Phil B's XB coupe

[Phil B]

Well it made it 250km to Melbourne, checked it when I filled up half way and no drips on the ground, then again once I got here and its a thin layer on the pump so its not extreme yet. its now only gotta last 20km or so tomorrow to get to MRC where its getting twin exhausts and he'll find a new pump too.

When I went there the other week Matt there said he'll see what clevo and old Ford parts he can find hiding around, I also saw an aircraft engine sized turbo hiding in an XH so i'll have to be sure to not let him get too carried away!

[Phil B]

Well the fuel pump got replaced, new clutch fork boot (old one was sort of there...ish) and new front shock mount and rear sway bar bushes. Does sit better on the road and moves less under hard acceleration.

Big thing though is twin exhausts
Gone from single 2" to twin 2", it does sound much better now, has a proper V8 note and makes a bit more noise Also goes better up in the higher revs, and sounds mad pulling a bit over 4000 in second all the way out to 100 kays

I do have to take it back in 2 weeks to be finished, Matt had problems getting the passengers side to miss the diff and fuel and brake lines so it still just hits.

[Phil B]

started up to go to echuca then Melbourne and noticed it spewing coolant everywhere. the hose that goes to or from the heater, closest to the alternator, came off. the hose barb had rusted in half, its out now but no replacement on a Sunday arvo in the country. are they gettable? its not threaded into the block, just pressed in by the looks of it. it was about to get a new radiator and welch plugs anyway so it can all get fixed together now. problem is it was going back to Melbourne to get the exhaust finished late this week, and after this week I won't be back in Melbourne but going to the northern territory! could get interesting...

[greenjgs]

Originally Posted by Phil B

started up to go to echuca then Melbourne and noticed it spewing coolant everywhere. the hose that goes to or from the heater, closest to the alternator, came off. the hose barb had rusted in half, its out now but no replacement on a Sunday arvo in the country. are they gettable? its not threaded into the block, just pressed in by the looks of it. it was about to get a new radiator and welch plugs anyway so it can all get fixed together now. problem is it was going back to Melbourne to get the exhaust finished late this week, and after this week I won't be back in Melbourne but going to the northern territory! could get interesting...

Bummer Phil. Yes you can get the heater hose insert in either brass or original style tin. Make sure you have all the old one out then a bit of gasket cement, around the new piece and tap it in with a stepped punch and hammer. If you dont have a stepped punch use a bolt that fits tight in the insert tube.

Cheers Graeme

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by greenjgs

Bummer Phil. Yes you can get the heater hose insert in either brass or original style tin. Make sure you have all the old one out then a bit of gasket cement, around the new piece and tap it in with a stepped punch and hammer. If you dont have a stepped punch use a bolt that fits tight in the insert tube.

Cheers Graeme

thanks, should be doable. I did get it fixed temporarily though, found a piece of steel tube that was a perfect tap fit so its in there now and its longer than normal so it can come out easier when I get it fixed properly with the radiator

[Phil B]

On Saturday I moved out of my house in Melbourne, got the coupe back from MRC all fixed up, exhaust is done and Matt did a bit of a clean up in the engine bay so it looks a bit neater, still needs a lot of work in there to look reasonable though.

Saturday was a perfect day to drive the coupe back home, blue skies, still a bit chilly. And I had my girlfriend with me too, so we loaded the coupe up full as with my stuff and went on a nice Saturday arvo road trip

She had her camera and took a bunch of nice pics on the way, and we also stopped on the side of the road just out of Yarra Glen on the way to Kangaroo Ground (a very nice road to go driving on by the way, 80k limit with bends and hills.

Me cruising


Downchange, loving the manual. It has freed up a bit and changes quite a bit nicer now for some reason.


Me and my coupe, stopped on the side






Checking the fluids this morning with the rest of the boys Results is it uses oil and leaks coolant, coolant issue will be fixed soon though. New radiator, flush of the brown sludge that is somehow keeping it cool, some proper hose fittings and new welch plugs. It should love me after that


Ready to go


So glad to finally get some proper photos of it Enjoy guys. Still lots of work to do though.

In a weeks time I'm heading up to the Northern Territory for a year so I probably wont get to drive it again until I come back for my sisters wedding then Christmas which is a bit sad, but hopefully dad will be able to do a bit of work and I might get some more major work done, depending on money like always!

And no you cant have it while I'm gone! Already been offered but dad has said he'd make the difficult sacrifice and look after it for me

[falconator]

Looking good Phil!

[fordmfp]

Looks fricken awesome mate!!

[rvsm]

Why u going to nt.

[falconator]

Phil,are the doors still hard to close,if so you have to replace the door strikers.It should make a big difference.The plastic surround part.

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by rvsm

Why u going to nt.

Working as an aircraft maintenance engineer In Gove, so I'll have to do some 4WDing in my ute to get there

[rvsm]

Haha might be joining you up that way soon. Doing the same thing.

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by rvsm

Haha might be joining you up that way soon. Doing the same thing.

Nice the ute made it down the track and went through the rivers no problems hell of a drive though, let me know when your up.

Now I'm up here I've gotta save my backside off with the plan to get the paint fixed and engine rebuilt before I'm back down there.

Radiator and flush of the brown sludge will be soon, then when I have the money the plan is to pull the engine out and do the paint and give the engine a birthday.

Was talking to my mechanic about it and he had all sorts of ideas Said he could probably lay his hands on a 351 crank, small cam, flat top pistons, new intake manifold (mentioned the edelbrock performer) and carby (600 to suit the extra cubes, do some machining in the head and do the valve system, suggested roller rockers if I can afford it. All pending condition of the block and head.

Does that sound like a good setup for a bit of grunt to go cruising with? I'm after something that's easily drivable and plenty of fun on the road. Also not a huge budget for it all so thats a consideration for me.

[Phil B]

Well nothing much has happened recently with me being in the middle of nowhere. But yesterday I bought a new rear honeycomb trim for the coupe off ebay. Sorry if anyone else here was going for it! Bidding non round numbers helps guys, its the only way I got it.

Probably cant tell from the pics but the one that's on there is fairly dodgy, was a bad repro apparently, no centre pins and its warped and not sitting on right. Thought about trying to fix it but it's probably out of my league, if anyone wants it to have a crack, let me know, may work with heating and gluing on to hold the warps in (does have all the pins still though).

Still haven't started on the big engine and paint job, saving and waiting to see how this job goes up here, I may be back down south sooner than I thought. Damn outdated and over-regulated planes, hell the coupe has a more modern engine than the ones I work on!

Wondering though should I go for an electronic distributor with the engine rebuild? Not 100% sure what's in there at the moment though, if anyone can tell that'd be good, and also what difference and cost it'll be.

Also looking at carbies, have seen Holley 600's in zinc and aluminium, which is the better one to go for? Pros, cons, differences?

[greenjgs]

Hi Phil

Depends On which block you use but definately go with an electronic distributor of some sort and use an MSD 6-AL spark amplifier. It will start every time easy and no plug fouling on todays crap fuel. An old block will require a aftermarket solution, a "black" block XD/E and you can use the late model Ford dissy as the optical trigger. Don't use the ford electronic module, 6-AL will do that. As far as a carby goes 600 Vac Sec will make a good cruiser with reasonable fuel economy. 650 DP ifyou want it to react to the secondaries faster. Both of these will be good for a small cam, a bigger cam run a 750DP.

Bottom line, the spark part is a locked in solution, the fuel side depends on cam and intended use. Oh and a couple of other things....

Resist using a Hi Vol oil pump. Eng doesn't need it and make sure you use a good fuel pump like a mechanical Robbmac, goes straight in where the standard pump fits up. I have this set up on the Gossie and it makes 540HP. Starts easy everytime.

Cheers Graeme

Cheers Graeme

[coupxb]

why are you in the middle of nowhere? shouldnt you be driving this beast?

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by greenjgs

Hi Phil

Depends On which block you use but definately go with an electronic distributor of some sort and use an MSD 6-AL spark amplifier. It will start every time easy and no plug fouling on todays crap fuel. An old block will require a aftermarket solution, a "black" block XD/E and you can use the late model Ford dissy as the optical trigger. Don't use the ford electronic module, 6-AL will do that. As far as a carby goes 600 Vac Sec will make a good cruiser with reasonable fuel economy. 650 DP ifyou want it to react to the secondaries faster. Both of these will be good for a small cam, a bigger cam run a 750DP.
o
Bottom line, the spark part is a locked in solution, the fuel side depends on cam and intended use. Oh and a couple of other things....

Resist using a Hi Vol oil pump. Eng doesn't need it and make sure you use a good fuel pump like a mechanical Robbmac, goes straight in where the standard pump fits up. I have this set up on the Gossie and it makes 540HP. Starts easy everytime.

Cheers Graeme

Cheers Graeme

I have the original blue block, what size shaft do i need?

I've decided on the 600 but have found that you can get them in zink or ally, wondering what the difference is?

Wasn't planning on doing an oil pump. And recently got a new fuel pump, standard style. Not looking at 500hp, beyond my budget and driving ability!

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by coupxb

why are you in the middle of nowhere? shouldnt you be driving this beast?

Work, aircraft maintenance. Thinking of leaving though, issues here and back home. Thinking of going into automotive work. And yes I should be driving the beast.

[lilmattie]

I thought of you the other day when I found this Phil. I'm not sure if you've seen it yet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/3968892968/

[greenjgs]

Originally Posted by Phil B

I have the original blue block, what size shaft do i need?

I've decided on the 600 but have found that you can get them in zink or ally, wondering what the difference is?

Wasn't planning on doing an oil pump. And recently got a new fuel pump, standard style. Not looking at 500hp, beyond my budget and driving ability!

An original distributor with an optical trigger fitted will be fine or an aftermarket dissy from MSD or Mallory works. From memory the shaft size is slightly smaller in a black block.

Carby. zink will be a gold finish, alloy silver, (natural colour), that's the only difference.

If you plan on an engine rebuild you MUST fit a new oil pump. not spending $70 on a new pump gets expensive if the old one stops working in your new engine.

[Phil B]

Originally Posted by lilmattie

I thought of you the other day when I found this Phil. I'm not sure if you've seen it yet.[/URL]

May have seen it, did look at a few a while back, tis pretty cool but no one else has been crazy enough to make one the size of mine!

Originally Posted by greenjgs

An original distributor with an optical trigger fitted will be fine or an aftermarket dissy from MSD or Mallory works. From memory the shaft size is slightly smaller in a black block.

Thanks, will see what I end up with, and the spark amplifier with either of them? Haven't heard of the amplifiers before.

Originally Posted by greenjgs

Carby. zink will be a gold finish, alloy silver, (natural colour), that's the only difference.

Actually looked into it because I had no idea and there is a difference actually. 2 zinc ones, one gold, one shiny silver like you said, but there is also a new one out that is all aluminium and is apparently lighter, but have looked around and found conflicting reports on quality.

Links from Holley website to explain:
Gold coloured zinc
Silver coloured zinc
Aluminium

So not sure what to go with there.

Originally Posted by greenjgs

If you plan on an engine rebuild you MUST fit a new oil pump. not spending $70 on a new pump gets expensive if the old one stops working in your new engine.

Sorry I meant not planning to get a bigger one.

[greenjgs]

Apart from some carbies that use bakerlite, like the Thermoquad all carbs are made of alloy, usually cast, some are billet but these are usually very expensive. Hope this helps.

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by Phil B

I have the original blue block, what size shaft do i need?

the early blocks (to xc i think) were imperial and ran (i believe) a 1/2 inch gear on the distributor
the later ones (from xd i think) were metric and ran (i believe) a 12 mm on the distributor

if you tell the guy who curves your distributor exactly what block you have, he will be able to put the gear on it to suit. he will give you advice on how to find out which gear you need

i used ice ignition in cheltenham/moorabbin for mine

[GTB 351]

I think they are 531 thou early and 500 thou late.

[Phil B]

Well I just got to my parents place from the NT and it only took an hour or so before the coupe was out of the shed and down the street Started no worries after we tipped a bit of fuel in the carby, didn't even get hotter than normal in the 40 degree heat.

Went to the mechanic who's going to do my engine and he's going to get quotes for me. It's about to get expensive I do have a date for it to be ready for my wedding next year though, so exciting

[Phil B]

Drove the coupe more yesterday, raining instead of being really hot. I just love driving it around, getting looks and comments everywhere! Was the only car I drove while I was home!

Got the paint looked at, hoping to get away with just sanding the paint back, will get the bonnet resprayed though. That will happen when the engine is out so i can get the engine bay painted too. Should all happen after Christmas, will be great

[Phil B]

Just trying to put the console lid on, whats the trick? I don't see how I can get both pins in the holes in the console

[neptune blue]

The console lid is soft so compress one of the sides in with a screw driver and force the pin into the hole

[Phil B]

I bent the lid enough and got it in, crapped myself though. It did break a little where I glued one of the corners around the pin, not fully though so I've glued that again while still in place.

Got a little drive in today

[Coupes and More]

iam gonna say one thing ....chin spoiler