Article description: by Hatchblack and V6Hatch
Category: Engine
Date added: Sep 5 2008, 10:23 PM
Article starter: enderwigginau
V6 Commodore motor into a LH/LX Torana - a quick guide.
While the V6 conversion into an LH/LX is pretty straightforward there is more to it than first meets the eye.
A good conversion kit is a must. There are 2 major suppliers, CRS of course and V6 Conversions of Moree. Both are good but they are relatively expensive. Best to compare prices. The kit will consist of engine mounts, sump, oil pick up etc.
Once you have the conversion kit in hand don't forget that you will have to get a gearbox cross member and a new tail shaft to suit the gearbox you intend to use. If you use a Commodore T5 there is no need for a different bell housing or adapter.
With all this, you then have to consider rewiring the car to suit the more modern wiring loom of the Commodore and if you want to run your existing Torana oil and temperature gauges you will need adaptars. The wiring is a big job and unless you are very friendly with an auto electrician can be quite expensive.
Then there are the various brackets that have to be fabricated and welded into the engine bay to allow for the fitting of the fuse box, air intake, speedo cable ete etc. The best bet is to have an old Commodore wreck to take the brackets from.
Once the engine, gearbox, wiring and bracketry are done, the fuel system needs to be modified to suit fuel injection. This is not too difficult once you get the second fuel line in (to be used as a return line) and fit the 2 fuel pumps. In a hatch it all fits very nicely under the floor in the hatch area.
Nearly there???? Wait, have you forgotten that you will need to run cat convertors and have a fuel /oxygen sensor fitted to the exhaust.
To fit the throttle body into the engine bay you need to lip (trim) the seam on the firewall. Lipping of the seam on the firewall is a trial and error thing. Take a bit off and the try the throttle body, if it doesn't fit remove it and trim off a bit more. The trimming is easily taken care of with an angle grinder and a steady hand. Don't go at it too fast, little bits at a time are best.
Another trap is the heater box. This has to be modified as well to allow for the throttle body to fit. Again this is achieved by trial and error. We used cardboard mock-ups until we got the shape right then modified the heater box with lots of fibreglass and bag!
Then if you have gone to all this trouble you might as well fit the Commodore radiator and overflow system. A few more brackets but it all fits in quite nicely.
The battery needs to be moved from the left to right hand side of the engine bay - so that's more brackets to hold the battery tray!
The finally it all has to be engineered.
There is a lot to it but it can be done and it is a good exercise.
Hatchblack
(Need to organise some pics for this - ender)
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V6 Commodore Motor Into A Lh/lk Torana - A Quick Guide.
