LC Torana 2 Door

I decided to make life a bit easier for myself so bought a rotisserie for the car for easy access.

 

Just need to remove the front end and diff and work out the best way to mount the shell.

 

I've started another thread in 'General Discussion' about how I should mount it.

 

where did you buy it from?

where did you buy it from?

It's this one https://www.ebay.com...SsAAOSwbKRbOaGA

How are you going with the project Matt?

I wouldn't be stripping it down near the flares, just maybe everywhere else lol.

Hi mate. I haven't touched it for a few weeks as I've been busy.

I plan on getting back into it this weekend.

Yeah, I'm being very cautious with the flares because if I damage them it will open a huge can of worms as I'd need to remove them all and that is definitely beyond my skill level.

If the flares are glass, maybe spend a bit of time and make moulds of them just in case the unthinkable happens.

It is actually pretty easy to do.

Nice clean and polished surface to start with helps.

Mould release.

Glass and resin.

Some scraps of wood cut to reasonable shapes to add some stiffness to the mould.

Just a thought if you are concerned about them.

I've been flat out with work and family lately so progression on the Torana is slow.

 I've welded in the drivers side floor (I'm not too proud of it at the moment as it's my first try at a larger welding job so I'll post another photo once I've tidied it up)

Photo below is when I had started to tack it in.

I have decided to bite the bullet and get the blasted inside and out to make it so I can get stuck into the body properly.

I've been quoted $1850 to blast it. Does that sound about right?

I won't get them to blast the flares so they will stay on the car.

Edited by Gatti, 14 October 2018 - 01:42 PM.

Gatti, I'm feeling your pain, this is my attempt at replacing floor pans. I thought looked pretty ordinary at first until I ground the welds back and painted, didn't come up too bad, and I'm not really that fussed as will be putting resomat down inside car, and spraying body deadener underneath which will hide 90% of flaws.

I had a quote for around 4k to sandblast my project but that included everything inside and out (including doors, guards, boot, bonnet ect) then spraying in 2 pack expoxy primer. Having looked at cars in the shop, they do a fantastic job and would have been money well spent, but have decided to paint strip as much as I can and they will do the 'fidly" bits to save money. Just make sure you use a reputable blaster who know's what they are doing as some rush to save time/money and you will end up with warped panels from too much heat. The old saying "you get what you pay for" really applies here. good luck and keep progress pics coming, cheers paul. 

Gatti, I'm feeling your pain, this is my attempt at replacing floor pans. I thought looked pretty ordinary at first until I ground the welds back and painted, didn't come up too bad, and I'm not really that fussed as will be putting resomat down inside car, and spraying body deadener underneath which will hide 90% of flaws.

I had a quote for around 4k to sandblast my project but that included everything inside and out (including doors, guards, boot, bonnet ect) then spraying in 2 pack expoxy primer. Having looked at cars in the shop, they do a fantastic job and would have been money well spent, but have decided to paint strip as much as I can and they will do the 'fidly" bits to save money. Just make sure you use a reputable blaster who know's what they are doing as some rush to save time/money and you will end up with warped panels from too much heat. The old saying "you get what you pay for" really applies here. good luck and keep progress pics coming, cheers paul. 

Yours looks good mate.

I definitely learnt some lessons with my first repair and will only get better from here on.

I just need to take more time doing it

I've got the car booked in to be fully blasted in the next couple of weeks so I'm sure that will reveal some more rust spots to repair.

I've also scored some reupholstered seats for it.

They are Holden Gemini Coupe front buckets and a LC Torana rear seat. Not sold on the pattern on the seats but they'll do for a while and I got them for a steal 

That a pretty high price, there are plenty of eco soda blasters getting around lately with mobile set ups I got a full car done a few months ago for 1250

I'm at Coffs harbour, smaller the town could be that reason, but 4k you would want diff housing parts kframe parts and all other parts done to for that price

Cheers john

That a pretty high price, there are plenty of eco soda blasters getting around lately with mobile set ups I got a full car done a few months ago for 1250

I'm at Coffs harbour, smaller the town could be that reason, but 4k you would want diff housing parts kframe parts and all other parts done to for that price

 

Cheers john

Agreed. I found another guy that will do it for $1200 and I'll then hit it with a coat of Etch Primer to protect it once he's finished.

Best to use epoxy buddy than etch.it will protect vehicle from moisture better than etch as its waterproof.reason is you will b using highfill or bog in areas or even using reface etc..you cant put bog on etch ,so you wont have to do a job twice by removing the etch..make sure you get all the shit you need to get her covered..

Thanks mate. I'll grab some epoxy then 

I was planning on doing some research this weekend to see what's the best way to do it.

My seats arrived today.

I'm very happy with them and they were a bargain at $350 for the lot including rails 

The car is being blasted tomorrow and they have mentioned that they can hit it with a 1k Primer Filler afterwards to protect it.

Is using that type of primer going to cause me any issues?

Matt, I'm no expert, but I was advised by a mate you owns a panel shop to use 2 pack epoxy primer as it has better rust protection and as Mas has mentioned above, you can fine fill over the top without going back to bare metal. cheers paul

Single pak primers are porous and will only protect for short periods. Epoxy primers are not porous and seal the metal. If I'm wrong about this surely there will be a correction.

Regards

The car was blasted yesterday and as I expected there were some hidden gems.

Rust in the usual spots and some old repairs (most are pretty rough), and it looks like it has had the drivers side rear section replaced at some point looking at the weld joins and a decent hit on the front passenger side.

Even though I was expecting it I'm still a bit bummed out as I wouldn't even describe myself as a novice welder or fabricator.... (but I can learn) and there's a lot to do.

I'm currently thinking I'll cut out the main areas and possibly use filler on some of the smaller areas and get it on the road then in 5 or so years, when I have the money, take it off the road again and get the body sorted properly. (two kids in private schools limits my Torana fund for a few more years)

At least if I do it that way it will be a complete car and I'd still have some fun in it before it gets done again.

Of course it just started to rain before I got it back in the garage which is why it has the rust coloured spots on it, they sprayed with something to protect it just before the rain started.

I'll hit it with a coat of 2k Primer on the weekend.

Anyway here's some pics......

Always the way, paint and body filler hide a lot. I knew mine had some bog in it, but was still suprised when stripped back. At least you know all the problems now. Don't get disapointed press on.

There is another paint, which is clear, that is designed to simply protect bare metal. I use the oil base, there is an acrylic base as well. can't remember the name, I'll have to have a look at the tin. it sticks to rust and seals it, does not kill rust but stops it from growing. you can paint over the top. 

regards

There is another paint, which is clear, that is designed to simply protect bare metal. I use the oil base, there is an acrylic base as well. can't remember the name, I'll have to have a look at the tin. it sticks to rust and seals it, does not kill rust but stops it from growing. you can paint over the top. 

regards

Yeah, the blaster gave it a coat of that stuff but it started to rain as soon as he finished and I quickly wheeled it back into the garage. Really bad timing for it to rain.

I'll give it a light sand to get it off before I primer it tomorrow.

Always the way, paint and body filler hide a lot. I knew mine had some bog in it, but was still suprised when stripped back. At least you know all the problems now. Don't get disapointed press on.

Yep, I'm over moping about over it now.

It's actually pretty much what I expected anyway.

Now I know exactly what I have it's time to get cracking into it and fix her up

Good to know exactly what you're facing. It would be smart to de-oxidise the whole thing and epoxy it really.

None of those repairs look too difficult, all pretty standard 40 year old car that has had a few things done over the years, haha. Take your time, and your skills will improve with every patch.

Thanks mate

I've got a bit of time off over Christmas and plan to get stuck into as much of it as I can during that time.

But I'll be chipping away at it most weekends now too as it's a clean slate and I can see what has to be done.