Na Im building what I want and I will worry about all the other stuff as it comes along. No enginners for hundreds of KM here though LOL, so lots of trips up and down the highway! Im trying to find one who has done the exact same conversion recently.

[mcl1959]

As many here know, I used to work for Hoppers Stoppers and as an engineer myself, I designed most of the brake upgrade kits. While I was there we built many cars from the ground up as well as straight brake upgrades for customer's projects - HR's and HT's with 350 Chev's were all given the AU rotor and caliper upgrade kit and all passed testing easily. We did quite a few FE to EK models with smaller engines and they were also fine with this same kit.
Some cars had bigger brakes based on customer requirements such as HSV rotors and others but these require larger rims and lots of money.
We did the Street Machine "VU FOR U" giveaway car with a HSV kit I designed as well as the Galaxy convertible after that which also had 350 mm rotors.

HQ brakes themselves will pass the braking test (an FE in the Vic club has 350 chev with HQ brakes passed about 6 years ago before law changes) but I think they are marginal in terms of fade performance. Personally I would be happy to reccommend the Hoppers Stoppers brake upgrade kit that goes on the HQ stub axles.
Remeber though that you must have 15 inch minimum rims (and not a step down rim).

Ken

[fe350chev]

Im going to tub the rear so should be ok with the bigger wheels.

[John253a]

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/vsb_ncop.aspx
Don't no about you but to my knoladge all Vic built fc special were reged at 1250kg I no mine is and so are my friends buy I no of some SA ones at 1060kg
Of that basses 1060x4 4.25ltr but with a Vic built it's 1250x5 6.25ltrs

[fe350chev]

It doesn't really matter where is was built. I don't think you are correct cos 3 vic engineers won't sign off on it. The others will. Some states don't have that weight rule at all. ken also confirmed this.

[John253a]

i just had a mate get a blown injected 350 engineered in his fc, no problems, but he had to pay more cose of the new rules, ill ask him about it, i pretty sure the car had to have breaks performance tested + abs fitted, his running a custom front end from the states with a quickchange rear.

i do no he had to do a lot more then normal,

when i enquired about doing it, i wanted to do a 6.2ltr ls3 with 6spd man (stock hsv) and i was told it could be legal done on my body, but the mods to install would have cost me my arm and leg,
they said the main things to pass would be minim 300mm front/rear rotors with abs, 4 link or irs rear, custom rails
fit hilux or hq rails under it and run stock breaks, no abs and std rear
but there seems to be little info about rail conversions 

[Ed]

street legal 350 blown...?

[mcl1959]

You are dreaming if you think you can go into the RTA and convince them that an FC special weighed 1250 kg

I just checked the service manual and the weight for FE special (close enough to the same as FC special) is 2374 pounds which comes out as 1079 kg
FB special weighed 2374 pounds which is 1134 kg

Ken

[John253a]

Don't need to convince them that's the weight they listing for the car, I'll take a pick of my REG sticker for you and post, it even that says 1250,

The workshop manual is unladen and unfueled, all Vic built were document with fuel and acc.
Sa no fuel, no acc.

[John253a]

[John253a]

these are the GMH listings for the fe and fc and they are tare not kerb weight
so even by the ghm specs the fc special is 1100kg and falls into the x5

¤ Holden FE
Introduced:
July 1956
Engine:
2.15 litre L6 (132ci)
Power:
53kW / 71bhp
Torque:
ft/lb @ rpm
Weight:
1080kg (2380lb)
Transmission:
3 speed manual (non-synchromesh)
Performance:
0 - 100 km/h 20.4 seconds; Standing 400 metres 21.4 seconds
Model/Style:
Standard Sedan, Special Sedan, Business Sedan, Standard Station Sedan, Special Station Sedan, Panel Van, Utility
Production:
155,161
Price:
$2,284 / £1,142
Notes:
One millionth car body (including some Holdens) produced at Woodville plant. 4500 Holdens exported that year.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¤ Holden FC
Introduced:
May 1958
Engine:
2.15 litre L6 (132ci)
Power:
53kW / 71 bhp
Torque:
ft/lb @ rpm
Weight:
Sedan 2389lb (1084kg), Special Sedan 2412lb (1094kg), Station Wagon 2517lb (1142kg), Panel Van 2415lb (1095kg), Utility 2393lb (1085kg)
Transmission:
3 speed manual (non-synchromesh)
Performance:
0 - 100 km/h 19.5 seconds; Standing 400 metres 20.8 seconds
Model/Style:
Standard Sedan, Special Sedan, Business Sedan, Standard Station Wagon, Special Station Wagon, Panel Van, Utility
Production:
191,724
Price:
$2,220 / £1,110
Notes:
Sales exceed 100,000 in one year for the first time.

[weddo]

I'm not a Victorian so I might be wrong, but the tare weight shown on the sticker could be for the fee structure for vehicles up to 1250 


regards

Weddo

[fe350chev]

I didn't really ask for advice in how to get  :-*it registered. I wanted opinions on brake performance. But if you guys wanna debate vice region that's fine but will make no difference to me cos not being region'd in vice and the weight rule doesn't apply and the taxi will just need roadworthy and plate inspection.

[John253a]

if you are going to run 16" wheels then the au 286mm? will be fine with vt twin piston calipers (15" stockies dont fit)
if 18" 330mm hsv 4 pot or 19" 330mm 6 pot.

idd look at adapting all wheels to 5x114
modify a std vr/vs disk break rear to fit (and if not happy fit vt disks rear) with slotted rotors (not drilled)
and au to front with 5x114 stud

that way wheels are cheaper also

[mcl1959]

Deano, I thought I answered your question fairly comprehensively early on in the thread
Others went off on a tangent but I think your question has been well and truly covered.

Ken

[fe350chev]

Yes. Sorry I forgot to take spell check off and that last post was double dutch. If ken you think it was marginal on some applications then I'd go the tried and proven upgrade kit. Thanks guys for answering so enthusiastically