OUR CARS – MARY
HDT-VC BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE
LAST MONTH I touched on some of the work needed to get my VC back on the road and running again after I bought it at an auction a few years ago. Body and interior-wise, the car was mint. However, as I have since found out, mechanically it was a whole different stor y.
To get it sorted, Uncle Phil pointed me in the direction of Dick Sav y of Sav y Motorsport in Campbellfield, who mainly specialises in modified and full race-spec engines, but they also do rebuilds and blueprinting of standard engines. The latter is what I was after – my motor to be brought back to life while still staying as close as possible to standard.
After an initial compression and cylinder leakage test of the engine, the results weren’t good at all. I already knew the car wasn’t healthy and burning too much oil so it wasn’t that much of a surprise. But the shock was eventually finding out just how bad the wear and tear was on the engine for such a relatively low kilometre car.
The cylinder leakage test showed number five was in trouble at 51 per cent (it should be around 20 per cent for an engine of its age) and two more were on their way out. Plus oil was leaking past the piston rings, the cooling system needed an overhaul, the
main bearings were worn – and then add gearbox leaks and a worn clutch! And that was just the beginning. Tearing down the engine revealed excessive wear in the bores and pistons, the rings and valve seals were worn, the cam shaft bearings were completely worn out, the cylinder heads and crankshaft needed a tidy up and the list just went on. The car was just beginning to show all its secret years of neglect.
The job list looks something like this: strip down and thorough clean of the engine, the system balanced and the heads fixed up, valve seats tidied up, plus new camshaft, new lifters, new pistons, new valve guides, new cam bearings, new radiator, starter motor overhaul, power steering pump reconditioned, new clutch, new custom twin exhaust, plus a whole lot more. The sump was also acid dipped and painted and the intake manifold water blasted, with some zinc-plating to look brand new. They also sourced and cleaned a genuine timing case cover to replace the aftermarket one as well as plating or replacing all of the bolts. Even the correct engine bolts made a difference once it was all assembled; it was looking just as it should.
The final step was to run the engine on the dyno for testing. After an initial start-up and run-in, it was given a tune-up. Then it went through some test cycles to make sure the rings are bedded. After that, it was given a final power tune so that once it’s back in the car, everything is all ready to go and no more running-in for me to do once I drive it out of the workshop.
Attention to detail makes a difference with the end result. Slightly higher compression, blueprinting and balancing all amounted to a corresponding power increase naturally and, with a hint of a little cam in there, it feels like a whole new car. You could tell the difference in the first few hundred metres. I now have a nice blueprinted, beautifully smooth and responsive standard engine that is a pleasure to drive. One happy little VC and a very happy owner!
“THE SHOCK WAS EVENTUALLY FINDING OUT JUST HOW BAD THE WEAR AND TEAR WAS”