Re: P6 project: BW35 to LT77 manual box swap: the verdict
- Thread starter DamianZ28
- Start date
Re: P6 V8 project: Engine upgrade finished! 
Hi Damian,
I am pleased that you found what the problem was. I had missed the fact that you had changed blocks but you were reusing your original pistons. Don't be surprised if the company does not offer to come to the party as it is my understanding that pistons need to match the cylinders into which they will run. The cylinders honed or the piston sizes changed to suit, which ever is applicable.
Ron.
Hi Damian,
I am pleased that you found what the problem was. I had missed the fact that you had changed blocks but you were reusing your original pistons. Don't be surprised if the company does not offer to come to the party as it is my understanding that pistons need to match the cylinders into which they will run. The cylinders honed or the piston sizes changed to suit, which ever is applicable.
Ron.
DamianZ28
Active Member
Re: P6 V8 project: Engine upgrade finished!
Hi Ron,
Yeah I'm glad I now know what the cause is. I didn't use my old pistons though, these are still in my old block which is now going back in.
I've already got the engine out & half stripped down ready do the swapping...again :roll:
The recon block was complete with its original pistons with new rings, the bores were only honed out, reground crank, all new bearings. I've emailed the vendor to see what he can offer.
Will keep you posted. Cheers Damian
Hi Ron,
Yeah I'm glad I now know what the cause is. I didn't use my old pistons though, these are still in my old block which is now going back in.
I've already got the engine out & half stripped down ready do the swapping...again :roll:
The recon block was complete with its original pistons with new rings, the bores were only honed out, reground crank, all new bearings. I've emailed the vendor to see what he can offer.
Will keep you posted. Cheers Damian
Re: P6 V8 project: Engine upgrade finished!
Hi Damian,
Well that is a different kettle of fish altogether. They should certainly either offer a complete refund or replacement ideally at your discretion.
All this extra work and aggravation that you have had to go through all because some business cannot get their act together.
Ron.
Hi Damian,
Well that is a different kettle of fish altogether. They should certainly either offer a complete refund or replacement ideally at your discretion.
All this extra work and aggravation that you have had to go through all because some business cannot get their act together.
Ron.
DamianZ28
Active Member
Re: P6 V8 project: Engine upgrade finished!
Hi Guys, In all fairness to the vendor, the block was adertised as I described it, original pistons, honed bores with new rings, all new bearings and reground crank.
He's a respectable V8 speciallist, building various race engines.
Still a major PIA for me doing all the extra work! see what the vendor comes back with.
Cheers Damian
Hi Guys, In all fairness to the vendor, the block was adertised as I described it, original pistons, honed bores with new rings, all new bearings and reground crank.
He's a respectable V8 speciallist, building various race engines.
Still a major PIA for me doing all the extra work! see what the vendor comes back with.
Cheers Damian
ghce
Well-Known Member
Re: P6 V8 project: Engine upgrade finished!
I am sorry but you cant really defend that sort of behavior, if he was a respectable builder he would have told you that the engine was not fit for purpose prior to your purchase and was only usable if a re-bore and new pistons were done to the engine. These are all things he must surely have known were he even half competent. To engage in a crank regrind and to have not measured bore taper first and piston size is beyond reasonable beleif.
Graeme
DamianZ28 said:
I am sorry but you cant really defend that sort of behavior, if he was a respectable builder he would have told you that the engine was not fit for purpose prior to your purchase and was only usable if a re-bore and new pistons were done to the engine. These are all things he must surely have known were he even half competent. To engage in a crank regrind and to have not measured bore taper first and piston size is beyond reasonable beleif.
Graeme
DamianZ28
Active Member
Re: P6 V8 project: Engine upgrade finished!
Been a while since I've updated my thread, well the engine saga is quiet, the old engine started smoking thick blue large clouds so out it came...again..
I've ended up stripping down the free 55k SD1 block, checking the shells, replacing the rear oil seal and then adding all my good bits with the 3.9 heads.
Covered about 500 miles since and all is good so far!
Last month I lowered the rear suspension a little and tweaked the front to give it a bit nose in the weeds look, still drives and handles very well, next project is the gearbox conversion, the clunky BW35 is coming out, pedal conversion, clutch conversion etc to enable me to put in the LT77 5spd that came with the SD1 block.
Really looking forward to this winter project as never really had a Manual big V8 classic car before. couple pics of before & after lowering treatment:
BEFORE
AFTER
Been a while since I've updated my thread, well the engine saga is quiet, the old engine started smoking thick blue large clouds so out it came...again..
I've ended up stripping down the free 55k SD1 block, checking the shells, replacing the rear oil seal and then adding all my good bits with the 3.9 heads.
Covered about 500 miles since and all is good so far!
Last month I lowered the rear suspension a little and tweaked the front to give it a bit nose in the weeds look, still drives and handles very well, next project is the gearbox conversion, the clunky BW35 is coming out, pedal conversion, clutch conversion etc to enable me to put in the LT77 5spd that came with the SD1 block.
Really looking forward to this winter project as never really had a Manual big V8 classic car before. couple pics of before & after lowering treatment:
BEFORE
AFTER
DamianZ28
Active Member
Re: P6 V8 project: Engine upgrade finished!
Hi Paul, Thanks,
Yeah I'm pretty pleased with the outcome, the front springs are the 'Rear' ones, which are shorter , I removed the metal shims & rubber seating rings to give a bit more drop, the rear springs are the new versions with an extra coil, I only cut half a ring off and flattened the end to match the original. I also removed the metal shims & rubber seating rings, this making the spring sit lower in the round dish housing located on the rear arm and upper chassis rail.
I may raise the rear ever so slightly but then again I really do like this setting, no more though as it'll be scraping the sump off
Hi Paul, Thanks,
Yeah I'm pretty pleased with the outcome, the front springs are the 'Rear' ones, which are shorter , I removed the metal shims & rubber seating rings to give a bit more drop, the rear springs are the new versions with an extra coil, I only cut half a ring off and flattened the end to match the original. I also removed the metal shims & rubber seating rings, this making the spring sit lower in the round dish housing located on the rear arm and upper chassis rail.
I may raise the rear ever so slightly but then again I really do like this setting, no more though as it'll be scraping the sump off
Re: P6 V8 project: Engine upgrade finished!
DamianZ28 wrote,...
Hi Damian,
Is there much movement between the spring and the arms now that the cushions have been omitted? You aren't worried that friction between the two may result in the trailing arms being weakened, possibly leading to failure of one or both arms?
Ron.
DamianZ28 wrote,...
Hi Damian,
Is there much movement between the spring and the arms now that the cushions have been omitted? You aren't worried that friction between the two may result in the trailing arms being weakened, possibly leading to failure of one or both arms?
Ron.
Re: P6 V8 project: Engine upgrade finished!
Hi Rich,
I am pretty sure that Damian is referring to the rubber spring cushions, of which there are two per front spring.
Ron.
Hi Rich,
I am pretty sure that Damian is referring to the rubber spring cushions, of which there are two per front spring.
Ron.
DamianZ28
Active Member
Re: P6 V8 project: BW35 to SD1 LT77 5spd manual box swap
Started on the box swap, got the car in the air, exhaust & prop shaft removed, box off, next is to remove/scrape all the old underseal from the middle floorpan and trans tunnel..yuk, treat and repaint in UPOL stonechip and a coating of chassis paint.
Before the box is fitted, I'll replace the gaskets, input/output oil seals, new mountings, slave cylinder, release arm, release bearing.
Got a new unused SP30 performance clutch/pressure plate off Ebay, spigot bush came with the SD1 engine now fitted, new 3500s clutch Master cylinder.
Will remove the gear leaver remote, clean, lubricate the rod linakge, fit new mounting bushes, al 8 of them to give me nice solid firm changes.
I saw a good set up on friends 3500 auto to manual swap where the 3500's clutch master cylinder had been fitted next to brake master cylinder, heat shield moved nearer to the exhaust manifold. They used the pedal box from a 2200 model, with the push rod next to the brake push rod, the whole set up works fine, so this is the route I will take as far easier than trying to go the 3500's route, I'll update as I go.
The removed Auto BW35 is for sale, see 'for sale' section.
Started on the box swap, got the car in the air, exhaust & prop shaft removed, box off, next is to remove/scrape all the old underseal from the middle floorpan and trans tunnel..yuk, treat and repaint in UPOL stonechip and a coating of chassis paint.
Before the box is fitted, I'll replace the gaskets, input/output oil seals, new mountings, slave cylinder, release arm, release bearing.
Got a new unused SP30 performance clutch/pressure plate off Ebay, spigot bush came with the SD1 engine now fitted, new 3500s clutch Master cylinder.
Will remove the gear leaver remote, clean, lubricate the rod linakge, fit new mounting bushes, al 8 of them to give me nice solid firm changes.
I saw a good set up on friends 3500 auto to manual swap where the 3500's clutch master cylinder had been fitted next to brake master cylinder, heat shield moved nearer to the exhaust manifold. They used the pedal box from a 2200 model, with the push rod next to the brake push rod, the whole set up works fine, so this is the route I will take as far easier than trying to go the 3500's route, I'll update as I go.
The removed Auto BW35 is for sale, see 'for sale' section.
DamianZ28
Active Member
Re: P6 V8 project: BW35 to SD1 LT77 5spd manual box swap
Hi there, Am in the middle of my gearbox swap from BW35 to SD1 lT77 manual 5spd on my 72P6 V8, its 2600 police spec with V8 bell housing from a mid 80's SD1.
Is it a relatively easy task to do ? I'm not scared just want to know if once I remove the casings to do the front/rear seals, will a load if cogs fall out the box ?
Sorry to ask a dumb question like that, is the oil pump at the rear or front? will be replacing the gaskets too, I'm quite confident in doing the work, just useful to have some pre-operation info LOL.
One last thing, the front input shaft has a very tiny bit of play, is this normal, the box has about 55k miles on it, also this has been asked 1000 times but what is the recommended oil to use, the car will cover no more than 3k miles per year, if that really, thanks very much Damian
Hi there, Am in the middle of my gearbox swap from BW35 to SD1 lT77 manual 5spd on my 72P6 V8, its 2600 police spec with V8 bell housing from a mid 80's SD1.
Is it a relatively easy task to do ? I'm not scared just want to know if once I remove the casings to do the front/rear seals, will a load if cogs fall out the box
?Sorry to ask a dumb question like that, is the oil pump at the rear or front? will be replacing the gaskets too, I'm quite confident in doing the work, just useful to have some pre-operation info LOL.
One last thing, the front input shaft has a very tiny bit of play, is this normal, the box has about 55k miles on it, also this has been asked 1000 times but what is the recommended oil to use, the car will cover no more than 3k miles per year, if that really, thanks very much Damian