LX Torana

Posted 31 March 2010 - 11:06 AM

Hai,

Thought I'd start a thread of the ongoing rebuild to my '76 LX Torana. I've owned this car for about 5-6 years now, previously my father owned it..he gave up on trying to get it on the road as it was. My old UC Hatch was dead, so I ended up with this for my birthday! Greatest birthday present ever mind you!

I'll admit, I had her sitting in the garage locked up for quite a few years myself..and it's not until last year that funds permitted, that I actually had some work done to her.

Motor: V8, 253ci.
Carb: 2 Barrel Stromberg
Gearbox: 3 Speed Traumatic
Diff: Unknown.
Springs/Shocks: Original Springs that came from factory.
Wheels/Tread: R14x7 Hotwires with Bridgestone R14/225/65 all round.

^As she was!

She was a nice looking car, however all those years my father owned the car, it was sitting out in the weather and when I managed to get my hands on her rust had started coming through. I noticed a couple of pin prick holes, and decided overnight what my plan would be. The next morning, I decided a total rebuild would be best, as I want her to last me another 30 years (hopefully! hahaha) so I started digging out all the rust holes I could find. The hardest part, was actually finding a Panel Beater who was willing to plate/weld the car.

Edited by 76_LX, 31 March 2010 - 11:07 AM.

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Posted 31 March 2010 - 11:14 AM

3 out of 4 doors were replaced due to extensive rusting, luckily I had spare doors already sitting in the shed from a couple of previous Torana's I've owned and stripped/got rid of. As well as 2 new replacement guards added - no idea of their condition, they were already in primer (bought from someone in Perth). So new panels were on. And rust dug out. Both sides of the car were actually equally rusted in the same spots! o_O

Pics of all the rust that needs to be cut.

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Posted 31 March 2010 - 11:45 AM

Meanwhile back in the shed, while looking at the stereo components that I had all leftover from my UC Hatch I decided I'd start measuring up the boot for the stereo install. Figured I could start on that while I had all the parts, and had nothing else to do while saving $$ for the Panel Beating.

I had discovered that in the tyre well on one side was sitting up higher than the other. So I banged it, it wobbled and immediately grabbed the screwdriver and stabbed it. Much to my anger, I had found the whole left hand rear quarter panel was just Sikaflex molded to look like the panel and painted over top. I think I ended up swearing a few thousand times, and cursing whatever JockSteve who previously owned the car before my father. Gotta love backyard wannabe panel beaters don't ya?! *curses* Tried to just scrape the Sikaflex out, but it doesn't get you anywhere...so in the end I took to it with the angle grinder and cut the entire piece out.

Didn't really wanna dig around on the other side in case I found more dodgy PB skills, so I had gone down and purchased 2x new rear quarter panels from Rare Spares for both sides. Already had the beaver panel replacement for a previous Torana I had which didn't end up getting used. And threw them in the backseat of the Torana and left it for awhile.

Eventually I calmed down a couple of weeks later, and decided to contact every PB South of Perth I could find, even a couple in Perth too (out of probably the 80 PB's I had contacted 5-8 of them would actually touch the rust). I was roughly quoted around the $4-5k mark. Back to the slow process of saving even harder for the rust to be done. Finally, a mate of mine who owned a Panel Beating shop had contacted me, asking if I still needed the work done on the Torana. Of course I said yes, but however couldn't afford to pay for it. He explained he was selling up, and to just bring it in with everything I wanted done marked out in white texta. I did as he asked, and away he went working on her. She spent a total of 2 months at the Panel Beaters, where he worked on her in his spare time. I was also in no rush for it to retire back to it's garage.





L/H rear quarter panel welded in.


Luckily, the R/H rear quarter didn't need to be replaced. He just re-welded a little bit of it where the rust was starting to go through the previous weld.




These holes were plated and then bogged. You can also see that I had all the studs for the chrome strips grinded off and had the hole for the Antenna plated/welded too (as there is already one on the roof, which was just easier to leave there instead of risking warping the roof in trying to weld that).


Had noticed a 50c coin sized bubble in the pillar the week it went to the PB, didn't bother digging it out. Instead, drew a huge circle around it with an arrow saying 'have a look at this'. PB rung and told me that it was indeed a huge rust hole that he plated/welded as well.

Edited by 76_LX, 31 March 2010 - 11:58 AM.

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Posted 31 March 2010 - 12:06 PM

Picked her up from the PB's and handed over 2x bottles of OP Rum (what they asked for as payment) and away back in the garage she goes, until I've now got the $$ for the paint job. Eventually done a ring around for quotes on paint, and wasn't surprised when they'd all said around the same ($4-$5k mark) for Panel Beating for a damn paint job. Left her in the shed for a good 9 months, until a mate of mine in Perth had nagged me if I'd got the Paint done yet. I replied with a firm no, can't afford it yet. And my mate ended up giving me a number of a guy that lives close to me (whom he goes out 4WD'n with) that would be able to help me out with a cheap and decent paint job, as he already had another Torana to paint too.

Ended up contacting the guy, became the best of friends..told him I was in no real rush to have it painted, which he was kinda pleased about. 7 months later, we're dating. Naww. And the Torana is STILL sitting in the garage...and the Torana he was already working on, still currently in his backyard 2 years and counting. Told him that if I did most of the prep work for the Torana that's in the yard he cant paint it asap, and get rid of the bloody thing. SO of course, we've just started this (2 weeks ago now - Mid March).

Meanwhile we've had boring non 4WD Adventures/Comps/Events weekends at home I decided to start sanding those guards in primer as the other half requested so we can see what was under the primer. I wish I hadn't of! Hahaha

Back to baremetal it goes!



And look what I find? Someone had previously smashed those guards, tried re-welding..and well, generally made a mess of it. And lets just say, I didn't bother going and finishing sanding the guards back to baremetal because I didn't see the damn point! Went back to my parents place (where my supply of Torana stuff is kept hidden away) and grabbed another set of guards out of the shed. Haven't thrown these out however, cuz you may not know when you're desperate enough to use the bloody things!

Got new replacements from the shed, started sanding one of them back to baremetal while Gunwash was soaking on the roof of the OTHER Torana. YAYS! Finally we have a winner. Perfect guard, apart from one tiny little rust hole down the bottom, which will be welded up soon.

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