Rogue Trooper

[Rogue Trooper]

The engine fitting has begun. I purchased the donor vehicle a couple of weeks ago. Got a whole Commodore VN. The body and interior are stuffed but the engine runs really well. Most pleasantly surprised at the power the engine makes. It's currently stored till I'm ready for it.

Today i bought a stuffed engine and trans from the local Holden wrecker out of a car that was submerged in the sea. The block and cylinders were still full of saltwater. This engine I'm using for the fitting. It means that I won't have to dismantle my good running engine. This scrap engine will be used for building the new engine crossmember and enlarging the hole in the floor as well as doing the mount for the trans. This way when I remove the engine and trans from the donor car I should be able to install it straight into the van.

Also removed the fuel tank out of the van today as well. That's currently sitting out the back next to the Falcon one full of water de-fuming. Have an engineer geared up to cut the fuel pump mounting out of the Falcon tank and weld it into the CF one. I'm game to try most things but welding fuel tanks ain't one of them.

[wraithknight]

so when you making a start on that mate

[eddy]

good on ya bro !!!

[ben]

i just had a brilliant idea!!!!!!!!!!!

take a pourethane mould off your old engine and trany there rouge trooper. then make a mock up light weight baby our of expander foam, fibreglass, plaster whatever you can think of!!!!!

i like it!

[Rogue Trooper]

so when you making a start on that mate

Already started. Was hoping to adapt the old engine cross member for the 186 but from just looking at it I'm thinking it'll actually be easier to make a new one.

[Rogue Trooper]

Things are moving along. Have done a bit more work on the dash. Starting to get to the fiddly bits now and trying to complete as much as possible on the lower parts before the engine goes in because it's sooooo much easier working on it when you can stand in a hole in the floor.

Fuel tanks are de-fumed so all going well they'll be off to the engineer's this week to have the falcon mounting and baffle cut out and welded into the CF tank.

Something really irritating is that I can't use my Celica shifter. The VN trans is a 4 speed and has an extra postion required compared with the Celica one that is only designed for a 3 speed so I am not happy. I really liked that shifter.  :'(

This afternoon was getting the engine cross member into position. Made a cardboard engine block complete with mounting boxes and used that to move things around and help get the cross member in the right place. The next thing is to get the actual mounting made.

Here's a couple of pics showing the position it should finish up in.

[Dano]

looking good mate keep up the good work hey cuz!

[ben]

big job bro! doing well:)

[BlackBedford]

G'day

I welded up the fuel tank in my fathers XR Falcon sedan.
I tied a rope to it and threw it into the dam for a day.
It took me ages to get the yabbies out of it.

If you are going to weld a tank keep it nearly full of water so that if it does go pop then there is little room for a big bang.

[BusyKiwi]

you can de-gas a fuel tank by running a hose from an exhaust into the tank and running it for a while. it's not the fuel in the tank that goes boom, its the fumes. the fuel just burns