201 replies to this topic

[ljv8]

That's one of Ian Tate's modifications not sure if Ian or crankshaft rebuilders that cut the thread. I am guessing it was done by crankies when it was in for machining and balancing as per Ian's requirements.

[gad05]

Hi Steve,
Su manifold looks good , is it painted or high temp coated?
Cheers Graham .

[ljv8]

Thanks Graham

It's actually painted with the same VHT high temp Cast Aluminum paint (SP995) that I used for the rocker cover. Threw the unprinted manifold on and it looked pretty grubby against the freshly painted block and rocker cover so hit it with a couple of coats. Not sure how durable it will be long term, time will tell. I'm not one for too much polished alloy or chrome or billet. I like my cars to be a bit more traditional.

Started on my front suspension arms last night. Out in the shed after 11 going nuts with the 20 tonne press, don't think my neighbors where impressed particularly when the lower ball joints let go!

Going out tonight to paint strip them and rust seal them with the KBS stuff in preparation for painting.

Steve

[gad05]

The joys of building cars Steve .I must admit spending time in my shed is my favourite place to be.
Graham .

[ribz0]

Hey Steve...

 

That is looking very sexy mate!!! Doing a great job and keep the pics coming...

 

Very cleaver doing the 161 badge on the block mate... The whole engine set up is looking very nice... You gave me some inspiration to get going on my engine again...

 

Cheers

[ljv8]

Yeah I hear ya Graham there is no place I would rather be than the shed, well maybe doing a lap of Bathurst in my LC

Thanks for the kind words Eric much appreciated mate.


Update #23

The plan is to complete the front end and get it rolling.

Spent a full day running around chasing parts which was good fun but killed the bank balance.

When to VEH Glass and spoke to the owner James about getting a full set of LC glass. He was real good showed me around the factory, they actually shape and toughen the glass on site. He does everything on site except for the windscreen, that's supplied by another company. Got a full set including the windscreen without the tint band on the top as per 70s style. It's all tucked away till it goes to the trimmer. Logo isn't too bad I have three or four various door and quarter vent glass and all the glass stamps vary. Below is the stamp VEH apply.



Went to performance ignition to pickup my black 8mm HEI leads which were made to the right lengths. Was a bit pissed that you can no longer buy the Bosch round HEI coils. The current replacement ones look like they belong on something space age not an old school red 6. Went to pick a part and grabbed a couple from Fraud XE's, they are supposed to be the same. Knew Fords had to be good for something other than their diffs. Also have a coil at home that was off a VH 308 so should have one good one out of three.



Got a reco rack from National Power Steering in Dandenong. Tony was recommended by Ian Tate. Does a great job of the rack, new bearings and bushings, they re machine the rack teeth if required and put new arms on. Rack is super tight and hard to turn by hand compared to my old worn one.



I'm a bit concerned about my steering column. I have an LC and LJ one. The LC one is slightly more worn has a lot more play in the lower bearing / bush. Not sure how I'm going to tackle this one yet. Have to use the LC one so I can run the GTR wheel or something similar. Spoke to a few power steering shops and no one wants to touch it or can supply the bearing. Will sit down with a beer and take it apart once I finish the front end. Think the best option will be to take the bearing to a bearing shop and try to match one. Hopefully I don't destroy it.

Also went to Kingswood country spares and got the full front end rebuild kit. I was hoping to meet a Ted Bullpit type character there but didn't get called a nun for driving a Torana, and there were no Kingswoods out front with glad wrap on the mudflaps, or carpeted ash trays, so left pretty disappointed. Kit looks pretty good they use some mckay stuff, some GMH, some unbranded and some Rares. It's a road car so went rubber throughout.



Started stripping the front control arms with the KBS paint stripper. Pretty effective stuff but best when applied with a spray bottle than brush I have noticed. Took about 15 minutes per arm to have them completely back to bare metal. One good thick application cleared about 90% of the paint with a second stripping to get rid of any stubborn spots. De greased and sealed them with the KBS rust blast.

From grotty :(


To bare metal and treated




Started stripping the rims too and they were more challenging. The factory black paint is super tough took a good few coats of paint stripper to get the bulk of it off. The rest of the stubborn paint can stay just gave them a light sand just to get them smooth. The KBS products go on painted surfaces fine as long as the surface is keyed and not shiny paint.



As mentioned in an earlier post I am keen on the Federal 595 tyres. Got in touch with the supplier and they are available. Going for the 185 60 on the front 5.5" rims and the 205 60 on the 6" rims. The 205 is 24mm taller in diameter so only a slight difference in overall height which should look good.

Don't have a 5.5" steel rim for a spare yet so will probably get another 205 tyre for one of my Sprintmasters. If I'm happy with the tyres will get another set for all the Sprintmasters so I can run them when I get sick of the steelies. The only concern with the spare is if these tyres are directional, look like it but I will find out.

Just need to finish stripping and painting the steel wheels and will be good to go. Going to use the KBS rust seal followed by black top in satin. Plan to not run trim rings just the red GTR center cap. If the black on the center cap is too glossy will hit it with the satin black to match.

Starting to also try and work out what bits need to be cleaned and sent off to get anodized. The list I have so far is:
Bonnet hinges - good set were sandblasted therefore no good to anodize and my other set are worn, ugggghhhhh!
Bonnet catch
Bonnet safety hook
Bonnet pin and spring
Door latch mechanism
Door catch
Boot lock mechanism
Boot latch
If I'm missing anything yell out.

Brought the eBay $750 kit from Parts Cloner. XU1 tank, filler neck, sender, tank cover, boot mat, ext door handles, scuff plates, door check springs, and brake hose springs. I actually just went looking for the door springs and ended up spending $750. Needed all the rest anyway and is a pretty good deal. Spoke to Pep and he was real good, he didn't cut the wheel wells out of my boot mat, so I can trim it as required around the wheel tubs. Arrived well packed and all bits seem pretty well made.

I do have a standard sized original tank but it's pretty beaten up and could do with the extra range of an XU1 tank.



This week plan to have all four rims prepped by the end of the week ready for painting along with the suspension arms.

[ljv8]

Hey Jacob yeah I will be putting it all together. It's been a few years since I pressed bushings and ball joints in but will take my time and try not to cock it up.

Hey I have been meaning to ask your ram tubes are they the 3" ones from Midels?

[RallyRed]

Hi Steve,
Just caught up with your thread again.
Wow...that paint job looks FANTASTIC

[ljv8]

Hey Col thanks mate yeah I'm pretty happy with it turned out better than I expected. The painter did such a good job he has now forced me to finish it properly.

2" ok thanks Jacob and thanks for the tip never thought to do that, cheers.

[gad05]

Hi Steve,
I tried to ring parts Cloner the other day,operator said number disconnected.
Did you use the website no.?very strange.
Cheers Graham .

[ljv8]

Hey Graham I initially got in touch with them via an eBay message. Pep sent me his mobile so we could go over the changes to my order. I would suggest try an eBay message if you have no luck I can PM you his mobile.

[gad05]

Thanks Steve ,if you could pm me his mobile that would be great.
Cheers Graham .

[ljv8]

First of all have to say a huge thank you to Limo for helping me out with a set of fiberglass door trim tops. Cheers mate you are a star!

Update #24

Sent my dash pad off to the dashboard doctor in Coburg Victoria. Was in original factory black finish but had three major cracks. As most know the original material / texture is no longer available. They did a really nice job of repairing the cracks and covering it. Looks close enough to original for me.





Also a bit of useless info found out from my parts bin that the dash pad nuts vary from LC (7) and LJ (4). See below.



Spent many hours paint stripping and preparing my suspension parts and rims only to end in disaster.

Applied the Kbs rust seal a little heavy handed and resulted in bubbles galore. far$&@)(;;:@@!!! Looks absolutely disgusting. Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw how they dried up. Have to strip back the worst bits and start again. Lucky I only painted/ruined a couple of bits. The shock brackets only bubbled a little so can sand them back. Spoke to Kbs and they recommended adding 5% thinners and very light coats. Painful lesson.





Rubbed back one shock bracket did a second light coat of rust seal came out ok. Going to try the satin black BlackTop coat and see how it comes out, but it has dented my confidence in the product as there are a couple of tiny bubbles even after thinning and the lightest of coats. Kbs recommended using a foam brush or spraying for the BlackTop in satin as it's hard to get a consistent satin finish by brush. Will try the foam brush. Also the more thinner you add the flatter the finish.

The whole appeal was being able to brush it as the only chance I get to work on the car is late nights. My compressor is too noisy to be spraying at 10:30pm.

If I'm not happy will strip everything again and take a day off and just hit everything with the spray gun with acrylic or 2 pack.

There goes my plans to have it rolling by early Jan. :(

[sibhs]

Hi Steve, I too had KBS problems. Nowhere near as bad as yours. Mine were sand blasted then applied. Because it flows so well it will end up thick in places which causes bubbles. I sanded mine and then 2 packed them. Much better finish. I now only use it as a final coat on places you can't see it. Marty

[ljv8]

Thanks guys

John have to agree there isn't much vinegar can't clean. Will try that next time after the stripper to be sure.

Hey Jacob I followed the Kbs process. What I did was:

1) Kbs paint strip
2) wash with water then dry
3) light sand and went over with a scotchbrite pad
4) Kbs degrease
5) wash with water then dry
6) Kbs rust blast 30mins soak
7) wash with water then dry
8) left for a few days
9) wipe down with dry rag for any dust
10) Kbs rust seal nice and thick doh!
11) next day check out my freshly painted stuff, then lots of swearing.

Thanks Marty for the tip. Yeah I remember you mentioning you had issues. The thing is I did my crossmember a couple of months ago and it came out perfect. Frustrating..

[ljv8]

Yeah KBS always recommend two coats. I did a thinner coat on one of the lower suspension arms and it came out ok just a few tiny bubbles, maybe I'm too fussy! Will do a light sand then a second light coat of the rust seal then the blacktop. At this stage I don't think I will use it on my rims.

[gad05]

Hi Steve,
How's the build going any updates.
Or are you like me , life just gets in the road sometimes.
Love to see that Tate engine roar.
Cheers Graham .

[N/A-PWR]

Hi Steve,

I like how you have Update #'ers for your new picture posts, will use your idea when I get started. Dave I

 

Oh, and a Great Looking LC you have

also, I like the Extra shot's of the parts, so we can imagine in 3D what they look like

[ljv8]

Hey Graham and Dave cheers for the shout out.

Yeah you hit the nail on the head Graham. All got a bit hectic since Christmas and had to put the Torana on hold. It's killing me each time I walk past it. Was hoping to have it rolling and trimmed by now but your right sometimes life gets in the way.

I can't wait to hear that motor too! $10k worth of motor just sitting there it's just not right, should be smoking the back wheels by now.

Have a few weeks off so plan to finish painting my wheels and get the tyres fitted. Back ones need a final coat and front ones are in primer.

Also got a call that my tail light surrounds are all done so will grab them this week too. Will assemble those with the new lenses and put the silver stripes on them too. Not sure which way to go silver pen or fine line tape. Tape might be neater but might not last long.

Also Dash original finished my door trims, wow they look amazing. Will post an update with some pics soon, well once I have something worth mentioning

Steve.