192 replies to this topic

[76lxhatch]

Outer piece installed

Edited by 76lxhatch, 21 July 2017 - 10:54 PM.

[76lxhatch]

Cut a scallop into the inner guard beside the battery tray for the filler neck of the Commodore washer bottle, which will mount underneath the battery tray

Edited by 76lxhatch, 21 July 2017 - 10:54 PM.

[Stinga]

nice job on the washer bottle!

[76lxhatch]

OK I have been doing a little bit on this here and there so time for a small update. Stripped the paint off the roof, found a small dent (looks like something has been dropped on it) which I think I can improve on in metal before filling but no nasty surprises.


Decided that I wanted to smooth the inner guards a little more by removing the raised piece in the middle (the proportioning valve normally mounts here on the driver side).



I'm using an early Commodore radiator so used the matching bottom mounts and made some up for the top.



Also dummied up some of the wiring so I know where its going to run and drilled holes for the grommets etc before painting. The horn and headlight switching relays will be relocated under the dash with the wiring for the headlights, indicators, windscreen washer pump and horn hidden under each side guard. Main power feed, starter, coil, oil temp and water temp will go through from under the dash in a discrete spot at the bottom of the firewall. The wiper motor wiring will run through an existing hole at the top of the firewall almost immediately below the motor, and the heater blower wiring will be hidden inside the blower housing as per usual.

The brake booster and master cylinder will be replaced with UC Torana items so there is no separate proportioning valve and the brake lines will run through the existing holes in the corner filler pieces above the chassis rail via rubber grommets and along the outside of the chassis rails to the rubber hose mounting points. The passenger side line will also be mounted under the firewall lip rather than on top so these will be largely hidden too.

And that brings us up to date.

Edited by 76lxhatch, 21 July 2017 - 10:55 PM.

[76lxhatch]

Minor update, got a short burst of enthusiasm in the weekend and started welding up the inner guard join, and smoothing out the pressings in the rear of the inner guards. I wasn't going to do any of this but its more interesting than paint stripping...

Edited by 76lxhatch, 21 July 2017 - 10:55 PM.

[76lxhatch]

Yeah its a bit sad its been so long, hopefully I can get the momentum going again.

To smooth the inner guards I cut an X across the edges of the area where the brake line used to go and folded it roughly flat, trimmed the excess then welded. Some heavy duty bashing with a bit of heat shrinking for the pressings at the rear (no cutting or welding), its not actually necessary to shrink it back to the original radius here as long as it looks OK. Hammer and dolly to finish both areas a bit nicer.

[76lxhatch]

Just what was on the shelf and it happens to fit nicely too, the cross flow is meant to be a bit more efficient but not too bothered by that. Even if I could afford a new one I don't think I'd go alloy (plus they are more expensive here).

[76lxhatch]

Hmmmm. Another year has passed with little to no action, hard to believe its been that long!

Got an injected V8 and TH700 for a reasonable price so a bit of change in drivetrain. Rebuilt the trans as it was a bit sad, all new clutches etc etc and a shift correction kit. Going to re-do the radiator mounting to suit the VN-VS unit as the top hose in particular is on a better angle.

Took some time off over Christmas with the hope of finally getting the body work on the core shell finished so I could get some paint on it, but didn't end up with as much time as I'd hoped. Still, a couple of small bits of welding and final paint stripping in some small nooks and crannies and it will be ready for primer.

Splashed out and bought front tyres today so I now have a full set of wheels and tyres ready to go, hopefully a bit more motivation. Once the shell has colour in the hard to get at places I can look at removing it from the rotisserie and adding running gear which would be a good milestone.

Have a couple of photos but nothing exciting and Photobucket is broken at present (bandwidth usage is completely out of whack and isn't resetting after end of month, all my photos are down at present). If it doesn't come right soon I will host them somewhere else.

[76lxhatch]

Been plodding along with bits and pieces of body work, nothing much to see in that department.

Got some front tyres fitted so I now have rolling stock for all corners


Have changed the engine and trans plans from carby engine and TH350, got hold of an injected V8 and TH700. Rebuilt the auto since it was a bit sad and added a shift improver kit.


Fitted the proper sump and tweaked the dipstick to fit. The orange stripes on the rocker covers are the main body colour that the car will be.




I didn't like the idea of having a bonnet scoop and not using it, so decided to figure out a way to get the air cleaner up there. Engine was missing covers anyway, so made a new one which will also form the base of the air box, and has the intake pipe molded into it.


Just envisage it with a box on top using the standard VN panel filter, something like this (except not quite as tall)

Will probably wait until the engine is mounted in the car to finish it, so that I get the height and angle right.

Edited by 76lxhatch, 21 July 2017 - 10:56 PM.

[Stinga]

pretty cool idea with the air intake!

[76lxhatch]

Yes that's the plan, I think the bobtail is too tall to go without the scoop to balance it out at the front and I don't want to have flares without the spoilers. The top of the air box will hug the edges of the filter and stick up just above the bonnet line to avoid any issues with water etc but still allow enough room for some cool air.

Undo a few screws and disconnect the flexible pipe and the whole cover and air box will pop off as a single assembly.

[76lxhatch]

It has been way too long with way too little progress. Had to move house which didn't help but new shed is mostly ready for action - been slowly mucking around with minor body work but not finding much enthusiasm for it of late. Also its a bit cold for painting now anyway, so I decided to do some dummy assembly and hopefully gain some motivation.

First step was to get it sitting on its wheels

Quite pleased with the offsets and the balance of the tyres front to rear, once I have a bit more weight on it I will double-check clearances but its looking pretty good.

Engine and trans in

Will work on relocating the alternator, coil, map sensor and ignition module so they are nice and tidy. This will also allow me to test fit the bonnet and cut the hole in that, as well as finish the air box. Passenger side extractor fouls the subframe but should be able to tweak it without too much work. Driver side fits so far but I haven't test fitted the steering yet, cautiously optimistic.

Made a cross member for the trans

Everything seems to fit really nicely here, still debating whether I will add some reinforcing to the cross member and cut out a bit for exhaust clearance. Using a modified Commodore shifter to fit into the Torana console so will be able to set this up too.

Hopefully finish up guard cutting and flares all round, fit spoilers and scoop, set up exhaust, route wiring etc over the next couple of months. Then get it stripped back down and painted when it gets a bit warmer again.

Edited by 76lxhatch, 21 July 2017 - 10:56 PM.

[76lxhatch]

Hoping to use the factory headers, passenger side didn't fit so well as it fouls on the front subframe to the point it won't quite bolt up


Cut the end off so it fits, still points at the rear leg of the subframe


Cut the cone on a bit of an angle and spin it around solves that


Extend the collector a little and add the flanged end back on, fits now and leaves plenty of room for starter and inspection cover


All done, I can just squeeze it in and out without moving the engine which is good

Edited by 76lxhatch, 21 July 2017 - 10:57 PM.

[76lxhatch]

Thanks jed, yes I'm actually less than a km down the road from where I was - took me several weeks to get the shed stuff moved so I'd hate to go any further!

The colour on the rocker covers is the colour the car will be painted (with A9X style blackouts), its actually a Hemi orange of some sort (a mate was going to use it on his Valiant but changed his mind). Its pretty close to some of the oranges I've seen on Toranas and I reckon will look good.