633 replies to this topic

[76lxhatch]

Edited by 76lxhatch, 21 July 2017 - 11:06 PM.

[76lxhatch]

Edited by 76lxhatch, 21 July 2017 - 11:07 PM.

[76lxhatch]

and a quick run-down on the specs as at now...

Engine
- 308ci, 30 thou over with flat top pistons (10.3:1 compression)
- 228@50 thou solid cam, 0.445 lift, Z28 valve springs
- Yella Terra adjustable roller rockers
- MSD 6A module, Blaster 2 coil, Accel billet dizzy, MSD leads
- High volume sump
- Romac balancer, toothed belt drive
- Quadrajet carb
- Tri-Y extractors

Brakes
- Front 290mm Hoppers Stoppers twin piston conversion (slotted)
- Rear 260mm Skyline solid/slotted discs
- Standard dual diaphragm booster
- Modified master cylinder 1 1/8" front circuit, 1" rear
- 14x6" K&N air filter

Suspension
- UC front end and steering rack
- Two uni joints on steering
- Urethane bushes throughout
- Boxed rear trailing arms
- Front Koni adjustable shocks
- Rear Monroe gas shocks
- Lowered springs
- Whiteline front mounted front sway bar
- Modified Commodore rear sway bar

Driveline
- 5 speed Toyota Supra gearbox with short shifter
- 3.08:1 Borg Warner diff ex Skyline with Lokka centre
- Modified driveshaft with large Ford rear uni
- 15x7" front wheels with 225/50/15 tyres
- 15x10" rear wheels with 265/50/15 tyres

Misc
- Triple core radiator with dual 12" electric fans
- 100L stainless drop tank
- Carter electric fuel pump
- Twin 2.25" exhaust under diff, no cross over
- Flares and spoilers, plain bumpers

Interior
- Custom SS trim
- Monza seats
- Alpine CD/MP3 stereo

[76lxhatch]

Thanks for the comments guys

There are quite a few bits and pieces that I didn't get time to sort out so will work on those as time permits, but for now I'm just happy to be driving it again!

[76lxhatch]

Looks good trying to work out where in NZ you are central Nth island perhaps?

Central yes, North Island no. Normally there would be more sun

[76lxhatch]

OK well I have mostly just been enjoying driving it again for the last few weeks. Have done a couple of short (maybe 200km round) trips as well as just driving around town, and it has performed perfectly. The brakes feel a lot better with the new master cylinder, and even the steering is more steady at high speeds just from changing the donut for a second uni joint.

Have tweaked a few small things like new water pump, some new bump stops for the doors, bonnet and number plate. Found a brand new performer manifold at a reasonably cheap price which will be an ideal replacement for the factory one which is starting to become a problem with corrosion around the water ports.



Scored a late model Quadrajet for free to go with it, which I've rebuilt with a few small mods. Also got the correct thermostat housing. Still looking for a spacer if I can get one, then all of this will go on some time in the next few weeks hopefully.

Edited by 76lxhatch, 21 July 2017 - 11:07 PM.

[lxsstorana]

Great looking hatchback.

You can't go wrong with a black and white colour scheme.

Mick.

[76lxhatch]

Well I decided to head out of town this weekend so yesterday morning I thought I'd better do the cooling system flush I've been meaning to get around to. Turns out coolant was leaking from all four corners of the jolly manifold, and the carb didn't look too great either. So one thing led to another and I ended up pulling the whole lot off and installing the new manifold and carb.

After I fixed all the little problems that popped up along the way, it seems to be running quite well. Still some more fine tuning to do but there's definitely some new power there

Plus no more leaks!

Edited by 76lxhatch, 21 July 2017 - 11:07 PM.

[76lxhatch]

A few small updates

Not long after I sorted the manifold and carb one of the old sealed beams died so I installed a pair of H4 conversion lights. Its amazing how much brighter they are even with similar wattage


Found some proper Pacemakers in near-new condition for a good price, fitted them a while ago which made a nice improvement to the note and smoothness (the original headers not only had tiny primaries but the flange was blocking around a third of the ports!)

(and I got them in without lifting the engine at all!)

Ran it down the strip again once this season, managed a personal best by a hundredth of a second which was a bit disappointing given the engine rebuild. The Lokka makes a massive difference with traction on street tyres but my 60 foot times are still abysmal, its all just a bit of fun though, who cares...

The bit I'm much happier with is that I can jump in and drive anywhere - did over 1500kms in the space of 3 days at the end of Feb at 5 minutes notice, and it got 11.5L/100km fuel economy! Its just so reliable and it always amazes me that it still gets the looks - I had a couple of young fellas taking photos of it in the Burger King drive thru at lunchtime today!

It would always be nice to have a bit more power though... after telling myself I couldn't afford it I went ahead and bought some big valve heads anyway:

Nothing flash but they're in good nick. The heads on it at present are completely standard and I've basically done everything around them so can't hurt...

Edited by 76lxhatch, 21 July 2017 - 11:08 PM.

[fatslr]

Good to hear your haveing so much fun with the car but you can't be driveing it hard enough with that sort of economy LOL
Big valve heads will really make a difference it would be worth getting someone to service and port them before you put them on especially if you want to make a gap on your old times.

Love the black and white hatches.

Garth

[76lxhatch]

Thanks Garth, yeah black and white hatches are the best Toranas

I was surprised at the economy too, can't help it when stuck in traffic I guess, will have to work on reducing it!

The heads have fresh valves, guides and seats so no work to be done there, I will definitely give them a tidy up and remove a few sharp edges etc and at least port match to the manifold before putting them on. I'll also check the chamber volumes and make any changes necessary to ensure I'm not going to increase the compression, its high enough already for iron heads and 95 octane fuel.

[Heath]

Excellent The economy sounds good. Give us some details of your run down the quarter; 60ft, E.T., MPH etc

I put 100/55 Watt H4s in my car and it's at least as good as modern cars but I did need to alter the loom with the help of a leccy mate.

[76lxhatch]

Give us some details of your run down the quarter; 60ft, E.T., MPH etc

Best ET 14.535 @98.46mph with 2.319 sec 60ft. 60ft times vary from a little over 2.1 to almost 2.5, I haven't quite cracked 100mph yet, best of 99. Terminal speed goes as low as 94mph odd if I muck around with gear choice at the top end (with similar ETs though) but mid track mph always hangs around 75.

Thats with the 3.08 diff ratio, I'm planning on changing back to the 3.9 as soon as I get a chance to modify the extractors so I can lift the gearbox to fix the high-speed driveshaft vibration (that'll fix the economy too ). It's all over the show with the manual gearbox and my driving, but I reckon it would have to be knocking on a very high 13 @100mph if I could get it all right.

I just noticed that rear brake light on your hatch glass,

Have you got any more info on it, it looks schmick.

Because the car was imported to NZ in 2005 different rules apply so I'm required to have a high stop lamp whereas the same vehicle first registered here prior to 1980 (or so, can't remember) doesn't have to...!

It had one of the common types on it when I bought it but it was hopeless for visibility, so I had a look around and bought this one. Its just a strip of LEDs, got it from Repco I think. Only problem is that its designed for flat glass so I had to add an extra layer of foam tape in the middle but you can't see it from a distance. If I was doing it again I'd make something neater and lower profile, its only a light.

[GML-31]

black and white hatches and 4 doors are the best colour, and yes I am biased...

[76lxhatch]

Hi Dan, front wheels are standard 15x7" S/S Cragar, pretty sure they only come in one backspacing which is somewhere just under 4" from memory (I'd like to swap them for 8" wide one day to fill the guards out). I don't know exactly what the front springs are as I've kept them from when I bought the car, they appear to be originally red so perhaps Cobra? At a guess I'd say probably around a super low King height, it has a UC front end and the tie rods sit at a reasonable angle, don't think I'd go any lower. Shocks are the basic orange Koni adjustable which made quite a difference. Also have a front mount Whiteline sway bar.

[TerrA LX]

Anyway, bottom end is now assembled:

I noticed the block was not decked this time, not that I deck them every time as it shortens the life of the block but it looks like the pistons were milled down, were they too tall?
How far down the bore are they?

[76lxhatch]

No milling, the pistons are straight out of the box. I avoided decking the block to keep the compression down, happily it measured up nice and square otherwise I would have needed to mill the pistons a little (not mention manifold fitting hassles etc). Pistons are 18 thou down which gives me approximately 10.3:1 static compression with the current combo. Existing head chambers are only 56cc, I'm keen to see what the new heads measure up at.