We’re making progress with Project VK, the V8 wagon we’ve been working on for a while.
One issue has been setting up the TPS (throttle position sensor) switch. It’s there to lock up the TH400 transmission after the overdrive – you get a torque converter lock up which drops it another 250rpm on the highway. We’ve just about figured that out, with some advice from Andrew at Competition Coatings – he has been down the same road on a couple of other cars.
Our next problem is closing the bonnet and getting enough air into the engine. We’ve made a stainless steel intake pipe and the engine is still too tall. After doing all this work, even though it’s turned out so well, I will never do it again!
That’s to do with the late model cylinder heads we’ve fitted to the 355 stroker V8. Even though they breathe better than the old Siamese heads, the problem they’ve caused isn’t worth the gain.
Next time I’ll use the early heads and take them to L34 specification and they’ll work just as well. They’ve just got that Siamese heating problem they all get. Their advantage is they sit lower and you don’t strike the problem we have.
What we’re going to do is drop the K-frame down 13mm and maybe mill a little off the bottom of the air cap on the carburettor.
Option two is we gain the room we need by fitting a reverse bonnet scoop. We’re weighing that up at the moment as a much simpler solution.
Just as a matter of interest, the intake manifold is a Holden-pattern Proflow made by VPW, with a 650 Holley vac-secondary sitting on top.
Dropping the K-frame will change the length on the input for the steering rack, so we’ll have to look at that, and maybe its effect on the aspect of the exhaust. This is typical late-project stuff, where you’re having to make adjustments and everything you do has some sort of knock-on effect that needs to be watched for.
Then we’ll do a few thing to pretty it up, such as clean up the wheels and fit new tyres, then we’ll start driving it and ironing out any last-minute issues.
Another project we’re working on is a 1967 Camaro, where the owner wanted big tyres and brakes along with a 9-inch diff. So we’ve removed the rear end, made it a four-link with coil-overs and fitted Wilwood disc brakes all round. We have Steve from Australian Auto Hoses in at the moment, making up some new plumbing so it all works properly and meets ADR standards.
The owner has already had the wheels made and they’re big and I suspect there will be lot of work on the inner guards to make sure the fronts are clear. That’s the panel beater’s problem and it’s why God invented them!
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