vmaxaust

Amazing how time just continues to roll on. This is a pass done by the Torana at a Friday night street meeting at Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne. Issy was driving and the track conditions were very good. The year was 2004.

How to correctly install a rope rear main oil seal into Holden V8 block from HJ-VT. Many people complain these seals leak and are difficult to install. The fact is the original seals from the 1970's through to the early 1990's were made with asbestos to handle the heat generated by a rotating crankshaft on first engine startup. We actually spent a great deal of time on the dyno with various approaches to ensure the later seals would survive. The later seals including those made and sold today do not contain asbestos for obvious environmental and human health reasons. Unfortunately this has created a situation where on start up these seals are very susceptible to literally burning up with the rotational drag of the turning crankshaft. To this end we found the application of molybdenum disulfide grease impregnated into the seal produces virtually the same heat protection for the seal as asbestos did in the earlier seals. This is quite understandable considering the Moly grease is used regularly to coat camshaft lobes of cast iron cams to ensure they are safely run in without the possibility of dry metal to metal contact between camshaft lobes and flat tappet valve lifters.

A magnificent 383 Holden EFI engine commissioned by Peter Verteouris in loving memory of his brother Dennis "CHASA" Verteouris. Dennis was a great friend to us at COME Racing and to many in the performance car community right around the Sydney area.

This was the last engine fitted to our Olds Cutlass. A 714ci GM Big Block built by Tom Martino. Was built to be conservatively powered for long life and minimum maintenance requirements. Engine has gone 6.90 @ 200mph in the Olds Cutlass.

Holden 383 V8 with relatively small hydraulic flat tappet camshaft, COME Twin Throttle Body EFI intake manifold, COME Racing 590 Series alloy heads. Bottom end has original 2 bolt main bearing caps with the addition of an ARP 2 bolt main stud kit with tunnels line honed to provide .0025" to .0026" main bearing clearance. Block has the COME Racing oiling system upgrade done (see the oiling system video on this channel).

Some history. Winternationals at Willowbank in Queensland in the year 1998.

We have sold off our full machine shop but memories are important. Over more than 30 years of developing camshaft profiles for the V8 engines we most commonly built, we produced a very large range of very effective camshaft lobes. Extensive dyno testing resulted in some of the most reliable power making lobe shapes ever seen here in Australia. Our lobe designs were in house developed on proprietary lobe design software and then master cams were ground on Landis 3L CNC cam grinding machines. Our grinding machine was designed and built in Australia by Australia's camshaft guru...Ivan Tighe. Ivan's son Dean has been in charge of there state of the art camshaft business in Brisbane Australia. Without Ivan's machine, training and initial technical assistance COME Racing Cams would never have been a reality for over 30 years.

The simplest and one of the most effective ways to upgrade the original Holden V8 cylinder block oiling system. A must do for absolutely any Holden V8 engine build, street or race engines of any capacity.

This is a great daily drive performance engine with excellent fuel economy potential and an amazing 'big block" style torque curve. With the end of the Holden car era in Australia now is the time to rebuild and restore every Holden V8 equipped car. Prices for old Holdens are going through the roof and for good reason...you can no longer buy one new. If you have any model Holden from HK-VT an engine like this is very hard to beat for practicality and performance.

A run down the Calder Park 1/4 mile track. Holden LJ Torana, 383ci Holden V8 890BHP with small N20 plate system. Track conditions were not very good.

Going through a typical burnout, staging, launch and full run down the 1/4 mile dragstrip. 500ci engine with 1280BHP coupled to Lenco planetary 5 speed transmission through an L&T 8" dual disc titanium clutch. This run was 7.29 seconds @ 193mph.

A very long hard day. From Dover across the English Channel by Ferry to the French Port of Calais. We arrived in Dover looking like drowned rats. Bought our tickets for the Ferry and had to get in line with hundreds of vehicles including trucks and passenger vehicles. The two dummies were the only motorcycles on this Ferry journey.

Slogging through the wind and rain as it worsened. A midway petrol stop and on we went towards the Port of Dover.

The rain continued and became heavier. The wind gusts were around 60kph and ambient temperatures hovered below 8 degrees C.

A sunny but cold morning greeted us as we packed the bikes and headed out from the Grafton Guest House on our way to the petrol station next to the port area. As became the typical event for many legs of our trip...the clouds blew over us in the fuel stop and the heavens basically opened up. We looked at one another and reached for our wet weather gear as we set out on a 160km stint towards the Dover Port area.

Bikes are running well and we are looking forward to leaving on our journey.

The bikes started OK. We could leave the Bonded Warehouse and test the bikes thoroughly through the local roads and highways to ensure everything functioned correctly. Tyres were pumped up and a fresh load of fuel in our petrol tanks.

First riding in England after we left the Port of Felixtowe. Back to base, the Grafton Guest House to final pack the bikes and be ready to leave the next morning bound for Dover.

Arrived at Bonded Warehouse at the Port of Felixtowe. Packing the bikes, reconnecting batteries and meeting another Aussie doing the same.

Day one in Felixtowe. A walk along the promenade and a well deserved rest in the cold blustery conditions. A full explanation of the train journeys from Paris and a small snapshot of our location along the beach in Felixtowe.

Arrival at Felixtowe UK. Our time in Paris was very brief but the journey on the bikes must proceed. From the Novatel in Paris we negotiated the Paris underground dragging two very heavy suitcases each. When our train ticket failed to unlock the entry turnstyle allowing us entry to train platform, Sol jumped over the turnstyle and dragged his bags through from below. For me this was not an option. With a failing right hip I was not up for gymnastics so I took the low road and crawled under the turnstyle with my bags in tow. Lucky no security people were on site at the time. This local train took us to the centre of Paris where we switched to a train headed for the Port of Calais where the Paris-Nord train under the English Channel would see us arrive in London. The problem in London was that I had booked Sol's ticket to Ipswich correctly but mine was dated incorrectly (a silly typo on my part) and did not allow me access to a seat. I had no choice but to buy a new ticket or I would be a resident of London for tonight. We arrived in Ipswich eventually and then booked a one carriage train to Felixtowe...a trip of some 20kms. We arrived at the end of the line, literally and called a local taxi to take us to the Grafton Guest House, our booked lodging for the next two nights. Our bikes had arrived in the Port of Felixtowe about 2 weeks earlier and we eagerly awaited a visit to the port to collect the bikes and begin our long journey.

The 300BLK (300Blackout) caliber rifle cartridge is often looked down upon in comparison to many other currently available rifle calibers. Here in Australia this is even more prevalent since we are not allowed to use suppressors on rifles at all. The 300BLK bodes very well in suppressed form especially in military, security and Police applications. It was developed for its ability to be suppressed using a heavy bullet and lighter than normal powder loads. Since it was mainly intended as a closer quarters round in suppressed form to reduce noise but still have sufficient torque to take down enemy forces in stealth mode. Shooters who mainly hunt or do target shooting immediately looked at the ballistics of this round and noted its longer distance bullet drop to be excessive compared to other flatter trajectory cartridges even in higher velocity unsuppressed loads. The fact is, most hunters of varmints and small to medium pests and game are most often shooting at distances of 50 meters to about 150 meters and up to 200 meters. In distances like this the 300BLK shines very brightly in my opinion with typical supersonic loads. My own experience with the 300BLK is in two distinctly different carbine style rifles...a Ruger Ranch Rifle bolt action with 16" barrel and a Warwick Firearms straight pull bolt rifle with 14" barrel. I'm not a hunter but have shot both these rifles extensively at targets mostly at an average of 100 to 150 meters. Even with the rounds shown in this video which features a 138gr cast lead Spitzer style bullet which has been double coated with polymer Hi Tek coating eliminating the need for gas checks even at velocities to 2000fps. The load shown here is deadly accurate at 100 meters or so and develops 1750-1800fps through the 16" barrel Ruger Ranch Rifle. About 100fps less in the Warwick but only marginally less accurate than the 16" barrel rifle at 100 meters. The coated lead bullet leaves absolutely no lead deposits in either rifle barrel. The coating has greatly reduced friction compared to a jacketed bullet and reduces barrel where dramatically. Bullet cost is a fraction the price of a jacketed bullet although the reloading process with a cast bullet like this adds a few steps... 1) Station # 1 Case flaring die 2) Station # 2 Powder drop 3) Station # 3 Bullet drop 4) Station # 4 Bullet seating 5) Station # 5 Taper crimp die to secure bullet and close case mouth flare

An important aspect of case preparation prior to reloading, particularly rifle cases is trimming these back to size. Once a round is fired in your rifle the case expands and distorts to fill the dimensions of the rifles chamber. This totally changes the original case shape to emulate the chamber. That's fine if you will only ever use these cases in one rifle. If so, some reloaders only use a neck sizing die to restore the neck where a new bullet will be inserted into the same brass case. I am not a believer in this process at all except for some competition applications where one rifle and chamber will only ever be used. For me, having several rifles with the same caliber the more logical approach is to do the following... 1) Deprime cases. 2) Wet tumble clean cases with stainless pins and burnishing compound. 3) Full length size cases. 4) Trim cases to the lower point of overall case length to provide complete uniformity of lengths and provide sufficient room for expansion during firing. Trimming is even more important when full length sizing cases as this process of sizing often lengthens cases during the reshaping process of sizing. This logically also means cases may potentially have a reduced life since case material has to thin out with numerous full length sizing operations. In my opinion this is still the best way to maximise performance, accuracy and consistency of velocity regardless which rifle the round is fired from. The process of restoring cases back to original factory specs ensures proper chamber fit without jamming or difficult extractions so long as the final load is not overly hot and beyond the recommended limits of pressure. The trimming machine used here is the Giraud Power Trimmer... https://www.giraudtool.com/giraud-power-trimmer.html I have had two of these machines for the last 5 years and they are accurate and very quick to use. Large volumes of brass can be trimmed precisely relatively quickly. Cases shown here are 300BLK (Blackout) but the machine is available with cartridge adapters to suit a huge range of calibers. I have several including the 300BLK, 303 British, 223 Rem and 308 Win. The trimmer cutting tools supplied are ground to both trim and chamfer the case inside in the single cut. A big time saver.

Of the many and varied sites surrounding us in Paris, the local Parisian beauty did not evade us.

Fortunately a beautiful day to see the iconic Paris landmark.