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Torana hatch in California...

Started by _LS1 Hatch_ , Feb 08 2011 01:19 PM

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#26 ls2lxhatch

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Posted 09 February 2011 - 12:31 PM

Mine fit on the 9" fine though ?

Oh, I see now where they would have a clearance issue. The upper mounts on my diff housing went straight down in the front more so, so did not have that issue like you have shown..

Most diff conversion are done like yours however a few use the original Torana upper mounts which cause the clearance issues.

I am still undecided whether the spherical bearing on the Edelbrock arms are a good idea of not. The factory style bushes limit sideways movement, the spherical bearing on the Edelbrock arms does not which will then leaves the bush at the diff to do all the work. If you are running a panhard bar or Watts link then it is not an issue.

Edited by ls2lxhatch, 09 February 2011 - 12:31 PM.

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#27 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 09 February 2011 - 12:50 PM

That's a great project. Very well thought out and executed modifications.

Thank you !

Oh, and on the control arms...that makes sense how you mentioned about the movement of them, but they are pretty common here (be it Edelbrock branded ones or the many other similar style ones out here) be it on GM products or even more so on the super common fox body Mustang platform with a similar suspension layout. I had not heard too many issues with guys running the arms so that is one reason I decided to give them a try.

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#28 76lxhatch

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Posted 09 February 2011 - 02:15 PM

I saw those ones that Welby had previously too but no-one mentioned what vehicle they were originally intended for, now that I know there are a lot more options in various brands. From what I can gather after an extensive Internet search and sifting through bits of misinformation, the 68-72 A-body upper arms are 10.25" bolt to bolt factory, whereas the standard Torana arms I have here are around 10.75" - quite a difference but should be able to dial that out with the adjustables. (Earlier 64-67 are 12.75" so no way)

The upper arms are primarily designed to limit diff movement through the length of the arm so with spherical joints they would do this very well. Actually almost too well as there is no give at all like a bush would have, however the pivoting movement makes up for this a little and does a lot to avoid binding. As mentioned the bush at the diff end still has some work to do and I don't think I'd want to remove them from both ends.

LS1 Hatch sorry for the sidetrack and thanks for posting all the pics and info, looks great and its always interesting to see what people have done with different resources

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#29 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 09 February 2011 - 02:35 PM

The '68 up ones would have been what I used then, forgot to check the part number earlier today (sorry) And as you mentioned, and as I can attest too they will adjust correctly for a Torana...just as I did and they are on my car as such now.

And no problem, good to see the info out there !

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#30 _gen3torrie_

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Posted 10 February 2011 - 01:06 AM

Nice, i remember seeing early pictures of this thing on i think cardomain.com???? back when it had the 253 in it?

i love the work you've done to it, you'll have to let me in on your secrets for the brake setup i would like to run the same setup on my LX Torana Sedan

cheers josh

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#31 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 10 February 2011 - 02:20 AM

Might have been on CarDomain... I did do a huge write on on the '69 Camaro I built that is over there now (it was at the Hot Rod show in Melbourne a few weeks ago actually..) Blown LS1 '69 Camaro

And thanks as well! For the brakes...no secret really. The Rotors are late (around '05-'09 or so) model SL600/SL55/E55 Mercedes pieces that are 360mm x 36mm and the calipers are some 4 piston Brembo's I came across. I really like the 8 piston AMG calipers, but even with a wholesale price deal I can get, they were kinda pricey :lol:

I made the caliper brackets from scratch, and just used some steel hubs I got from there. Oh, and Had to have the rotors redrilled for bolt pattern to 5 on 4.75" from the Benz pattern...but that was easy to have done. The rotors are heavy, around 27 pounds each...but plenty of thermal mass for heat I suppose. And the price was sure right too..less than $200 each right from Mercedes!

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#32 fatslr

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Posted 10 February 2011 - 10:00 AM

Welcome to the forum mate :welcome:

I love your hatch mind you i love all hatches it is really cool to think that there is a bit of Aussie muscle makeing its presence felt on the streets of USA .
You can't beat the feeling of cruiseing in the old Torrie with aircon going and i hope you have got a bit os AC/DC to play non stop while your at it :buttrock:

Garth

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#33 StephenSLR

Oh My, Don't you post alot

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Posted 10 February 2011 - 10:21 AM

Some of my past cars too...

When you sold, did you sell them in the US?

s

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#34 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 10 February 2011 - 10:36 AM

Some of my past cars too...

When you sold, did you sell them in the US?

s

I sold my orange Charger back there (sent it back when the prices went insane) and sold the white Torrie with sunroof back there too. Sold the other white one here. Sold all the other cars over here in the US.

Almost forgot...a few more pics of some of my past toys...(had more than this as well..)

Posted Image

Oh and just while I have the pics handy, another one of the Torrie while in progress...

Posted Image

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#35 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 10 February 2011 - 10:43 AM

Welcome to the forum mate

I love your hatch mind you i love all hatches it is really cool to think that there is a bit of Aussie muscle makeing its presence felt on the streets of USA .
You can't beat the feeling of cruiseing in the old Torrie with aircon going and i hope you have got a bit os AC/DC to play non stop while your at it

Garth

Thanks heaps! Posted Image

I miss cruising around in it, and be great to get out and about in it again, especially with the heap of mods and upgrades! (and it's got a good stereo system in it too :lol:

)

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#36 Statler

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Posted 10 February 2011 - 10:45 AM

If i was holidaying in the US & came across 3 chargers parked in someones driveway, i rekon i would have crashed!

I think tha Val ute would havem scratching their heads. lol

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#37 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 10 February 2011 - 11:38 AM

I did have some Aussies that were driving past the road near me, pull in front of my house (I was working in the shed) they were freaking out from seeing all the cars I had out front..you could just see the cars at the back edge of the driveway from the main road near me and they saw it driving past and did a double take and said they came past to see if it was what they thought it was, ha ha... Was pretty cool ! From memory that is when I had the white Torrie, my red one and think one of the Valiants around.

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#38 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 10 February 2011 - 11:42 AM

Going to try an attachment here (I use them all the time on the Mopar board I frequent heaps) but see if it works the same as here or not..

Just my little black garage fridge..

Attached Files

021.JPG 578.52K 7 downloads

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#39 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 10 February 2011 - 11:56 AM

Here is how my dash is coming along....you can see where I added in the aftermarket A/C-heater controls where the factory levers used to be.

Attached Files

012.JPG 544.58K 10 downloads

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#40 _SLRLOVER_

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Posted 10 February 2011 - 02:51 PM

so whats is the American take on the Torana? is it a thumbs up or a thumbs down. do they look at it like we look at the classic American cars over here?

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#41 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 11 February 2011 - 02:17 AM

Thumbs up from everyone...everyone seems to be able to identify it, but it's different enough to stand out and be abit cooler than the average car around here.

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#42 _BradTorana_

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Posted 11 February 2011 - 06:03 PM

Hi Mate I love your Torana (& the Val's), Now I have to stop drooling over my key board.

Brad

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#43 Collo

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Posted 11 February 2011 - 06:26 PM

Thumbs up from everyone...everyone seems to be able to identify it, but it's different enough to stand out and be abit cooler than the average car around here.

Pretty much the same reaction to them over here

Nice collection of cars you've had over there mate. :spoton:

Edited by slr_v8, 11 February 2011 - 06:27 PM.

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#44 _judgelj_

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Posted 11 February 2011 - 10:03 PM

for an american you sure fooled me. i went half the thread thinking you were from down here before i noticed you werent. i think TORANA would be an awesome plate, give people another reason to be intrigued. what makes you so into aussie muscle?

haha i like the vic plates, wkd 429? does that have the connotation im thinking of?

Edited by judgelj, 11 February 2011 - 10:16 PM.

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#45 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 12 February 2011 - 11:22 AM

Hi Mate I love your Torana (& the Val's), Now I have to stop drooling over my key board.

Brad

Need to keep a plastic cover over the keyboard :lol:

and thanks!

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#46 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 12 February 2011 - 11:24 AM

Thumbs up from everyone...everyone seems to be able to identify it, but it's different enough to stand out and be abit cooler than the average car around here.

Pretty much the same reaction to them over here

Nice collection of cars you've had over there mate.

Thanks heaps....was working on it more today actually....slowly but surely

(just doing some stuff in the boot area)

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#47 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 12 February 2011 - 11:28 AM

for an american you sure fooled me. i went half the thread thinking you were from down here before i noticed you werent. i think TORANA would be an awesome plate, give people another reason to be intrigued. what makes you so into aussie muscle?

haha i like the vic plates, wkd 429? does that have the connotation im thinking of?

I've got heaps of plates actually..some in the shed, some in my home theater, etc...been collecting them for ages. That WKD one didn't really mean anything. From memory, it was a mate's who went with personalized plates and I "ended up" with it. Posted Image

And TORANA would be cool here...have had the ones on it for like 10 years now though..so just not sure?

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#48 Statler

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Posted 12 February 2011 - 11:30 AM

Last year there was a green hatchback forsale over there on ebay.
Did you import that too?

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#49 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 12 February 2011 - 11:43 AM

Nope...if it is the one I am thinking of...it was SUPER rough...rusty, dented up everywhere,bashed 1/4 panel, trashed inside, etc.

I had seen it when it came into the country, but not sure who actually did it.

I've just brought over my red one and a pair of white ones as far as Torries go.

There was a guy up in Michigan with a burgandy ? one too with a Chev in it he was drag racing... don't know of more other than those off hand. Did hear of a couple earlier ones too.. LC/J a black one and one other (not sure what color it was)

My mate has a LX sedan I might be getting off him and bringing over too...that would be the first of those over here I have heard of at least. I'll do it up with all the flares and all, and do an LS1/2/3 and auto. Figured be a cool pair to my hatch.

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#50 _judgelj_

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Posted 12 February 2011 - 12:44 PM

[/quote]

I've got heaps of plates actually..some in the shed, some in my home theater, etc...been collecting them for ages. That WKD one didn't really mean anything. From memory, it was a mate's who went with personalized plates and I "ended up" with it. Posted Image

And TORANA would be cool here...have had the ones on it for like 10 years now though..so just not sure?
[/quote]

well seemed like wicked 429 suiting anything that was wicked, running a 429 hehe. go the torana, aussie is cool but probably getting old after a while, you can still keep it and put in on your gtr xu1 that you bring over!!!