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My '76 LX Project


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#351 HIBERN8

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Posted 02 May 2017 - 11:34 PM

Your torana is looking sweet mate! The colour scheme reminds me a lot of one my dad owned many moons ago. That definitely must have been an awesome feeling to hear it fire up after so long sitting dormant (I can't wait for that experience with mine - it's probably been a good 15 years off the road now). Looks like you're nearing the finish line now. Well done on bringing another one back to life!

#352 toryman76

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Posted 03 May 2017 - 01:34 PM

Cheers mate!! Only advice I give is to never give up. Throughout all of life's challenges, the car will always be there ready and waiting for you to breathe life into it. Keep chipping away here and there and you will get it on the road again. Any chance you have photos of you dad's old Torry? I'm real keen to see some photos of similar setups with colour scheme cos most of what you see with chrome yellow isn't brown. My dash will be brown with woodgrain. I sat it in there the other day to compare it against my full black dash and the brown woodgrain looks unreal in my opinion!

#353 Covert

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Posted 23 May 2017 - 02:29 AM

Honestly I was a bit worried about going yellow with brown interior but all my door cards arm rests etc were in immaculate condition that I couldn't bring myself to buy new ones. Now that I've got it all in I think it looks unreal and it certainly is something different. Not a colour combo most would go for especially with chrome yellow. But I'm super happy with how it's come up.

 

Good choice with the interior I think it looks awesome with the chrome yellow. 



#354 toryman76

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Posted 23 May 2017 - 07:44 AM

Cheers covert!! I spent the weekend nutting out the retrosound fitment. Geez it's a nice looking piece of gear. Only the purist can tell it's not the original AM radio. I've also fitted a small 4-chl amp under the glovebox and new 5*7(6*8) splits into the kick panels. I have it all a test run and so far I'm pretty happy with the sound. I know most wouldn't bother with this and I almost didn't but I love my music too much. Now it's in I'm wrapped. Anyway no photos yet but the dash is in, console is temp fitted. So close now!

#355 bags

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Posted 28 May 2017 - 10:51 AM

Looks good mate. Keen to see more progress and interested to see how it looks with the wheels too. Here is mine I just picked up yesterday.
Nearly twins haha
DFB64572-B238-47D9-808F-12DFDBCA36CE.jpg



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#356 toryman76

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Posted 29 May 2017 - 10:44 AM

Wow that looks neat as! What size wheels and tyres does it have? Do you know if it's lowered at all? I've lowered mine 50mm and I'm starting to worry about whether or not my 14's will even fit. Fingers crossed... I guess only one way to find out!

#357 bags

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Posted 19 September 2017 - 10:25 PM

Wow that looks neat as! What size wheels and tyres does it have? Do you know if it's lowered at all? I've lowered mine 50mm and I'm starting to worry about whether or not my 14's will even fit. Fingers crossed... I guess only one way to find out!

Hey mate sorry didn't see your reply. Cheers I can't take the credit for the way it is atm but my touches are coming.
The wheels are 13's with 205/60/13 tires. I'm wanting to go something 14" or 15" to fill the guards a bit more just not sure what. Here is a side pic for you.
It is lowered but not sure how much.

8dc819a8c25a83a473ed2cd7d381b6c3.jpg


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Edited by bags, 19 September 2017 - 10:26 PM.


#358 Marks LXTorana

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Posted 19 September 2017 - 11:18 PM

Only a month late updating with photos B)

 

'Original' wiper blades were in a pretty ordinary shape. One was bent upwards almost at right angles. Managed to save it with some patience and a hammer...

 

 

Rear seats installed with original seat belts. New custom vinyl parcel shelf installed. I think I have used the wrong clips here though. I feel like these ones are meant to be a larger head. Can anyone confirm? I have used the same clips as I did for the kick panels.

 

 

 

 

After the front and rear windows went in

 

 

 

 

P3250057.jpg

How did you get the carpet to mould so nicely against the floor? Patience or professional fitting? I bought moulded carpet and it has creases and bumps.



#359 toryman76

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Posted 20 September 2017 - 09:09 PM

Hey mark. Its classic loop from knox. I had it fitted by a local trimmer who has done fantastic work on my interior. The same guy re covered my seats made and fitted the roof lining re made the wheel arch vinyls and hand made a custom vinyl parcel shelf. Everything he did was top notch but the only thing I'm not 100% happy with is the rear carpet. He got the front spot on but the rear he stuffed up the cut for the console bracket which causes the carpet to have creases in the rear foot area. I'm hoping over time it settles down but given its in the rear I'm not overly fussed. Next car I plan to fit the carpet myself. I think patience is definitely the key with it. I have plenty of photos to update. I'll try throw some up over the weekend.

#360 kingsly

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Posted 17 October 2017 - 09:19 AM

How did you get the carpet to mould so nicely against the floor? Patience or professional fitting? I bought moulded carpet and it has creases and bumps.

This. 100% When i first saw that pic I was blown away how the carpet sat.

Was there anything special the trimmer was doing to keep it flat?



#361 toryman76

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Posted 17 October 2017 - 07:27 PM

This. 100% When i first saw that pic I was blown away how the carpet sat.

Was there anything special the trimmer was doing to keep it flat?

 


I really didn't pick up on anything special but unfortunately I am an untrained eye so he could of been doing all sorts of tricks to keep it flat and I may not of noticed. I am happy to ask him on some tips next time I speak with him.



#362 toryman76

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Posted 04 April 2018 - 12:27 PM

Wow a lot has been going on since October... I finally got the car on the road November last year. I went for one major drive which was around 60km round trip, and you couldn't wipe the smile from my face for days. Until I did an oil change... and a tick developed... or it was already there, this I am not sure on. One thing led to another and we ended up replacing the lifters with a new set. Tick noise still there... Smile quickly turned upside down. So anyone looking to follow whats going on with my engine you can find my thread here http://www.gmh-toran...er-fitment-304/ in the Engine section, but basically long story short is I think I am up for another rebuild so the car will be off the road for another few months or more. If this car was meant to test me than it has certainly succeeded!! 



#363 toryman76

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Posted 20 May 2020 - 08:41 PM

2 years later.... 2 more engine builds... Long story if anyone wants to hear it lets catch up for a beer or 10! Car is somewhat on the road finally but in for a diff ratio change. Really should of thought it through before I bolted a 3.36 in it. Like most things on this car it is here to test and challenge my patience. Stoked to be doing some km's though.

#364 rodomo

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Posted 20 May 2020 - 10:43 PM

:spoton:



#365 SLR202

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Posted 21 May 2020 - 06:42 AM

So will I be seing this chrome yellow beauty being driven around Riddell soon?

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#366 Bigfella237

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Posted 21 May 2020 - 08:02 AM

~ Really should of thought it through before I bolted a 3.36 in it. ~


So... going up or down?



#367 Heath

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Posted 21 May 2020 - 11:16 AM

Show us some photos of it all finished, and out and about.

 

What's wrong with the 3.36? Great ratio.



#368 toryman76

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Posted 21 May 2020 - 07:43 PM

3.36 would be great if I had a 5 speed but it's a bit much behind the m21 when cruising at 110. It's great off the line heaps of fun up to 80 but anything quicker it's just revving too hard. I built the car as a cruiser so decided to go as low as possible with a 2.78. I am building a whole housing because of the long bolt so if I decide 2.78 is too low I can always meet in the middle with 3.08. I actually had to dig pretty deep to find half decent photos... I will have to pull the camera out more often for full car shots instead of close ups! Still got wheels to sort out but these wide stockies are doing the job for now.

Attached Files



#369 My390

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Posted 21 May 2020 - 09:50 PM

Looking great. A real credit to you



#370 Bigfella237

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Posted 22 May 2020 - 07:58 AM

It mostly depends on the overall size of your rear tyres of course but 2.78 will be a real PITA to get off the line with an M21 (taller 1st gear ratio).

 

My BT1 Commodore with an M21, 3.08 diff and 17" wheels is a bastard of a thing in stop/go traffic, it was somewhat bearable with the factory 14" rims but the bigger wheels made a significant difference to it's driveability (although it does sit on 220 a little easier :<_<: ).

 

It's hard to tell from the photos but your tyres don't look uber-big so a 3.08 ratio may be okay, but with an M21 I wouldn't recommend a 2.78, I think you'll be wanting to change it again shortly after.

 

Any chance you'd consider puting the money toward a gearbox with more cogs instead and keeping the 3.36? If you get the right T5 / ext. housing / Shifter combo it should bolt-in without modifying the tunnel and you can always swap back to the M21 for authenticity later.



#371 LJ RB30

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Posted 22 May 2020 - 08:11 AM

Yep m21 & 2.78 is not the great getting of the mark.
3.08 would be better first option.
Also as Bigfella said more cogs Is definitely nicer toođź‘Ť

#372 toryman76

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Posted 22 May 2020 - 10:03 AM

I currently have 205/60R13's fitted. These are a tad smaller than standard, and yes the result is higher rpm with the current setup. Off the mark isn't such a huge concern for me... Probably famous last words, we will see! Most of my driving is cruising freeway with very little/no round town driving so hopefully this doesn't bother me too much. Yes extra cogs would be nice... All things to continue to improve on now its a driver :D

 

Wheels and tyres for the future (when I pull my finger out...) will hopefully be my Dragways I've had sitting around for years since I started the build. They look great on the rear filling the guard nicely with a 205/60R14 but the offset isn't right for the front. They stick out of the guard by around 30mm with very little camber. Plan here is to do a proper wheel alignment and measure up properly but I think my main drama will be the front lip/edge of the guard. I am concerned that what I did in the early days of the build by pressing the inner lip around on the guard has actually 'warped' the guard and pulled the front edge in-board making the problem worse... Not something you want to find out after paint so for now I am kind of 'ignoring' that one... But it might be a case of biting the bullet, re-massaging the guards and paint.



#373 Bigfella237

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Posted 23 May 2020 - 09:12 AM

If they're genuine old school Dragways, and my memory isn't playing tricks on me, I think I recall that the centres (IE spokes) bolt into the outer rims, so it shouldn't be too difficult to change the offset by simply moving the bolt holes?

 

Of course you'd have to set it up properly to do that without upsetting the runout, but should still be doable. If moving the outer rim inward then you should cover any marks on the chrome too, might be a little tricky if you were making them wider.



#374 toryman76

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Posted 23 May 2020 - 07:59 PM

Yeah they are old school dragways. Your memory is spot on. The alloy centre bolts to the outer chrome band. I was hoping to be able to buy new outer bands as I don't think the original ones will allow me to change the offset due to the profile. I'll take a pic tomorrow to explain if that doesn't make sense.

#375 Bigfella237

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Posted 24 May 2020 - 08:28 AM

Yep, I know what you mean. BTW... 1000th post above! Congrats!






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