527 replies to this topic

[GMH-01X]

 

G'day All

I Purchased my 77 Hatchback about a 1 1/2 ago from a Torana veteran who had it for a year or so after his mate had it sitting in a shed for 10 years. I was pretty happy with the condition of the hatchback as well as the spares that came with the car & the conversion its had

( V8 and 5 speed, complete driver ) Now it did'nt matter to me that its a sunturd - it ticked all the boxes for me not like the Hatchbacks i'd been looking to buy for the last year of serching.

After i have the Hatch sitting in my garage i came up with the plan of what i wanted to do & having it done by Toranafest 2015...........Ppffftt...as you all know that never happens !!

 

So here's a teaser of one of the first out of the 2 - 300 i have of the build so far.

 

The Hatch on the way home.

 

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[308mate]

Bring it on...

[Covert]

Great, so any plans yet? don't hold back now

[GMH-01X]

 

Hi Mav

Plans for the Hatch is body & paint, new chamois SS interior, upgrade front brakes and the driveline will just get a freshen up for now.

 

Cheers Aaron

 

A few more pics of what im starting with.

 

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[Covert]

Looks like a great score, look forward to your progress

[GMH-01X]

Thanks Mav, It took me a while to find. It's funny how things turn out when you drop around to a customers house to see his torana's you get chatting & when i mentioned i was looking for a hatchback then you get a reply.....Yeah i've got one in the shed.

And as i said before she's ticked all the boxes, unflared, original paint, V8, Manual ( 5 speed ) & overall not to rusty.

 

Seeing that most the interior was taken out - hood lining, vinyl, carpet, seats unbolted i ended up with a tin of screws, clips and bolts to work out wtf they all went but wasn't to bad.

 

So time to do a tear down - bag and tag

 

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[Bigfella237]

Yeah i've got one in the shed.

 

I love those moments, so great to hear that these gems are still hiding in sheds across the country (it's just a question of finding them)!

[Statler]

Nice! 

following.  

[GMH-01X]

G'day All

I pulled the complete dash out and bagged / tagged it in each section along the way, started to strip the paint off the nosecone to see what was hiding and it wasn't to bad as well as the minimal rust one small rust hole & some surface rust on the backside of the panel that i treated.

The drivers side front guard was replaced by a straight rust free panel that i got with the car.

Cleaned up the seats they came up pretty good for the age.

 

Cheers Aaron  

 

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[lxsstorana]

Looks good.  Will be following your progress. 

[Heath]

Awesome, keen to follow this.

[GMH-01X]

G'day Guys

Thanks for the comments & interest in my build.

Another update on the hatch, gently removed all the chrome trim from the car which is in great condition not a mark on any of them  -  sat there and cleaned each piece then wrapped it up in bubble wrap, stored in the house to keep safe.

Pulled the front sheet metal down to find the usual rust behind the bonnet hinges and a little bit in the front radiator support besides that all clean.

Stripped the paint off the passenger front guard to find no rust just a little panel damage.

 

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Cheers Aaron

 

 

 

[GMH-01X]

G'day Guys

Paint stripping sucks but the end result is satisfying, the bonnet came up good but still yet to do the underside - pretty happy with both sides of the hatch lid apart from the rust at the bottom LHS of the window but that can be fixed.

The left hand rear quarter has a little damage that i knew of although i didn't think it was this bad from a sideswipe but all accessible to bitch slap it in place, ( my mate John who does resto work  wasn't to fussed about it )  the C pillar has a little rust as usual - not to bad though seen worse.

 

Cheers Aaron

 

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[Covert]

Body looks really good compared to some I've seen, you've got to be happy with that

What method of paint stripping are you using? Looks nice and clean

[myss427]

Yes, body does look pretty good!

[GMH-01X]

Body looks really good compared to some I've seen, you've got to be happy with that
What method of paint stripping are you using? Looks nice and clean

Pretty happy with the body Mav I was very picky buying a hatchback and I'm glad I was.
I scuffed the paint surface with the wire wheel, cleaned the panel then applied the paint stripper and let it do it's job - ( I read on here putting glad wrap over the panel helps with the chemical reaction, best for multi layers of paint ) ....I.use a scraper to remove the stripped paint as much as I can then wipe the panel down with general thinners. The wire wheel on the drill works well to clean up the small amount of paint that didn't get removed...did it while the paint is still soft from the stripper.
Some of the panels have a little surface rust so I hit it with the blue strip-it discs on the grinder or the strip-it wheel on the drill...... Final clean up with Acetone

Cheers Az

[GMH-01X]

Great progress Aaron, what is your time frame now?

Thanks Jase
I'm trying to get it done by mid next year mate.

[GMH-01X]

G'day people, just a quick update on the Hatchback.

 

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The passenger door has a little damage from a side swipe and the rust isn't to bad although i purchased lower door skin panel from rust-a-problem that im using just the corner pieces  ( i'll post up some pics of the panel on the next post )

 

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Lower rear quarters aren't to bad, passanger side has a couple of rust holes but you've got to expect that being the dirty side of the road side - drivers side has no rust at all....sweet

 

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Cheers Aaron

 

[GMH-01X]

Just noticed three tiny rust holes on the drivers side rear .......fr0cker ..........>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.............^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Ice]

Thats a dam good body for a hatch

[GMH-01X]

G'day guys

I purchased the lower door skin from Rust-a-Problem in Queensland for $80 delivered,

 

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Cheers Aaron

 

 

 

[GMH-01X]

G'day Guys

Another progress update on the Hatch,

Stripped the front radiator support, plenum & door jams back to bare metal.

I'm happy with the condition of the metal underneath - so far so good

 

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Cheers Aaron

 

 

[slar]

Ahhh all the above brings back memories.......I now have a headache lol......nice hatch, good work...keep at it.