Haakon
has an accommodating arse
hahaha! OMG - a rope seal!! Wow, thats.... umm.. retro...
Seriously though, how on earth was that a thing on a car made in the latter part of the century?
Project Car / Motorbike thread. Let's see 'em.
- Thread starter slip
- Start date
Seriously though, how on earth was that a thing on a car made in the latter part of the century?
beeb
Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
Holden 304 was basically the same block as a 308 just with different heads.
Haakon
has an accommodating arse
Is that a good thing? Sorry, not up to speed on american stuff...
Flow-Rider
Burner
Destroked crank, they had to be under 5l for groupA rules.
beeb
Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
Australian(ish) stuff. And no, not really. GM Holden just didn't invest to retool the block casting once the 304's (and EFI) came along in the 90's. The blocks were solid enough for their low-compression, low RPM duties. Rear mains had been weeping since the early Kingswoods, but tended to just weep rather than fail catastrophically and most people just ignored it.
Haakon
has an accommodating arse
Rope seals I didn't think were used by anyone this side of the 1950s! Most recent example I knew of was Series 3 Land Rover, and even then it wasnt actually a rope seal! Was it one on the red motor? I dont remember that, although it was 25 years I rebuilt one...
But isn't it a Chevrolet engine? Or is a localised version I'm guessing?
Flow-Rider
Burner
You can do them in the car but a real PITA, you got to use the preformed rope seals and undo the main caps enough to pull the crank down. Rope seals don't like high revs all the time and sitting around, they all end up leaking, after a while they piss out.
Haakon
has an accommodating arse
Looking at that video it might be possible to machine out the area to accept a proper seal? Anyone tried that I wonder?
edit - no, crankshaft is weird... Counterweight on the back? Thats some pretty whacky engineering going on there, not sure any holden fan gets to comment on my Frenchies!!
edit - no, crankshaft is weird... Counterweight on the back? Thats some pretty whacky engineering going on there, not sure any holden fan gets to comment on my Frenchies!!
Flow-Rider
Burner
VN~VP v6 were rope seals, maybe some of the early VRs then they went to the rear engine plate that leaked coolant from the gasket.
Haakon
has an accommodating arse
Cant retrofit this? This is the sort of thing the Land Rover uses - rope seal arrangement but 20th century seal tech. Sort of....
This you'd get in without pulling the engine out. Might have to loosen off all the mains to let the crank drop down a smidge?
Last edited:
Flow-Rider
Burner
You've got to machine the knurling off the crank for the rope seal lubrication, there are conversion kits for old V8 fords like this.
Haakon
has an accommodating arse
Fascinating. I think I'll stick to the nice simple conventional French engineering
MasterOfReality
After forever
Yeh mine sat for 10 years.
My mech was saying on high mileage cars the seal can even wear a slight groove in the crank over time.
MasterOfReality
After forever
Apparently the rope seals are preferred to the neoprene ones for this motor.
I don't think the fundamentals of the 304 had changed since the 253/308 was introduced. Heads and EFI pretty much, and slightly de-stroked for Group A rules (as @Flow-Rider mentioned).
Flow-Rider
Burner
They can do if they haven't been looked after, I bought a VN in 2000 with 300K on it and the crank journal was still fairly good.
Flow-Rider
Burner
Cardy George
Piercing rural members since 1981
@Haakon , here you go, learn some things.
https://www.whichcar.com.au/features/history-of-the-holden-v8-part-one-red-motor-253-308-f5000
Most importantly, it's not an American engine, and any true dyed-in-the-wool Holden fan will kick the living daylights out of you for saying it is.
I was hoping to get a 5ltr Holden block for my Kingswood, but we'll see what I can find when the time comes. It has a 253 in it right now, that will do for what I intend.
https://www.whichcar.com.au/features/history-of-the-holden-v8-part-one-red-motor-253-308-f5000
Most importantly, it's not an American engine, and any true dyed-in-the-wool Holden fan will kick the living daylights out of you for saying it is.
I was hoping to get a 5ltr Holden block for my Kingswood, but we'll see what I can find when the time comes. It has a 253 in it right now, that will do for what I intend.