315 replies to this topic

[xu2308]

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Edited by xu2308, 16 February 2018 - 06:56 PM.

[crabba67]

Have a look AL i enjoyed the read in Australian Muscle Car Mag.

Cheers

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[xu2308]

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Edited by xu2308, 16 February 2018 - 06:55 PM.

[Redzone]

Hi Grant it is the latest Australian Muscle Car magazine with the 95 Bathurst winning Castrol commodore on the cover. Issue 84.

[xu2308]

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Edited by xu2308, 16 February 2018 - 06:54 PM.

[yel327]

I have QT205086 in L211486, a HQ V8 4spd Belmont van completed on 24/8/72.

QT205075 in L212570, a HQ V8 4spd Kingswood sedan completed 25/8/72.

QT205070 in L212871, another V8 4spd Kingswood sedan completed 1/9/72.

QT205084 in L213021 as above.

 

Any of these are the sort of car a dealer would strip for the L31 M21 for an LJ. 308 manuals are so rare around this time it isn't funny.

[S pack]

Byron, I would have thought a Dealer fitting a V8 to an LJ back in the day would have bought a current production complete engine assy from GMH rather than rob one from a new HQ.

[xu2308]

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Edited by xu2308, 16 February 2018 - 06:53 PM.

[yel327]

Byron, I would have thought a Dealer fitting a V8 to an LJ back in the day would have bought a current production complete engine assy from GMH rather than rob one from a new HQ.

 

They may have but i'm still sceptical about them having HQ engine numbers. Still reckon they'd have NASCO numbers if that is how they'd do it. In the end I reckon it would be cheaper for a dealer to grab a car either from GMH stock or from another dealer as a stock swap and swap the drivelines over, then sell the donor car off with a smaller engine. We've uncovered a fair few HQ's done exactly this way, where they've used an LS350 to upgrade a 253 GTS or a 253 van. The original engine numbers end up in the new home in the records in many cases.

[yel327]

Grant

 

Pull your ADR tag off and see what is scratched on the back. Before you do that though:

 

What was its original driveline? Or at least was it a 4spd car?

Is it an S?

Did Reeves Garage sell it new?

Does it still have its body plate? If so what is its body number?

 

We may be able to nail it with as little info as that.

Edited by yel327, 06 November 2015 - 04:57 PM.

[jd lj]

Does it only have one spare wheel bracket in the boot, factory 4 speed Lj's are like this regardless of whether gtr or S model.

[v8xu1pete]

Hi Al,

Just logged on to this site after a couple of years off. Just thought i would add a bit to your exciting story. I bought a registered LJ v8 in 1973 and

have owned it ever since. Its orange with rego RXR-049. Mine appears to have holden engineering like yours such as the 2 LJ rubber knuckles.

Also very similar is my engine number QT205806 - a little earlier than yours. I think mine is a dealer built car from Reeves garage as the sticker

is still on the back window. What is the mag that is being talked about - if you could let me know I will be keen to buy on? thanks.

Grant

 

Hi Grant, it's good to see you back on this site, hope you are well, it's a couple of years since I came & saw you & your car.

 

You are right, we need to hear some more from Ian who started the following thread:

 

http://www.gmh-toran...vale/?hl=reeves

 

The orange car he is talking about is obviously yours. Would be good to find out where the engine/trans combos came from. He knows the guys who built the Reeves cars, so hopefully he has dug up some more info.

 

Did some digging on your car after I saw it, Reeves Garage was dealer 653, they received 2 x LJ 'S' 2 door 2850 4 speed cars around the time that accords datewise with your chassis number (late 72), these were PSN L217722 & L217723, am tipping that 1 of these is your car. 

 

Let's hear some more from Ian.

 

Regards Pete.

[xu2308]

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Edited by xu2308, 16 February 2018 - 06:52 PM.

[yel327]

Al

 

What is different between a HQ L31 manual engines and one for an LJ? Is the sump different?

 

If this Reeves Garage car is L217722-3 I doubt very much Reeves Garage would have got those QT2058xx engine numbers if they bought production engines for the cars. Those PSN's are early to mid October, those QT engine would have been stamped in early August. Plus the fact one of them went into a 3/73 LJ, I doubt Reeves would have obtained one for that car in 1972, and the chances of them obtaining 2 x HQ's to do engine swaps with, with numbers so close is far fetched.

 

I think maybe GMH even had some engines ready for V8 LJ and these may have been some of them. Adding to that possibility I can't even find a manual QT2058xx anywhere in HQ. Only fly in that ointment is the QT engine numbers, GMH always used unique identifiers for Torana engines as they were normally different in some way (sump, an exhaust manifold etc) except for auto ADR27A LX-UC 6cyl, for those they added an X in the assembly plant in front of the QL/QD/ZL etc. Maybe this was how LJ was going to be? I'd have bet odds-on JT but maybe JQT was going to be it?

[jd lj]

If they were only two weeks away from starting production there's a possibility that some components were already being manufactured, such as V8 LJ sumps. Was this to be a different item to hq sumps and if so are there hq's that have a unnecessary sump variation that could possibly have had such a sump fitted to use up any no longer needed LJ V8 sumps etc?

[v8xu1pete]

From memory, Grant's sump had been cut & shut to fit LJ xmember, not pressed in one piece.

 

Yel327, were there any 308/4speed HQ's received by Reeves 653 in the last half of 72 that don't have their engine nos recorded.

 

Pete.

[yel327]

From memory, Grant's sump had been cut & shut to fit LJ xmember, not pressed in one piece.

 

Yel327, were there any 308/4speed HQ's received by Reeves 653 in the last half of 72 that don't have their engine nos recorded.

 

Pete.

 

Pete

 

There are bugger all 308 4spd vehicles period in the August-Oct period full stop, at least from Elizabeth, Dandenong or Pagewood. This is where those QT205xxx engines appear in manual cars, they are around a bit earlier in autos. L31 M21 was an optional driveline and it appears none or not many were built for stock order, they'd be by retail or dealer order only. Lots of 308 auto. It isn't until you get to GTS sedan and Sandman periods that L31 M21 appears to be a lot more common. About the only place you see them is GTS coupe, other than the odd few I quoted above which are obviously retail orders. In this period 350 powered cars appear to be more common that L31 M21. The two cars Al quoted above both had their engine numbers recorded as 173's but not listed as sold until November, so i'd say if there was 308 donors they'd probably be recorded as 308's too. But we don't know for certain either way.
 

[jd lj]

James.d  are you sure your facts are right? that could throw a massive spanner in the works!!!

If you re read my post you'll find I'm not stating facts but asking questions.