the fans get adjusted in the ecu
we normally run them around 100 degrees on and 95 or 90 ish off
factory fans tuen on low speed at 108 and hi speed at 118
and yes they run them very hot for emissions
the only prob is 118 degrees is very bloody hot for when u fit these motors in a cobra
plus also the cooling system in a cobra does not match that of a facotry commodore
so running so hi temps can cause issues if your radiator and cooling system is not up to scratch
im wondering if the extra 10 or 15 degrees hotter will help with the emissions

its very hard to guess because we use very similar tunes for most ecus
and some cars pass and some dont so its hard to see if its the tune or if its the exhaust system or anyhting else on the vehicle

also with alot of tuning shops opening up every week i garantee hardly any of them own a 4 or 5 gas analyser
i used to use one back in mid 90s but u hardly see them these days

u can build 2 cars identically the same with same tune and one will pass and one wont

on the gen4 ecus theres a trick to get fans working properly
not all tuners understand how to do this

anyway like i tell most people 99% of tuners tune commodores
the cars drive in get tuned then drive out
its abit different when the car is a conversion
and i find alot of people in this industry look at things straight down the line and class a cobra as say a commodore

i tell them look u need to look outisde the square as this is a conversion so they have to understand what the final product has to do
and i also tell the customer to ask many questions when dealing with a shop
tell them its a conversion and everythign has to be passed by engineer and rta

alot of shops who dont deal with many unregistered cars dont really know engineering rules
they r used to cars that have already been registered

Thats interesting,

It would be interesting to see the difference in running temp from stock and 15deg cooler verses IM240 results. All the reading i have done states that the hotter the cats can get the better they will operate.

need to speak to an engineer in this field
or someone who is old school and understands 5 gas analysers
whoeveer is going next maybe put a bypass switch for your fans
turn em off during the test

On my third and fourth test on the day we ran the car without the blower fan in front of the car for a good 7 minutes at 100kmph to get the thing really hot, then when the car was struggling with cooling we turned the blower fan on.

The normal fan on the car was on as usual as we couldn't turn them off. I wouldn't want a switchable fan as I might turn it off by mistake, I would probably just pull the wire that leads to the fan from the battery relay instead.

On my 40 series I will be putting a switchable fan there so when I go into deep water and mud I can switch the thing off to save it from damaging the radiator or itself from trying to push through water instead of air.

The guy I was discussing this with was working in the EPA vehicle testing station as an engineer for approx 25 yrs, I reckon the advice he is giving is pretty solid. He just gave away a 5 gas analyser to RMIT for their alternative fuels program and is acting as their consultant, he also was involved in getting the Robnell's and a number of other replicas emission compliant up until closure of the facility which then it all went to VIPAC....I reckon it would be hard to find someone more qualified who is on our side trying to come up with some solutions, at $600 plus per test I know that money could be spent better elsewhere pimpin my ride..:D

Yep. Gas is very hard on a new engine. But an engine with a few k's on it has been hardened up . Particular the valve seats,
When reco'ing a head for gas , hardened seats need to be put in .
Saying that though
If you build a cobra " designated gas" would you need to go through the emissions test?

If you need to comply with ADR 37/01 emissions, then no emissions test required if you are running gas.

will the rta in nsw allow u to run a holden gen 4 or a new ford boss motor on gas
or does it hav to run the original electronics

I believe the main issue here is that a new gas (LPG) engine will not bed the rings in correctly as gas is a dry fuel compared to petrol.
When I did my LPG course we had a recipe with good old Bon Ami powder mixed with engine oil, it was distributed evenly between the pots and the engine wound over exactly 50 times by hand with no heads on the motor, after 50 turns the heads got fitted up and the engine started alledgedly blowing the dry powder out the exhaust, The teacher at the time said 150 turns would wear the rings past the useable limit.

Thhats what she said anyways.

My new engine was run in on petrol...95 octane...it runs on lpg now. Why would you run an abrasive through a new engine...some of the 'grinding paste' would find it's way to the bearings and other bits. When running in an engine there's oil in the engine and it's being applied to the bores as it's supposed to be... fuel (petrol) would wash the bores any way (above the rings ) I reckon a proper hone during the build would create the required bore 'condition' and a wet run in would do the job. "Flex-Hones" would do the job of 'Bon-Ami' but you still have to wash the block out before the bearings and bits are fitted. That's my thoughts. I'm not criticising...just talking.

Running the engine in on petrol is definitely the go but the example given was for dedicated LPG engines and the criteriea and methods may well have changed since I went to school. The bon ami was to allow scuffing of the rings (for want of a better term) to mate and knock the high spots from a fresh bore/hone. We all know running a new engine in on friction modified oil isn't 'the go' either.
In the defense of bon ami though, it was an exact measured particle size worlwide and often used to de-glaze engines. If you had an old 555 Cummins that was smokey the recommended and widely used procedure was to add 1 teaspoon of bon ami for each cylinder introduced through the air inlet.
As I said though, they were the bad old days and no doubt things have progressed a lot from there.
Bon ami was also brilliant for bringing a real shine to glass, applied wet with newspaper and allowed to dry before buffing off with clean rag.
I probably spent too much time living in the bush though.

IM240 has been relaxed
 

OK big update for the Victorians, just got off the phone to Marty Govert who informs me as of the beginning of this week the IM240 has been relaxed and we now only need to meet ADR 37/01 at 100%. This means the old 302s will pass without a problem and those who kept failing the 50% test have a much better chance of passing. :D:D:D

That is good news! The old classic can be recreated for those who want to

BIG BLOCK anyone?

Today in The Age I read an article about Euro 5 by November 2013...

4 cylinder Ecoboost Falcons... & what seemed to be a spruiking of LPG & it being the way of the future... %/

I just booked in for the IM240 and Rob at VIPAC advised that the maximum levels have effectively doubled in last week's change to the rules. I take that to mean % or PPM can now be twice as high for CO2, NO2, etc.

I got a call from Doug on Monday saying that mine was okay as the levels were taken to the same as the other states (were all in the same country so why the different rules!!!). My car missed out by a bee's thingy on the 50% test, so on the full 100% it flew through.

So it's full ahead and onto engineering now!!!.

Well done Laurence. I've just been told they have recently started asking for proof of a VSB14 brake test. If nothing else we can enjoy some high speed passes at Moorabbin airport!

More info: http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roa..._01Jan2011.pdf

This is all good news for you guys.

Now we just need NSW to follow suit and all will be as it should be.

What do you mean? We have ADR37/01 for the IM240 which is what they have relaxed to.

Other issues have also been relaxed too.