28 replies to this topic

[Grumpy72LJ]

Hi,
Not a build thread by any means, more sharing what I have seen. My first Torana at 17 was a 71 LC 4 door with opel slant 4. A wreck to look at but reliable. Next was a red hot and bogged up Bathurst green 72 LJ. 186s mild cam tripper 1.75” SUs, all the good bits. I had to let go of that car around 28 years ago and regretted it. Next was a UC sunbird with star fire 4. Don’t judge me on that one. Fast forward 28 years and a nice 72 Lj 4 door has been guided into my hands. Brought it from best mates son. I am 5th owner. 3rd owner built the engine and it has about 15K miles on it and is a stonker. I pity the M20 sitting behind it. I have all doco for the car including the bill of sale for $2458 as a 3 speed column shift in the day. I will post some pics of mods and hoping you enjoy them.

[Grumpy72LJ]

The car

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[Grumpy72LJ]

First big and important job was replacement of the rear upper and lower trailing arms. What an improvement in ride and handling.

The old ones were shot by comparison

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[Grumpy72LJ]

Oh then there’s the Bev Brock signed glovebox obtained by previous owner at a car meet.

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[Grumpy72LJ]

Then moved on to do tappet cover and side plate gaskets which cured the Holden 6 moisture

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[Grumpy72LJ]

Next was giving those lovely sprinter rims some paint with those gorgeous Holden long tail centre caps

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[Grumpy72LJ]

Previous owner said that it sometimes get stuck in reverse… I though WT? Turns out the reverse linkage on the M20 was installed the wrong way around and was binding on the side of the gearbox.

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[Grumpy72LJ]

Oh and here is the imperial bolts I somehow carried around with me my whole life from when I disassembled a blown 161 when I was about 12

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[Grumpy72LJ]

Then I moved on to cleaning the under carriage. As usual lots of grease. But because the car grew up in orange NSW lots of orange dust and VERY little rust

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[Grumpy72LJ]

Exhaust was a 2” into xu1 style muffler. It was a shocker. Toronto exhaust did an amazing job on a 2.25” into baffled muffler. Sounds wonderful.

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[Grumpy72LJ]

Then moved on to uni joints and gave them a freshen up

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[Grumpy72LJ]

Then into the dirty and frustrating business of rear shoe and cylinder replacement. Note the passenger side rear cylinder was completely frozen. Not sure for how long…

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[Grumpy72LJ]

As it started life as a 3 tree, it still had the collar. I needed to make it look like A 4 floor so delved into this mess.
Had no idea what I was doing but turned out ok

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[Grumpy72LJ]

Next the steering rack came out. It wasn’t too bad but want to do it once and once only. It was a fun job getting alignment right. Just don’t move anything while you do it.

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[Grumpy72LJ]

So the old 2 core radiator, while up to the job worried me. So fitted an alloy 3 core with twin 9” thermos. It’s good so far let’s see how long it lasts. I also put in a thermos bypass so if the sender fails I can manually switch on.

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[Grumpy72LJ]

Here is the VBcommodore thermo housing. Fitted with a British thread reducer to accommodate the NPT? Thread sender

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[Grumpy72LJ]

Then I moved to rust prevention. These things rust away while you look at them. Since I’m in phase 1 bodywork, gearbox and diff come later. So this was to prevent rust advancement temporarily.

After my big job

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[Grumpy72LJ]

More recently I moved on to LED light and relay replacements that have had stunning results. Since she started life as a column shift 3 speed, she never had a 4 speed reverse light switch, so that is my next job. God knows how she got through rego the last 5 years…

[Grumpy72LJ]

More recently I moved on to LED light and relay replacements that have had stunning results. Since she started life as a column shift 3 speed, she never had a 4 speed reverse light switch, so that is my next job. God knows how she got through rego the last 5 years…

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[Grumpy72LJ]

Oh yes the motor. Pretty cranky. What I know is: 179 forged crank, 186P black, pistons and rods unknown, ported head with Crow stg2 cam, Stromberg Ww carb, enormous extractors, electronic ignition. It hauls.

[RallyRed]

Great work

[Grumpy72LJ]

I am also after a tremec / Borg Warner T5 replacement gearbox new or used fresh. To suit an LJ. Please let me know if you have something.

[4dabush]

I am also after a tremec / Borg Warner T5 replacement gearbox new or used fresh. To suit an LJ. Please let me know if you have something.

Talk to Mal Wood Automotive. Might be a bit exy to start with but probably cheaper in the long run…I probably ended up 50% more trying to be cheap about the conversion.  He is very busy and can be slow to get back to you, but he will, I’ve had calls back at 8 at night and middle of Sunday. 

[Ice]

Well someone has been busy 

great work Darren 

[Grumpy72LJ]

Thanks.