Phil B's XB coupe

[Phil B]

Dad pulled out the drivers seat today and fixed it up, one of the rails was broken on that side too. all fixed and slides nicely now I'm told.
Roadworthy tomorrow and rego Friday. Cant wait!

[Phil B]

Roadworthy!
Only issue was pollution stuff was disconnected and had to be (cough...look) reconnected for the roadworthy

All good for rego tomorrow

[cs123]

Just a charcoal canister. You can leave it connected as it won't affect performance.

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by cs123

Just a charcoal canister. You can leave it connected as it won't affect performance.

Mkay, actually just found out the mechanic didnt block it but told us to do that.

Why would he have done that then if it wont affect performance? Just wondering coz I didnt even know it was there or disconnected lol (just means I havent had enough time working in it)

[Phil B]

Registered!
with the fee it cost the government should be out of deficit now.

guess what I'm doing as soon as I get home...

[Uncle Tone]

Congrats mate, video please!!

[rvsm]

What did it cost you all up to buy the car and do what had to be done al the expenses please.

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by rvsm

What did it cost you all up to buy the car and do what had to be done al the expenses please.

Under 30k for the car, about 1000 all up to get it home including flights, fuel and 2 nights in motels. then about 1000 so far in parts and front tires, then 1700 to register it.
will need a few grand to respray, bit for new exhausts and not looking forward to new tires on the back, 265 wide 14s. might nearly be cheaper to go up to 15" rims lol.

can possibly do a video tomorrow. new headlights turned up today, I plan to do a before and after pic of them. candlelit sealed beams to new +100 lights!

[cs123]

Originally Posted by Phil B

can possibly do a video tomorrow. new headlights turned up today, I plan to do a before and after pic of them. candlelit sealed beams to new +100 lights!

Be a bit careful there. The wiring and switches will get over loaded and you can damage the switches running high wattage bulbs.

Most people wanting to do this will run a relay, usually under the battery tray.

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by cs123

Be a bit careful there. The wiring and switches will get over loaded and you can damage the switches running high wattage bulbs.

Most people wanting to do this will run a relay, usually under the battery tray.

Ok ill have a look and see what I've got lights and wiring wise.

[fordmfp]

Congrats on the rego Mate!!!

[falconator]

$1700 rego,wtf? Club rego,cost me about $120 for 12 months.Im picking up the 57 soon,will get you the paint.4 litres unopened.

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by falconator

$1700 rego,wtf? Club rego,cost me about $120 for 12 months.Im picking up the 57 soon,will get you the paint.4 litres unopened.

yeah thats full rego though, and victoria, not the nicest but meh its done.

And cool, thanks

Also its having trouble starting now, it has an automatic choke doesnt it? If so what kind? you need to hold throttle on and it takes longer before it runs well.

We're currently fixing the manual choke at the moment but neither me or dad are super knowlegable on carbys. For others offering advice its got a 350 Holley.

Oh also got pulled over by the cops taking it down the street this morning, was going a bit quick, got away with a warning though, gotta watch my speed round town... oopsies

[falconator]

Call me 0499 637 910

[Phil B]

Ok progress today was I bought a waterproof cover for it for when I'm down in Melbourne.

Then put the new headlights in, mush better now. I checked the wattages, the old ones were 75/50w, new ones 60/55w so extra current draw wont be an issue. They are H4 globes marketed as +100% brightness. We went out the road tonight and aimed all the lights and they are very good lights, glad I got them. Also these new lights have parkers built into them so we hooked them up as well as the standard ones, so I now have 2 lots of parkers

We also fixed up the choke cable, it was a bit stiff and bent, now it works nicely, I need it now down in Victoria where its freezing.

We also removed a whole heap of extra wiring that I think was from an air conditioner. There was wires hanging down in your feet that got tangled and a bunch in the engine bay, so we figured it looked bad and could only cause problems. Looks much better now.

This is what we pulled out.


While we were at it we wired up the cigarette lighter, pulled out a clock that was in there and not connected to anything and pulled out the radio that was in there. This radio is one of the original AM only radios, if anyone wants it I can take pics of it and make me an offer for it.

I have a new head unit to go in instead, a modern one with a usb port lol. I think I saw people had problems fitting new stereos in but we tested it and it fits in the hole.

Another time I will take a pic of the boot, dad made up some panels to cover the tail lights and it looks real good. I also took a video of it running tonight when we got back from aiming the lights, will get it up one day.

Sleep for now, then later today I'm taking it down to Melbourne for the week!

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by Phil B

Then put the new headlights in, mush better now. I checked the wattages, the old ones were 75/50w, new ones 60/55w so extra current draw wont be an issue. They are H4 globes marketed as +100% brightness.

you seem happy with them but 100/130 h4 globes are great, but then you would need a relay

Originally Posted by Phil B

I have a new head unit to go in instead, a modern one with a usb port lol. I think I saw people had problems fitting new stereos in but we tested it and it fits in the hole.

any single din unit should fit. the problem with the xa-b's is that you will generally have a small amount of gap at the top of the unit . . . around 10 mm. i used a bit of balsa wood painted black to cover the hole in mine, but ended up getting a landau dash to move the stereo from the dash

also when installing it, there is a good chance that the heater controls will be very close to touching the head unit. if it does touch it, then your heater will continuously run, so gently bend the heater up to avoid touching it. if you notice the heater fan always running once the stereo is installed you will know where to look for the problem

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by gtxb67

you seem happy with them but 100/130 h4 globes are great, but then you would need a relay

Yeah just drove 3 hours in the dark last night and they are great, no problems at all.

Originally Posted by gtxb67

any single din unit should fit. the problem with the xa-b's is that you will generally have a small amount of gap at the top of the unit . . . around 10 mm. i used a bit of balsa wood painted black to cover the hole in mine, but ended up getting a landau dash to move the stereo from the dash

Ahh that's no problem then, to easy.

Originally Posted by gtxb67

also when installing it, there is a good chance that the heater controls will be very close to touching the head unit. if it does touch it, then your heater will continuously run, so gently bend the heater up to avoid touching it. if you notice the heater fan always running once the stereo is installed you will know where to look for the problem

Ok thanks, makes sense because thats the bare contacts for the fan just there that I saw. I'd rather insulate those contacts than bend anything, thanks for that though, I'll watch out for that.

The drive to and from trade school today was much more fun than usual

[Phil B]

Finally got around to taking a few pics of the boot. Just need some black spray paint and should look great




Also went to see the guys at MRC Performance in Wonga Park the other day, will probably get the exhaust done there and the paint fixed too and a bit of a tidy up. I also found out that the coupe isn't so good in heavy traffic in the dark, and Melbourne drivers like to stop right up your **** at traffic lights, which isn't fun up hills, but I made it.

[Phil B]

Just wondering what the idle speed should be roughly with and without the choke. At the moment its about 800-900 warm and 1500 with the choke. They seem a bit high to me. Also from cold it wont idle on choke without holding some throttle on to keep it above 1500 for a minute or two, that's not right is it? And how do you fix that?

[greenjgs]

Originally Posted by Phil B

Just wondering what the idle speed should be roughly with and without the choke. At the moment its about 800-900 warm and 1500 with the choke. They seem a bit high to me. Also from cold it wont idle on choke without holding some throttle on to keep it above 1500 for a minute or two, that's not right is it? And how do you fix that?

Hi Phil If you took your car to Wonga Park we must almost be neighbours!

Anyway, to answer your question The manual says, 700-725RPM warm idle for a manual and 525-550RPM for an auto. Fast idle, (choke) is 1200RPM Man, 1400RPM Auto.

At the end of the day these old girls will let you know where the happy place is by stalling if it's set to low but there's you start point.

Cheers Graeme

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by greenjgs

Hi Phil If you took your car to Wonga Park we must almost be neighbours!

Anyway, to answer your question The manual says, 700-725RPM warm idle for a manual and 525-550RPM for an auto. Fast idle, (choke) is 1200RPM Man, 1400RPM Auto.

At the end of the day these old girls will let you know where the happy place is by stalling if it's set to low but there's you start point.

Cheers Graeme

Cool, I took it to Matt at MRC Performance, let me know where you are if you want, we can catch up next time I have it down.

Thanks for that, mines a bit high then, I havent adjusted a carby before but looked at the holley instructions and they say adjust the idle mixture and then idle speed screws, that right? And should fixing that up help it idle from cold?

[greenjgs]

Originally Posted by Phil B

Cool, I took it to Matt at MRC Performance, let me know where you are if you want, we can catch up next time I have it down.

Thanks for that, mines a bit high then, I havent adjusted a carby before but looked at the holley instructions and they say adjust the idle mixture and then idle speed screws, that right? And should fixing that up help it idle from cold?

I'm in Park Orchards. To set the mixture you really need a Co meter to do it properly. I'd just wind the idle speed screw out a little, it's on the front butterfly shaft, passenger side of carb if you have a Holley.

[Phil B]

Lots of progress today:
Passengers window seal fixed, had been buckled from the window been wound too far down. Also installed a down stop on the window because it was missing, causing the problem in the first place.

Sound system in and working

While we had the dash half out we looked at the gauge lenses, the top 2 aren't entirely see through and the main ones aren't the greatest either so I will get new ones at some stage.

Parcel shelf finished with speakers and underlay soundproofing.

Rear seat cover panel finished with a layer of underlay as well which goes right under the back seats. Should kill heaps of road noise.

Inside is all back together after doing all that.

Polished the air cleaner top because it had overspray on it, now is all shiny and then stuck a 302 V8 sticker on the coz they're cool.

Plan is to take it to heathcote next weekend

[Phil B]

Here's the only pic I took on the weekend. Shiney things

Sticker for good measure, just to remove any doubt

Will be at Heatcote on Saturday See you all there!

[Phil B]

Had fun at Heathcote, even though I didn't run and didn't get to catch up with many people but I took the coupe anyway and had it parked outside.

Here's a pic I took just before I left to go to Heathcote, just funny sitting next to my sisters car (which is broken somehow, again...), the coupe is quite a bit lower and fatter


After Heathcote I went to a blokes place to pick up some tools I bought (he owns Tools Unlimited in Bendigo), I think I only got out of there after 2 hours! He looked over my coupe and I looked at his convertible A model ute hot rod which is almost finished and looks great

While I was there he gave the carby a slight tweak and noticed that my fuel pump was leaking a bit of fuel out of a hole drilled from the back towards the front on the passengers side. Does anyone know about this? How do I fix this? Is the pump stuffed, needs new seals or what?



This hole just here, not heaps of a leak but a bit of a dribble, enough to be a bit of a worry.


Also this coming week its going into MRC Performance in Melbourne for twin exhausts, hopefully some sanding on the paint and we'll see what else.

[cs123]

Common problem. Your pump is shagged. Get a new one.

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by cs123

Common problem. Your pump is shagged. Get a new one.

Should it last for a few more hundred kays?

[cs123]

Originally Posted by Phil B

Should it last for a few more hundred kays?

I'd do it asap. The diaphragm is failing.

[Bosko]

Normally when they start leaking from the breather hole, they are shagged as mentioned previously!

[MEANXBCOUPE]

ASAP as said mate, you running on borrowed time for sure. Plus fuel and hot exhaust equals trouble.