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Torana hatch in California...

Started by _LS1 Hatch_ , Feb 08 2011 01:19 PM

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#551 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 23 December 2012 - 09:41 AM

Close, but have some clearance to the radiator hose (thanks to the spacers I made that is)

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And things are looking pretty good...time to get the bars powdered coated and move onto working out mounting up the rear one (and try my new rear springs as well)

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Oh and do need to work out a way to hold the brake line out of the way of things too, have something in mind at least, hmmmmm....

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#552 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 24 December 2012 - 06:13 AM

Thought I would post up some pics for Welby of the ball joint tool I made (that we talked about last night..)

It's really simple and just made from some stuff I had laying around at the time, lets you pop the ball joints loose without hurting the boots or paint on the spindle, etc (like a fork would do or hitting the side of the knuckle hard with a hammer (which is the method I use most other times))

The pic from last night I showed you, and another one..just shows the lug nut that I drilled out so it will slide over the bolt. (Again, could use a piece of thick tubing instead of the lug nut, but I just had it laying around at the time...ha ha)

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Then you just hold it in place, and unscrew the nut on the bolt....here it is in place, of course you'd pull the cotter pin out and either just loosen the ball joint nut on the bottom off and leave the nut there if you had the arm hanging down, or if you have a jack under the arm and the weight of the car compressing the spring somewhat, just pull the nut right off.

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Then you just simply hold the head end of the bolt with a open end ring spanner....and "loosen" the nut on the bolt with another spanner. As you loosen it, it will push up on the lug nut and pop the lower ball joint loose. Nice and easy..no muss no fuss.

Oh, and on the washer I used...they sort of do two thing...they act like a bearing in a sense and make it easier to turn the nut without the lug nut wanting to turn, and act as a spacer since the lug nut was not quite long enough (along with the length of the bolt) to seperate enough, ha ha.

Hope that makes it easier to visualize from telling you about it last night..

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#553 Stinga

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Name:Stinga
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Car:HD Holden ute, and sedan, UC torana
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Posted 24 December 2012 - 06:24 AM

nice work Jeff, i will have to write that one down!

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#554 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 24 December 2012 - 07:25 AM

Thanks...seemed like a handy thing to come up with to me at least..

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#555 76lxhatch

That was easy!

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Posted 24 December 2012 - 09:34 AM

Much like the factory tool, nice

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#556 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 24 December 2012 - 10:12 AM

Thanks...I could make a nicer one I had thought, but used it a couple times now and it does the job, so what the heck, ha ha..

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#557 A9X

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Posted 24 December 2012 - 10:13 AM

Yep, as you explained it
I'm into the mk11 version

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#558 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 24 December 2012 - 10:15 AM

I am sure the improved version will be much nicer

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#559 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 24 December 2012 - 10:22 AM

PS. I took a look today, and those springs of your's I have are the same height as each other at least, ha ha...

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#560 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 25 December 2012 - 09:38 AM

Making up some new mounts for the rear sway bar today...the ones that come with it...are really average. The hole was too small to even go over the shock stud, and the clamp idea around the stud seems kind of hokey to me (and it doesn't line up properly either.)

So with a little bit of plate, and after some cutting and drilling..and welding...have some little mouting plates made up, and will just weld them onto the back of the diff, should be pretty straight forward I reckon. (I will line them up to the top edge in the last pic, that is just where the bar kind of was sitting for the general idea of course)

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#561 ls2lxhatch

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Posted 26 December 2012 - 03:30 AM

I had a similar idea, I did not think much of the K-MAC mounts either. I had plates welded on when the diff was made to give me options for the swaybar. In the end I went with the UC style.

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#562 _the gts_

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Posted 26 December 2012 - 05:48 AM

What rear sway bar are you using Jeff, do you have more pics of it?

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#563 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 26 December 2012 - 07:24 AM

I had a similar idea, I did not think much of the K-MAC mounts either. I had plates welded on when the diff was made to give me options for the swaybar. In the end I went with the UC style.

Yep, the K-Mac stuff sure leaves a lot to be desired I think as well. (As I've said already..especially for what they charge for it)

Since I have the side exit exhaust, I have plenty of room around the tank for the rear mount bar, so this style works well for me at least.

And got the brackets done today as well. Here is tacked in place and checking the alignment from side to side..

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And finished off welding both sides and after a coat of chassis paint...it'll take a little while to dry which is fine, I will take both bars to the powder coater tomorrow (closed today for Christmas of course) and then they can go on and stay.
Still need to mount (or make and mount, have not decided if I will use the Kmac stuff or not..have the rod ends already at least) the end link mount up the chassis in the rear as well...

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#564 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 26 December 2012 - 07:28 AM

What rear sway bar are you using Jeff, do you have more pics of it?

I

I've got the K-mac "Bathurst" style rear mount rear bar (and front mount front bar) both adjustable. There are pictures of the bars laying out on the ground too if you go back a page or two..and if you wanted any other pics just say !

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#565 _the gts_

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Posted 27 December 2012 - 12:58 AM

does it bolt to the rear chassis rails? do you have any pics of that?
Thanks

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#566 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 27 December 2012 - 01:54 AM

Yep, they have a little bracket for the adjuster that mounts to the frame rail...and no pictures of it yet, give me a day or so, ha ha...that is my next step. (the rear bar came with no instruction where to mount it, but I will figure it out obviously. Just had to wait for the paint to dry on the bits I welded on yesterday and will mock the bar back up today and keep at it!)
The bar does clear my drop tank fine it seems like though from when I had the bar mounted up after tack welding those mounts on.

Oh, and want to try changing out the rear springs while I have the shocks out of the way for the ones from Welby and see how the car will sit...wanted it down a fraction from where it was now..

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#567 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 27 December 2012 - 07:58 AM

Well....looks like the spring change is for not...

I pulled a spring out of the rear, and went to try one of the ones from Welby..in hopes I could drop the car slightly. But...looks like it already had dropped springs in it, as the "new" ones from way out West are actually a fraction taller than what I have in the car now, ha ha.. (when I say fraction taller, it is that..around 1/8" diffferent is all)

Oh, and getting the bars powder coated will have to wait till next week. I brought them both down to the powder coaters today and he said it's so slow from the holiday this week he wasn't even going to bother running the oven until next week (it's like 20 feet long)

So Monday or Tuesday I will call in again and go from there, ha ha.. I will play around with the end link mounting bits on the rear rails the next day or so at least and will post photos when I do.

Edited by LS1 Hatch, 27 December 2012 - 08:13 AM.

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#568 76lxhatch

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Posted 27 December 2012 - 11:44 AM

You're going to need some very low springs to drop it over the 18s, but now that you have a spare set maybe you can get them reset?

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#569 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 27 December 2012 - 12:37 PM

Yep, thought about getting a pair of them reset maybe...I wasn't wanting to go all that low, just maybe 1/2" - 3/4" from where it is. But Since the springs are the same, I am going to hold off getting any of them reset until I settle on the rear tires. I will either go up to 295/30 or 315/30 from the 265/35 on it now.

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#570 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 27 December 2012 - 01:17 PM

does it bolt to the rear chassis rails? do you have any pics of that?
Thanks

I held the bar up, with my end link and all, up to the chassis rail to give you an idea how it mounts..will try and play around with it tomorrow and mount things up properly... the kit came with a carrage bolt that is to go through the bracket, and through the floor (I assume, since it came with no instructions) and just use a nut on the inside of the boot. I don't like the bolts the kit came with, so would use a pair of grade 8 bolts most likely. (or could weld the bracket on I suppose...but bolting properly would do as well I reckon)

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#571 dattoman

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Posted 27 December 2012 - 07:37 PM

Are the Welby springs the same brand and wire diameter ?
They might still drop the car if they are different

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#572 A9X

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Posted 27 December 2012 - 08:15 PM

Don't think so, jeff's are red
Mine are lovells and are the actual springs from the photo of the hatch on the opening page to this website
They are 1 inch low.

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#573 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 28 December 2012 - 01:52 AM

Yep, they were red (I had resprayed them..but they were red before that) so idea what brand they were or any other info about them as they were on the car actually when I had got it back in 2000. I did measure the wire diameter though and it was the same between your's and mine. As easy as they are to change though I reckon a swap wouldn't hurt anyways really and just see how the car does sit

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#574 _the gts_

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Posted 28 December 2012 - 06:47 AM

I tried heaps of options to lower the rear but couldnt find anything so eventually went for the coil overs. Thanks for the pics of the sway bar mountings.

I think someone has modified some coil overs that mount to the original shock location, maybe do a search on the site

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#575 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 28 December 2012 - 09:38 AM

I don't want to go that much lower...just slightly. It's not that bad as it is now, and I know with the varied weight depending on how much fuel is in the tank will make it look different as well. Just a matter of playing around with it a little bit.

Oh, and got the holes drilled for those adjuster mounts to the chassis. I ditched the K-mac idea of a single carrige bolt in the center of the bracket and went with a bolt at either end. Maybe over kill, but that is just how I tend to do things, ha ha. Waiting for the chassis paint to dry on the brackets themselves now and will get things buttoned up after that.