Just after ideas where to look first. I knew the car had a small leak from the rear main butlast night I had a look under the car with a good torch and found it to be quite wet under there. Also the tow point on the right side is bent down so something has been hit at some stage, not sure if anything more has been done there. I know the rocker covers need new seals as they are both pretty grubby towards the rear, pretty sure the seals where the hoses go into the covers are no good too. Also, on the intake manifold, just to the left of where the air cleaner mounts the carby is a nice pool of oil, where could that have come from? This is my first V8, let alone a carby motor so I really have no idea what to look for as far as tracking these leaks down. The car starts reasonably well, blows no smoke and idles pretty smoothly, though when in gear the revs drop considerably and the first time I drove it I thought it was going to stall they dropped that much. Checked power steering fluid level, it looks ok, although the fluid itself is this grey watery looking stuff, not sure what it is but going to get the steering flushed and fresh fluid put in, might explain the squeal at full look, or the belt is a bit loose/tight? All helpful comments appreciated. If worse comes to worse I'll look at another motor, the body is in great shape, little bit of rust in front screen but that's all I can find, and the interior is immaculate.

hey champ that motor is leaking from every seal and gasket on it not to mention it needs a new k-frame cause it was bent and twisted on front of drivers side too. needs a full rebuild in my opion thats why i didnt buy it 6 weeks ago. just pull it out pull it down and start over also think starter motor was on its last legs as well,have fun hope it works out for the best hey how much did u end up payn for it anyway as its just abouot out of rego i think? cheers steve

Thanks. It seems to be going ok. My old man is getting it looked at this week, luckily he knows people who will be able to help get it sorted for minimal cost. I'll find out what the damage is this week. The plan is to whack an injected 8 into it, and it's not going to be used as a daily so not overly concerned about the motor. If we can reduce or stop the leaks that will do for now. Will look into the K frame too, should be able to get out of that one at a decent price.

was thinkn of the injected swap myself for that one but dont have the required spares lien around let me know how u get on with it.

Depends on what's wrong exactly with the current motor and how much $$$ to sort the leaks. My Father and I went halves in the car and we both think it runs well, kicks over pretty easy, actually looks like a recent starter motor swap. The EFi plan is meant to be a long term plan, say around 18 months to 2 years to get some funding for a decent motor and box, not sure if we'll go auto or manual yet. If the carby motor can be kept going til at least then we'll be happy. As for K frame, family friend is a panel beater and has a good knowledge as far as chasis work goes (he recently rebuilt the front of a VT and is driving it at the moment, I didn't think the thing would be driveable ever again, apparently a p!ss easy job for him), so I'm not too concerned if the damamge is too serious to leave.

yeah k frame is only 4 bolts from memeory def has the neatest boot ive seen for a while should make a top cruiser for you and your old man.

Yeah I was impressed with the boot, only a slight bit of rust under the seal above the left tail light, floor is rust free and looking great. Interior is great too, not much to spend which means more for the exterior. just need to chase up the front guard badges, apparently the guy that owned it before the last owner pulled them off, clown. The guy I bought it off said he had them, forgot to grab them so need to chase them up. For 21 years worth of use it's held up quite well compared to many I've looked at. Should make a very nice cruiser. Changed the oil today, was down a bit on what it should have, so will have to keep it topped up about once a week for now. Pressure cleaned underneath the car to get an idea what's leaking, main one appears to be the sump at the front. Also to the right there's a hose that's got an inline filter on it, think it's for power steering, maybe transmission, but anyway the hose is a bit cracked and looks like it may be "bleeding" oil, so it'll be replaced. Going to the mechanics on Friday to get the full, story on what's leaking and how much to sort it, fingers crossed for not much. Going to get suspension looked at too, steering is a bit loose I think, but most of the rubbers look a bit ordinary.

i also own a VL V8 and 1 thing i learnt is unless its the rear main seal, its a piece of cake to rectify any oil leak the motor might have. Just check your obvious spots like rocker cover gaskets, front and rear intake manifold gasket, oil pump gasket, oil filter screw on point and fat chance but around the dizzy hole in the block. Any way have you considered keeping the carb 304? Even though in standard form they make only 122Kw, doesnt mean they dont have plenty of potential. You have to remember they only made this power from low comp ratio and emission equipment. The Quadrajet carb your motor is running is one of the best around, and the VL V8 also copped the bigger valve heads. All they need is a bigger cam, shaved heads, extractors and exhaust and you wont believe the difference in motor you have. It wont be a monster but will provide plenty of fun on the street

fix all the leaks that you can see needs fixing (except for the possible rear mains) then degrease/steam the engine bay then have a good look every time you drive it. it will give you a better idea where its all coming from.

Thanks guys. That's what was done the other day to find the leak at the front of the sump, so the first thing when time can be made will be to drop it and replace that seal, then see what's next. Nice to hear that most leaks are easy to rectify. Rocker cover gaskets do need doing, have a set of chrome covers coming so they'll be sorted then. The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards keeping the carby and doing a few minor things to get a bit more from it, first being the exhaust before I look at pulling or opening the motor. As it is it goes pretty well, nice pick up when you put the foot down, only thing I have to get used to is starting it when cold, it does take a bit, getting starter motor checked out for that. Only drama I'm having now is filling it with fuel, it doesn't cut off when the neck fills, it just spits it out everywhere (last night was my first fill). After that the guage only shows 3/4, so I guess it needs a cal, or the sender is dodgy. The filler is a bit dodgy looking too so I might look into replacing it. I'll start a post on my car once a few things have been done.

i had to change my sump when i done work to my motor, as long as you can undo the engine mounts and jack the motor up about 5 centimetres it shouldnt be too hard, and also try stay away from the 3 piece cork gasket set and try go for the 1 piece type, this will probably last longer and give slightly better seal. Im running the 3 piece on mine and havnt had a drama but would of went the 1 piece if i had to do it again. The fuel tank issue i had in my old calais RB30, turned out to be the tank breather line 20 years of dirt and grime made its way in to block it up, so when you'd fill the air in the tank has not much to escape through. try unblocking the line and see how you go. Good to hear you might keep the carb, so easy to work on too I can rip my carb off, intake manifold off and dizzy out and have it all back in within an hour or so

Thanks for the info, I'll be looking at the fuel lines on the weekend.

Got hold of some cork gaskets for the rocker covers, just want to stop the leaks for now, will get rubber ones when I can afford to get the chrome rocker covers. Anyway, do the gaskets just go in place or is it a good idea to use some gasket goo, such as ultra copper? Cheers. Also going to have some fun as one of the bolts has been cross threaded in the head, found when I checked the bolts that whilst it was tight it didn't sit flush with the cover (it's the bolt at the very front on the left cover). I put 3 small washers under it to close the gap and put pressure on the cover, will look at tapping the thread and getting anew bolt, hopefully that'll all I need to do. found all the other bolts were loose too, thus the oil leaks, but it's too late, I've tightened the bolts but the gaskets are done, still leaks. Got some radius rod bushes too, hopefully they'll help tighten the steering a little.

I dont think youll need the ultra copper... but it will do. Just whack some silastik in there. I always whack a bit on and smooth it around with my finger. Stick with the carby motor - then you wont need to rewire everything and muck about. Spend the money on that one!

Cheers, I've got a tube of ultra copper so will use it. Need to do diff too, mechanic did an oil change but it's got a small leak, I'll ditch the paper seal and make my own from ultra copper, there's a thread on here about it. I did it on my old Vl and it worked fine. Yeah I've decided to stick with the carby, only going to fit some headers and decent exhaust and that'll be it. Got a performance air cleaner on it now. Probably look at a rebuild in 12 months or so, or just a reco if that's all it needs, keep it stock and just enjoy it.

smart way to go mate, keep the $$$ for more important things. By the way make sure to get a resignator, my car only had extractors, hollowed cat converter and 2 1/2 inch from cat and it makes the tone really growly and barky. Nice if you hear it here and there but to drive it everyday was annoying. got a resi put on the other day, still sounds mean and grumpy but less drone and bark. Well worth the extra $$$.

Maybe start with new rocker cover gaskets and nip the sump up a tad,next place to look would be the timing cover.

r u girls bringn em on the cruise to hawksnest or what.c'mon bob u'v been asking since last year lol

Definitely getting some sort of resonator, have spoken to the guy that I'll be going to for the job and he said he'll sort it so it doesn't drone but still sounds good, he's good at what he does too. I'll look at the sump bolts, good chance they might not be as tight as they should be after finding the rocker cover bolts like that, although I can see at the front of the sump where the leak is that the seal isn't sitting in place correctly, maybe I can back the bolts off and push it in place, but I'm sure it'll be squashed in places now and won't stop leaking. Sump plug is as tight as it can be and still leaks a bit so looks like it needs a new washer, or the edges of the hole aren't flat anymore, hnmmm, maybe some ultra copper on there too for now, just under the washer to make it seal better. Also got a HEI dizzy to whack in, just have to work out how to do it and set it all up properly with vac advance and so on, there's instructions with it but they're not that straight forward, well for me anyway. Current dizzy looks like it is leaking a bit from the seal so it's gotta come out anyway. Not sure about the cruise, still not happy with the steering and suspension in general, quite a few bushes need replacing and I'm out of cash for now.

Quote: Originally Posted by vlturrrbo r u girls bringn em on the cruise to hawksnest or what.c'mon bob u'v been asking since last year lol Yeah I should have an oil change and soap suds happening for the Cal by then then dude,love the scenery out there.