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Micks LH build to this date

Started by _mick74lh_ , Jul 17 2010 10:34 PM

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#1 _mick74lh_

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Posted 17 July 2010 - 10:34 PM

G'day punters. I've been meaning to start a build thread on my Torry for a while and I was sitting at home feeling kind of knackered so what better time. This thread basically details what I've done to my Torry so far and I plan to include progressive crap that i do here and there on it.

I bought this car when i was sixteen, wanting to build up a grouse Torana like the ones I had seen in Street Machine. I looked at an LJ before purchasing this LH. It was running a 173/trimatic and the body was in pretty good condition. There was rust in the doors and front quarters but when i stripped it back, found that the shell itself was relatively rust free and straight. I remember procastinating for about three or four months before some mates came around and helped me pull it to bits one school holidays. We had it completely stripped in just over a week and then i shit myself, cos i was now locked into a massive project that i didn't know how the hell to do.

There were so many areas of this project that I spent unneccessary labour on because more efficient methods hadn't yet occurred to me. And some elements of the finished product are still kind of shit, but these things have all taught valuable lessons.

This is what it looked like to start off with:
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And this is when we started to strip it. these photos amuse me
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Next i spent what seemed like forever obsessively srtipping every bit of the car to bare metal
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Pulled the front end to bits and cleaned it up with a toothbrush and jar of petrol
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After my mate's dad welded rust repair sections into the lower front quarters and i replaced the really rusty rear passenger side door with a better one, I painted the underside of the car in that shultz crap. With the shell on the highest notch of the axle stands and wearing a pair of sunglasses and rubber gloves, I sprayed the shultz on and got a fair bit on the walls of the garage. But it came up okay.
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Next i rebuilt the front and rear suspension with new rubber bushings, standard rear springs and King lowered front springs. The mounts for the K frame and steering rack are urethane.
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#2 MRLXSS

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Posted 17 July 2010 - 10:37 PM

Good shit mate! I was actually looking the other day to see if you had a thread up of your car!!!

You have a sweet looking rig!

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#3 Heath

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Posted 17 July 2010 - 10:41 PM

About time Graybo!

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#4 _Brad1979UC_

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Posted 17 July 2010 - 10:58 PM

Eyyy good stuff mate, I remember all this, damn It sat for a long time in bare metal in the garage! Runs like a watch now though, can rely on the 253, pulled the UC nicely today

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#5 _mick74lh_

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Posted 17 July 2010 - 11:49 PM

I'll try and make this chronological. Didn't know how many images it would let you put in one post.

Anyway, I trial fitted the hanging panels a couple of times mainly as practise for when everything was finally painted, but also to check and align gaps.
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And painted the inside of the boot in black acrylic, using a suction feed gun, and made a mess of it. But managed to rub out most of the damage for an okay result.
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Looking good mate
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The primer coats were when I started to use a gravity feed gun. Much nicer to use and you don't have to run voilent air pressure through it.
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The colour is Ford Breeze, which i chose after sitting in a BA XR8 at the motor show and nearly gizzing my pants.
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Now as i said, I made shitload of mistakes when building this car. A big one was painting the exterior on a 40degree day. Cos it fitted in well with work at the time and I had set myelf goals for before I had to start the next year of uni. Off the gun it came up so orange peely that i was ashamed to take more than one photo of it. This is the only photo i can find of the car at this stage. I must have been pretty pissed off with myself! It took bloody months to rub back aswell. You can see the difference between the roof and the bonnet.
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Here it is rubbed back. I had sore arms but at least it looked half decent.
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At about that time an engine came up that a bogan who knows a bogan was selling so i bought it. It was a blue 253 out of a VH Commoodore. But it sat for probably another nine months or so while I did uni crap and sorted out other bits and pieces on the car.

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#6 _mick74lh_

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 12:08 AM

I bought a six cylinder M20 not knowing that the V8 ones are run a longer input shaft. So ended up buying a V8 input shaft off ebay and converting that box to suit the V8. I made lots of stupid little mistakes like trying to use the six cylinder thrust bearing retainer and wondering why the thrust bearing kept getting stuck against it when I took the car around the block.

Speco twin lever shifter was a swap meet bargain.

So I stripped the engine to find lots of vegemite. But the bores were okay. I wanted a minimum overbore and they only needed to be taken out 8 thou over standard.
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And assembling the expensive mechano set: I had Bakers engineering recondition and shave some material off the heads (though i'm embarrassed that i can't remember how much) and machine finish the inlet ports. I go them to machine and lighten the flywheel, press new cam bearings into the block and press the piston/conrod/gudgeon pin assemblies together for me. I remember not playing any music while assembling the engine and not letting anyone help me (except to slide the pistons into the bores), cos I couldn't afford to stuff it up.
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#7 _dirtbag_

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 12:10 AM

Nice work Mick. Looks excellent. I love seeing people take these jobs on themselves. It will inspire others I'm sure.

Did you paint it in acrylic or 2pac?

Wow, it even has a proper gearbox!!!! Good for you.

Edited by dirtbag, 18 July 2010 - 12:11 AM.

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#8 rodomo

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 12:26 AM

Wow, it even has a proper gearbox!!!! Good for you.

YEAH! An Aussie 4 speed! :rockon:

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#9 _mick74lh_

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 12:33 AM

I had a guy come and fit the front and rear screens, and he did a really good job. If anyone from around the Knox area is looking for someone to fit their glass i would recommend him and could probably find his number somewhere.
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Here are some pics of us fitting the motor. Brad as always was a big help. The six months between fitting the motor and actually getting the car going and registered contained lots of anger and swearing. As most people on this forum would understand, when you do up a car there's always so many little things to do that you would never have thought of. The gearbox came in and out several times while I sorted out the clutch.

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I got all the bundy tube for my brake lines from enzed and remember the guy there giving me the heads up that its illegal to make your own brake lines unless you carry some special qualification. I told him not to worry; that i can trust my own work. Well made up all the flared fittings and put it all together and a couple of mates came over one night to help me bleed the brakes. When about five big puddles of brake fluid formed on the ground underneath the car apparently that was the most angry they've ever seen me. So i had to do it all again and actually took care to make the double flares perfect.

Eventually I got it registered and have driven it shitloads ever since. We did a trip from Melbourne up to Bundaberg the week after getting it registered. And it went awesome.
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I think this is going to the Knox cruise night.
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#10 _mick74lh_

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 12:39 AM

Did you paint it in acrylic or 2pac?

I used acrylic. It was my first sprayjob and I wanted something that was 'forgiving'. With acrylic I find it easy to rub out mistakes.

And i sprayed it in my parents' garage which connects directly onto the house. It made the inside of the house smell sensational!

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#11 _dirtbag_

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 12:56 AM

Yeah, I love acrylic for home jobs. It's unbeatable really for the result you get compared to how cheap it is.

I have to admit, I too like the smell. I love walking into the garage the day after painting a car. mmmm.....smelly yummy...... : )

Big Pineapple is only about 5-10 minutes from my place. Just because you have no idea who I am or where I live doesn't mean you couldn't have come over and said hello : ) hahaha

Again, nice job on the car. Looks excellent.

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#12 _BAILLIE_

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 01:05 AM

Great thread, looks like you've done well mate.

Everything seems simple and do-able when layed out like that.

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#13 tsn007

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 08:01 AM

great work,and all of your own blood sweat and tears, this car will know be part of your life forever

I am so happy (tears in my eyes) to see a younger person that is into Torana's like of all of US !!
it makes me feel proud that this 35 year old car has become your dream car, enjoy it

it has even inspired me to try and do some things myself on my car

Long live Torana's

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#14 _rob350hatch_

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 08:22 AM

great work,and all of your own blood sweat and tears, this car will know be part of your life forever

I am so happy (tears in my eyes) to see a younger person that is into Torana's like of all of US !!
it makes me feel proud that this 35 year old car has become your dream car, enjoy it

it has even inspired me to try and do some things myself on my car

Long live Torana's

yes you said everything i wanted to say.ive met a couple of young blokes in the last few weeks that have done this.it does give you that feeling doesnt it.he should be very proud of himself.thats it im going down the shed.

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#15 Ruts

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 09:02 AM

great work,and all of your own blood sweat and tears, this car will know be part of your life forever

I am so happy (tears in my eyes) to see a younger person that is into Torana's like of all of US !!
it makes me feel proud that this 35 year old car has become your dream car, enjoy it

it has even inspired me to try and do some things myself on my car

Long live Torana's
yes you said everything i wanted to say.ive met a couple of young blokes in the last few weeks that have done this.it does give you that feeling doesnt it.he should be very proud of himself.thats it im going down the shed.

Liar, you have no room in your shed it's full of bloody cars. You can't even open the doors. YOU ARE MY HERO.

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#16 Ruts

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 09:08 AM

By the way mick74lh, congrats on the build you did a top job. Like Dirtbag said it's good to see someone have a go themselves.

Ruts

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#17 _Viper_

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 09:51 AM

Looks great mate, good work doing it all yaself

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#18 mr5000

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 10:22 AM

i love it gray looking at the port jobs look very similar to mine except mine only cost 50 bux for a few carbide burs
i would have loved to have more time and space then maybe i woulda had a crack at my paint job instead of getting a butcher to do it

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#19 MRLXSS

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 10:31 AM

Awesome thread mick!!!! You've have done an absolutely fantastic job on this car!!!! To drive it to QLD is a testament to how well you built it! I'd never trust my car on a drive that far!

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#20 _mick74lh_

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 11:31 AM

Yeah, I love acrylic for home jobs. It's unbeatable really for the result you get compared to how cheap it is.

I have to admit, I too like the smell. I love walking into the garage the day after painting a car. mmmm.....smelly yummy...... : )

Big Pineapple is only about 5-10 minutes from my place. Just because you have no idea who I am or where I live doesn't mean you couldn't have come over and said hello : ) hahaha

Again, nice job on the car. Looks excellent.

Ha yeah sorry dirtbag. If I had have known I would have dropped by. Would have liked to spend more time in Nambour but we really didn't allow ourselves enough time to do more stuff at the places we stopped on that trip. I would like to check out some of your projects in the flesh.

i love it gray looking at the port jobs look very similar to mine except mine only cost 50 bux for a few carbide burs

Hey Ryan I thought that when you showed me those heads. Ah well.

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#21 _mick74lh_

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 11:43 AM

Here are a few photos of around and under and inside the car pretty much as it currently stands. I have a few small (mainly cosmetic) changes in progress for the engine bay and will post them up when they're done.
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A mate took these photos when we went on a drive up through Omeo and Mt Hotham last year. He convinced his dad to let him borrow the HQ SS for the weekend, which was awesome, except that its battery kept going flat.
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#22 _torriechick_

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 11:51 AM

Haha whoa, I love your car. When i saw it at the heathcote drags I was like, whoaa i love that colour haha

it looks awesome!

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#23 _rob350hatch_

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Posted 18 July 2010 - 12:23 PM

great work,and all of your own blood sweat and tears, this car will know be part of your life forever

I am so happy (tears in my eyes) to see a younger person that is into Torana's like of all of US !!
it makes me feel proud that this 35 year old car has become your dream car, enjoy it

it has even inspired me to try and do some things myself on my car

Long live Torana's
yes you said everything i wanted to say.ive met a couple of young blokes in the last few weeks that have done this.it does give you that feeling doesnt it.he should be very proud of himself.thats it im going down the shed.

Liar, you have no room in your shed it's full of bloody cars. You can't even open the doors. YOU ARE MY HERO.

ah well ruts im down one hatch so ive got a little bit more room.if you hear your dogs barking one night its not me.when you finish it youll have to change your name to rutss.
mick looks like you have some mates with good cars as well. the ss holden awesome. make sure you stick some more pics next time you are all out for cruize.

Edited by rob350hatch, 18 July 2010 - 12:27 PM.