2118 replies to this topic

[rodomo]

What's the girls name Heath?

[Redslur]

LOL...a girl puts an end to everything.....

Edited by Redslur, 10 November 2017 - 11:01 AM.

[UC308Hatch]

Sure as hell hoping it's another one of Heath's attempts at humor!!
Really want to see this finished in the form it was dreamt up as.

[Heath]

It's one of my crappy attempts at humour. Been doing a lot, not many stages of completion reached though - so not all that much to report.

[UC308Hatch]

Glad to hear it!!
Rome wasn't built in a day & either was a good car. Lol mine took 8 years & still have more to do.....

[rodomo]

It's one of my crappy attempts at humour. Been doing a lot, not many stages of completion reached though - so not all that much to report.

Yep, when you get bored with one bit, move on to another, then go back.

[308 Sunbird]

Thank goodness for that- was wondering what the hell was going on.

Please don't give up your day job to do stand up Heath.

[Heath]

Sorry Stuart, just trying to make this thread an emotional rollercoaster to engage my readers more thoroughly.

After grinding the extractor holes out, the fasteners had next to no purchase on the flange because the holes were too big everywhere else, so they needed more work:


Welded extra in there, ground it flat, and then ground the holes out to the size & position they should have been.


Finally happy with the way they bolt up.


Got my diff back from the shop with a degree of negative camber bent into it, mocked it and the swaybar up to finish the exhaust.




End of the pipes just tuck into the area between the swaybar brackets at full droop, at ride height the diff will be higher and out of the way.



That's a wrap!



I was advised to strengthen the front swaybar mounts a little:





Diff getting ready for a lick of paint:


A bit of accomplishment just being able to tick a few components off the list and painting them. I'm using KBS gloss black which I've been experimenting with spraying (only brushed it in the past).
All of the parts have been deburred and all the casting/pressing/trimming marks ground out so they all look like the one on the left:

Edited by Heath, 14 November 2017 - 11:47 PM.

[Heath]

Alright so this car seriously is getting a massive hole in the roof, like by far the biggest you've ever seen - as close to a Targa as I can get.

So I bought a roof cut from a Porsche 944:



Eg:



I've been able to disect it carefully so the corner pieces and bracketry can be adapted to my car.


My skin will need some edges very tactfully rolled into it - I won't do this myself as I want to make sure no filler is required.

One of the jobs is making a mount for the sunroof panel in the rear of the car:





Welded into the back of the car:

Like a glove! Almost looks like it was designed to fit. And by that I mean I spent about a year finding a sunroof solution that would work well in a Torana hatchback.


FINALLY mounting the sunroof in the storage location meant I could position the LPG tank at the right height, so bought some flat bar and made some straps:


Added a little gusset to the upper straps that don't wrap around the square edge:




Now I've just gotta get my CAD design ally floor section cut up and bent to cover the tank in...


Also got some new K-Mac Rear Mount(rear) Swaybar adjuster brackets so I could sell my 'kit' in the earlier photos:

Had a custom profile 20mm bar bent up locally to suit my tub modifications, and it was a bit loose (laterally) so I made up some little rings and lightly welded them on.



When that is done being re-tempered, I can get some bits and pieces powdercoated.

Edited by Heath, 15 November 2017 - 12:22 AM.

[Heath]

While the gearbox was still in, I realised that the standard shifter boot just wasn't going to work very well around the tower of the TKO. After much deliberation, I settled on a Porsche 911 Rubber Boot:


Found a catalytic converter with a nice tapered round shape, and welded it back together after stripping out the insides:





Cut the hole out to be much bigger:


Welded up the gap at the back of the hole:


Welded a sturdy strip at the back with a new profile much closer to the carpet height:


This piece will just be rivetted into place, so that it can be removed to change shifter assemblies etc.



Designed up a suitable footrest - a feature I always thought a Torana would benefit from.






Cut the floor sections out for these adjustments:


Flash back to an old photo when I had the extractors cut into pieces... I had a clearance problem with the floor here:







Probably some sore necks after this post!

[76lxhatch]

Nice updates!

Have had thoughts on the footrest myself, mine has a hole worn in the carpet where my left foot sits (where your foot is in the photo where its not actually on the rest). Good idea incorporating the firewall clearance with it.

Are you going to be introducing some additional structure when you cut that big hole in the roof?

[Swarbs]

Bloody hell Heath this is a far cry from the lad in the driveway of his mums house with a grinder in his hand 

Love the work

[SHEEL]

I am really liking the porsche sunroof idea! so well executed with the sunroof storage under the floor!! absolutely brilliant!

[UC308Hatch]

You had me going! Awesome work as usual

[axistr]

looks like you have been a busy little boy Heath. 

[rodomo]

Pic of hole in roof or it didn't happen.

[neglectedtorana]

Fantastic work as usual Heath,
Can you explain a bit of the negative camber in the diff please?

Is it only possible because you have floating hubs?
In my head I can only picture a solid axle diff with the ends bent up which makes me wonder how the bearings are fitted? And supporting the axles

[Bigfella237]

That's the beauty of full floating axles, the drive axle is completely independent of the wheel bearings...

 

 

[neglectedtorana]

Thanks Andrew,
Will do some reading about floating axles.
Bit too serious for my build but most old the ideas in Heaths hatch are beyond my build

[bullitA9X]

Love your work heath you have some amazing skills but dont cut the roof or i will come over and frOcking slap you silly 😀😀

[Heath]

Better get that slappin' hand ready mate!

[Peter UC]

On the plus side, if anyone has a hatch with a sunroof they would like to fill, Heath will have the perfect patch panel.

[bullitA9X]

Better get that slappin' hand ready mate!

What's your address 😁

[TORLX8]

What's your address

Hey once you've finished your slapping session can you bring back the sunroof repair panel for me mate?


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[bullitA9X]

Hey once you've finished your slapping session can you bring back the sunroof repair panel for me mate?


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Haha frOck yeah mate

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