68 replies to this topic

[4dabush]

Finally going to sit down and try and show my Torry build, about 30 years in the making.  In all seriousness, about the last 12 months is where things happened.

I bought my car when I was 16, and am the second owner.  Bit hazy, but am sure the original owner bought it as a demo model. I found it had a replacement drivers rear quarter not long after buying it - had the car yards name on the inside still. It was a barely ok ‘70s repair.

 

Young n silly P Plater paid Tint a Car to tint the glass and cut a hole in the roof and put in a sunroof… it was the thing in the ‘80’s and made the car bearable in WA summers. The 173 made way for a built 202…good for 15flat on cold street rubber and full exhaust.  Later a “quick 12 month rebuild” got stalled with a country transfer at work, 18% interest rates, partnering up, million other projects, houses, marriage, baby, and a move to Cairns. Car stayed in Perth…we were only off for 3 years. 
 

2019, finally made the trip to Perth to stick in a container and get it to Cairns… my Baby was nearly old enough to drive and I wanted to get the Torry up and running before she leaves home! 

The project plan was always an 8. I’ve had a chassis kit since it was Rod Hadfield made them.  The current plan is 304, T5, 9inch, 4 wheel discs, adjustable trailing arms, full leather interior, integrated ac, 16inch wheels. A VS Commodore Ute came up cheap and became the donor. 95% of the build is in the back shed,  front shed or 4th bedroom… just need ps me to keep plugging away.  Gave my girl the choice of colours, she couldn’t make her mind up so Tangerine it stays. 
 

My story will be picture heavy once I get back in front of the work computer and load smaller images, but for now, here is the ‘olden days of the ‘80’s’. 

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[4dabush]

The LJ about to be loaded into a container for a 7000km trip to Cairns - Christmas 2019. And it’s arrival and packing into the shed with everything else that came back from Perth!


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[4dabush]

So in April 2021 the shed was finally cleaned up enough to get started… with plans to be ready for daughters formal in 18 months




A few days later had an accident resulting in a shoulder rebuild - and 6 months + of rehab



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[4dabush]

While I did a bit of work from Christmas 2021 to March mostly it was getting ready for sandblasting - off to the blasters!








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Edited by 4dabush, 02 December 2022 - 11:11 PM.

[gtrboyy]

You'll like it with efi 304 manual...will be fun setup.

 

Had 304/getrag/3.9 borgwarner jammed in mini-tubbed lc gtr with 330mm brakes a very long time ago.

 

Room is extremely tight but with correct parts & mods not too bad to work on whilst keeping it look neat.

 

[claysummers]

Lucky you hung on to it. It looks like it was well stored and hasn't deteriorated much.

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[RIM-010]

Nice mate!

If you're not planning on running 500+HP, the BW78 diff out of your Commodore donor will do the job perfectly, and be a lot lighter than a 9"

[4dabush]

Nice mate!

If you're not planning on running 500+HP, the BW78 diff out of your Commodore donor will do the job perfectly, and be a lot lighter than a 9"

Yes,  that was the plan…BUT, tyranny of distance and being in Cairns.  No one up here can do one. Quote from a mob in Townsville who do good stuff, was outrageous.  Tried Rodtech, but by the time I sent mine down and back…too expensive.  Couldn’t even get a local shop to even fit my LSD into a BW housing… in the end Jeff from JP Performance built me a brand new 9 inch, with 31 spline axles cheaper than the alternatives.  He suggested a Hilux diff, it was about a grand cheaper…but by the time I was doing that…9 inches it was!   The BW out of the Ute was a good 3.08 lsd…nice n tight…after months trying to sell it..I got $100 for it.  Trade off for living in paradise! 

Edited by 4dabush, 03 December 2022 - 09:35 PM.

[4dabush]

You'll like it with efi 304 manual...will be fun setup.

 

Had 304/getrag/3.9 borgwarner jammed in mini-tubbed lc gtr with 330mm brakes a very long time ago.

 

Room is extremely tight but with correct parts & mods not too bad to work on whilst keeping it look neat.

 

Yes, GTRBOYY, stalked you a little on here… I’m going 16 x 7 superlites, diff is a tiny bit narrower, and I’m not tubbing it. Thought about it…then I though about the sunroof I had to fix…not again! 

Edited by 4dabush, 03 December 2022 - 09:40 PM.

[gtrboyy]

I wouldn't mini-tub a car these days with rego headaches...although wouldn't rule out splitting & widening factory items to add more meat.

 

I would get adjustable lowers to centre wheel in rear arch to get taller tyre.

 

Funnily enough main reason mini-tubbed it back then was no traction at all & refused to go auto...felt like it gained 100hp with big sticky tyres + traction.

[4dabush]

I would get adjustable lowers to centre wheel in rear arch to get taller tyre.

Ahhh. Watch this space 

[4dabush]

 IMG_0747.JPG   402.22K   7 downloads

The donor VS Commodore. (it was rusted through the chassis behind the cab)

Aside from the motor, box, electrics, fuel tank, brakes and diff, I took a big slice of the roof out... I thought the ute roof skin might be useful for my planned removal of my sunroof.

[4dabush]

So, the scariest thing I was to do on the Torry was to delete the sunroof. I looked at a bunch of options, leave it, swap it out for a modern glass roof / steel sliding roof, find another skin.  Well, in Cairns, aside from torrential rain, none of the other options were much chop.  So, armed with the roof section out of the Commodore ute, I measured heaps, spent a few hours shaping a profile in pine to check the roof.  Then propped the patch, used a flanging tool to give me a tight recess, and had a go, tacking really gently, about 5 welds at a time and walking away.  Ground the welds once every 20 or so were done, so the roof never got too much heat.  

 

Oh and a tip for anyone doing this at home...I used my old 180amp mig.  It crapped itself halfway through the build (yes, had also been stored in Perth nearly 20 years).  I bought a new CIG 155amp mig and the difference was night and day. With a new decent mig, the distortion everywhere was almost nil, many welds only needed a touch up with a flappy wheel, not a grinder first.   So, don't be like me and be a tightarse...  in time and grinding discs I reckon I paid for the new welder 10 times over. 

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Edited by 4dabush, 05 December 2022 - 06:36 PM.

[gtrboyy]

Adapting the cable setup or planning to go hydraulic clutch?

 

Give us a list of parts or how you plan to put it together....lots of ways to do some of us will know easier or nicer way from experiences of our own cars.

 

Before tubbed mine it still had banjo diff as stock tailshaft fitted to getrag...black tracked every where lol

 

**Car is immensely better with roof resto sunroof delete!

Edited by gtrboyy, 05 December 2022 - 06:37 PM.

[4dabush]

The Boot never sat very nice on the Torry.  The drivers side was well down on the quarter.  So, uncovering the ordinary 1970's quarter panel replacement repairs, where they even left holes in the panel, i set about unpicking the quarter drip channel, realigning the quarter both lowering it a few mm near the window, to closing it in a few mm to even the gaps.  Obligatory rear window rust repairs to come.  There was about 7-8mm of filler in the quarter covering the joint. And I HATE that back then they used a combination of brazing and looked like stick welding to fix sh!t.

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[4dabush]

The typical rear window repair.  Wasn't a big deal once I drilled out the 50 or so spot welds!  Fortunately, the worst of the damage was the top skin, with plenty of material to work with.  You might see there is a bit of work going on in the tank recess. That was the crappiest repair on the whole car, it took ages, and then grinding, sanding and filling was just as bad.  Boot gap isn't perfect but its 100% better than it was.

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[4dabush]

About this time a pressie arrived from Sydney. Jeff from JP Performance delivered my new diff and trailing arms.  His work is amazing...  IMG_1310.JPG   275.47K   7 downloads rear wheels sit much better straight out of the crate - this is a 15 x 7 with 205/65/15

This was standard diff with 225/60/14

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[4dabush]

Adapting the cable setup or planning to go hydraulic clutch?

 

Give us a list of parts or how you plan to put it together....lots of ways to do some of us will know easier or nicer way from experiences of our own cars.

 

Before tubbed mine it still had banjo diff as stock tailshaft fitted to getrag...black tracked every where lol

 

**Car is immensely better with roof resto sunroof delete!

Thank you!  Mal Wood Hydraulic... Have CAE extractors that cost about another $1k to make fit, RodShop steering relocation. Booster is a smallish one recommended off here (Victorian brake specialist?) .  Rodshop chassis kit takes care of gearbox cross member. My engineer wouldn't let me use GPS speedo, so have to use pulse sensor - all gauges different anyway.  Bunch of bananna's staying on. Not sure about ecu yet - have the whole loom and ecu.

[gtrboyy]

Parts list on mine vaguely remember as....

 

-hq or lh torrie reproduction engine brackets...can't remember which as tried both.One sat engine higher other further back or vice versa not sure just used what sat better with all parts together.

 

- Headers were steel HSV,Calais type with bottoms chopped off to suit conversion.

-Lh torrie alternator bracket,85a efi alternator...kingswwood single row on balancer & single groove w/pump pulley with short nose w/pump...vs series 2 core radiator & heavily modified au fans(?)

-steering was 2 knuckle lh setup...moved over untill touched clutch pedal then modified & reinforced pedal...dellows hydraulic setup also had to grind down pad on block & g/box for extra clearance

[4dabush]

Parts list on mine vaguely remember as....

 

-hq or lh torrie reproduction engine brackets...can't remember which as tried both.One sat engine higher other further back or vice versa not sure just used what sat better with all parts together.

 

- Headers were steel HSV,Calais type with bottoms chopped off to suit conversion.

-Lh torrie alternator bracket,85a efi alternator...kingswwood single row on balancer & single groove w/pump pulley with short nose w/pump...vs series 2 core radiator & heavily modified au fans(?)

-steering was 2 knuckle lh setup...moved over untill touched clutch pedal then modified & reinforced pedal...dellows hydraulic setup also had to grind down pad on block & g/box for extra clearance

Yes, HQ mounts, I have the HSV headers too, gave the exhaust shop the choice, they stayed with extractors with high flow cats, and 2.5 twin all the way. I’m running ac - surprisingly the Commie brackets and compressor clear everything! So alternator is a PITA as it has to go on passenger side, under inlet! Got some ideas and have a mid mount alloy bracket to chop up.  Rad is a Fenix. And I’ve done the steering like you. I’m also with you that the box and block will get a little touch up. Sump is ASR - the dipstick is on the drivers side right under the water jacket plug…another to do item. Engineer was ok with manual brakes, but 90% of people ( brake people and forum people) were Saying stay boosted. Terry from Hydroboost supplied a smaller diameter Ford booster and master for the Hoppers front/VS rear discs. 

Edited by 4dabush, 05 December 2022 - 08:29 PM.

[gtrboyy]

Hq dipstick tube is what most of us use...need to bend,twist & crush to make fit between header pipes or suppose could use super long commodore item & re-mark dipstick.

 

Had no booster on mine had it bolted up like drum brake m/cyl...pedal was tad hard not too bad as long as wore shoes but did have monster 330mm twin piston & vs ute rear breaks so it stopped like a monster...seems fine for manual cars but not auto.

 

Do think if can change pivot point pedal feel & leverage be heaps nicer just with correct sized m/cyl.

 

Run the delco setup...t5 vehicle speed sensor is already in g/box & wiring for it run through engine loom into ecu then plugs to dash loom onto dash speedo...tap into that wire for electric speedo,might need corrector box or speedbox (malex item) should do trick also.

 

Contact through FB or call Joe@ Ace Performance Tuning for memcal tune...have vats disabled,thermofans enabled & tune for 98 fuel.

 

Pcmhacking forum will have diagrams but I can help decipher it to give you an idea how to wire it up...with memcal tune will only be few hundred if d.i.y

[kudu]

I wouldn't mini-tub a car these days with rego headaches...although wouldn't rule out splitting & widening factory items to add more meat.

 

I would get adjustable lowers to centre wheel in rear arch to get taller tyre.

 

Funnily enough main reason mini-tubbed it back then was no traction at all & refused to go auto...felt like it gained 100hp with big sticky tyres + traction.

 

What rego headaches? Do they give you grief over there for that sort of thing?

[RIM-010]

What rego headaches? Do they give you grief over there for that sort of thing?

Absolutely... You guys get away with heeeeaps over the ditch

[kudu]

Absolutely... You guys get away with heeeeaps over the ditch

 

Really??..... I thought our rules and regulations were pretty strict here. Yes you can but a supercharged 426 Hemi in a LC if you want, and drive it on the road legally ... but there are still lots of hoops to jump through.

[gtrboyy]

Lots of cars down here lost their rego even with engineer certificates as inspectors got scared to pass anything modified in case vehicle got defected their license gets suspended or taken off them if audited if it happens 2nd or 3rd time.

 

Apparently started with easy defects at RBT stations like 4wd's on oversized tyres & cars with dark tints then progressed to social media,car shows,magazines etc where they went after heavily modified crowd getting number plates contacting owners to have their cars gone over with fine tooth comb.

 

Was posted on Street Machine fb page during Anzac weekend