703 replies to this topic

[notna]

All good Mort.... most of my measuring is based on dimensions, reference points and squareness after the new sections were installed. Matt had previously mentioned to check these things.

I'll wait to see what matt suggests in regard to reinforcement plates. Easily done though and I have some nice metal plate kicking around that will be perfect for the job :-)

[Mort]

Cool, wasn't sure as some of the simplest things are over looked sometimes.

[notna]

While I think of it, I wanted to share with you all my inspiration behind the resto.

This was my first car in 1990. Purchased as a hot 6 and then converted to a mild 253.

 Torana1.jpg   131.23K   3 downloads

In 1991 it was wrapped around a Nissan Pulsar, tree, brick wall and 2 box trailers. I still don't know how I walked away from that one! The other side was just as bad!

 Torana2.jpg   99.62K   3 downloads

2 years and 2 more Toranas later, I bought this one from a car yard on Parramatta Rd in Sydney. It was a totally original Mandarin Red L32 manual SL/R, with original donk and all. Sadly I don't have any pics of it until I started to bastardise it.

Out went the 253 and manual box, which sat in my parents garden to rot then be dumped. Out went the original seats for Commodore ones. On went flares. In went a 308 with Stage 2 TH350 trans. On went Chrome Yellow paint.

 Torana3.jpg   53.01K   3 downloads

 Torana4.jpg   56.44K   2 downloads

 Torana5.jpg   25.28K   3 downloads

It looked pretty good when I think about it. It went hard. Used to chirp the rear wheels when shifting. I blew 4 diffs in it, and while changing the last one my spanner slipped off the nut and hit my front tooth, shattering it. That was the final straw and after finishing the diff center replacement, it was promptly sold and I never owned another Torana, until now......

I still feel guilty about bastardising that SL/R..... which is truly why I have chosen to buy another L32 manual SL/R, and restore it back to 100% original condition. When it's all done, nothing will top the amount of pride I will have in it.

So there you go..... the story behind Project Papaya!

[notna]

Today I did this repair. I see MANY people on this forum shaving their chassis rails for that clean and neat look, but I am yet to see someone do THIS ONE..... the reverse...... and replace the standard chassis rail lips on already shaved chassis rails!

Again, I want this SL/R to be as per factory, circa 1976, so this is the kinda thing I have to do. In all honesty I love this kind of work, so it was a nice job for me to take on.

Shaved rail and standard rail lip held in plce with a couple of spots....

 005.jpg   124.3K   2 downloads

The same rail with the lip fully welded in place....

 025.jpg   126.73K   3 downloads

And with welds dressed.....

 027.jpg   134.75K   2 downloads

And the same on the other side, for good measure....

 024.jpg   136.2K   3 downloads

 028.jpg   136.4K   4 downloads

Both sides came out just as I had imagined.... PERFECT!

.....next will be the fitting of replacement battery tray and same panel on opposite side of engine bay.

[notna]

Cheers Mark. Always good to meet a fellow PAPAYA owner, even though you saw the very dark side and bought a UC! lol

John, will do over the weekend OK.

[notna]

Made some progress over the weekend. I actually had the house to myself for the whole weekend, and I spent all of it in the garage finishing off my engine bay repairs. My SL/R is NOW at teh stage that I thought it would be when I bought it. All of the repairs I have carried out so far I didn't anticipate having to do, as I bought it sight unseen and none of this was mentioned in teh advert.

Anyway..... Welded in a new battery tray.

BEFORE:

 PS_before.jpg   82.76K   20 downloads

AFTER:

 SDC12291.jpg   91.43K   16 downloads

And the same panel on the opposite side.....

BEFORE:

 DS_before.jpg   82.41K   11 downloads

AFTER:

 SDC12293.jpg   102.39K   18 downloads

 SDC12298.jpg   104.84K   11 downloads

Then I clamped and welded the radiator support back on.

 SDC12300.jpg   90.84K   9 downloads

And spot welded aaaaallll the bits and pieces together.

 SDC12302.jpg   107.12K   7 downloads

 SDC12309.jpg   101.6K   5 downloads

The I rubbed it all back with some wet & dry.....

 SDC12327.jpg   94.27K   7 downloads

And gave it a hit of PPG etch Primer.

 SDC12335.jpg   102.25K   12 downloads

 SDC12332.jpg   93.32K   8 downloads

And now I'm ready to leave it for another month... ... and then remove the subframe nd start stripping the underside and get the whole front end ready for paint. That's for another day......

[notna]

Cheers guys.

Rad support lined up really well with the chassis rails and inner skirt / battery tray, and I was pleased with my work ( of course ). The inner guards were a PITA however, as I think they were lower than their true position, which was probbaly a result of the front ender it must have had years ago. I got there though, and trial fitting of the front guards was perfect!

I had a panel beater repair the chassis number panel. All done legit. I didn't want to touch it myself!

[notna]

Massive thanks to forum member 'weedy' who sold me the perfect motor for my SL/R. As you all know, this resto is a factory original one (without getting too carried away, as i have done in the past). Yea it's nice to have massive HP and cubic inches, but sometimes in life it;s also nice to have massively matching numbers and cubic correctness

I wanted an HR block 253 that was cast as close as possible to that which is correct for my car. I had been told that about 3 months prior to compliance date is about right, but finding that would truly be a miracle. This one is an HR engine number block, cast in the same month and year as my SL/R. If you can't find the exact, that that will bloody well do me as "close enough"!!!

PIC.....

 IMG_0757.JPG   133.46K   5 downloads

I've also started to strip the interior from my SL/R. All the dash and stuff is pretty straight forward.....

 SDC12404.jpg   150.29K   3 downloads

However..... when it comes to wiring and auto-electrics, I panic and think OMFG what have I done. I guess i will worry more about this in years to come when I'm trying to refit it!!

 SDC12403.jpg   157.35K   2 downloads


As always.. more to come. Bought some parts from a guy up north and I have to make a road trip to pick them up next weekend

[notna]

Lee, seriously.... that DOES make me feel a whooooole lot better!!!

[notna]

Progress..... yes, Papaya is in season!!

With my engine bay repairs completed and suitably in etch primer until I'm ready to smooth it all out and prime, I felt it necessary to trial fit my front panels. I had been reading a LOT of members resto threads, and doing some research into panel alignment, and I started to get a bit worried about how mine would line up, given the nature of the repairs I had done so far.

My suspicions were true, and I soon found that the front apron didn't like the alignment of the aftermarket radiator support rust repair section. The bolt holes on the very bottom were not lining up too well. A little bit of adjusting soon got that right.

 123.JPG   212.55K   8 downloads

Then I decided to hang the front guards. Both guards I had were the originals off the SL/R. Both were rusty and both had the lip rolled in a less than ideal manner. The drivers side guard had shocking panel alignment.... as you can see here...

 129.JPG   195.25K   1 downloads

I decided to seek out replacement guards, and soon picked up something half decent off eBay for $50 ish. It looked OK. The lip hadn't been rolled and it only had minor rust in the usual place. An easy repair I thought. Previously I had wrecked a UC, and I wisely cut out the bottom of both front guards, as they were MINT. Here you can see the guard i bought and the decent bit off the UC.

 150.JPG   212.85K   3 downloads

Next I maked out the section I wanted to remove from the new guard, and the same from the UC guard. Chop chop and oh oh....

 151.JPG   219.78K   1 downloads

The next pic shows the 2 sections of front guard that I had removed. On the top is the UC guard. It was IMMACULATE on the outside, with a little rust on the rear. Below it is the new eBay guard section, rooted on the outside and starting to be on the inside too.



Here is a closer view of the "GOOD" guard section. Despite the corrosion you can see there, this piece of guard is excellent! So from here I had a plan..... to take the best bits from both sections of front guard, and make one totally good section of guard.



So I cut "a piece from here and a piece from there" (a quote from Mad Max)... and this is what I was wanting to achieve....



And this is it.... perfecto!!!!



So I lined up the replacement section with the existing guard, and ......



Welded it in place, obviously!



And while you may think that this is a huge weld with a bit of guard attached, when I trilal fitted it to my SL/R, with front apron, it was SO DAMN PERFECT that I had to crack a beer, sit back and go.... "FWOOORRRRRR!!!"



That'll do me for now..... more to come, when I can be assed! ;-)

Edited by notna, 14 May 2011 - 07:33 PM.

[notna]

Nice one Lee! Where's ya pics??? You should fear the rad support mate! It's a bitch!

I didn't get around to dressing my welds. My neighbours HATE me... I do all this shit on the front driveway, and it echo's accross the road badly!