Jamie

Test from Fifth Gear (note: the audio is a bit out of synch)

Thanks for that link. I've passed the information on.

I like the really oddball stuff, and if you want to see oddball and creative engineering, then the Boneville cars (and bikes) are the ones to look at. You'd be amazed how many home brew OHC SBC engines have been built for speed record attempts on the lake bed. I was doing a search for information on a Ford flathead powered Nissan 200SX when I encountered the photos of the oddball Chevy.My Torana is getting old now. It's the rarest "production" model that was produced in the entire Torana run, but as it never reached "official" production status, and was not a homologation special built for "production class" racing (the real collectors items are the ones with the motor racing heritage), it's a model that very few people know about, and those that have heard of the model have never seen one. The estimates are that less than 100 were produced, and of those, very few are left. Its value is rising rapidly, and will probably peak in about 5 years, so I'll be putting the car into storage before I move to Canada. If my wife and I decide to return to Australia in 5 to 7 years time, I'll do the full restoration and keep it (unless I get offered an astronomical price for it), but if we decide to stay in Canada, then I'll stay a bit longer on one visit home so I can do a quickie restoration (just needs new paint, carpet, recovering of the driver's seat, and new window seal rubber) and put it on the market. I've already been frightened by a price I was offered for it in its current unrestored state (and the guy admitted that he'd feel that he had cheated me if I'd accepted his offer). At the moment, I'm gathering the parts needed for the restoration. Picked up a set of the optional factory alloy wheels a bit over a month ago. When I ordered the car, I already had a set of alloys, so I didn't order the factory wheels. These days, the alloys that I already had are themselves collector's items (a set of 4 reproduction center caps go for $250 on eBay, and a set of reproduction wheel nuts go for just a little bit less), but those wheels aren't the correct style for a period accurate restoration (they are the right wheels for '70/'71 vintage Torana, but not my '78/'79 model). Besides, the current alloys can't be balanced when fitted to the rear axle due to clearance issues that occur between the stick on wheel weights and the rear disk calipers.

If you look closely, you'll see there's one plate that's obviously part of the manifold, and a second plate (different color) that's bolted to the manifold plate.You'll often see a separate plate used on the BBC engines when a truck block has been used. The inch higher deck height on the truck blocks (allows inch longer con rods to improve the stroke to con rod length ratio) meant that the heads were spaced further apart than on a car block, so a plate is needed to be added to fill the gap between the intake manifold and the heads. The reduced cylinder engines have a real problem with vibration and put a lot of strain on the engine. The only cure is a custom crank. Four cylinder SBC conversions (in both V4 and I4 configuration) have been used for a long time in some of the dirt track classes that have a 3 liter engine displacement limit. I've also seen a SBC head fitted to a 4 cylinder Chevy II block. It looks like one of the light weight alloy flatheads, so the weight wouldn't have been much of an issue, but I think the flathead was used mostly because it causes the double-take (and as a bonus, it resulted in an otherwise unremarkable "F class" entry gaining disproportionate press coverage).

OK, here's the story. First of all, it is a SBC running as a an odd fire 4 cylinder so that it can compete in a sub-183 cu inch class. The side with the Ford flat head does nothing but provide a mount for 4 spark plugs. If you look at the photo showing the Ford flat head side, you'll notice a plate bolted to the intake manifold to close the manifold on the side that isn't being used. You'll also see a rectangular plate under the flat head. That plate blocks the water jackets and keeps the oil from coming out the pistonless cylinders on that side. The con rods for the unused bank have had the small ends cut off the rods as close to the crank as possible, and the big end portion is fitted onto the crank with the normal bearings to control the oil feed and so that the remaining con rod on each journal will stay in place. The Ford head is bolted to the blanking plate and then to the chevy block and is used simply as a place to mount 4 spark plugs so that the electronic ignition that expects to have 8 plugs connected to it will work properly. More interesting stuff on reduced capacity/cylinder count SBC engines here.

I'll put in my vote for a Z28 Sunoco done in the blue with orange trim of the Mark Donahue driven 1969 Camaro. A street legal club sports racer/gymkhana/tarmac rally car, with emphasis on handling and braking and with a big torque, dry sump engine. Proper gauges. Manual transmission only. No audio system available. Street legal racing bucket seats in front/no or minimal rear seats. Factory 4 point/6 point harness mounting points. Factory optional roll bar.

Almost there ...

OK. One hint. The car runs on the lake beds in "F Class". I'm about to go away for a day or two. I'll post the answer when I get back.

Nope. There's just one crank in the engine, and there's just one engine block.

Nope

You're referring to a split cycle or hot side/cold side engine (one bank becomes a piston compressor for the other bank that sometimes runs in 2 stroke mode) ... but no, it's not one of them ... however your second thought is leading in the right direction.I found a few web pages of Weird Engines, and I may have fun in the Trivia section with them.

There's a logical reason for it, but it takes a bit of lateral thinking (and an understanding of the classes that they compete in at Bonneville).

Bizarre, huh?

Here are photographs of both sides of the engine bay of a roadster that ran at Bonneville. Yes it's the same car, and there hasn't been an engine change between the photographs. This is the format the car ran on the salt. Identify the engine.

That brand of springs were pretty much the standard for LS1s over here, but since the "rumored" change of spring material supplier, and the rash of broken springs, people are now steering clear of them.That particular engine hasn't been revved over 6500, and the cam they are running is a 222/224/112 grind with .560 lift. Those springs are supposedly good for .600 lift. The brand of springs they are now running are good for .610 lift with aggressive ramp rates. Another guy on the forum is a service mechanic at one of the Holden dealers, and he says that there has been a spate of broken valve springs on the factory 300kW engine. Here's the post he made (with slight edits for profanity)

Those rims are left overs from the limited edition Monaro CV8-R. They won't fit the new VE series.

Further update. After making enquiries amongst the other engine builders, the dyno specialist has heard of at least 4 other failures of the same series of springs in the past few months. One report indicates that the spring manufacturer went to a new supplier of the spring material some time before the springs started breaking.

It ain't pretty.For interest, the spring was a "comp cams 918" The dyno shop has made a decision not to use them again in any engine they build. The same dyno shop runs a street/strip turboed LS1 in a VY Ute. It's putting out 574.2 rwhp @ 15 psi boost (dyno estimated 707.9 hp @ flywheel). Now they've got to work on getting the power to the track (the strip in Sydney has an absolutely crap surface, and is poorly maintained). video. They stretched the head studs on one bank during the last run due to the missed gear and the over rev. Even though they have an available LS2 engine, the decision has been made to fit a cast iron 6.0 litre in place of the LS1 in the Ute. The LS1 is going into a ski boat.

I thought you guys might like to see this. A dyno specialist I know from an Australian performance forum posted this. It's the LS1 in one of his co worker's cars. His co worker is not happy at the moment.

Ford today bowed to the inevitable by withdrawing its luxury twins, the Fairlane and LTD sedans, from production in response to falling sales. The last Fairlane/LTD will be built either late in 2007 or early 2008, ahead of the arrival of the heavily-revised Falon - codenamed Orion - around March 2008. This leaves the Holden Statesman and Caprice as the only locally produced models in this market segment. link to drive.com.au article

Holden is offering your money back if you don't like its new Epica mid-sized car, the cheapest six-cylinder car on the market. During 2007, private buyers who purchase the Korean-made replacement for the Vectra will be able to hand it back within 30 days and fewer than 1500 kilometres on the odomoter if they are dissatisfied with the vehicle. There are, of course, various terms and conditions, including ensuring the car is undamaged. Plus, you have to provide proof you have purchased (or will purchase) a new vehicle of equal or greater value than the Epica you're handing back. drive.com.au

You may have seen it as a joke, but over here it is no joke. There are already businesses that rely on water that are going or have gone bankrupt. My sister has a cattle ranch. It's cost her a small fortune to ensure that they have sufficient water. A few years ago she spent 1/4 million dollars to have a 1 mile deep well drilled, and the water shortage then was nowhere near as bad as it is now. She has since sold that ranch, and they spent another small fortune on the new ranch setting up massive rain water storage tanks around the house and farm sheds to collect the maximum of what small amount of rain they get. Where I am, we are currently at Stage 5 water restrictions (Outdoor sprinklers and hoses banned;, watering with watering can or bucket at severely restricted times on alternate days; some indoor water use restrictions;, topping up of household pools prohibited, washing of personal vehicles prohibited, target consumption of 140 litres per person per day, high volume users penalised), and they are discussing going to a more severe Level 6 restrictions if the winter rains don't do any good. I'm doing my bit, and my water usage over the last 3 months has averaged less than 80 litres/day. If you'd mentioned that Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia (the Holden plant is located in the northern Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth) has less than 40 days of water left, then it would have been fine left in the Holden section.

What has this article got to do with Holden? Is it simply because it happens to be news from the same continent. It shows as much logic as posting articles about the VT shootings in the Pontiac forum. After all, those are both about things from the same country.I've had enough of your psychological hatred for all things Australian. Just what is your problem? Are you trying to compensate for the fact that Pontiac has forgotten how to build a RWD sedan, and needs help from the only GM division that kept the V8 and RWD flame alive?

Latest information is that GMH has a one week window booked in August to prepare the line for the Ute, and initial delivery is expected September/October.

That'd be a good bet. BTW: Saw a new VE HSV in my local shopping centre car park. It was fitted with the same wheels that G8 show car was wearing. Apparently they are the standard wheel fitted to the VE HSV GTS.