Dear Donkey.....

[Stickman]

Donkey's turning of the key has taken a turn for the worse

I was doing the final fitting of plugs wires and hoses when I noticed the thermostat hosing wasn't sitting quite right.
I though I would pull it off....... just to be sure
Low and behold there was no thermostat, there was also a lot of corrosion in the head too. No biggies will pop in a thermostat, give it a good flush and she'll be sweet..... errrr no it won't!!
The housing still sat a bit cockeyed due to corroded head so I gave it a tickle with the linisher to give a flat mount surface again only to reveal that the head has half a dozen cracks radiating out from the 2 bolt holes.
The yob who originally tried fitting the new thermostat housing used bolts the wrong size and broke the head casting
DAMNIT!!!

So the head on the replacement motor is now off along with Donkeys original head and they are both now at a mates place with donkeys head being decked + having all the bits transferred from one to the other (or a combination of the best bits from both)
Donkeys head is also betting a little bit of a port tickle to make him breath and flow with MUCH more efficiency.
It has added an unexpected and significant cost to the engine swap however.......

I don't know how I'm gonna come up with an extra $10 and a 6 pack of Fat Yak

[Asroc66]

Hi Stickman
reminds me of when I fired up Asroc after the second rebuild installing the turbo....... Cracked head and leaked water out under the spark plugs of 2 and 4........
Apparently when the head was welded for a crack repair the heat had opened up previous welds and hey presto..... very expensive paperweight. (thanks to Farmer and Glenn for replacements).......
It is one of the few times I had to walk and not look back rather than 'adjust' things with a 4lb hammer..........
After I spend the weekend away I returned 'finish' the rebuild......
Worth it in the end
Cheers
J

[Farmer]

Hi Stickman
reminds me of when I fired up Asroc after the second rebuild installing the turbo....... Cracked head and leaked water out under the spark plugs of 2 and 4........
Apparently when the head was welded for a crack repair the heat had opened up previous welds and hey presto..... very expensive paperweight. (thanks to Farmer and Glenn for replacements).......
It is one of the few times I had to walk and not look back rather than 'adjust' things with a 4lb hammer..........
After I spend the weekend away I returned 'finish' the rebuild......
Worth it in the end
Cheers
J

Very worth it!!

You will get there Stickman, just stick....with it. I remember getting Aunty Mary all ready to register and her running hot on the way to the inspectors. Ended up having to recondition and fit a spare head. Flushing the block while the head was off brought out much more gunk too.
The upside was having a head I would be unlikely to need.
Bit by bit.....
Cheers, Matt.

[Stickman]

Yeah Matt bit by bit
Work has been the biggest distraction lately
I dropped the heads off at my mate Bruce's at lunch time today and we pulled the rocker assembly, valves and springs off while I was there, all of 5 mins (so quick n easy when you have the right gear)
He gave me a call at about 730pm tonight to say that he has already given the head a fair bit of porting and just needs the exhaust n inlet manifolds to make sure they are properly port matched so they will get dropped around tomorrow.

As long as I get him his 10 bucks and six pack of Fat Yak I should have the head back by the weekend

I'm thinking of re-kitting the carby but not sure if I should just wait and see how it goes first (has been ok up till now)
What are peoples opinions on that??? Yay or nay?

[Stickman]

I went and checked out the progress on Donkeys head this arvo and all I can say is.... he is never going to have problems blowing his nose ever again
The exhaust ports particularly have been heavily modified and the inlets have had just mild liposuction but preliminary flow checks show a 27HP gain from head flow alone They still have to be smoothed yet + it still has to be decked and shaved. Once that is done the compression should come up to 9-9.5to1
Heavier valve springs will be fitted and new valve seals
Once the head is finished Bruce reckons there should be a 35-40HP increase.
Might have to consider a cam change and bigger carby before too long but that can wait till after the Nationals

[PR91]

What carb has been on it in the past Sticko?
And which cam? I know it's a stocky, but which one (different model engines had different cams.....)

[Stickman]

B mate it's a G150 3 bearing motor and correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it had the same cam as the PR90?? and still running the trusty old Nikki carb

[Asroc66]

Tighe Cams (tell Ivan the crazy Bellett guy from Tassie referred you)
Weber 32/36 DGV
Proper job
J

[Stickman]

HE'S ALIVE!!

Hasn't been taken for a run around the block yet but will in the next day or two

[yellowperil]

Hi Sticky

It's good to hear Donkey's heart survived the operations. Asroc is right, with your porting mods the little Nikki will strangle the motor so you won't maximise improvements. Weber DGV 32/36 carb or similar, with adaptor plate, is the way to go. Another alternative might be to go a bigger Nikki.

I invite input from others here but seem to recall that the al head motor was fitted with a bigger Nikki because of the bigger valves, compared with the cast iron head (that I assume you have on donkey).

Good Luck
YP

[Stickman]

Yeah I have a 32/36 Weber on the Gemini motor in my blue sedan that will come off once I set up the twin downdrafts for it but I'm not to worried about the little Nikki carb on Donkey at this stage. Just want him running as a daily driver/thrasher again.
Besides, the head work is only a trial run for the real one he'll be receiving on top of the 5 bearing motor that's about to start taking roids

[PR91]

The early Bellett Nikki was bigger. Had bigger jets too.
The late Bellett one was rubbish. Small chokes, small jets.
Is all due to the cam they had.
If u want a Nikki, get a Gemini or Datsun one. You need a different air cleaner tho.

[pa_man]

Awesome to hear Donkey is back in the land of the living!!

[Stickman]

The early Bellett Nikki was bigger. Had bigger jets too.
The late Bellett one was rubbish. Small chokes, small jets.
Is all due to the cam they had.
If u want a Nikki, get a Gemini or Datsun one. You need a different air cleaner tho.

Donkey's is the early Nikki (and doesn't use an air cleaner )

Donkey 7.2.15 003.jpg (95.84 KiB) Viewed 48619 times

[PR91]

Yeah same size neck as a Stromo.....
Nikki jets are interchangeable tho. U could always just bang some bigger ones in out of a Gemini or Datto.

[Stickman]

Stopped in at the post office today to pick up a little present I bought for Donkey.
I found a set of oversize G150 pistons last month and made arrangements purchase them by paying them off with a few installments when I had the money spare.
Well they were finally paid for and posted last Thursday and they arrived yesterday.
I have also scored a freebee turbo & intercooler setup that will be slightly modified to go on Donkey's original old engine that is on the operating table atm.

So Donkey just might have his Bundy engine pulled back out and his original engine (with a hairdryer on the side) back in for Albury ????

[Asroc66]

and a welcome addition to 'Team Hairdryer' that would be
J

[Stickman]

Today there was a slight deviation to the hair dryer plan........ it still involves plenty of extra huffing and puffing but just in a slightly different configuration.
I just swapped the turbo setup I got for a supercharger instead
The five bearing motor that is currently in "Jenny" (Nowra teardrop ex Rod at Penrith) will be prepped for the supercharger and the gemini motor out of the blue WA car will go into Jenny with the addition of twin downdraft webers. The supercharged engine will then go into Donkey. The blue WA car will then be used as my GT donor car.

[Asroc66]

Very interesting
I did a lot of research prior to settling on the turbo over the charger
Have a look at Bullet (not a typo) superchargers in QLD....
Definitely need the 5 bearing bottom end as the charger is more
Stressful on the bottom end
Good on you.....
J

[Farmer]

I have to say Sticky, that is a big plan! But you've gotta have a plan. Great thing is, you are a young bloke, so theres plenty of time! I look around at the waiting list here sometimes. The other day I was explaining the priority to Tracy and Rhys, and we all agreed, its lucky I'm a young bloke! The most important thing is, pick a doable job and do that. Step by step.
All good fun.
Cheers, Matt.