MEANXBCOUPE engine build up.

[gcg2503]

What a car. What a build!

Cant wait to see this one at the Coupe Anniversary

[xf84]

Awesome build mate!! Just read from start to finish. Love it.

Makes me want a coupe even more now... so the search continues...

[MEANXBCOUPE]

thanks for the feed back. glad you have enjoyed the ride also.
Whatch this space!!, updates soon.

[darkside]

Originally Posted by MEANXBCOUPE

16 years ago, and yes i do, why?

pretty sure we know the same bloke lives up here in not so sunny qld ,matt owns an elgt these days,i think he wishes he still had the green machine .....doc

[MEANXBCOUPE]

mate, i have no idea who your talking about, i brought the car as a wreck 16 years ago from a different guy here in sydney not named matt, it was a blaze yellow shell.

It is definatly not someone elses green machine, I built it (building it?) from scratch with my own hands.

It was kind of an open ended question, so i apologize for sounding harsh, but i only like to give out certain info in forums.

[minorthreat]

I just read the whole thread and amazed at the amount of engineering and ingenuity involved in this car.

Just a quick question on the drive setup. Had you tried Drilling 1/8th inch holes in between every second tooth on the gilmer drive pulleys? Quietens it down a substantial amount. I read about it in a tips n tricks article in Hot Rod mag in about 89

[MEANXBCOUPE]

yeah mate, did something similar, I machined 1/16th slots the length of each thread root to acheive the same thing, found it didnt work at all. i had read the same thing and was going to do it, but did the slot thing on the suggestion from a pulley manufacturer.

Hope you liked the ride, there will be a big update very soon, so hang on!

[darkside]

Originally Posted by MEANXBCOUPE

mate, i have no idea who your talking about, i brought the car as a wreck 16 years ago from a different guy here in sydney not named matt, it was a blaze yellow shell.

It is definatly not someone elses green machine, I built it (building it?) from scratch with my own hands.

It was kind of an open ended question, so i apologize for sounding harsh, but i only like to give out certain info in forums.

true ,sounds like my mate has his wires crossed wouldn't be the first time ,no harm least now i can tell him to lay off the turps ...doc

[MEANXBCOUPE]

no probs and theres nothin wrong with turps!

[MEANXBCOUPE]

[Tha Jack]

Well Done Gary,
Finally got it regoed

Wasn't that hard now was it

Now you will be able to drive it down to Echuca this year.

[BlueKoop]

Congrats!!!!!!!

[74xbkoop]

Well done Gary, Now to enjoy it!!!!!!

[Bearman]

Well done!! A helluva process but worth it in the end. Kudos for seeing it through, I'm sure a lot of us would have given up.

Love the plates!!

[Geez Louise]

Congrats Gaz.

[LTDHO]

Originally Posted by MEANXBCOUPE

Very cool!

Thumbs up!

[MEANXBCOUPE]

Thanks for the replies, hadnt relized i acually posted this without any words!!

Details and more photos soon..

[GT-GTF]

Bravo! Look forward to seeing it out and proud!

[MEANXBCOUPE]

hey,

well the car passed its engineering tests a month ago, and after waiting a month for the engineers certificate, last monday we took the car down to Wollongong for its final RTA inspection, i was hoping for a clear day but instaed we got heavy rain ( no hail but) and flash flooding.
The fellow who was on the news who stepped into a storm water drain and drowned was only the next suburb away. it really did pour down!



our new trailer towed great behind my brothers turbo deisel Navara

Unfortunatley the drivers side footwell in the coupe got a bit wet, to be expected i suppose.

There was some small paperwork issues to be sorted out and i regoed the car there and then with stock plates.

We came back to Camden and unloaded the coupe while the rain held off, then went down to the local RTA to pick up the custom plates....


So taking a leaf from my user name here, meet

MEANXB



so, from memory.

1.engineers certificate $1500
2. first blue slip $58
3. body number and RTA inspections. $58
4. second blue slip $97.50.
5. rego and tax $491
6. CTP $443.16
7. plate order fee $110
8. number plates $441
9. weigh bridge ticket $25.


So i have done about 20 miles in the car on Wednesday, then put in on chassis stands again so i could pull out the exhaust bungs i put in for rego!

it was the only way around the noise issue.

Saturday rolls around and i had to work all day. When i got home my son was super keen to go for a spin in the coupe!. Awesome, he has been a little shy of the car every time its started, must be the noise.
So we packed up some warm clothes ( incase it was a long wait for a tilt tray if we broke down) loaded up Lachlans car seat and away we went.
down the hume highway to liverpool and right onto cumberland highway to Harry's Cafe de Wheels.

It was a good drive, i was watching all the gauges like a hawk!. Oil pressure...check!. Fuel level.....check!. Temp....check!, all good!

We arrived at Harrys about 7.30pm and the joint was packed. We didnt know then, but it was the 2nd anniversary at the mega mall Harry's is located in. Fireworks, hotdogs and car spotting was the order of the night. The police attended due to the large number of cars, they directed traffic and shuffled on any unwanted dropkicks pulling skids in mums car.

We forgot to pack a camera so no photos, we did see three other coupes 1 apollo blue XB ,a burnt orange XB and a blaze(?) blue XA, turns out we know the owners of the XA, old NSW coupe club members.....

A few small issues with the coupe, the rear spring rate is too low and may be a shock rebound/bound adjustment is required. Also the diff is going to be changed ASAP, lockers suck. Now looking at a Tru-Trac 31 spline.
The biggest issue has been the blower gearbox pressurising and oil dribbling from the snout. might have to vent it and do a seal swap or something..

After we got home with no issues, it occured to me. 16 years ago I made the exact same journey but in the opposite direction when i brought the car, the previous owner lived up the road from Harry's (pre Harry's), it was the only other time i had driven it (game to drive it!) before I stripped it......... Fate?????


SEE YA OUT ON THE ROADS

[Rebel220]

Big congratulations for finally seeing this project to the end, it's been a tough 16 years, some would have thrown the towel in by now, but you had a dream and you saw it through to the end. I have watched you turn this beast into what she is today for the family to enjoy. Thank you for taking us out for a cruise on Saturday night, like you, I've been waiting 15 years to actually take the girl further than the driveway and to actually see a smile on your face and the excitement on Lachlan's face when we drove up the street, even know he was very concerned that you took the snowblower "hornet scoop" off the coupe! We will have many more enjoyable cruises to come....we know that there will be days where she will be a diva and come home on the trailer/tilt tray, but we will take that in our stride and deal with it when that card is dealt... Once again from Lachlan and I, thank you for giving us such an awesome car to cruise in and thank you for allowing me to share this build with you over the last 15 years...What will be next???

[NET351]

Congrats on the rego! And what a debut run! I'm sure you'll have many years of enjoyable cruising in the coupe with the level of workmanship you have put into the car. I can vouch for the tru-trac carrier, I have one in my XW & it's fantastic. Silent, consistent & gets the power down even better than a locker.

[Uncle Raggy]

Originally Posted by Rebel220

Big congratulations for finally seeing this project to the end, it's been a tough 16 years, some would have thrown the towel in by now, but you had a dream and you saw it through to the end. I have watched you turn this beast into what she is today for the family to enjoy. Thank you for taking us out for a cruise on Saturday night, like you, I've been waiting 15 years to actually take the girl further than the driveway and to actually see a smile on your face and the excitement on Lachlan's face when we drove up the street, even know he was very concerned that you took the snowblower "hornet scoop" off the coupe! We will have many more enjoyable cruises to come....we know that there will be days where she will be a diva and come home on the trailer/tilt tray, but we will take that in our stride and deal with it when that card is dealt... Once again from Lachlan and I, thank you for giving us such an awesome car to cruise in and thank you for allowing me to share this build with you over the last 15 years...What will be next???

How awesome are you Tracey! For Gary to have someone to support and believe in his dreams is a big factor and plays an important part in the end result. Hats off to you all

Oh, and ENJOY!!!!!!

[tippy]

Not much more i can add than congrats , i know they work that has gone into it and your car has been an inspiration to myself and no doubt alot of other as well !

Well done & enjoy .

P.s you had better take me for a spin at Echuca this year :P

Mal.

[XAllent]

Congratulations on your Rego and on a fantastic build!

[Rebel220]

What a way to spend mothers day...a cruise in the coupe with boys!!

[75XB02BA]

Hey Gazza, Nice thread. Shame the photos dont show the amount of time and dedication you have had to put in to finish her off.
PS. Sorry about the next 2 posts as I need to rack up 5 posts to send a PM to someone.
Cheers.
Nabs

[MEANXBCOUPE]

That will teach you nabs.
Should have broken the first post into three seperate ones.

Welcome to the forums too mate!!!

[MEANXBCOUPE]

Thought id do an update.

Problem is not much has been done! We have not really done any work to the coupe in months.

So far, since we got her regoed almost every weekend we as a family have been somewhere in the coupe. Even to the shops!!!

I have covered over 800 miles in it, all within a 40 mile radius of home. At first the trips were very local but have started to trust the car now and im looking forward to doing a bit more.
We have entered a few shows and have always driven there, after trailering it for the last few years, we have much enjoyed driving into an event.

first we took the coupe to the FTF club show.
We were very lucky to come away with three trophies. Best modified, best in show and peoples choice.

We then attended the cruise for a cure at Prestons near liverpool with my club. we scored top interior in that show!

The next one was an invite to the Street Machine Nationals, we participated in the elite show class, not really my class, but still managed a top 20 plate. I think it was only me and one other guy drove into that event.

Phone shots setting up in the elite hall at the SM nationals

As of late, we managed to pull best overall at the 72-78 Ford V8 concourse day.



Me and Lachlan doing our best "cheesey smiles" at the 72-78 concourse day. With a certain "Fatass" in the background.

Fellow AFF member MAD XB (paul) and i got in the local paper


In between all these shows we have visited family and some friends and, as mentioned, even gone shopping in it ( I did stay in the car but!).
To date we have not had a major mechanical or electrical problem, for that i am greatfull. I have had the handbrake cable pop out of the actual handbrake lever a couple of times and im looking at fixing that soon.
Stuff i need to sort out is a trutrac 31 spline diff center ASAP. Also im running a locked dizzy, with a 6AL. would love to change this to a 6AL-2 programmable. I also need to raise the front of the car a bit, i drove it to work on wednesday just gone and had a few issues with some speed humps! Oh and a five/six speed would be good.
Also another issue I have found is other motorists, most want to get a closer look, though I have had one or two people almost crash into me whilst looking from the other lane... why is it people steer in the direction they are looking? also i have a small suspicion that a sticker on my rear bumper bar must read-" if you are P plate commodore driver aged between 19 and 25, feel free to try and race me at any intersection, even if it is your mummy's car". DORKS.

So after we come back from the hardtop nationals in September I will be getting back into the new motor that was the seed for this thread way back when. Plans are been laid down now for the completion of the motor.
going to keep it really street friendly and cap it at about the 650 fwhp mark. I'll be running a dizzy /carb set up untill funds become available to do the injection/ ignition job properly, this will limit me to pump premium fuel for the time been and i'll go for E85 once the injection is on.
Should be a good back to back comparision too as i will be engine dynoing it for both setups.

So in the immediate future, she'll get a detail for Sydney AFD on the 31 of July at "The Creek". From there its off to the Nationals in September.

See Ya On The Streets....

[gregaust]

Nice mate , awesome all going well...

[MEANXBCOUPE]

Thanks, yep, super happy about it all.