Low km 1991 VN Exec

[ImmortalityParticipant 97 HSV Senator 185i 02 VX L67 Calais View build HERE Member since: August 31, 2015 Posts: 535]

Nice

Very much like my original 1 owner grandpa spec VN, I was fortunate with it been a T5/V6.  Awesome car to drive

I did the VT Booster/MC conversion but cut and re-flared the lines to suit instead of using adaptors.  Cunt of a job…..

I miss that car

[[TUFFVQ]Participant Melbourne1991 VQ 304 View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 171]

OK so basically nothing has changed on this since May (wow, 6 months?).

As in the other thread I no longer have the VQ so this now has a full time garage spot. In the interim I’ve managed to spend almost all of our spare cash on finishing the house. I’m now almost done.

And now I want to finally get my bike (MT-07) so it may still be a while for real work to start on this!

So I did some important things like detailing the car and refurbishing my 185i engine covers I’ve had stashed for years along with some rocker covers. Ground breaking stuff.

Next step will be to pull the engine from the VQ, give it a little bit of love, then put it into the VN with bananas on it and a T5 behind it. VN needs a 3.45 Trutrack diff built as well. Bananas will be prepped (cut open, ports blended and work the elbow with a 70mm TB) and I’ll put in a Crow 4503 cam (227/220 on 113) which looks to me like a great turbo cam with the bananas.

Hope to crack into this during winter so I stop being ‘all talk’. However I don’t think much will happen until I get the bike…

 

[[TUFFVQ]Participant Melbourne1991 VQ 304 View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 171]

Alright, let’s start the new year off.

No major progress but I intend on trying to get out to the garage at least an hour a night to slowly chip away at some of the tasks needed. Just after Christmas I went up to the old man’s place and came back with a trailer full of parts off the VQ. I have the engine on the stand in the shed, as well as a bunch of other bits (Programmable ECU, Crane Hi-6, Bolt ons etc.).

Have started with the top of the engine and will work my way down. Going with a banana manifold for this engine, as I have a strange love for the factory top end look. (Insert Cava hate ). I could ramble on for ages about crazy plans to reduce heat soak but I’m not sure if I’ll even go that far yet so I will hold fire.

So I dug through the collection of engine covers, manifolds, throttle bodies and fuel rails and settled on a set of 185i covers from a VR I had, a 70mm TB, a set of VR/VS rails and the cleanest set of bananas from the fruit shop I have apparently amassed. Welded on some -6 fittings to the rail, plan to use the factory cross over pipe under the covers. Stripped and repainted the covers. Stripped, welded on -10 fittings and repainted the rocker covers. Also went hell for leather on the bananas.

Nasty little lips on the runner inlets.

Cylinder 8 is a little challenging to get to without cutting more out. I’ll give it a go as is first.

This is as good as it gets for Cylinder one due to the water jacket.

 

[cava454Moderator 93 VR BT1 View build HERE Member since: February 20, 2015 Posts: 2 390]

Good job mate. No hate, now I’ve seen what they can do

Do like those photos I text you also on the bananas.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 10 months ago by  cava454.

[[TUFFVQ]Participant Melbourne1991 VQ 304 View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 171]

Yeah that car’s a winner.

[[TUFFVQ]Participant Melbourne1991 VQ 304 View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 171]

Had a ten minute play last night. Hit the top surface with the flap disc to get rid of the casting flash, then used an aluminium carbide to smooth the entry out. I’ll need to get some long shank cutters though, as well as a hone of some sort around 42mm dia.

Top image is flap disc only, bottom image is initial work. Hard to tell in the pictures but its much better.

[[TUFFVQ]Participant Melbourne1991 VQ 304 View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 171]

Ordered a set of long shank aluminium carbides to help progress the manifold. Need to source some other items to port the runners themselves.

Started installing the 80L fuel tank into the car yesterday (operation ‘Ghetto Booty’). Faced some issues with being given the wrong size hose for the tank overflow line by the helpful attendant at the local parts store, as well as the VHT paint I applied deciding it didn’t want to stay on the tank meant I had to strip the tank (again!) and repaint it in VHT Caliper Paint rather than Quick Coat. I wasn’t that concerned as I didn’t really like the finish on the Quick Coat and the Caliper Paint is less metallic and looks more like I think it should.

Installed (Jammed) a Walbro 460 pump in as well while I was there. The tank came from an IRS car so I knew I was in for some modification to the support straps. Turns out the driver side strap bolts straight up, but the passenger side strap needs the diff-end attachment point modified – the IRS chassis uses a tab that goes into a slot on the chassis, where-as the live axle cars use a bolt. Cut that last 100mm off the 63L tank strap and weld it to the 80L strap to extend the effective mounting point by 80mm and you’re good to go. I also removed the 1200kg tow bar.

Haven’t finished the job yet as I ran out of time yesterday. Need to strip and paint the straps black and get some new 5/16″ line as the old ones are too short now. Hopefully finish it Tuesday or Thursday…

[ImmortalityParticipant 97 HSV Senator 185i 02 VX L67 Calais View build HERE Member since: August 31, 2015 Posts: 535]

Those stock runner entries look terrible

[[TUFFVQ]Participant Melbourne1991 VQ 304 View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 171]

Operation Ghetto Booty is a success. After trying to get the 1/2″ hose onto a 5/8″ fitting for the tank overflow (thanks Autobarn!) I had some delays in getting the tank back in. Managed to get the correct hose from Enzed on Friday so smashed it back in today.

The Walbro 460 is very quiet, better than the stock pump for sure. Now has E85 compatible hoses for what it’s worth. Getting closer to the target “Dirty circa 1999-2001 Western Suburbs of Melbourne lapping Keilor Park Drive VN BT1 Bro” look I’m going for.

On a serious note it seems as though there’s no real need to change the fuel level sender output display on the guage. It doesn’t have the resolution it should at the lower end (i.e. with ~15L in the tank it showed a bit over 1/16 of a tank, but at 40L in the tank it showed just over 1/2, so no stress.)

Replaced all of the breather lines and what not.

Exactly 40L in,

Starting to look alright

The toys in the shed for the night.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by  [TUFFVQ].

[doz10Participant Qld93 VR SS View build HERE Member since: February 9, 2016 Posts: 125]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Lookinggood mate, haven’t seen a vn executive that tidy in a long time</p>

[cava454Moderator 93 VR BT1 View build HERE Member since: February 20, 2015 Posts: 2 390]

Dale. Do u mind listing the hoses you used. I need to do this for mine.

Did u replace fuel hose front to back.

[ImmortalityParticipant 97 HSV Senator 185i 02 VX L67 Calais View build HERE Member since: August 31, 2015 Posts: 535]

Black bumpers always did suit the VN

Very tidy 

[[TUFFVQ]Participant Melbourne1991 VQ 304 View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 171]

cava454 wrote:

Dale. Do u mind listing the hoses you used. I need to do this for mine. Did u replace fuel hose front to back.

Hey mate.

I used 5/8″ Fuel Hose (E85 safe) from Enzed for the tank overflow line. I couldn’t get this from regular auto parts stores. Needed about 600mm of hose length. I also replaced all of the breather tubes, as well as the charcoal canister line to the filler neck. Used 3/16″ hose for this. Also replaced the tank pressure and return hoses with E85 safe 5/16″ rubber line (Aeroflow). The charcoal canister line is standard 5/16″ hardline, but the factory basically have the 3/16″ hose stuffed into the 5/16″ hose as a conversion of hose size to suit the filler neck. I used a 3/16″ to 5/16″ adaptor instead.

Engine bay fuel lines will be replaced when I pull the engine.

[cava454Moderator 93 VR BT1 View build HERE Member since: February 20, 2015 Posts: 2 390]

So u removed the hard line for the flow and return?

[VS 355 UTEParticipant QLD96 vs v8 ute View build HERE Member since: January 13, 2016 Posts: 141]

Immortality wrote:

Black bumpers always did suit the VN Very tidy

Agree.Sometimes the simple things are best.For me this would stand out more than the same era HSV…..well maybe not a SV 5000,have a soft spot for those.

Haven’t seen the inside of the banana’s before,pretty ugly entry’s.Solid casting.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by  VS 355 UTE.

[[TUFFVQ]Participant Melbourne1991 VQ 304 View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 171]

cava454 wrote:

So u removed the hard line for the flow and return?

Nope – still factory hardlines, just replaced the soft lines.

I’ve got -6 alloy line and fittings for that that if the time comes.

[[TUFFVQ]Participant Melbourne1991 VQ 304 View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 171]

Not a big change this weekend but one more thing off the list. After trying a couple of times to get the paint right, I eventually found a Nissan touch up paint that matched what I wanted for the grille and garnish. Both are now de-badged, with a replacement 5.0 badge to go on when the engine is converted. I played around with the mounting brackets and got the garnish to mount up much better than it was before.

Also removed the rear louvre as the look of it kind of wore off. I still have all the clips and everything so easy to put back on if required. The photos show the clips still on but I removed them later that day.

That pretty much wraps up the wore externally that I wanted to do, except for maybe a couple of very minor things here and there. Looks like I’ve picked up some 3.45 gears for it also. Next stop, suspension.

[Anonymous View build HERE Member since: January 1, 1970 Posts: 0]

Looking good mate! 

[[TUFFVQ]Participant Melbourne1991 VQ 304 View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 171]

OK so this week’s progress has been pretty average due to work.

What I have had time to do is try and figure out a hone for the curved runners. And I’ve figured out three different ways that won’t work…

Anyway, started port matching the manifold to the head runners. A very long way to go. But at least I’ve both improved

– The runner to head transition (round to square)
– The MCSA of the runner and
– The proportion of runner wall length to flow area at the rectangular cross section. (Good for boundary layer effects.)

All of which means pretty much jack under boosted conditions. Which this will eventually be….

Unfinished Port vs as-cast.

Stock vs my heads

[[TUFFVQ]Participant Melbourne1991 VQ 304 View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 171]

Halfway done with the manifold to head transitions.

Probably half of the swarf from 4 x ports

Stock for comparison.

Also ordered some thick wall aluminium tube stock to make my valley breather, and contemplating a Starr performance weld-on neck and 90mm TB. Not sure yet…

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