259 replies to this topic

[Heath]

Just to clarify, either the T5 or the W-series Toyota box will fit with basically no tunnel work (moving the shifter is about it I think).

 

It's only Tremec's TKO and T56, TR6060, T56 Magnum etc. that will require big tunnel work. But even still, altering a tunnel ain't all that huge a deal, you've got a good skillset.

[UCANG]

That's good to know, Heath, cheers.

 

I'm not after a massive kick ass box, just something that could be mated up to an engine and hold its own moderately. I didn't "really" know my options for a manual.. I could just foresee myself picking up a nice V8 that's chev bolt pattern and then scratching my head wondering what cable driven box I could use.

 

You're right however, tunnel mods don't scare me, I just didn't want to do it Luckily the floor pan will get a good clean, seal and paint when the diff comes out, so work on the floor will happen later on once I pick up some driveline parts (whenever that may be).

 

Anyway, as good as it is planning, still concentrating on this body work!

[UCANG]

So this week I decided to do some touch ups.

I didnt seam seal the outside of the door folds, so I decided to do that, then paint them again. Mainly because I didn't want rusty stains coming out from within the folds as will probably end up happening later on in life.

 

The passenger door latch area got sanded and reshot. The reason for this is when I shot the outside of the car I decided to sand down the tape line, of course I went too far and it showed a visible line of primer or something - this is single stage 2k anyway, this tends to happen, rather than a clear coat that you can smooth somewhat.

 

 

And the big one. The passenger rear quarter. I had crazy runs that I blocked down, and broke down to bare metal and primer. I wasn't going to leave this but I wasnt wanting to repaint the whole panel. Also I hear single stage is not ideal for blending. But after some research and positive attitude, I gave it a crack, and it turned out awesome. I'm going to have to let this sit for maybe a month or longer before cutting and polishing it. Even though it's hardly noticeble right now. That tells me that the repair was successful. If you can see issues while its wet, you know its not going to fix itself once it dries.

 

This is how it looks unmasked:

 

If anything, I hope some people out there can see that A: i'm a pedantic dickhead, and B: you can successfully fix issues that arise. Don't get disheartened when you make an error. We are all human after all - and i'm no pro!

[Heath]

You'll be really happy that you've revisited these little things

[UCANG]

Pretty happy with how it's looking now.

[UCANG]

I picked up a beefed up T5 from an EB XR6 - world class box - including near new heavy duty clutch - for cheap.

 

Does anyone know if input shafts are easily unbolted and replaced? This one has a slight crack where the throw out bearing usually sits.

 

So now looking for a 304 I reckon, and I might even go the EFI route. Would love to find a "freshly rebuilt" motor

 

Cheers

[UCANG]

You're not wrong there Marc

 

Small update, pretty much been on a buying frenzy..

 

This is my T5. I'm ordering the bellhousing, thrust bearing, fork, spigot, pivot ball and anything else I need for the conversion as we speak.

I might go to Xtreme clutches for the pressure plate and ford clutch. I'll save nearly $100 on the pressure plate alone if I don't buy the one CRS offers ($240).

There is a crack on the bearing retainer snout. I know Malwood sells these for about $100 but I don't know where else I can get one? Might have to try the local E series Ford wrecker or fix it somehow - maybe not, I dont know?

 

 

VN SS motor. Ive done welsh plugs, cam plug, sump and pickup, engine mounts and bracket, gaskets, nice coat of black paint. Ive Ali Brite'ed the manifold (not shown in this pic), so waiting on some new bolts and will put that on. Ive bought a flywheel, so waiting on new bolts for that too, then might give it a slight cut on the lathe and install that.

Also included was VN wiring loom and computer. The memcal has already been edited to accept an electric thermo fan input - yeah that means nothing to me right now

 

And finally picked up an LSD diff from R31 skyline.

 

And just want to give a shout out to greenmachine215 (Marc) and A9X UC (Mike) for going above and beyond and offering their experiences should a question arise! You guys don't have to, especially being interstate, but I do appreciate it!

 

And my mates kingsly and wally308 for allowing there beasts to be visual motivation. Sometimes these cars (as simple as they are) can still be jigsaw puzzles - and it's always good to refer to another car for tips when you get stuck.

 

Cheers fellas

[UCANG]

Not without its issues that takes time and money o course! Anyway so heres where i'm at.

 

I had issues with clutch fork hitting the back of the bellhousing and still putting a bit too much pressure on the fingers. I contacted CRS and asked for a shorter throwout bearing carrier than what was provided. This fixed my problem. Adjusted it up and bolted to the engine.

 

Had issues with starter motors too! I bought a cheapy off ebay, then heard too many horror stories about the casing being cheap and cracking so I bought a Bosch unit. Plus this Bosch had the solenoid on top, whereas the ebay unit had the solenoid on the side - was worried about the extractors fouling.

aaaaaaand, the expensive Bosch unit cracked upon torque!!! Why there is a cavity where the long bolt goes I have no idea - why can't it be solid!!!?!?

It's casting is identical to the cheap units!!!! So screw it, I put the cheap one on, torqued it up no worries! Plus the extractors clear the solenoid with ease!

 

Next was the new bearing for the steering column. My old bearing sheared from the plastic retainer and was flopping about on the knuckle underneath it.

Started with the outer tube.

Cut the excess, slid the bearing in, used rivets to stop it going up the tube (even though its a press fit, she aint going anywhere). I also retained the original clip to stop it falling out the bottom - should it ever.

 

 

Heater box seen better days

Thankfully I got the core tested and its perfect. Threw it back in with some new foam on the flaps and in it goes.

 

Engine in

 

Stripped all the wiring off the VN loom one by one. Turfed the wires I didnt want and repinned the ones I did into the connectors again (I hate spaghetti).

Still a work in progress, but ive separated into 2 sections. Interior and exterior wires - easy as

 

 

Chipped the edge of the door!! The front guard slid down a little bit and the door caught it when I opened it. So very carefully I feathered the edge of the chip down, used a razor blade to apply some fine filler to bring the level up, brush touched some epoxy, when that dried I carefully blocked it down and brush touched some paint. Once this sets up and I wet sand and polish it, it should be near invisible! Good fun

Edited by UCANG, 26 June 2016 - 12:07 AM.

[Covert]

Nice update, been busy, always a spanner in the works at different stages of a build. Looks like you've overcome the issues fairly easily and carried on, well done

[UCANG]

Not a big update and to be honest I haven't really done much as I spend most of my time at the end of 2016 being busy with the other 2 sedans and BMX bikes lol.

 

I have finally decided colour (or shade) scheme on the engine. I decided against my original plan of polished alloy and green accents.

So I sourced some VT covers, did some painting assembled manifold and rocker covers with new gaskets.

 

Also started working on my replacement bonnet, as my original one got binned.

 

Edited by UCANG, 19 January 2017 - 03:37 PM.

[UCANG]

I have been a spectator of HTC's All Torana Day since it's inception, but 2016 was a good year for me as I entered a car for the oval. Actually not 1, but 2.

 

I drove the red 4 speed, 6cyl Sunbird down and the wife took the brown one for me.

 

The day ended on a very big high as I took out 1st place for Orignal UC! and my mate took out first prize for Modified UC with his blue hatch. So it was a clean sweep for the shnitty boys!

 

[UCANG]

My pleasure!



Wiring was pretty easy and therapeutic!
Everything is pretty much in the passenger side foot well.
The MAP sensor is attached to radiator support on the inside under passenger guard, and the coil is attached to the right fuel rail, hidden underneath the cover.

Next job is the bonnet!

[UCANG]

Was bored today (granny flat renovations are in limbo while waiting for "family friend" tradies) so I wanted to practice doing some dash repairs - just to see how it'll turn out. Probably won't use it, but it was a fun job.

This is the crappy dash that came in the hatch. Its in normal aged condition ie: cracked. It also has a shit tonne of welding spatter, grinding dust and paint overspray!

 

i opened up the cracks, and removed a heap of foam from inside.

 

I filled the gaps with foam and put some filler over the top and smoothed out. (I should of used a flexible type filler, but this is all I had laying around).

 

After a clean, I then proceeded with a rubberised texture coating over the whole lot. And there we go. Should be able to paint over the top but i'll leave it in black as I run some tests. It's not perfect but better than throwing the dash away. My next step is to leave the dash out in the harsh heat and see what happens! I expect it to crack LOL!

 

 

Worse case scenario I can mount the instrument cluster, centre dash piece and a glovebox and make a cool man cave wall art!

Edited by UCANG, 04 February 2017 - 07:45 PM.

[Bigfella237]

The MAP sensor is attached to radiator support on the inside under passenger guard

 

I thought MAP sensors had to be mounted higher than the port they connect to on the manifold so they can't accumulate fuel and/or oil (via PCV)?

[UCANG]

I thought MAP sensors had to be mounted higher than the port they connect to on the manifold so they can't accumulate fuel and/or oil (via PCV)?

 

You are probably right, I have no idea to be honest. I just put it somewhere out of sight.

[UCANG]

This weekends job:

 

Finally got myself a hatch false floor cut to reinstall into my car.

 

As you can see, the section that goes around the passenger side inner wheel tub was already gone from the donor UC hatch. But that's okay, as long as I had the right side, I was going to get the left side made up. Initially I was going to get a sheety to make one for me, but first I decided to do it myself.

 

This is the cut from Victoria

 

There was still the remaining strip spot welded to the channel (Initially, I cut the back section out with a grinder, right up the top), so I drilled out the spotties and removed the metal from underneath - which also doubled in giving me the holes for new plug welds.

 

And all welded in. Just needs the plugs around the tubs ground down, and a coating of paint, ready to be trimmed later on!

 

p.s. Notice the section around the left wheel tub? Made it myself!

Edited by UCANG, 27 October 2017 - 02:14 PM.

[UCANG]

Wow, its been a long time. Ill post some updates here.

 

Hatch floor replacement shelf has been completed.

Smoothed out the rail, and primed it. (not pictured). Ready to be painted.

 

Fixed some rust on the underside of the bonnet underneath the skin.

 

After doing some work to the skin of the bonnet (usual hand dent in the front middle)

 

I proceeded to Epoxy primer, blocked back and high fill put on. Painted the underside of the bonnet first.

 

Blocking of the high fill.

Final prime and wet sand

 

and colour! (rather than doing a blend on the door that I chipped, with durability in mind I reshot the whole door. With 2 coats came out pretty good off the gun.

 

Cheers

[Ice]

Bloody hell you got some depth on that paint ✌️

[UCANG]

Mocked up the front panels and pushed her out in the sun. Since these pics I have already started putting some things together like grille, handles etc.

 

I have written a very long list of things to do now - i'll chip away at it one by one.

 

Issue.. With these new door skins, I didn't test fit the handles (stupidly assumed they were right). Nope. I had to elongate the holes to get the handle low enough so it wouldn't foul on the handle cavity. So now when peeking through the top of the door handle you can see the larger-than-neccessary holes. IM NOT going to fix this, I need to teach myself to live with it and get over it. Otherwise I will shelve this project indefinitely. So de-motivating, I've had enough.

[Redslur]

Looking great.  If only the old UC's originally got the V8 engine.......