1974 (GM) HQ Holden Belmont V8

Hi David, the Scarab has hit a big snag, we finally got it all going after spending another 2 grand on it getting all the fuel pumps and fuel lines replaced as it wasn't getting past 4300 rpms, took it out to Morton Island twice afterwards to make sure there were no more gremlins lurking. No problems and it ran fine.

As we had planned to cruise the Keppel Island group for two week for our 25th Anniversary, we headed off to Yeppoon with it last Monday morning and got to Rosslyn Bay Marina late Wednesday afternoon, put it in at the public ramp and motored over to the Marina where we booked an overnight stay. Took off in the morning and motored over to the fuel dock to fuel up and while we were waiting for the boat in front to finish fueling, the motor cut out, started it up and 10 seconds later it cut out again. This time it wouldn't start again. Bugger!! As the tide was going out we started to drift out of the harbour so I grabbed a nearby pylon we were drifted towards and tied up to it.

I called our local mechanic and tried to work out what was wrong but couldn't get it going. Whilst we did this the local Harbour control boat came up to see what was up, as the pylon we tied up to was for the local Water police boat. So explained what happened and he towed us back to the marina, the local Mercury mechanic was away till the following day so rang him next morning and he said he might be able to come out that afternoon.

He came out, and after about 40 minutes sussed it out to a resettable link near the starter or else it would be the PCM (Power Control module) either way couldn't fix it in the water and he could look at it in about 2 weeks time, if it was the PMU it would be 3 weeks at the earliest from the diagnosis.

So effectively our 25th Anniversary cruising the Keppel Islands was over before it even began. So got a tow back to the public ramp from the Coast Guard next morning and headed back home. Took it to my mechanic and he is 99% sure it was the more expensive item, the PCM (about $2500 plus labour) Not happy!!!

Anyway he may have found a spare module to swap it with and see if it it is the problem, so taking it back on Tuesday for them to try it out. Hopefully if it is it, it will be the last thing that I have to buy for it to make it go, (famous last words) but either way my trip was shot, but thats life owning a boat. Since owning this boat I feel that the Universe is conspiring against me. Not happy but just have to suck it up. At least it happenned in the harbour and in daylight and not near some wave swept rocks in the dark.

Cheers

Ed.
 
Hey Ed, if you ever get as far up as Lucinda let me know.

Cheers Phil
 
Hey Ed, if you ever get as far up as Lucinda let me know.

Cheers Phil

Hey Phil, Funny you should mention that, as that is where we had originally planned to go, we were going to drive straight up to Lucinda and then work our way down south and take 6 weeks to do it, but with spending $3g's the first time then another $2G's, we blew our budget and settled on 2 weeks in the Keppels. So much for our plans, maybe next year.

Cheers.

Ed.

(Sorry David about hijacking your thread)
 
Thanks David, getting back to your thread, where do you get your aluminium from? Some of the pieces you mill seem to be rather thick, do you get off cuts from somewhere or do you have to get large pieces or billets and cut down to suit?

Cheers

Ed.
 
I get it locally from a company called Edcon Steel. They cut what ever length you need and just charge you a couple of dollars extra for a "small cutting fee". I haven't compared their prices but I think they are reasonable. The piece I'm using for the bellcrank is 65 x 65mm and for a 300mm length it was about $50.

http://www.edconsteel.com.au/index.htm

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The wedge shaped offcut on the left is the piece I used last weekend to make my fuel pump bracket.:thumbzup:

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Thanks again David, I have bookmarked their site in case I have a need for some decent size aluminium in the future.

Cheers

Ed.
 
It's been a little while but I finally found some time to finish off my new bellcrank. I'm a lot happier with this one, I think it turned out better than the last one.

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And here's a picture of it next to the original one I made.

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and just to keep the thread updated, here's a current photo of the engine bay.

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It's been a little while since I've machined anything for the car but I recently bought a new MSD Blaster SS coil and need a way to mount it so I machined this out of aluminium, you can't really see it once it's mounted so I haven't worried about polishing it.

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Nice work as usual. Thanks for the update

Cheers Phil
 
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