407 replies to this topic

[mrlctorana]

Hey guys, I thought it was about time I put up some info on our current project. The only reason I was allowed to get the car was by convincing the other half that it would be her car and she could pick and choose how she wanted it, lol. So we found a car, an LX SL 4 door in drivable condition and after coming up with all the plans, working out a budget, ect, we sent the forms into transport with all the plans for the car from one end to the other and it was all approved with the only requirement being it has to be built and registered within 2 years, sweet. So it'll be all legal when finished.

Thanks to LS1LX and LS2LXHATCH as these guys have helped me out a lot so far, sorting things out and planning.

Here's the basic plan of the car, well my side of things. We have everything on the list except the motor as I've been using a 5.7l as a dummy block.

LS2 6.0l chev and T56 6 speed Manual Box
3.5" inch driveshaft with 1350 series unis
9" LSD rear, 31 Spline axles, 4:56 gears and VS commy Panhard rod setup
Boxed Lower trailing arms
UC upper and lower contorl arms on the front and HX stubs.
330mm Hopper Stoppers big brake conversion front
300mm Hopper Stoppers Bolt on rear disk conversion
Reco'ed Booster and 1" master
17x8 and 17x10 Billet Specialites rims
245/40/17 fronts, 315/35/17 rear
Castlemaine Chassis Kit and an extra cross brace welded in the cabin.

Her plans for the car were to fit the full A9X kit, flares, scoop and spoilers, ect, Metallic Purple and Black paint with the blackouts and SLR6000 stencils on the side and the rear spoiler, Billet Specialites Legend series wheels and a droptank. Then the inside will all be redone in standard SLR trim to keep things simple, No cage or harnesses. This is a photoshop we done and roughly how shes wants it although she had decided on showwheels hammer 5's at the time and just before I rang to order them she changed her mind, So for all I know the rest of her plans could change at any time!!! NO PINK THOUGH!!!



Heres a few pics of what we started with!











Theres a heap of progress pics to catch up on so I'll slowly put them up as I get time.

Cheers

[GML-31]

looked a clean starter... keep up the pics

[Heath]

Six speed manual behind a 6.0L in a box Torana? Ohhhhh man I hope this all goes ahead (even for your sake!)

[mrlctorana]

We started on the car in february so I've have had around 6 months on it so far, but working a fair bit so finding it hard to get too much done, and yeah the little fella loves to help out and get his hands dirty.

[mrlctorana]

Heres a few more pics, where I have fitted the flare kit, ect, About a weeks work in itself as I tried to be pretty fussy with the gaps but it paid off. Most of the kit fitted pretty well although some pieces needed heating and bending slightly to get the correct gaps. Also got the rear spoiler to fit nicely, then I removed the boot rubber stops, put grease on the rear quaters and filed the spoiler till it didn't hit the body. Last thing you want is a freshly painted car and someone slams the boot and chips the paint.








Old banjo out and new 9inch in, all bolted up nicely without any dramas and it was actuallty the right diff. The last one I bought for my LC turned up with all the mounts to suit LX and was about an inch longer, so I had to wait another 2 months.






Heres the new brake set-up, The old front disk rotor compared to the new front and rear disks, All bolted up nicely without any problems. Rear disk set-up was very simple, press of rear wheel bearings, replace old bearing retainer plate with the hoppers one, replace wheel bearings, used new ones even thought the others hadn't been used, just piece of mind. Then slip on your disk and bolt up the caliper, too nice.












More pic's to come soon.

[lxsstorana]

Great work!

Very well planned and organised.

Regards Mick.

[mrlctorana]

Thanks a lot guys, It took a fair bit of planning but it's definately paid off.

ronaldoredsox - yeh mate no worries, glad to help, lol. We'll just wait and see what it feels like the first time I get beside one them VE GTS's, then I'll let you know. Can't see us getting rid of it as its more of a family project and something that we can all go for a cruise in.

Heres a few more progress pics of the engine bay, I have trimmed the side rail seams and also trimmed the firewall seam just to give me that little extra clearance to play with. Have also filled all the useless holes in the engine bay and the brake line holes in the guard as we'll run them another way. The battery tray and the charcol canister bracket sections were also removed and replaced with flat sections. We are going for a kind of plain and simple look in the engine bay, so the battery will be going in the boot and the wiring will be hidden under all the guards.

[MRLXSS]

I really can't wait to see this build evolve! I have it bookmarked now! I really really want to put in a LS2 into my hatch in the future... But always scared off because it seems like a really big job and i dont have the resources to do it myself!

Great Work mate! Keep it up!!!

[mrlctorana]

Matt - Your hatch is tuff as the way it is already, I would have loved a hatch, but got out voted, lol. There is a lot of info on doing the conversion and a few guys on here who are very helpful, Yeh theres a lot of work involved but it's all worth it in the end. Cost wise it's probably not too bad compared to building a 308 to get the same sort of horsepower and then it's probably not going to be as reliable, but then there's something about and old carbied V8 sitting there lumping over that gets you attention.

TJ253 - Yeh it's burning, but i guess all projects do and thats why we planned out the car on paper before we'd even bought it, so guess it's not too bad although Im struggling to see where all the $$$ have gone so far, lol.

These pics are the front passangers side floor pan which was replaced and was not a pretty job.










This is the 5.7l which I've used as a dummy block and also the T56 6 speed box. I mounted it all in there, cut the tunnel to fit the box in there and then had a mate help out with making up the new tunnel. There is still one more piece to be made and tacked in place before it gets welded in fully. The gearbox is fairly long and actualy cuts into the cross brace that runs through the middle of the car as you can see in the pics. We spoke to the engineer before we cut it out and he said that was fine as long as we made another cross brace about a foot further back to keep the strength in the body. We also modified the crossmember a little to lift the box a bit higher for some extra clearance underneath.

[MRLXSS]

Nice, Looks like a big bloody gearbox! You have done a great job on the trans tunnel! Once its all carpeted up you probably won't know any different!

[racean69]

top job ....looking good

can I ask what did you do with the chassiss number along the rail?

[mr5000]

so you have to cut the tunnel to fit a t56 in a torry wered you get the cross member what you talking bout matt that you dont have the resources you have a carport your doin better than me

[antelopeslr5000]

so you have to cut the tunnel to fit a t56 in a torry

No.

[mrlctorana]

Thanks for all the comments guys, and yeah as said by antelopeslr5000 you dont have to cut the tunnel to fit the box in, there are places that can make the t56 box smaller and fit in the tunnel without modifications. But I decided to do it the hard way.

HatchmanSS76 - We had to do a little massaging to fit the rare's floor pan, But it came up ok and your right, it's a prick of a job, lol.

doogs - Rotisserie is awesome, makes things so much easier. Can't imagine doing half the work i've done already without it.

racean69 - Let just say it's lucky I take lots of photo's, and that I spent a lot of time on the phone with transport.


The rear tyres turned up yesterday and the new rims today, they should fill the guards up nicely. Also got the tunnel nearly finished with the last piece tacked into place.

[RIM-010]

In Tasmania actually, Matt Just came from SA originally. Don't worry, it got me excited aswell!

Really top quality build mate, can't wait to see it finished.

Tim