207 replies to this topic

[Peter UC]

Sounds like it is coming along nicely. Do you still have my bench seat in it? I'm sure some Mexican blankets would look good instead of a retrim would definitely suit the style of the car.

[LhMusL]

Got a new matching tan bench and rear seat from a UC, kinda like a ferrari now lol red, tan and black interior!
Slowly Slowly getting there..........





Hopefully fire the engine a night this week or on weekend

Got a new 9' too, wanted at detroit locker which lead to why buy a 28 spline unit when one day i would want 31's, so then got a 31 spline unit and a set of axels too match, you all know how it goes...... now i have a McDonald bros 9' 31 spline, detroit locker, housing, 3.5's, strange gear, and Vs disc rear setup Should be fine out back now when i get that turbo one day

So now got a complete 28 spline, spooled 9' to get rid of.

[fatslr]

Mate that is a nice sounding arse end you got yourself

[Statler]

Is there a sound button? LOL

[LhMusL]

Been a slight misshap were the car is been stored/worked on. 2 days before we were going to fire her up, a car in the drive way had its accelerator pressed instead of the of brake.
4wd got up a little speed went through the garage door and into the back of "Red Rocket" pushing her to the front of the garage into a tool box and work bench :( Luckily no one was hurt and they had insurance.
Insurance has taken a month of F#$&king around and last week said they would't cover it, but after much abuse is now thiking about it again! At least i set salvage rights, just not sure if it will get fixed, written off and some cash for me OR nothing just the car as is.
Oh well it proves these things do happen, this is how she sits at the moment........




So annoying to be so close after being a year off the road and without a car (on my push bike), so many set back etc and to be so close and have this happen, hopefully they will right it off and give me a decent amount so i can fix it. Then maybe i may come out of this with a nicer car they i would have and just had to wait longer!!!!!!!! So much for a 1 month 355 4sp 9' conversion!!!!!
End of vent/rant

[Statler]

Chin up m8!

It doesn't look like a hard fix.

Fingers crossed the insurance ppl come up with the $$$ m8!

Did you tell them that the 'imported white wall tyre' was destroyed in the mishap? LOL

[makka]

I heard about that Luke, the pics are much better than the ones I had in my head tho!

shouldnt be too hard of a fix.....

[LXCHEV]

Bloody hell, that really sucks mate! I hope you can get it sorted out one way or the other.

[knoath]

Ahh Gees Luke... what did you do to deserve that???
Hope they pay up and you can get on with it mate... what a kick in the guts.

Best of luck with it mate.
Dick

[LhMusL]

Cheers guys, its not all that bad just not what i had planned!
All the drive train is good thank god!! All the front parts are just bolt on panels and easy to change if i wanted, but never having really done any panel beating got no idea how to fix the rear, pull it out somehow i guess?
Just want a torana on the road so i can start coming to events again!!! and catch up with you crazy torana nuts more Lol

[MRLXSS]

Far out! You are still going through all this! I was just thinking about it the other day and wondering how it all went for you.

Thats amazing that insurance won't cover it... Do you have insurance on it (even 3rd party)? or are you just relying on the other persons insurance to cover ya?

Did the other persons car get fixed under insurance without any hassles?

Anyway, all sucks mate! Lets hope you get some good news soon!

[LhMusL]

Ok GOOD NEWS!!!!
After much abuse and an investigation by the insurance company they have finaly seen that this was a real accident and not a dodgy insurance claim. They have decided to write the car off and i get salvage rights, so have now recieved a nice cheque in the mail for a fair amount.
Sooooooooooo, now i just gotta fix it. Would any of you guys in Melbourne with any panel beating skills like to help me or have tools and show me how to go about fixing the rear???? Would make it worth your while of course
Car should be running and hopfully without any major teething problems within the next week (gee how many times have i said that!).

[MRLXSS]

First of all mate,

What type of write-off is the car? (repairable) you might have to get a VASS (???) Certificate to register it again... Which costs like $500 i think, on top of rego fees.

Its might be easier to pick up another car, and use yours for parts etc, then paint the new one?

Dont know, just throwing some ideas up...

[LhMusL]

good point Matt will sus it out

[LhMusL]

Kind of good news.......
Insurance company when they get around to it are supposed to put the car on the written off vehicle register(not there yet though), it is repairable though as you can all see.
Because the car is 15 years or older instead of having to do a VIV check/inspection (which would suck big time) i only need to get a RWC.
So thats kinda good news, but you only get 28 days from when the car is registered on the list to get the RWC, if you don't the car is de-registered and you go back to having to get the car registered again! RWC no big deal if your car is drivable and has its registered engine in it!!

We still need to fire the engine ( if it will fire!) get it off to the LPG mob so the VT series block is legal to have in a 74 LH (straight LPG), then change eng numbers so i can take it to get a RWC. To add a little more pressure the LPG mob can't get the car in for 2 weeks, so that leaves me with 2 weeks to do the rest, oh yeah and get it fixed!!!!!!!!!!!
With any luck things might start to go smoothly or it might take the car a while to show up on the written off list....

[Peter UC]

Who's converting your car? Pity your converting now I'm working on a Torana specific tank now (in my own time I don't think work would pay for me to convert the Torana) which will probably be ready in about 3 months. It will be still a normal cylinder though but it will be bracketed instead of it sitting on a cradle. What size tank are you using? I know a F90 (355mm diameter and 900mm long 65Litres usable LPG) fits but I'm hoping a A90 fits (375mm diameter 900 long 72litres of usable LPG). Tell the installer this as the old APA wall chart states that the F84 to A86 fit but you can get the wider tank in there. Well acording to my measurements.

[LhMusL]

Hey Pete, going to go back to Swift Automotive (Gas Research) in Dandy as they are the only ones i can find who will do a technocarb setup! Liquid injection is goona cost to much for a non ecu car Grrrrrrr :( Will tell then about the bigger tank and see what they say.
Because of the time constraints i might just have to put in what they have asap...

[Heath]

Tell the installer this as the old APA wall chart states that the F84 to A86 fit but you can get the wider tank in there. Well acording to my measurements.

Does your mate Ollie's LH have one of the larger tanks that you are talking about in it? Because I remember looking inside the boot when Michael owned it and the tank looked huge

[ollie]

Sorry to hear about the smash, seems to happen allot, Pete had two toranas hit in the single blow by the same mis-pedalling. Real shame.

Good memory Heath...
Yeah, i've got an A90 tank. Its probably the maximum size that you'll get in the A series as the clearance between the shock mounts is about 5mm each side. My tank doesn't have the best mounting, if you can get them to stuff it right up against the back seat and get the service pad a high as possible it'll give you better boot space. As LPG has a low range, i would strongly suggest spending that little bit of time finding the biggest tank rather than taking what they've got on the day, but A90 does me well...

[LhMusL]

Awsome thanks mate, yeah will def try and get them to fit the A90 then.

[Peter UC]

Yours is a A86 Ollie (68litres of LPG), hence the large space either side. What those pictures doesn't show is the fact the tank is about 200mm from the panel between the boot and the back seat. It really wastes space in the boot, to push the tank further forward for more boot space the tank needs to be lifted up over the diff hump. I think a A90 will work as long as you don't have speaker magnets lower than the boot springs, but I cannot guarantee that it definatly does fit. It definatly will without the boot springs.

[ollie]

Oh forgot to mention, If your choosing your tank size you can do some simple calcs to find out your range so you don't get too peeved that you run out of gas to quickly. A90 fills to max 72 litres @ 80% AFL (automatic fill level for gas expansion with heat), my mild 308 twin gas research chews ~20L/100km for town driving; therefore the range will be ~300kms (bit left because its a little harder to refuel on the side of the road, although can be done with bbq canister if really really really desperate)

[ollie]

Yours is a A86 Ollie (68litres of LPG)

Well it definately has A90 stamped on the tag on the service pad, see attached photo, so we have to options, your wrong or your company put the wrong tag on it.

Yes, i probably should of mentioned that there is an amp and dead space behind my tank and the tank can be stuffed in a fair bit more ~150-200mm.. If your putting the tank right up against the back seat its gonna be tight/foul on the boot springs, but you could put it in as far back as you can.