Recent content by Ray Bell

The pics make it look like an 8¼"... no bolt count yet? It could be a Sure Grip (Posi is a GM term as I recall), but it could be suffering from worn out cones. These can be restored by someone who knows what they're doing with some machining. You really couldn't tell that there was only one...

I saw this one the other day... I don't know if the numberplate tells a story or reveals a wish. The only V8s of these sold were 318s with 904s, so a 340 would be a privately imported engine slotted in there. This is a 1970 model VG, the 'VIP' version with 4" added to the wheelbase and...

And here's a Valiant panel van:

In 1971, responding to Ford's Falcon and Holden enlarging their body sizes, the VH came along. This body was to be the final shape for Valiants and ran through until 1982. The Hemi 6 was available now in three sizes, 215, 245 and 265. Built on the 1968 US Dart floorpan, but with widened...

Following the VF came the 1970 VG, the last Australian Valiant to use the US sheetmetal above the floorpan: The Slant 6 was replaced by the Hemi 6, a 245 version was standard and the 'economy' 215 an option. 318s were also an option in these models, but only with automatic transmission. A833s...

A 1969 model VF Australian production... This was the last model sold in Australia with the Slant 6, this one is showing the rear (but not the side) decal of the Pacer version, which was a 2bbl with a bit more grunt than the 2bbl which was sold as 160hp. Front and rear treatment was...

Here are some you might not see there...

Here's mine... Only a 245 at the moment, it will probably get a 265 while I fiddle about getting high horsepower from the 245, a 4-speed to go in there too.

We have some pretty rough roads in Australia, all Valiants here were fitted with .880 bars (v8s and sixes) and weren't a problem. You have the ability to adjust your ride height, just screw it up a bit if it's needed. The bump rubbers have a job to do, they protect the car, don't fiddle with...

Once again, thanks Dan... I had figured on stepping up drill size to about 1" before taking the final cut. And do you think the 118° or 135° drill is the correct one?

And I should have mentioned that I have the 1 13/64" drill already... I got very lucky with that, a friend who's now 86 and no longer able to use his workshop gave it to me. He, in turn, got it among a stack of other tooling when his employer closed down back in the nineties. So the most...

Thank you inertia and thank you Dan... It certainly would be an attractive option to just drop a flywheel or two around to you and have it drilled, Dan. However, from Australia this would incur huge shipping costs and would therefore be out of the question. The other factor is that I still...

With regard to the registering of the flywheel on the spigot of the crank flange... This picture shows that there's not much room: Just a tad under 6mm, so then what's the thickness of the Quicktime balancer? I can't see it being less than 2mm, possibly 2.5mm, which is still less than ⅛"...

A nice bunch of welcomes, thanks, guys... It's been a while now, the primer went on late in 2014... and the colour shortly after: This body is based on the floorpan of the '68 Dart, the cabin is pretty much as per the Dart, but the front and rear have some different treatment. When I...

The first is from an engineering point of view... This locates on the small spigot on the crankshaft and leaves less room for the flywheel to be securely seated. The other thing is that it costs over $100 by the time you get it here.