Happily KZread just recommended this channel to me. Its great that you honestly show the actual expenses, helps everyone set their expectations Also, I'm totally with you on keeping the Yella-Terra heads and having a period engine - I think that is great, I love looking in engine bays and seeing period pieces. I agree that it is hard to do and think the choices/compromises you've made so far are fine. Sleeving a block is a pretty serious commitment to an old engine - you have given another lease of life to a disappearing piece of Australian motoring heritage. On that front, the embossed chrome valve covers and air filter 'dress up' that you have are also period pieces which you might have expected to see in the engine bay of a HQ. Looking forward to the rest of the build and your period correct mullet ;)

@staceonwheels

7 ай бұрын

Well that made my day!! Thanks for sharing your support for the period (retro) choices I've made. I am inlove with this rebuild and glad it can make others happy too.

@theaustralianconundrum

6 ай бұрын

It's a very cool channel. No airs & graces. Just the real deal.

Another great video Stace. I have a HZ tonner with a 253, so i had better start saving up the cash then! Thanks so much for running through the costs, will help me out heaps. Looking forward to the next video.

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

Nice to hear from you again Stuart. Hopefully your 253 is a better starting point than my poir old 308, so costs will be much lower. You can bore out a 253 more than the 0.060" limit of the 308 too, I believe. Keep your tonner updates coming, too!

That was brilliant. Loved watching.

I totally get what you have done.Holden purist also. you’ve saved a piece of aussie Holden history from the scrapyard for your toner . Well done ,I say Stace, subbed and liked just to live vicariously for the rest of the build.👍👌

@staceonwheels

7 ай бұрын

Thank you! I'm so chuffed that you get what I'm doing and why. Glad to have along to share the journey 😊

Good stuff, I have mine in getting machined at the moment. A trick I have always used on those gasket faces is glass plate and spray glued wet and dry sandpaper to it, 120 grit and WD 40. Works well, only take enough to make contact. You would be surprised how much alloy bends at the bolt holes.

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

You won't believe this but yesterday I found glass plate and ordered a straight edge to check it, just for this purpose! Hope you get a great result with yours.

@cameronjohnston5748

8 ай бұрын

Good move, I have always had good results, I even did a Toyota head some years ago when it stripped the bolts out of the block, I got a piece long enough to glue two pieces of wet and dry down and ended up with less than 1.5 thou under the straight edge, just make sure the glue is very thin and it will work every time. My go to glass is at least half an inch thick.@@staceonwheels

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

Brilliant and very promising. I might do a short video on how it works out!

People don't realise how much it cost to rebuild a engine properly these days and let alone a Holden V8. Im at the tail end of a 355 build with a COME twin throttle intake for my VS and it's not cheap. Everyone says go LS, yes bang for buck its true! but I already have a couple of later Holdens with LS's but nothing beats the sound of a old Holden V8. Love the videos and have finally subscribed 👍

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

Hey Trig, thanks. I totally agree about the sound of a Holden 308. I don't regret it one bit! Enjoy that stroker!

@triggeredleftyvegan6004

8 ай бұрын

Thanks Ill have videos posted of in car driving once finished.@@staceonwheels

Top vid Stace. Period correct. Yeehah!! I've been off youtube game and missed this one or two. My Tonner build has stalled (life). I've had a mate massage an oversized 308 into life for 3k. Now to the chassis build up..... Welding this weekend, hopefully paint the next before another winter stalls me. Thanks for the reality check and the motorvation. ...

@staceonwheels

2 ай бұрын

I need the motivation back! Life is stalling both my 308 and tonner progress. But hoping things will change with the tonner soon, now the ceaseless rain has stopped.

Thank you for that 😊

Awesome Stace. Would be great if you could share the Excel spreadsheet you created as a template for us who want to build ourselves. Know what parts we need or are missing aswell. Would be so helpful.

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

I could prob do that but in the meantime just email staceonwheels@ gmail.com and I can send to you.

Your awesome so good to see😊

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

🤣🤣🤣

You mentioned buying another aircleaner , like everything there's more than just looks involved. From a roadworthy certificate point of view , the aircleaner needs to be silenced and have the heat riser from the exhaust system connected, however the factory aircleaner is massively restrictive and you'll loose a tone of top end power . If you look at a HDT VK Group A you'll see that they used a mid 80's Chevy aircleaner thats connected to cooler outside air via ducting , this is a good example of legal and effective, used chevy aircleaners aren't prohibitively expensive and with the factory 308 stickers look alright too. The mid 80's Corvettes had twin snorkels that are even better 😊 If performance is important to you, a cowl type bonnet scoop is very effective especially if you buy an aircleaner where's the lid doubles as the air filter, this allows the intake air to travel streight down into your downdraught carburettor, however for it to work properly you'll need to fabricate a box around the aircleaner that seals to the bonnet to stop under bonnet heat contaminating the incomming air charge or much of the benefit is lost . You could just buy a traditional sports 4 barrel aircleaner and run it as is , it'll look great too

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

More to think about!! Great suggestions Craig.

I’m a tight arse so I’m sticking to my 202! No idea how much of a rebuild it will get as yet, it’s sitting on an engine stand until I can get round to it. Just separated Rhee tie rods and getting to removing the springs and control arms so I can clean the chassis up. Yours is going to be a beautiful noise when it’s going, it will be well spent as you hear it roar when you give it some.

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

I have a friend who rebuilt a 202 with a solid cam, which should be interesting. It's still on a stand, waiting for the Torana It's going into. You're making great progess Spydey, I'm a bit behind right now, still working through generator options. So expensive!!

@oo0Spyder0oo

8 ай бұрын

I'm not that far ahead if at all. The crap weather has made going to the shed the last place to be right now, string of 40's, even the spiders are hanging down off the roof panting! yeah a good cam, possibly a dual carb manifold or 350 holley. The guy I bought it from said they go ok on unleaded but I might look into stainless valves and seats.

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

That's nasty heat.

@yeedinosaur7912

6 ай бұрын

Dude I’m 14 and I can afford to do it

I'm a Holden V8 man through and through, for my last project, a HT Holden i looked into building a 355 engine for it , using a VN 5.0 engine as the doner engine, a fairly basic setup was all i wanted so it would entail owner ported VN heads, roller rockers , scat crank , ARP hardware, hypereutectic pistons, high rise duel plane manifold , oil gallory mods ,nothing exotic but enough to squeeze about 440 hp out of it . Back then , before the covid tax hit , it was going to cost me about $650 for a core VN engine and at least another $13,000 to build it ( Owch). Because I'm on a very tight budget this was out of my reach . Back then LS1's were changing hands with 180000ks on them for as little as $1350 complete with loom and pcm, i ended up buying a L98 6.0 for $3k. With little more than a cam change , valve springs and a tune you can make 450+ hp from a LS1 and over 500hp from a L98 . I sold my sole and went down the LS route , i now regret my decision but thats another story 🫣. Maybe I'll win the lotto and fit a Holden V8 again 😊

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

Well we all do this fir different and personal reasons Craig. My hubby has 2 LS engines and fully rebuilding a LC9 gen 4 5.3 for his Torana, and refreshing a LS1 in his VY.

Buy these, they are new from Kilkenny, half the money your talking and were the rocker cover design to have in the 80's 90's and can be bought new. #KC208B black KC208P. Polished KC208N. Natural "Bring it over when you want it fast

@staceonwheels

7 ай бұрын

Thanks!!!!

It certainly adds up. Was a bit more than I was thinking. I was quoted around 10 to rebuild my 253. It might be a lot to some but it’s something you only do once. I just bit the bullet and went all out on getting a complete new engine built and it was more then double what your total was lol 😮 but it’s also rated to 1600hp and twin turbo 😁. I did a spreadsheet on the total cost of my build over the last 3yrs, that’s scary haha.

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

OMG, that's some dollars! But you'll have many more hp per dollar than I will 🤣

@aussietonner

7 ай бұрын

Personally I love the original valve covers, you know it’s not stock don’t need covers to prove it.

@staceonwheels

7 ай бұрын

Your comment came just at the right time... A friend found polished alloy finned covers which are exactly what I wanted, but almost $700 and I just cannot bring myself to do it... things do add up fast!

@aussietonner

7 ай бұрын

@@staceonwheels i reckon a built engine that looks completely stock is cool and timeless

@staceonwheels

7 ай бұрын

@aussietonner you're inspiring me!

Great job and explanation I was wandering what happened to the numbers stamped on the block after machining

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

I haven't checked yet but I don't think they wrre affected by the macining... 🤔

@johnbrooks9523

7 ай бұрын

@@staceonwheels Sadly: Decking a Holden V8 can shave the engine number clean off. TIP: Technically, we're supposed to use blocks with numbers from similar or newer vehicles which were sold new, compliant with relative ADR polution equipment. I wasn't paying attention to your engine number in your footage. I'll review it now. If your truck is a 1979 HZ, it should run a '79 or later block & all the troublesome pollution clutter from that era. Your heads are PRE-POLLUTION (HQ) & as such, your engine has no facility for junk like a criminally insane EGR valve. Please do not allow yourself to be forced into installing any form of pollution control! This junk will upset the engine, gag the engine, reduce it's fuel economy, ruin it's performance & if anything, MAKE IT POLLUTE! Have the cam degreed in exactly as specified by the cam manufacturer. Yours is a carefully hand built engine which will produce LESS pollution than a standard low performance mass produced unit. Please try to avoid semiliterate unevolved creatures who think adding problematic pollution control clutter to an engine is a smart move... IT ISN'T! If you have to restamp the engine number & you have a choice, try to find a number from a dead block from the same year as your truck's build date. Be careful there. If you use a VL engine number, legal thugs could try to force you to use rubbish like VL heads & so on. Your engine according to the parts you have chosen is a very good recipe. Stay with it.

@johnbrooks9523

7 ай бұрын

@@staceonwheels Can't see your engine number in your footage. Keep it that way. I can see one of your head bolt bosses is broken away. This isn't too critical, but I recommend consulting Jack Brothers Engineering in Queensland or any reputable Holden V8 Specialist Engine Builder for advice regarding repairing that broken boss.

@staceonwheels

7 ай бұрын

@johnbrooks9523 thank you for those tips!

@johnbrooks9523

7 ай бұрын

@@staceonwheels Borismcfinnigan3 has commented above. You replied. I've replied to you there too. YT hides replies. To uncover some hidden replies... select "newest first" at the top of the comments section. Your engine looks good. You may strike trouble with the sleeves. Generally, sleeves installed in petrol engines are scary thin & brittle. It is impossible for manufacturers to make sleeves out of exactly identical cast iron to that used in the manufacture of blocks. As you will no doubt already know; metals of different composition expand & contract at different rates & at different temperatures. This causes many sleeves in petrol engines to "wriggle", to "walk around", to flex & to crack leading to catastrophic engine failure. Sleeves are best avoided. You'll have to ensure your sleeved engine never sees extreme temps. Select a slightly lower temp thermostat if one is available & keep a close eye on everything cooling system. The 308 is a very durable engine despite what some have said here in comments. A V8 SuperCars 308/304 as used by Larry Perkins in the early nineties could churn out over 600 BHP all day at Bathurst & hang together OK. On paper, your little 308 will easily make a reliable 350 & could punch out 400 if you spent money on dyno tuning which you simply don't need to do. Even if it did make 400, you'll never, ever race it flat out all day & the occasional full throttle burst won't stress it long enough to hurt it. I also have an old One Tonner. Yours, being a V8 HZ makes it arguably the very best "car" ever built anywhere on this planet. With her full chassis, RTS suspension & steering geometry, a healthy little V8, simple, uncluttered practical controls, solid body & panels & excellent unobstructed visibility from the driver's seat, you have a truly brilliant, uncomplicated, long lasting "car" without rust catching back doors, rear quarter panels, boot or tailgate. It's a big job, but fitting a VN T5 5Speed & decent tyres is all you need to do to a healthy standard RTS V8 HZ ONE TONNER to come away with a great car. Everything you've done so far is bang on the money. Not sure about your ignition system. I use original Holden Bosch HEI High Energy Ignition distributors & coils, but they are getting harder to find now. Great project! If all goes to plan, you & your little truck will probably be inseparable. A happy healthy V8 One Tonner is gold.

On your oil pump this is very important for your engine to live. I would highly recommend a new high volume unit check to see if Melling makes one for your Holden.

@staceonwheels

2 ай бұрын

Thanks for the tip. I have heard from a few that a high volume oil pump just isn't needed, and can send too much oil into the top end. I understood oiling problems in the 308 are more to do with the oil galleries and getting enough oil to one of the cam journals. But not enough worry for my mild build.

@Carcrafter7165

2 ай бұрын

@@staceonwheels ok 👍🏻 good to hear that.

10 to 1 comp. is great for these engines. I used hypertec pistons in my 308 rebuilds.

@staceonwheels

6 ай бұрын

I'm expecting it will be close to that.

@aaronbensi9723

6 ай бұрын

The more the better. 10 to 10.5 is great.

i wounder if its better to go aftermarket block like little, big paw or bullet raceengineering billet 308 when to go the trouble of a resleeve

@staceonwheels

7 ай бұрын

For some people, yes absolutely. For me, this is a sentimental build so I wouldn't go that way.

Yikes, I think I would prefer an LS crate special lol but good on your for doing a project that matters to you

@staceonwheels

7 ай бұрын

You totally get it! Thanks and hope you get a chance to get that LS crate engine for some excellent project.

If you port your cylinder heads shouldn’t cost any more than $500-800 to do there would be between 40 and 80 hp gain if you’re in regional Victoria I could do for you

@staceonwheels

3 ай бұрын

Thanks, I'm not in Victoria. The heads seem to have had some light porting already and I don't want to get to much hp out of this motor due to the sleeving of all 8 cylinders.

What's the story with that broken head bolt boss on the block ? And massive crack on the face next to it

@staceonwheels

Ай бұрын

Yeah, looks alarming, hey? But that's typical of these old Holden blocks, and those head bolts aren't even needed, it turns out. They deleted them on later blocks.

@paulquilliam8110

Ай бұрын

@staceonwheels yeah it is ... I couldn't stop looking at it! Thinking when are you going to mention it lol. I actually sold an red 308 from my Hz because I broke almost the same one! I could have kept it all along it seems

@staceonwheels

Ай бұрын

@paulquilliam8110 bummer!

I would love to put a 308 into my tonner, but when an LS is half the price… I don’t really have a choice.

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

That's just sensible. And you'll still have fun doing that. I'm just so lucky I have the spare funds to splurge on this classic 308. But it will be the last old engine I work on... likely LS for me next time too - if I can afford a next time!!! This kind of hobby is most certainly expensive.

cars certainly make you poor lol i've spent about $14;000 just on rechroming of my FJ not counting the motor but mines just a 138 red motor i'm glad i could do all the paint and body work myself i've probably spent another 6000 on other parts and probably needs another 5000 just to get it done excluding interior

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

Yep, maybe poor in dollars but rich in fun and experience. What's money for, anyway? That's a lot of chroming... but FJ's do have some lovely chrome bits. For my HZ, I'm doing pretty much all the work too, so could save many thousands that way. At this stage in life, it's okay to enjoy our savings in whatever way makes us happy!

Pity the $AUD is so low against the $USD with shipping prices are through the roof. It may have been possible to tip in few more dollars and get a new crate motor. Its a hobby but it does not have to end up as second career.

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

I wanted to revive this 308 for nostalgia and learning, so it's not about hp/$ for me 😁

16k wow youd want some very good HP out of it for that sort of money

@topplate100

8 ай бұрын

oops think i might have clicked on the thumbs down by accident i really enjoy your vids lol

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

Nostalgia, in this case, not hp 😁

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

No probs 👌

60th over youll have overheating prob for saw

@staceonwheels

7 ай бұрын

It's been sleeved back to standard bore.

@johnbrooks9523

7 ай бұрын

@@staceonwheels Sleeving doesn't cause overheating. Sleeves find their way into petrol engines when the bores appear too thin. Thus, you can't go boring the holes big enough to accept good solid sleeves without going down substantially in cubic capacity. IE; Making the engine a 300 or a 302. Therefore, if your sleeve guy is honest, he'll tell you those sleeves are only 80 or 100 thou wall thickness which is also scary thin for cylinder liners. They simply cannot be any thicker than that or he would have had to bore through into "water" to accommodate thicker walled sleeves. The sleeves will be OK if he did a good job of boring, warmed the block, froze the sleeves & pressed them in leaving NO UNSUPPORTED areas behind the sleeves. Any void behind a thinwall CAST IRON EGG SHELL sleeve will see the sleeve blow out under the pressure of combustion. To help keep those sleeves intact, ignition advance will have to absolutely perfect throughout the entire rev range & only Premium 98 fuel can ever be used. Whatever you do, NEVER USE CHEAP LOW GRADE FUEL IN THAT ENGINE. Even 95 octane fuel could cause pre-ignition (pinging) and pinging in a sleeved engine could rapidly result in disaster. Make sure your investment is tuned perfectly & she only ever sees premium fuel.

@staceonwheels

7 ай бұрын

I trust my machine guy. He was highly recommended by independent sources. He even gave us a tour of his machine shop when I dropped off the block. The block has been resin filled for the bottom 1/4 of the water jackets for extra strength but I know this guy wouldn't have agreed to the sleeving if his sonic test of the cylinder thicknesses failed. And I have a report that it passed. I know we can only trust people so far, but the world would come to a standstill without some trust (with as much evidence as we can find too). And yes, I'll take the tuning very seriously. I have an excellent ex-Holden mechanic and engine 'savant' to guide me.

$1200 for rocker covers, they gold plated ? A GOOD finned set with Holden forged into them are only a couple hundred. I guess you want your original ,Im different than you thing. Kool!

@staceonwheels

7 ай бұрын

Actually the expensive ones were after market. A few other viewers have found some cheaper tho 👍😁

@theaustralianconundrum

6 ай бұрын

I bought an HK 5 litre Monaro GTS in 1979 for AU$2,000.00 and sold it in 1983 for AU$4,000.00 thinking I had made an absolute killing! And it was a minter, full books no rust perfect mechanically and like new exterior and interior. I feel like crying. lol@@staceonwheels

@staceonwheels

6 ай бұрын

@COMEFLYWITHMELETSFLYAWAY my hubby had a lovely hatchback LX with SLR5000 kit and did the same. If only we all had known!

@theaustralianconundrum

6 ай бұрын

My 91 year old father bought a new XU-1 from City Holden Adelaide and traded it on a rubbish 2 litre Sigma when he sold real estate in QLD back in early 80's? Fairly sure the dealer did a swap and dad thought it was a bargain! OH DEAR!!!!!!!! @@staceonwheels

@staceonwheels

6 ай бұрын

@COMEFLYWITHMELETSFLYAWAY good grief!

I going say $11000, but nearly $17 wow 😳

@staceonwheels

12 күн бұрын

It adds up quick, hey!

@theaussienurseflipper.8113

12 күн бұрын

@@staceonwheels for sure

$4500, now to watch the rest of the vid and see how close I was....

@Shanes_Shed

8 ай бұрын

well I was way off😆

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

Scary, huh? 🤣🤣🤣

@Shanes_Shed

8 ай бұрын

Well for starters I wasn’t thinking of the cost for the engine and I’d forgotten how much machining you had done to the block

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

Exactly the machining was the biggie.

WOW I would’ve said 10 grand 17 is too much for me, but I’m probably out of touch The 308 is not the strongest block if you get them up to 450 hp that’s probably about it once you get to 500 hp. They’re just not strong enough to take it - the wall thickness and everything else and if you give it to it at 500 hp at the wheels, you’re basically driving a bomb …. Shes gonna blow So I don’t see them as being that good as much as I like them …..!!

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

Hehe she's gonna blow... you're prob right. But mine isn't built for power. It's learning, restoration, fun, and where my money goes that I saved after a whole lifetime not drinking alcohol 🤣🤣🤣

@thewholls7176

8 ай бұрын

@@staceonwheels or cigarettes I hope….!.!!!!

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

@thewholls7176 haha yes that too! It all adds up.

12000

@staceonwheels

6 ай бұрын

Not too far off...

I was thinking $65k so I was well off.

@staceonwheels

2 ай бұрын

Well your guess made me feel better about what I actually spent!🤣

$5500

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

Thanks for having a guess. Were you shocked at the end?

@biastv1234

8 ай бұрын

I was only considering machining costs of the short block and parts. I didn’t consider heads, gasket sets, starter motor, ignition and parts, timing cover and accessories. Yes, I was shocked, great job I look forward to the assembly

@staceonwheels

8 ай бұрын

@biastv1234 well you weren't too far off the block machining cost!

Yeah ok, I was wondering why it was in bits, I heard that 308 blocks can be fragile, but that is with a turbo, I can now understand why people go to Ls, but I do know the 308 is the choice of v8 in the drag racing crowd 😎 good luck 👍👍

In 1999 a fellow tradeschool student spent $5000 to have his motor rebuilt, but then one cylinder one way or another had hair line crack ,shocking I thort

@staceonwheels

4 ай бұрын

Very sad. I got mine crack tested thankfully. Fingers crossed it's all good!

What about assembly costs ,most people should have this work done professionally, especially if you are $17 k into it already, probably add another $10k 😮

@staceonwheels

4 ай бұрын

Nah, I have a Holden gold certified mechanic as a friend guiding me. Lucky!

Eek water jacket looks quite pitted, you would be best using a more modern block , 1999

@staceonwheels

3 ай бұрын

It was tested b the machine shop so I trust it. Another modern block wouldn't be a Holden 308 red motor, though.