Howdy Gregg, Still have to put the bung into the bottom of the collector.

Welded up the pipes to flanges, and the v clamp band rings, so other than the O2 bung and the flange on the other end of the Cat, shes nearly done for the drivers side.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0f665c4f.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2a4e9b30.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psacc99077.jpg

Also popped the bonnet mount and bonnet back on to check for clearances above tanks and air filters since I raised the engine by 10mm so the sump was higher than the bottom of the chassis rails.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps38fbada7.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4b4641f1.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psd38b09c2.jpg

Next is the passenger side headers.

your doing a great job on them cant wait to see both sides done . are they ve commodore cat convertors your using they look very similar to the pair I have under the bench here .
cheers dean

You may have already thought of this but rather than messing up your beautiful collector why not put the O2 bung into the top of the cat. I did that with the replacement cats I put on my land rover when I fitted headers to it. Works just fine.

There should be enough clear space in the end of the cat for the O2 to fit.

Mike, that's a great idea, I wanted to put in the tube before the cat, but not enough room, i just had a look and there is plenty of room in the cat itself to put the sensor, thanks for that. :)

Deano, yes they are VE cats.

Dave, are those cats the opposite way to how they were installed in w commodonor? Can you run them backwards? Obviously the sensor would be on the wrong side, but otherwise is the inside directional at all?

Hi Guy,
yes they are reversed. not sure if this will work, as normally cat converters are 3 stage, 1st is o2 sensor adjusts AFR, 2nd stage is reduction catalyst with Rhodium which separates the Nitrogen from the Oxygen, and the third oxidation stage combines the resultant oxygen with the CO2, suggesting there is a sequence to the events.

However, the VE/VF cats are supposedly only 2 stage, which when i cut open for a look found only 1 substrate, not the usual 2.
the ones on the cob at the moment are not cut open yet, so i have 3 choices,

1. Leave as is and try it out putting an O2 bung in the header end.
2. Cut open the cat, reverse the substrate and reweld close, the substrate is only packed in wrapped with some insulation type material which slid out really easy.
3. Discard and put an aftermarket unit in.

Haven't decided yet, at the moment, ive welded the cat to a stand and using it to support the merge collector while i run the header pipes, making sure its all going to fit.

I still cant decide if i'm running undercar system or live pipes even.

4th Anniversary on my Cob last month, how time flys!

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psef2thbya.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psdk4dvb17.jpg

This is about as retro "old school" as I can make the LS look, I need to finish the headers now and its on with the body.

that's awesome looking . love the rocker covers can I ask where you bought those from ? im thinking they would look great on my engine :-)

Deano,
i bought them from www.carbonfibrevalvecovers.com in 2012, but they dont seem to be around anymore, but i did find same excluding the oil filler and PCV or vent fitting at
https://sdparts.com/details/scoggin-...enter/sdlscfvc
Katech also sell similar.
They may still have oil filler version.
They are beautifully finished, and alloy reinforced brackets internally.

edit: found them here
https://sdparts.com/details/scoggin-...nter/sdlscfvcb
Dave

Love the use of the roll bar padding to route the oil cooler lines.

This looks killer.

Whats the chances of just a heap of pics from all over. Its a great looking piece and the more I look the more I see.

Congrats for such fine work.

Check out Dave's blog. There is a link in his signature. Lots of good pics and info in there.

Cheers

Happy Anniversary!!
It all looks fantastic I might add!

Dave's done some fantastic work, I've seen it in person. It will be a shame to put the body on and cover his great work.

Note: I don't open my bonnet on my CR when I visit him now :-)

come on Gregg, you know you have to drag us out from in, on, or under your car when ever we meet. :)

Hi All,
I had a PM about where i got my tank straps made, ... in my shed....so i thought i'd post some pics for the do-it-your-selfers like me.

The factory CR bands are just bent straps with a hole in each end for bolting to the chassis, I didn't buy the CR tank, because i want to fit a Factory VE pump, instead of the external pumps and surge tank, so i had a tank custom made with a few other alterations as well, Larger, Drain hole, Provision to mount another tank in the boot with plumbing points to the under tank.
This means i had to make up custom fuel bands.

I like the truck fuel tank style bands with the T-Bolt and looked around to find a manufacturer, I could only find 1 that would make custom bands in a suitable scale to suit a car fuel tank, Clampco in the USA, and at US$900 for the pair....

So here's my effort.

Made up T-bolts. The T is 16mm rod with a 10mm hole drilled through the center, then a 10mm bolt with the head removed slid through the hole and then welded in the hole and back filled, ground smooth.

If i do this again, i would do this last as after i made the straps, i was a few mm short and had to remake them again :(
Here they are after i got them coated by HPC.
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psyqmltq0r.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psdk8dlg9w.jpg

For the strap, I got the local Laser Cutting man to cut me 4 pieces from 1.6mm polished Stainless sheet, with a slot in each end to a drawing i supplied.
(2 for practice, 2 to get right)

In this pic you can see a simple jig i made from some angle with a slot 20mm wide so that a t bolt and 2x material thickness would pull into creating a U shape.
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psrtb5nys9.jpg

Do up the nut and pulled into the slot.
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0fymfmqz.jpg

Next, another bit of angle with a t bolt holding the strap against the back with a press bar on some bolts the 20mm out from the back edge.
I used the little 20T press i have to shape the band around the T bolt.
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psifde2cum.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2x8hud7x.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psttwgzvji.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9gpfvu9o.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psdc0scssv.jpg

Then drilled some holes for Stainless Rivets
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psqtcjvx7n.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...pstet0guzu.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psfubs8vlb.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psdakgjoti.jpg

Here is the front location for the T Bolt,
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psuyazsxkt.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...pscw77kbuy.jpg

And the Back
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...pscfhbwhdx.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps36fdfa66.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psrbwr8vzf.jpg

I still have the jigs if anybody wants to borrow them.
cheers
Dave

Your fab skills are amazing Dave. Never get tired of looking at your work yet it makes me feel just a little ill at the same time. :)

Have you weighed those straps? :) (A few here will know why I ask....)

[quote=Have you weighed those straps? :) (A few here will know why I ask....)[/QUOTE]

No, I didn't weigh them, fill me in, whats the story or issue.
I'm pretty sure the tanks wont drop out, the bands are 32x1.6 which is same as original spec.
Let me know:confused:

Dave

I used (still do) cop flak from some folk about my reasonably substantial tank straps, so much so I had to weigh and compare to the OE ones in an attempt to stop the bagging. What they did not realise is they are made of a lightweight titanium carbonic alloy...

did you hand paint the straps too, or just the body?

:P

Hey Dave, on my straps there are some rubber (I think rubber or plastic etc) underneath the straps so its not metal on metal rubbing between the straps and the tank - do you plan on doing that? The tank does move around a little bit I think. cheers Gregg.

P.S. I forgot to say - fantastic work as usual.