Project Car / Motorbike thread. Let's see 'em.

Asininedrivel

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
Cardy George said:
And Holdens.

They weren't exactly on the cutting edge of tech in the 90's
Click to expand...
Oi! A Commodore in the early 90s had an option of IRS. IRS! Actual rear suspension in a vehicle. Amazing. Plus I remember one model had a driver's airbag - which was advertised in block capitals everywhere for about three months straight.
Haakon said:
I swear they did it just to piss off the English…
Click to expand...
Aren't most RHD French cars built in the UK?
 
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
Asininedrivel said:
Oi! A Commodore in the early 90s had an option of IRS. IRS! Actual rear suspension in a vehicle. Amazing. Plus I remember one model had a driver's airbag - which was advertised in block capitals everywhere for about three months straight.

Aren't most RHD French cars built in the UK?
Click to expand...
Those innovative Aussie engineers! It took real effort to adapt the suspension that was used a decade earlier in the Euro spec Opel donor car, and several decades earlier in Peugeots and BMWs… ;)

Some might have been - forcing those annoying RHD quirks onto British workers as well as buyers just adds to the insult :)
 
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
Asininedrivel said:
Oi! A Commodore in the early 90s had an option of IRS. IRS! Actual rear suspension in a vehicle. Amazing. Plus I remember one model had a driver's airbag - which was advertised in block capitals everywhere for about three months straight.

Aren't most RHD French cars built in the UK?
Click to expand...
Mind you, I have less hate for live axles than i used to. They have their place and if done well can be decent enough.

But they were a bit sketchy in commodores as they were too light and too torquey for the unsprung to behave well on the limit.

The AU falcon sedans were probably the best live axles, and were not terrible.
 
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
Oddjob said:
Not terrible compared to what.

A white dog turd laid last summer is still a dog turd despite the lack of smell.

Sent from my M2012K11AG using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Compared to other Oz built live axle cars. They only bit you in arse if you really pushed them…

I didn’t mind them though. Not my thing to own, but spent plenty of time in them as rentals and work cars and they were pretty decent. And predictably I actually liked the styling :)
 
Dales Cannon

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
The biggest problem with live axles is joining them to cart springs and hoping the friction in the springs compensates for the shit system. Coils and 5 link and they can be not terrible. Single leafs with watts link and tramp rods can also work ok ish. The early commode irs was a loathsome thing like early bmw irs. It loaded up and if the inner started to slide the spring unloaded and the geometry spat the car violently sideways. Not that I experienced either of course but I did have a local record for jumping a vtii ss into a cotton field.
 
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
Dales Cannon said:
The biggest problem with live axles is joining them to cart springs and hoping the friction in the springs compensates for the shit system. Coils and 5 link and they can be not terrible. Single leafs with watts link and tramp rods can also work ok ish. The early commode irs was a loathsome thing like early bmw irs. It loaded up and if the inner started to slide the spring unloaded and the geometry spat the car violently sideways. Not that I experienced either of course but I did have a local record for jumping a vtii ss into a cotton field.
Click to expand...
Holden were too tight to incorporate the control links in the semi trailing arm the Opels had from early on. An odd decision - krauts knew it was needed on their Opels, but apparently a more powerful Holden didn’t…
 
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
VB-VK were pretty dire on less than perfect surfaces though… Had a friends 202 VH unintentionally sideways way too many times on country roads :( I kept adopting corner speeds I was comfortable in a de dion equipped Rover or the old Pug 504 and it didn’t like it.
 
Cardy George

Cardy George

Piercing rural members since 1981
Haakon said:
The AU falcon sedans were probably the best live axles, and were not terrible.
Click to expand...
Haakon said:
Holden were too tight to incorporate the control links in the semi trailing arm the Opels had from early on. An odd decision - krauts knew it was needed on their Opels, but apparently a more powerful Holden didn’t…
Click to expand...
They did later on. Can't remember the model but they were added.
 
binner

binner

Hath shat hymself
Dales Cannon said:
@binner are you aware that the Australian Electrical Standard (AS3001) for caravan/camper/motor home etc with a fixed 15A input have changed? From what I just saw batteries cannot be placed in a habitable area though that just means a box or compartment sealed to the interior so batteries can still go under the bed or seats. Battery compartments must be vented to the outside regardless of construction and solar panels must have breakers between the panel and bms. If there are 4 or more panels then all panels individually must have breakers, 3 or fewer can be wired in parallel to a single breaker.
Click to expand...
yeah man , I'm on it.... I'm leaving this part of project till very last which worked out well. I did get a "heads up" from a mate who's involved in the caravan industry here in Oz too a while back about the changes. I'm glad i didn't start on that early in the build ;-)
started on the bathroom and working my way to front of van....
 

Attachments

Last edited:
Dales Cannon

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Looks easy enough, just make sure you follow the battery maker's advice on enclosures. Enerdrive do an excellent video for their Li phosphate batteries.
 
Asininedrivel

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
Cardy George said:
They did later on. Can't remember the model but they were added.
Click to expand...
VS Series II I think.
Haakon said:
The AU falcon sedans were probably the best live axles, and were not terrible.
Click to expand...
As a contrarian I like AU Falcons. Wagons / utes look a lot better due to ditching the droopy rear of the sedans. All are pretty bulletproof - fuel consumption is pretty dire though. Probably the only Australian made RWD car you can buy for non-stupid money these days.
 
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
Asininedrivel said:
VS Series II I think.

As a contrarian I like AU Falcons. Wagons / utes look a lot better due to ditching the droopy rear of the sedans. All are pretty bulletproof - fuel consumption is pretty dire though. Probably the only Australian made RWD car you can buy for non-stupid money these days.
Click to expand...
VX series 2
 
binner

binner

Hath shat hymself
binner said:
yeah man , I'm on it.... I'm leaving this part of project till very last which worked out well. I did get a "heads up" from a mate who's involved in the caravan industry here in Oz too a while back about the changes. I'm glad i didn't start on that early in the build ;-)
started on the bathroom and working my way to front of van....
Click to expand...
Bathroom requirements for me n missus was we want full size ,no trying to save space for dunny n shower ,so full size shower and electric flush dunny full height,the vanity cabinet is small but if I use a tall flickmixer there is still good room to wash hands and face.next is air con,I was dead against installing air con but now I'm thinking maybe a smart investment whilst in construction mode
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top