40 replies to this topic

[LXCHEV]

Hey guys,

A lot of people on these forums are already familiar with my long term pride & joy 'LXCHEV' sedan, however I doubt many people know much about my LX Hatchback. So I thought I'd start a thread showing the history of the car since I've owned it, and bombard you all with a million photos.

The reason I bought this hatchback was simply that I needed a new daily driver. LXCHEV was costing too much, and rather than buy a boring car, I wanted another Torana. You see, I have genuine Torana blood in my veins, and being able to enjoy driving a Torana every day has always been high on my list of priorities. Anyone else who has a genuine Torana daily driver will know what I'm talking about - the day to day experiences are just awesome, and it makes you keen to get out of bed each day knowing you're going cruising to work!

Anyway.... here's the first few photos I took, mid 2005, as I bought it...

Factory 4.2 V8, aussie 4 speed SL....

It had been parked in a local industrial area with a For Sale sign on it for a couple of weeks. I ended up dropping in for a chat and walked away the new proud owner.... it didn't take me long to realise the appeal of a hatchback.. not only do they look cool, but they are so practical too for carrying stuff in the back..

Note some of the awesome granny pack features: sexy rear louvres, mud flaps, bumper bar over-riders, 13" stockies, tiny 2 barrel carby, 4WD stance, and of course the massive pea-shooter exhaust out the back.... I loved it

My beast, day 1:

[Statler]

The first thing i thought was.... that needs a GTS steering wheel!

[Tiny]

It's got an SL/R dash!!

Love it Brett!! Cant wait to see more of this thread too!

[MRLXSS]

Hurry up and show us the rest of the pics!! Slacko!

[knoath]

Looks like you didn't need to do much of a clean up on her Brett.
How do you go getting the little one in and out?
It absolutely killed my back!!!

Didn't realise it was manual untill I saw the pics.

Next up... pics of those horn wheels!!!

[LXCHEV]

Statler - LOL, yes the original steering wheels aren't the prettiest things in the world. Guns N Roses helped me out with a GTS/SLR style one for it a bit later down the track. Tiny, I was rapt it already had the SLR dash too.

SS - how much do you want for those tips???!!! hahaha kidding. But yeah, the condition of this thing was fantastic. Not perfect, but very very good. I'm pretty sure it's never been bingled. There's just a few small minor areas where I need to pay some attention to the dreaded old rust. But it's an extremely good example overall.

patch - I do have big plans to rebuild this thing one day - but in such a way where it's pretty much stock, rather than modified (as in, no flares or engine conversions etc).

More pics soon...

[LXCHEV]

knoath - I haven't had the little tacker in the hatchback yet. But we will soon, I can just imagine it will be a pain in the ass, but Brocky will love cruising in it I'm sure.

You are spot-on too - it took bugger-all to get it cleaned-up and on the road. I actually bought it with no reg and no RWC (got it HEAPS cheaper this way).

I was itching to get this beast registered, so I booked in for a roadworthy.... the only things required were:

* A couple of tyres (I had some spare rims at home already with great tyres, so this was free)
* A few brake light and indicator globes
* New rear brake drums
* Patching up a hole in the exhaust tailpipe

And I bought a brand new, blemished stock battery for $35. That was it, easiest roadworthy EVER! Cost me under $70, I was rapt.

It got even better though, the car came with some spare parts. The previous owner thought it needed new front disks and bearings, which he'd bought, so these came with the car. However after I did some checking and measuring, I discovered nothing was wrong with the existing front brakes at all. So I sold off the spare parts and got some good cash for them! Paid for everything I had to do for roadworthy, as well as the RWC itself, and then still had some beer money left over

So within a week or so, off to Vicroads we went and she was officially on the road... breezed through no probs. Time to fit the new plates that Debz had bought for me...the subtle mods are beginning!



What a weapon, check out the 4WD stance!!



Cruizin' home...





More stocky pics...

[LXCHEV]

Height comparison test with a mates lowered Torrie...









By now, the rear louvre was removed, as well as the bumper bar over-riders.

Brand new Rare Spares GTS side mirror... so much nicer than the factory miror:

[LXCHEV]

Around October '05 I was surfing these forums, and Sam (MAWLER) had some rims advertised for sale. I wasn't actually looking for new rims, but something about them really grabbed my attention.

This was Sam's car that he was stripping/selling off for parts at the time....





Temptation got the better of me again, and Sam kindly agreed to let me trial fit them just to see what they'd look like. It was such a massive difference that I couldn't resist. And home I came with a new set of 16" Dragway DB69 billets!! The funny thing is, normally I hate Tri-Spoke rims with a passion, but these just suited the hatchback like a dream.

Fronts are 16 x 7 with 205/50's and the rears are 16 x 8 with 225/50's. Just a nice, neat look....



But damn this thing DESPERATELY needed lowering!!!!!!!!!! Dorky 4WD suspension <shudder>



Cruising Phillip Island racetrack during Kustom Nats '06:





Who remembers knoath's photochop of that photo many years ago....



That is what finally motivated me to get some proper springs in her....

At last, some street cred:









My two babies together:





Cruising home after entering Springnats '06:



I love these rims! It's such a different car now..

[fatslr]

I can't believe another awsome hatch thread


I thought your 4 door was insane but at this point your new "daily" is starting to look too nice to be a daily ?

Thank god you removed the lift kit lol.

Garth

[TerrA LX]

A real nice looking hatch, cant wait till you blow up the G/box and diff hahaha.

[LXCHEV]

Cheers guys.

Yeah that was my parents joint in Ferntree Gully. Did you live in the area too?

Garth - I am going to bury the old springs in the desert, so that no Torana ever has to sit that high again

A real nice looking hatch, cant wait till you blow up the G/box and diff hahaha.

Funny you say that... the banjo is still going strong, but I did blow a gear in the Aussie 4 speed. I don't drive this car very hard, so it must have been pretty crook to go bang. Anyway, rather than replace the 4 speed for another one, I decided to fit a Supra 5 speed. I used to have a Celica 5 speed in my other car behind the 202, and I always remembered how nice it was, so the decision was easy. As luck would have it, I was chatting to the owner of a local speed shop who I'd become good mates with, and he mentioned he had a hotty 253 / Supra 5 speed setup he didn't want. He said I could take it all for $600 as long as I removed it myself... awesome!!! So I got the worked 253, Supra box, CRS conversion kit, all the clutch bits, exhaust manifolds, tailshaft etc etc... what a bargain.

Here's the donor car I removed it from, this thing soon after went to the scrap metal yard I believe...









So I fitted up the Supra box to my current engine to keep the car on the road. But as soon as I find some time, I plan to pull down this other 253 and freshen it up. Apparently it was a great engine that beat a few 308's in it's time, but it's pretty tired these days. A cheap freshen up would be a fun project though and give the old girl a bit more punch. Long term, I'd love to fit a nice 308.... but I'm in no hurry.

[TerrA LX]

Yeah, good move with the toyo box, giving a freshen to a 253 myself atm, head gaskets are expensive

[MRLXSS]

Did you ever drop that motor in? Or did that end up going into your old mans Torry when it went bang?

[LXCHEV]

Still haven't touched this motor yet, it's tucked away in the garage awaiting some attention! My old man built up another 253 when his gave up (by the way, that's my old man's red LH pictured above for those who don't know it. This car will be for sale in the future).

Edited by LXCHEV, 27 July 2010 - 10:27 AM.

[LXCHEV]

Not a Chrysler Mick... you have probably spotted the old Rambler, I think it's a '660' Classic. Cool body shape I reckon! One day I'd like to fix it up, it's been outside forever though, pretty sad now.

Paul, it's amazing the difference getting back into the blue beast, polar opposite cars, but the hatch is ace for cruising, it's much more relaxing, LOL. It's been repainted before, some of the paint is excellent, others areas are getting a bit worse for wear now sadly. PS. Nah, my Dad will be moving on from the mighty Torana, he's got a VS wagon now.