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Torana hatch in California...

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

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794 replies to this topic

#751 a9x868

maurice mead of hatchbacks

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1,417 posts

Name:facebook dave
Location:perth miles n miles from shiney
Car:valencia holden torana a9x hatch ultimate improvement on the barbados L34
Joined: 24-July 11

Posted 29 December 2013 - 08:51 PM

No laws what so ever basically....aside from needing lights and what not, ha ha. No need for heater, even wipers you could get away without if you didn't drive in the wet. Any engine, blowers , no brake rules, etc, etc. (I knew somene ages ago with a T-bucket street rod with only rear brakes..and another guy who had one with front calipers but no pads in them and no lines going to them)

As nice as it is to be able to build what ever you want...does make for some scary stuff out on the roads! (some of the rat rods getting around are downright scarey!)

No need for heater, even wipers
jeff
from what i remember of that great city of los angeles
it hardly ever rains except in january and it's never cold
great work by the way
i just love the way you are so innovative!
wish i was there!
been 6 long years and i miss the place badly
keep up the good work and have a very happy new year
cheers
davemc

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#752 _LXSS350_

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Posted 29 December 2013 - 10:37 PM

It a bloody lovely position with remove/replace that whole park brake pedal assembly. Nothing like being on you back wedged in the foot well with pedals near your face trying to get the spanners and ratchet in and fighting to bunch of wires all while trying to get the torch in the right direction.

Its bloody easy to fall in love with a torana on the spit (rotisserie)

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#753 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 30 December 2013 - 02:03 AM

No need for heater, even wipers
jeff
from what i remember of that great city of los angeles
it hardly ever rains except in january and it's never cold
great work by the way
i just love the way you are so innovative!
wish i was there!
been 6 long years and i miss the place badly
keep up the good work and have a very happy new year
cheers
davemc

As for wipers...we actually just had (officially) the driest year ever here...since Jan 1 2013 until now we have only had just over 3 1/2" of rain!! Normal for here is about 11" a year from memory...so definately could do without on a car you are not driving every single day. Same for the heater with how warm it is here..set a bunch of records this past week actually for high temps just before and over Christmas (for winter time basically...snowing back East and in the 80's here

)

And thanks! :spoton:

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#754 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 30 December 2013 - 02:07 AM

It a bloody lovely position with remove/replace that whole park brake pedal assembly. Nothing like being on you back wedged in the foot well with pedals near your face trying to get the spanners and ratchet in and fighting to bunch of wires all while trying to get the torch in the right direction.

Its bloody easy to fall in love with a torana on the spit (rotisserie)

And to complicate things...the conversion box I use for the speedo..I had mounted right above the PCM under the dash which is basically right next to the long bolt you need to pull out to get the park brake assembly out (the one that goes through the throttle pedal) so had to reach up under there to loosen and move out of the way that little box, plus all the loom as you mentioned..then get it all back in place, the joy of a "just because" project, lol..

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#755 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 30 December 2013 - 06:28 AM

Well, I solved the little issue that I had on mind, about how to keep the cables from flapping around or getting caught near the tire as they run along the lower control arm. As mentioned, I wanted to sort of use the existing holes if possible (from the factory sway bar) but didn't want to just use some zip ties or something.

I did have a couple pairs of nice little billet aluminum line clamps, but couldn't really figure out a nice way to attach them. (they mount using a 1/4" fine thread screw)

But...did come up with an idea for something simple that seems to work out quite well. I used a couple of 7/16" diameter bolts (that fit nicely into the control arm holes) that are the same length as the arms are wide... then drilled and tapped the end of them with a 1/4" fine hole....then it is just a simple matter of sliding the bolt into the back side hole in the control arm, and screwing the little line clamps into it. No muss, no fuss.

The line clamps leave the parking brake cable movement to slide around a little if need be. (I could use a little bit of rubber around the cable to make it snug, but figure a little bit of movement might be ok)

So here is basically how it came out...

(I just painted the head of the larger bolts with some epoxy chassis black to match the control arms so they won't really stand out at all. I will leave the aluminum clamps as they are..

Attached Files

20131229_114313_resized.jpg 105.26K 1 downloads
20131229_114255_resized.jpg 134.65K 1 downloads
20131229_114421_resized.jpg 144.4K 3 downloads

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#756 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 30 December 2013 - 06:33 AM

Oh and seat is back in and everything inside is back to "normal"

You hardly notice the park brake handle I reckon and looks right at home there as well...and plenty of room for my hand there as well, so no problem to use it when the need arises..

Oh, and the other cool thing about the Valiant handle...when you pull the handle up, as in the 2nd to last picture...you just push down a little and it pivots back to flat nearly while the brake is still on. Then you just pull it back up, push the button and release it back down. So even when the brake is on (as in the last pick) the handle is not up in the air in the way... (and as I showed, I have the dash warning light working so you can't forget it's on, ha ha)

Attached Files

20131229_104044_resized.jpg 198.07K 2 downloads
20131229_104052_resized.jpg 163.53K 1 downloads
20131229_104055_resized.jpg 180.38K 1 downloads
20131229_104105_resized.jpg 157.71K 1 downloads
20131229_104111_resized.jpg 183.24K 3 downloads

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#757 _Blackxu1_

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Posted 19 January 2014 - 09:19 PM

Nice write up in street machine bud well done

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#758 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 20 January 2014 - 02:51 AM

Is the article out ? I thought they might have mentioned to me when it was in print...cool though and thanks.

(Hopefully I can get to see it one of these days, lol..wonder what pics they used?)

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#759 orangeLJ

Yes, yes I do post alot!

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Joined: 02-May 06

Posted 20 January 2014 - 06:10 AM

Yup, not a bad spread

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#760 _LS1 Taxi_

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Posted 20 January 2014 - 07:37 AM

Can someone scan and post it up?

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#761 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 20 January 2014 - 09:33 AM

Yup, not a bad spread

I'll take your word for it

At least until I get a peek as well...lol

The photoshoot was really cool by the way, down at the beach..

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#762 Potta

Oh My, Don't you post alot

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6,026 posts

Name:Craig
Location:Gozzy, WA
Car:LC GTR, LC 4 door
Joined: 01-May 09

Posted 20 January 2014 - 09:56 AM

A mate of mine had a Monaro with a handbrake like that but on the right hand side of the seat, the factory fitted one.

He drove it around for a few days once with the handbrake on and couldn't work out why it was so sluggish.

He never used the handbrake cause it was auto, but his girlfriend had driven the car and put it on when she finished, and because it sits in the same position on or off, he didn't know.

He was pretty relieved when he realized, and noticed a slight performance improvement with the handbrake off. :spoton:

Car is looking great Jeff, I might have to grab a street machine I think.

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#763 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 20 January 2014 - 10:05 AM

I won't have that problem with the handbrake at least..I have hooked up the original Valiant switch on it to the factory Torana wiring and the dash warning light works perfectly.

(I had thought of fitting it on the right side too originally, like they originally were..but I went this way and happy I did as it is out of the way, not really noticable, etc)

If it had been an auto, I wouldn't have even bothered at all really...just handy now and then with the manual if I happen to want to let it idle and either warm up (in the winter) or cool down with the a/c in the summer before getting in...if I happen to be parked on a bit of a slope that is, lol

And thanks a lot as well!

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#764 _Blackxu1_

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Posted 20 January 2014 - 11:32 AM

Prob 3 or 4 pages cool pic cruising the streets of caly

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#765 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 20 January 2014 - 11:35 AM

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#766 Pop's-SS

Pops

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4,963 posts

Name:Barry
Location:Riverina South West Slopes
Car:1976 Mandarin Red SS Hatchback
Joined: 08-November 05

Posted 20 January 2014 - 04:32 PM

Top car Jeff :spoton:

The locals must be going to the chiropractor with stiff necks after continually turning around and looking at this lovely machine and wondering :wtf: is it

Barry

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#767 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 21 January 2014 - 01:58 AM

Thanks Barry!

And yep...as always I still get the 'what the heck is it.." from people, ha ha.

I was at the cruise night this past Friday night and even after all these years it is still funny watching people do a double take and try and figure out what it is.

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#768 _LXSS350_

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Posted 21 January 2014 - 02:10 AM

people do a double take and try and figure out what it is.

JFI the common guess would be?

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#769 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 21 January 2014 - 02:46 AM

Vega, Nova, Monza, "Some kind of ford", Some kind of import", "that car from mad max", "some thing from Europe"...

My favorite of all time though was... "It must be German, because of the SS badge" ...lol

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#770 _LXSS350_

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Posted 21 January 2014 - 03:35 AM

LOL German

Throw on some swastika's and take it to NY (15 West 16th Street).

If its German those guys soon pick up on it. :stirpot:

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#771 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 21 January 2014 - 10:25 AM

It was a long discussion to work out it was German...was a couple of older guys that came to that conclusion actually..and they did agree upon it too. LOL

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#772 _LS1 Hatch_

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Posted 21 January 2014 - 11:46 AM

Something kind of cool just came up...

I was just talking to my buddy there, and he was telling me he just sold a Corvette we just shipped over, and small world it is..he ended up selling it to the guy I had got my Torana from and the cool thing is, even after all these years the guy had just dug out/come across a bunch of pics he had when he first got it. He gave them to my buddy to give to me when he comes over for our next batch of containers to do late next month. Will be good to see how it looked way back when !