72 replies to this topic

[jd lj]

That's mad, good to hear,
Hey does anyone know if GTR's came out with globes or did they just come out with steelies and dress rims.
What do they classify safety rims? Are they steel or ally?
She should look a lot like this when he finishes her.

As far as I know you could order GTR's with sprintmasters from the dealer. If they were fitted at the factory they had plain center caps but some dealers were purchasing the wheels from else where and fitting them at their yard and these ones have center caps which are stamped and painted with globe. If you take a sprintmaster off and look inside the back of the spokes there should be a cast date similar to what I described for the carbs.

JD

[jd lj]

The other ex police car i mentioned from ebay had standard GTR wheels not sprintmaster, probably doesn't mean much though.

 

JD

[S pack]

Yeah sweet thanks jd
I've been hanging to get the wheels off to check but havnt had a chance with working away,
Good to know, I do have the code on my plate for safety wheels as an option and was told these were them cause they have a big lip not sure though.

ADR 20 (Safety rims) on your compliance plate is not an option code, it is mandatory. Torana steel wheels are Safety Rims as are the Sprintmasters.

 

AFAIK, the Sprintmaster wheels in 1972 were only fitted to XU1's and it wasn't until sometime in 1973 that they became a dealer fitted accessory.

Edited by S pack, 09 November 2013 - 12:05 PM.

[jd lj]

ADR 20 (Safety rims) on your compliance plate is not an option code, it is mandatory. Torana steel wheels are Safety Rims as are the Sprintmasters.
 
AFAIK, the Sprintmaster wheels in 1972 were only fitted to XU1's and it wasn't until sometime in 1973 that they became a dealer fitted accessory.

Sounds correct as I once looked at a cyan blue 73 GTR for sale that had sprintmasters with the globe caps which I assume we're original as this car was taken off the road in the early 80's to fit a v8. Unfortunately that never happened and it was left outside to rust away. Everything on this car appeared original but very weathered. Sprintmasters seem to be more common for 73 cars from what I've seen else as well.

JD

[kiwi-lilj]

Sounds correct as I once looked at a cyan blue 73 GTR for sale that had sprintmasters with the globe caps which I assume we're original as this car was taken off the road in the early 80's to fit a v8. Unfortunately that never happened and it was left outside to rust away. Everything on this car appeared original but very weathered. Sprintmasters seem to be more common for 73 cars from what I've seen else as well.
JD

Seriously, because a car had those wheels on in the 80's you assume they are original ?

I will give you a quick heads up, I can change the wheels on my Torana in approximately 10 minutes. How many minutes were there in between the early seventies and early eighties ?

[RallyRed]

...could be wrong....but here goes -

 

All the GTRs and XU1s had steel wheels as standard.

The aborted V8 LJ XU1s had Sprintmasters manufactered, ready for fitting as factory standard.

However, as the V8s were aborted, Holdens found themselves with 200 or so sets of mags that they needed to get rid of.

They were then offered as an option on later XU1s.

 

One assumes that ALL late LJ XU1s didnt come with those options, so some could have been optioned onto GTRs as a means of getting rid of them?

 

..........correct me as neccesary.....I think I'm only writing what is written elsewhere....i.e. I wasnt hiding under a bench at GMH bck in the day.

[RallyRed]

yep...the only mag wheel for stock looking LC-LJ....just IMHO

[jd lj]

Seriously, because a car had those wheels on in the 80's you assume they are original ?
I will give you a quick heads up, I can change the wheels on my Torana in approximately 10 minutes. How many minutes were there in between the early seventies and early eighties ?

Well we all know that wheels are one of the quickest mods to do, but my point was more that this car appeared to not have been tampered with apart from removing the engine and the wheels were not reproduction ones they were dealer fitted units. From what I saw of that car I'd expect them to be original but I know that is my assumption only and I could be wrong. This car was just an example of one of the many cars I have looked at over the years to which I have noticed that more 73 LJ's seem to have the original sprintmasters.

JD

[xu2308]

Go the Sprinty's I reckon, look better than the standard GTR Rims

[xu2308]

That's mad, good to hear,

Hey does anyone know if GTR's came out with globes or did they just come out with steelies and dress rims.
What do they classify safety rims? Are they steel or ally?

She should look a lot like this when he finishes her.

The 3-GTR V8 Prototypes were built in April 1972, they would of had the standard GTR Rims when they left the Adelaide Plant, but they had Sprintmasters put on them when at GMH Port Melbourne, sometime in 1972

 

AL

[glenn stanley]

Hi 82911. I have owned numerous GTRs and Xu1s over 30 years. I have owned two genuine ex police cars and did a shit load of research to get the cars verified.

I have a few friends that also drove them in the 70s when they were Police Officers and there info was second to none.

 

NSW Police purchased mostly GTRs between 1969 and 1973. They did not purchase XU1s due to the additional costs until around September 1973 and there were only a few due to the testing identifying they were unreliable and expensive to maintain. Many GTRs were fitted with bits and pieces by he police officers them selves and some by the dealers wanting to win the supply of the replacement cars for the crashed ones. 

 

The options that NSW Police requested on all there GTR's as standard, was larger brake booster, limited slip diff and larger fuel tanks for the country cars. On NSW cars only there are two rivet holes just below the glove box and or just on the recess return beside the glove box. There were no roof aerials only magnetic roof ones. The Police did not have radios back then only CBs for the truckies and used an aerial mounted via a clamp about 400mm forward of the guard join at the windscreen. There should be two 13mm holes on the right front inner guard where the Grifco siren was mounted. There should be three holes drilled on the metal part of the dash under where the radio goes. This was for the siren toggle switch, flood light switch and indicator light. There should be history of it being registered in March no matter of the date of manufacture. From information NSW Police did not order any GTRs after September and then started to replace the cars with LH toranas and Chargers at the attrition rate. All had steel rims and were ordered with dress rims, but they were removed by Police Fleet services. None had ADR 27.

 

The car you have is a good buy, but you should get it verified properly. I noted the tags were pop riveted on with non factory rivets. This may have been done when it was resprayed?

 

Anyway happy driving and join up the NSW GTR owners club for some fun drives with good blokes.

[Balfizar]

This Info I dug up a couple of years ago.

 

Given I was asking someone to remember 40+ year old info this is what I got from 2 guys that did it all.

(Sydney NSW Police workshop Zetland and Enfield) 1967 to 2003

 

You could ask him confirm whether there were any fuel injected GTRs used early in the piece before the XU-1s came on the scene.

 

NEVER, NO modification above GMH factory spec Police pack (warranty)no experimentation, no prototype.

 

the hole in the firewall directly behind the positive feed to the starter motor. Possibly live feed for police two way?

 

Different units were used city / country under dash and boot.

Multiple holes in firewall.

No direct connection without fusible link (no to starter motor connection to radio)

Fusible link at fusebox for police equipment.

Earth link (brass tag) for all police equipment (it makes sense to separate the police equipment)

Speedo cable re-routed to police certified speedo (I have to check if a re-routing hole was required, I expect so)

Radio suppressor on heater fan.

 

There was a comment a few weeks ago about 2 door locks on the (drivers??) door.

 

Oops, sorry missed that one, but I have established a reporte and will get the chance to communicate again.

 

I did hear about the bolt holes on the floor behind the drivers seat which was where the handcuff bar.?

 

Handcuff bar only on some LC’s and the practice was discontinued.

 

2 small holes just under the roll of, and to the centre of the glove box and this is where the Police "ID" number was screwed on.

 

Brass Police ID tag 2 x 1/8” holes A pillar drivers side door jam above check strap.

Glovebox had handheld spotlight bracket and 2 pin connector.

Radio hand unit was also dash or console mounted.

Police certified speedo was also bracket dash mounted.

Fire extinguisher boot mounted.

(Note some police cars with certified speedo installed had only delivery km’s on the instrument panel speedo when they were sold because the speedo cable was removed and reconnected to the police speedo during pre-delivery at the police workshop)

 

From their recollection:

 

LC GTR’s only (No XU1’s)

LJ GTR’s too slow (hence XU1’s)

Police pack (XU1 with GTR badges/appearance – no rear spoiler)  ???? is this where triples on a GTR comes from???

LC GTR brake issues

Police cars ordered 5 months in advance of delivery date.

Dealers fit accessories / Police workshop fit police equipment

They both recall complaints about Brock at Bathurst doing 120+ on conrod and they could not get close to this, new police spec after Bathurst complaint were an improvement (Happy)

One quoted LC GTR at 118 mph in top and 83 mph in 3^rd and LJ GTR at 95 mph in top.

General complaint LJ 202 did not rev!

 

cheers

Balfizar