Fe sedan v6 build up

[FireKraka]

Hayden mate you are right about still having the power steering pump however to retain a standard serpentine belt I have found two options
Option 1 - CRS (when I did my sedan) sold a replacement for the pump it is basically a heavy duty bearing and you use the original pulley. I used this but it is expensive.
Option 2 - trying to keep costs down (as I am always on a tight budget) on the EK utes engine I pulled the power steering pump apart, it is a simple vane type pump, and by removing the vanes from the pump shaft, blocking the inlets and outlets and reassembling it you can pack it with grease or put a little oil and it will spin as it did but not build up pressure.
FrankieJ I am not sure about the VS brake calipers I am assuming they are the same or similar ask Pete Mallaby about his adapter plates and I'm sure there would be somebody else that can maybe confirm for you I think NES was going to use VS.
Also speak to Pete re the engine mounts I had him cut the plates for my engine side mounts and the HR mounts will be far better bent up by Pete than the ones I bend up in my little home workshop.
Regards
Neil H

[FireKraka]

Hey JB did you use the passenger side mounted air compressor mount or mount it in another position as I am going to aircon my sedan - the wife doesn't like it when it is 43 c over here because I didn't allow for it originally I'm going to use an under dash unit and rig the compressor and system somehow I haven't figured that far yet 
Regards
Neil H

[JB]

What I did was relocate the coil packs to the rear of the engine on the passenger side.
This gave me room to put the aircondioner compressor. I had to make my own bracket and then just went back and forth until I had the right length of belt.
The guys that did the piping were a bit agricultural... It could have looked nicer.. But the A/C works to it capacity.
My problem was that it was th first build I have ever done, so I asked people for advice at stores etc and a lot said you can't do A/C, 5 speed, ABS etc and my mistake was I believed them. I bought a front end from central Victoria as again was told that they were good but it wasn't the truth... Turning circle and Ackerman was terrible... Although Glenn now has this sorted better than when I owned the van. And it was also before this forum was around.
Hence why the ute has all of these things... I don't let anyone tell me I can't anymore, I find people that tell me or show me how I can... Much better outcome.
I guess what I am trying to say is that there is always a way to put what you want into your car, just find the way it will work.
Sorry if it came out as a rant... There are still frustration from years ago obviously... Maybe I need to see someone... Nah in Melbourne... Going to do some wiring on the ute! 

[Frankiej]

I love that attitude JB sounds just like me, I was told by Rod Hadfield that I couldn't put a rear mounted rack on my he frontend, but my engineer told me I have to find a way or use a steering box....oh and that was another conversion I used to do on fj's I used a hk.t.g steering box.....oops got of track there, so with all that in mind I was determined to make it work, and it did and still does so I'm of the same mind set I will make it fit and work, but this forum is helping me choose the right way of doing it as you guys have already done it. This is my first FE build as I have always been an FJ man so there similarities are there but the difference I find is the engine bay is narrower so makes it harder to modify, but I will get there that's for sure and thanks for all the help you guys are giving me....keep it coming I love it.
Cheers Frankie.

[hsv-001]

Totally agree , all I was saying was you can swing a early V8 bracket onto your alternator and run a vw Passat 6pk 1155 belt and it will simply go round your balancer past your water pump and around your alternator and your there if you are not using power steer and air. And yes , I am always of the opinion that if a human can do it then I can do it [I'm nearly human] . The problem I face is that because I have been involved in restoring these old cars for so long and now have my FC the way I want it and have moved to other [hot rod ] projects I get frustrated with having to jump through hoops every time I find a new idea or a new solution to a long time conversion problem . Anyway now I'm ranting . Haydn

[NES304]

V6 conversions sells a mounting bracket to place a stock VS compressor on the drivers side. Bout 300 smackers 😱

[FireKraka]

Sorry to steal your thread for a little bit FrankieJ
JB thanks for the info I picked up a brand new VR VS compressor today along with all the hoses and pipes and I will just try to manipulate it all until I get it to fit.

Back to you FrankieJ 

Regards
Neil H

[Frankiej]

Hey feel,free to steel the thread this is all,good conversation with lots of great ideas and years of car builders amongst us all, I'm loving it oh and the rums baha.
Frankie.

[FireKraka]

Pure Blondes are my poison mate both two legged and the bottle version    
Regards
Neil H

[NES304]

Pure Blondes are my poison mate both two legged and the bottle version    
Regards
Neil H

Then why the hell am I drinking Fat Yak??? Can't switch to Murrys Whale Ale either then.
Is there a beer called 22 with DD?

[FireKraka]

I don't thinks at the moment NES but I bet it would see like hot cakes and I can see the advertising campaign right now. Ha ha ha
Regards
Neil H

[fe350chev]

Some good discussion fellas. I already have my vl column, rack and scalloped cross member for the Chevy and I have the stubs too. Frankie, a bloke in natimuk is doing my rack mod and the column and he has another bloke there with one to do too, so if he is doing ours he might do three together if u want me to ask. He has done plenty and he also advised he wouldn't do a front mount and the engineer won't pass a front either I found out. I was going to use wb brakes but I have a shortened vs Ute lsd v8 diff completed so I'll have to sort the rear to accept the old pattern. I want to use 14 inch wheels to keep it old school or 15's at most. Can anyone tell me if 15" is the minimum required to clear commo brakes. I'm sure later Commodore needs more clearance. Sorry I don't have time to research but just a quick answer cos I think frankie would have same consideration to make. I'm using xb master with Gemini booster.

[Frankiej]

Hey Deano that would be great if you could ask him for me and what would the cost be for just the rack.
Cheers Frankie.

[FireKraka]

Dean
I had 14's on my sedan before I finished it (now 15's) and they were fine on my VP Commodore rear brakes.

I've said before that I have HZ WB front aluminium Girlock calipers and rotors and they also clear the 14's fine. Not sure about the later say VS VT ones.

As far as stud pattern they have the same PCD (pitch circle diameter) but the commodore studs are larger diameter; my sedan runs HZ/WB stud pattern which meant that the flanges on my commodore diff had to be redrilled for the smaller studs; with my EK ute I am going to use commodore stud pattern so I only have to change the HZ 1 tonner axle from my long side to the larger stud by drilling out or reaming the smaller holes to the larger size and banging in the commodore studs far easier than having to redrill all of your flanges.
Regards
Neil H

[mcl1959]

Having worked in the industry, I have to caution against using Commodore wheels on HQ studs and vice versa.
HQ pcd is 4 and 3/4 inches (120.65mm) and Commodore is 120 mm
They are different.
You may say what's half a mm going to matter?
It does matter because the nut and the rim have tapered faces which FORCE the studs to line up with the wheels. This bends the studs and eventually they fracture
I've seen plenty of broken studs and ruined wheels due to this practice.

In extreme circumstances a wheel will come off the car.

Ken

[fe350chev]

Hey Frankie, do you know what rear end you are using? I'm using a VS V8 Ute lsd diff, same sort of thing as the VL turbo type diff. So Neil, what would you recommend if I'm going to run a scalloped hr front end and hq/wb brakes and I have shortened the borgy diff, then can I just buy studs for the bigger holed flanges and bung them in to reduce the thread size or should I wait til i select the wheels. Basically what I wanna know is if I'm not going over 15" then is it just greater wheel selection the main reason for using Commodore pattern or is it to do with offset. In your opinion is it better to sort the front or rear ends first and if so why. I don't like low profile tyres on a country car cos it's too uncomfortable

[FireKraka]

I do agree with Ken you have to be safe I wasn't 100% sure on the conversion Ken and shouldn't have made such a general statement; safety is paramount.

As far as your diff goes Dean as I said if you are using HQ WB stub axles and hubs then it is far easier to have the axles of your diff redrilled to the correct PCD and fit the smaller studs making both ends HQ WB. As I said before this is what I did with my sedan.
I think nowdays there is a pretty good selection of older stud pattern wheels so that is not much of an issue however offset is; as I see it rear rim choice has to do with the width of your diff and therefore offset comes into play.
When I had the diff narrowed for my sedan I had it done to retain the standard FC diff width and wheel track in this case the HQ WB rim offset seems to work for me for my EK ute I wanted to run VS SS commodore mags so I narrowed the diff (myself this time) to allow for the offset of the rims (and maintain the EK wheel track) I am using the commodore stud pattern on the back and am going to use the VP rotors and calipers on adapter plates (on modified HR Drum stub axles) (at this point in time) however having read some other posts this can create its own issues because of the rim offset and fouling on the wishbones when turning etc; mention is made of using wheel spacers however I belive these are illegal.
I have probably raised more questions than provided answers maybe some of the other guys have opinions on this matter.
Regards
Neil H

[fe350chev]

Yeah it's all good, I would never run the different wheels on the other model etc cos I'm ex mechanic and have completed trade school so am aware of the issues. Frankie might have an opinion on this too. I'm trying to achieve a fairly typical period pre 76 type mod list for most component where I can. It's been shortened with the hq era rims in mind so if anyone can recommend any further advice for Frankie and I that would be appreciated. Sometimes I have ideas or things fairly sorted but I still like to hear a range of opinions. Is that ok Frankie.

[Frankiej]

Yeah that's cool Deano any info would be good info....and I got a present in the mail today as well my wiper motor set up arrived and I'm keen to fit it up this weekend, two speed very nice.

[fe350chev]

Cool. If you need to make any custom little bits, make some for me too.