132 replies to this topic

[neglectedtorana]

Some small progress recently.

Fitted the UPC 287mm kit which was a success but won't fit with the Walkinshaw wheels I was hoping to use. Not sure if I will get new wheels or will try and find a different brake setup so I can use the Walkinshaw wheels as I really like them. The Walkinshaw wheels have a strange webbing on the back of each spoke that hits the hub and caliper. Once I tried to fit them I did find a thread I wish I found prior about them not fitting with a Hoppers kit,

http://www.gmh-toran...ls-on-my-torry/

 

I recently moved the car from my mates place so had to get it rolling for the 1st time in about 18 months and now at least it is at home but still have not found much time to do any work on it.

Looks good with the Walkinshaw wheels, shame it won't stop.

 

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[neglectedtorana]

After finding the Walkinshaw wheels don't fit with the UPC brake kit and some more site searching also found the wheels won't fit with the Hoppers kit either I was looking at new wheels which was going to cost a bit to get some 16" wheels and keep my new tyres or get new wheels and tyres in a different size. I did some more googling and came across the McDonald Bros HQ Wilwood kit

 

http://www.mcdonaldb...frontbrake.html

 

after seeing this kit I contacted them to see how far the caliper protruded from the disc face and it was only 42mm which I thought would clear my Walkinshaw wheels if I used the VL-VN disc. Ray from McDonald Bros was very helpful on the phone and said if I sent them the stub axle, disc and steering arm they could make me a caliper adapter bracket.

 

The caliper adapter with bolts made to suit my combination was $225, cheap as far as I am concerned and I bought a set of calipers and pads and the total was $950 including delivery to Sydney and I fitted it today and it looks good with the 290mm VN vented disc. Can't see any clearance issues and the wheels fit which I am very happy about. Very happy with the help from McDonald Bros!!

 

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[neglectedtorana]

Thanks Darren, I am very happy with the outcome.

 

Should add I have UC upper control arms and steering arms so have good clearance to the tie rod end which Ray said might be close and require putting the callipers on the rear and swapping the stubs side to side.

[Heath]

Could also perhaps opt for an upper balljoint with an extended 'pin'? Arguably the better way to achieve clearance as it also increases negative camber gain on bump.

 

Nice outcome with the brakes so far, McDonald Bros priced that very fairly in my opinion.

[neglectedtorana]

I had thought about the extended ball joint when trying other callers but with this set up have lots of room.

Steering rod end ball joint or tie rod end is closest clearance issue but still clear.

Very good price considering it is pretty much a one off

[neglectedtorana]

In July I bought a LittleJohnpaint tank and it looked pretty good, welds are nice and neat. Pretty simple design and after some mods to the mount straps and the rear mounts on the car it fits and looks good. Has to come out again to fit the pump back into it, just wanted to see if it would fit with some clearance to the diff etc.

 

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[neglectedtorana]

Don't feel like I get much time to work on the car but got a few little things done last few months.

 

Bled the clutch, took the tank out and fitted the pump and put the tank back in hopefully to stay. Will still need to fit the fuel pump somewhere and think it will probably go just forward of the passenger side lower trailing arm mount.

 

I did make a new gearbox cross member using an T350 one I had as the T56 one hung very low and I didn't want it in the way of the exhaust. Bought a tailshaft and fitted it and used the Tremec toolbox app to do the alignment.

 

Fitted a Vintage air unit under the dash and trimmed the glove box down and squished it in. The air con unit still needs plumbing buy it fits ok.

 

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[neglectedtorana]

Had a few hours to spare early in the week, fitted some fans to the cheap alloy radiator and put it in on rubber mounts.

 

I am going to put an air con condenser in front of it, should I mount the condenser directly in front of the radiator or leave a gap?

 

 

 

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[Bigfella237]

I wouldn't mount it directly to the radiator, some of those alloy radiators tend to crack around the mounts as it is, so the less weight hanging off it the better. But the closer you can get it the better too, it doesn't have to be air-tight but the fans will need to be able to pull air through the condenser when the A/C is running so you don't want too big of a gap.

 

I notice you have a large gap between the radiator and the support panel too. If you can find some way to seal that as best you can it will allow less air to escape around the radiator (meaning more air must pass through it).

 

One last suggestion is that you make sure the radiator is well earthed to the body, you can often actually read a voltage between the coolant and ground (that's a bad thing especially in an all-alloy application)!

[neglectedtorana]

Thanks Andrew,

 

All good points, I have an idea to seal the gap with insulation. Gap was so I could use rubber mounts which are 20mm tall.

Also planning on earthing the radiator and I might run some extra earth wires throughout the car to eliminate the chance of bad earths and avoid having to sand painted sections to get a good grounding point

[neglectedtorana]

As always time to work on the car is scarce but slowly I have been trying to fit the exhaust past the gearbox cross member and work out where to fit the 4" diameter cats, hasn't been going well but to make it easier getting past the gearbox cross member and keeping the pipes and cats away from the ground I modified the cross member and think it will fit a bit easier now

 

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[neglectedtorana]

Made this piece of exhaust recently, uses a Pacemaker crossover pipe thing and gave it a coat of that exhaust paint in a spray can which looks much better than I thought
 
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[neglectedtorana]

Thanks Jon, rare I get time to make a little progress lately. He is a little dog but always seems to be looking for something to eat.

Added the mufflers today and changed the park brake setup. The way I had got the cables through with the CRS chassis kit was ok but not great and needed something better, I bought some sliding door rollers from Bunnings and moved the cables to above the CRS chassis rails instead of below and it looks a lot better. Rollers are rated to hold 30kg each, am hoping it is enough and they have a bearing in the middle.

 

Also fitted the speedo cable and pass through sensor, had to point the cable out the back of the gearbox but it is still long enough to reach the dash.

 

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[Slack]

gday Tom, What part number vintage air unit did you use, so many choices on the net but none close by to physically look at. thanks mick

[neglectedtorana]

Hi Mick,

 

It is the Gen II mini VA66005-VUZ-A

I have not connected it and had it running yet but it fits under the dash ok

[Swarbs]

Hi Tom 

Just read start to finish and looking good 

Had to smile with the crossmember as i just went through the same thing but with a T10 box

 

Looking at the yoke going into the extension housing it seems it could need to go in a bit more but not sure if the photo was taken with the car suspended 

Normal rule of thumb is with the cars suspension under compression you push the yoke fully in until it stops then withdraw it round 3/4 to an inch for full spline engagement length

 

Just seems you have a fair bit of the yoke still out of the box - hate to have looked at a potential weak spot in the driveline and not let you know

 

Cheers and love your work

[neglectedtorana]

he sells them on ebay

uses a commodore fuel pump, cuts the legs and rotates the base 180degrees from the top so it will fit. looks successful but i havent tested it yet. there would be other ways of putting pumps in the tank like the holley hydramat too

 

http://www.ebay.com....XUAAOSw-CpX~ZU4

[neglectedtorana]

Moved house recently so the car had to move, I pretty much threw the wiring in and got it running and drove it with an unregistered vehicle permit to the new house.

Was great to get it running and drive it even though it was only 450m, had some issues getting it started as I didn't know how the Torana ignition switch worked.

 

The trouble shooting instructions that came with my loom from Ultimate Conversion Wiring had the answer and after bridging the wires from crank to ignition it fired up, thanks Justin for making a good looking neat loom and all the help you have provided on the phone too. Great to hear it running in the car, bit loud without tail pipes but very enjoyable. Everything worked and I took it down the street into it's new garage. Brakes worked at the other end too. The engine bay is a bit of a mess and I don't like my coil mounts but will change that when there is time. Had the ECM, fuses and relays just sitting on the floor in the car as there wasn't time to mount it all.

 

Although I didn't have a dash I could see the speedo cable wasn't turning which was a bit of a concern as I immediately thought the worst and it might have been a problem in the box but I took the cable out today and found after putting the 90degree and pass through sensor back in it works now. I ran the car today in the garage with the wheels off the ground to test the speedo and also waited till the fans came on switched off, happy all that should have worked did.

 

Lots to do yet but nice encouraging progress.

 

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[Bigfella237]

Nice one Tom, that should re-energise the itch to get it on the road!

[neglectedtorana]

Sure will Andrew, somehow I will have to make more time for the car. Bought an old house and it needs lots of work. Garage required a half rebuild before the car could move in.

Unfortunately Darren I have to disappoint you as the chook will still be in the coop and I will be away for work so won't even be going to spectate,