22 replies to this topic

[Waz LX]

Hey all,

 

So as bit of an intro im about so start a new long term project I have stashed away. White LX SLR 4.2 with matching numbers engine. Its fairly rough but all there. Rust is fairly minimal, has some behind the passenger rear wheel and some on the inner front wheel well and under the battery box. Plenum, doors and floors are really good. 

So this is where I want some opinions. I will build with my boy and have no plans on selling, eventually handing down to my boy as a type of investment. I love the fat look of flairs and body kit on the Torry but worry about cutting up a good original car. The front guards have had the lips rolled with what would best be described as a baseball bat and would probably need replacing anyways? The other issue I have is colour. I already have another white mussle car and wouldnt mind going something different but is it going to affect value too much if I change the factory colour?

I know a lot of people will say build it how you want it but what would you do?

 

 

 

[yel327]

This is my personal opinion.

 

It is just a SL/R optioned with a 4.2. Not a peak value car but still has some intrinsic value as it's a SL/R. The equivalent in a HT-HG would be a standard V8 GTS.

 

I would restore it looking original, maybe fit the SLR5000 front and rear plastics but not flare it. Both of those are easily reversed if ever needed.

 

Store the original 4.2, M20 or M40 and banjo away on a pallet, and fit a 308/5.0L and choice of Trimatic, TH350 or Aussie 4spd or even a 5spd, but don't modify the floor. Fit a stronger diff than a banjo. If it's a pre ADR27A car you could also fit a SBC if desired for easier and cheaper power but not worth it if you just want a standard or mildly modded engine - the 308/5.0L will do that for you easily. Upgrade it to HQ-WB brakes and run 14 or 15 inch wheels.

 

This way you get to make a nice street car out of it, but don't destroy its originality.

 

I'd paint it white, but don't make it look like an LX SLR5000, keep the chrome bars and the black sills, maybe if you feel like it fit LH SLR5000 stripes.

 

Do the interior as per original, unless you want better front seats, then store the originals.

 

Again, just what I'd do. It's your car and your decision!

[Ice]

Tubs, big wheel rear, skinny wheel fronts 

LS3 auto, paint it a wild colour 

done       
To many originals around now 

[Uncle Chop Chop]

As Yel said, a matching numbers car does come with value. Paint it the colour that's on the tags. If it can be unbolted and swapped easily, do as you see fit. And keep all the original bits somewhere. Make sure the banjo gets replaced by something else, because one day banjo spares may not be available.

[Indy Orange]

Restore it how the General intended.👍

[Waz LX]

Cheers for the replies guys. I will be storing the engine away as I have a 308 that I will be dropping in but thinking I'll get a vid of the 253 running first. Good call on the Banjo will look into replacements maybe a bw? Will definitely keep the interior the same 18v and I do like white so probably the smart choice.

[Uncle Chop Chop]

A BW is physically smaller than a 9", so there will be more room for the exhaust, especially if you're going to lower it.

[RoyalPlum76SS]

I agree with keeping it unflared (as much as I love flares) and just adding a front and rear spoiler for a bit more purposeful look.

A 308 with a T5 would be a nice cruiser. There are some T5 variants that will slot straight into existing LX tunnel opening, no cutting needed.

Diff wise the BW is a great option for a cut down diff conversion, especially if you are after a bit more power and will be stroking the 308. Any BW from VL to VS will do the job.

You can source some nice looking OEM style diff brackets from Rodtech in Adelaide.

 

You could also start with an R31 Skyline BW diff (not Pintara though) These are 1460mm BUF to BUF which is only 20mm wider than std LH/X diff so no cutting involved, just the brackets need welding on.

I think you can get the axles redrilled to Torana pattern too (or HQ) which makes it a great bang for buck diff option. They also have a better handbrake setup from memory.

 

Another good option is use your existing banjo housing but put in a Harrop TruTrak centre with custom axles. There are plenty of 308 Torana's running them with no breakage issues.

[kiwi-lilj]

I would turn it into a poverty pack replica, just to be different.

[RallyRed]

Agree with others, no flares and no cutting.
Be interested to see it tribute towards maybe a HQ SS. i.e. green or purple, bonnet black outs, SS stickers and HQ type Rally steelies...lowered, of course.

Edited by RallyRed, 18 June 2023 - 07:01 PM.

[yel327]

That’s called a Gpack in a Torana Col!

[Waz LX]

So as I was thinking, general thoughts are make everything reversible. Keep the colour and don't cut the guards.

[rexy]

I have lived this dream.

 

Fit the biggest engine and driveline you can afford and paint it any colour but boring white.

 

Its a Torana after all, not a bearer bond.

[Bigfella237]

If you plan to never sell it then resale value is irrelevant!

 

On the other hand, if it's a case of every time you roll the garage door up you'll think "geez, I would've loved big wheels & flares" or "I wish I'd painted it pink with purple polka-dots" then you're not really getting the full Torana experience.

 

Yes, if you ever do sell then "uncut" examples are getting harder to find (and may fetch more money), but the market for A9X look-alikes is a lot bigger so that kinda evens things out, and if it was me I'd rather have the car of my dreams than have something a certain way because other people like it like that.

 

You'd be turning in your grave if somebody buys it off your son in 30 years time, takes it home and cuts the guards!

[yel327]

I'd have agreed with Andrew in the past, but if you today want a big flared car and wide tyres I'd do it to a Sunbird or 4/6cyl car and leave a V8 optioned SL/R alone if it still has its original engine. If the engine was long gone then its open slather. I'd advise the same thing with any Holden or Torana though, if its a 6cyl GTS go for it but if its a V8 car and has its engine try not to modify the body to the point of ruining it.

[Heath]

If you care about what it is, keep it flareless, because flares are the one thing that is properly difficult to un-do.

Put a shortened Borg Warner diff in it, do a proper wheel arch adjustment all around and mildly modify the tubs front and rear and get some wide rubber under all four corners. Make it sit frOcking awesome over dished, wide wheels, and put the front and rear spoilers on (with brake ducts like god intended) and nobody will care that it isn't flared.

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Could also have a SMALL droptank on it to give it a bit more street presence.

 

308 based motor, 5spd manual like god also intended.

 

White kind of sucks (particularly on an un-flared car without blackouts), so choose an actual colour. Someone can re-paint it white in the future if they care.

 

One recommendation you should consider would be to paint it a nice bright factory colour with a corresponding coloured LX SL/R (non-5000 obviously) stripe on the side, LX SL/R badging, LX SL/R brightwork & window blackouts because you never see people do this. This would be a hat tip to what the car's identity actually is. 

Imagine that or in another period colour (think Supermint, Royal Plum or Mint Julep with blue stripe, Aquarius or Aquamarine with mint julep stripe, etc. just choose your poison) but with spoilers front and rear, low, with fat, purposeful stance... twin chrome pipes, shallow droptank, headlight covers. That would be sick. You could even do that stuff and add a black bonnet and/or A9X scoop and it would be cool as.

 

Hope that's helpful, haha!

[LXCHEV]

Just my 2cents on the good old flares debate (always love this discussion!)....

 

For me - I love flared and fully kitted out Toranas. Always have, and always will. The flares are the 'hook' that makes people go 'damn that's tough'.... 'look at that torana'... etc. It's the connection back to Bathurst. It's mabo. It's what turns a Torana into a muscle car. It's certainly what got me drooling over Torana's as a young lad. Don't get me wrong - there's plenty of awesome non-flared Torana's around too - and I've owned both myself - but for sheer muscle car looks, they need flares.

 

To come back to the original sentiment of "do what YOU want - it's your car" - I think that's golden advice and all your need to worry about. Don't get put off by scare tactics.... build it to your taste and enjoy it.

 

Keep in mind too - if you do cut up an original, you're not halving it's value. It isn't that drastic. It might take a small amount off in the eyes of a concourse collector.... but there will always be plenty of other buyers who themselves too, prefer flares - and will still be willing to handover good coin to own that car one day. They are "period correct" mods at the end of the day. And the car will be twice as tough, don't under-estimate the value of that in itself! You can't put a price on personal satisfaction of owning your dream car.

[Waz LX]

Cheers all some very good advice and certainly gives me things to think about. I do like the stance of that blue torry Heath!

[Bigfella237]

 

^ Yeah, but checkout the gouges out of the front tyre from the lack of clearance!

 

And it sucks how people crank on way too much negative camber just to get a wider wheel to fit.

 

Both of these things will see your picture on the wall of the local tyre shop as "Customer of the Month"... every month!

 

If you care about what it is, keep it flareless, because flares are the one thing that is properly difficult to un-do.

Front guards are almost inconsequential, aside from the coin to buy replacements. You could even buy a pair to cut and put the originals away with the running gear for resale (suitably rustproofed of course). Ditto for the rear doors.

 

And I reckon if you knew what you were doing, and could make just one precise cut inside & out in the rear quarters, I'd say it's not impossible to un-flare a Torana years later? I'm not saying it'd be easy, just not impossible.
 

In the end, as Brett said, just make your dream car how you dreamed it and worry about the rivet-counters in thirty-odd years when and if you or your descendants ever sell it.

 

P,S, Don't give it to your son for a first car either or all this discussion will have been for nothing... I've never met a young bloke who didn't stack their first ride!

[axistr]

I hear it all the time "don't flare it, or it won't be worth anything and you can't butcher it because it's an original SLR" I call B.S, there always seams to be way more buyers looking for flared Toranas than stockers anyway, and it's only a 4.2L SLR not an L34 or A9X. You mentioned that you will never sell it and hand it down to your son eventually, so in your life time it won't matter one bit about the resale. How about asking for your sons input, he might prefer flares anyway. At the end of the day it's not that hard to reverse wheel arch cuts, it's no worse than cutting rust out of the guards.

 

As for colour, paint it the colour you always pictured a Torana in your dreams. I personally hate white cars, they all look like fleet or hire cars to me. Most owners building cars these days are building them like the cars they remember seeing racing around Bathurst back in the seventies, but ninety percent of owners want more performance and some mod cons to make them more comfortable cruising on a Sunday. We quickly forget how basic they were in the seventies. Jump out of your daily and straight into a stock LX Torana and I reckon after six months the novelty wears off and you will be disappointed. Your el cheapo average ten year old Hyundai will out perform and out handle a stock 5.0l SLR anyway. 

 

The kids and myself drove our (pre me modifying it) 100% original LH SL after purchasing it from the original owner, The old lady purchased the Torana new when she was fifty in 1975. It was probably the best condition original Torana outside Holdens warranty I have ever see, still only has 84,000 original km on it. After twelve months no one wanted to drive it. No A/C, no power steering, AM radio and perthitic headlights. Even in todays money value at best I might get $40.000 for it. I turned down an offer of $140,000 twelve months ago after spending $35,000 plus my time twelve years ago turning it into the car that I like and the whole family now enjoys. No the $140,00 probably isn't it's true value, but obviously the person offering the money seen value in it to them. Go through the full rebuild/restoring process of old car these days and you will quickly realize a well built/restored Torana is probably a good buy in this price range. I could have sold it more than a dozen times over the past ten years for three times more than what it owes me but have always resisted.

 

I never regret modifying it and it's as much a pleasure driving it now as my other late model cars. I never modified it to impress anyone else but myself. 

 

Before and after.

 

 

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[Heath]

^ Yeah, but checkout the gouges out of the front tyre from the lack of clearance!

 

And it sucks how people crank on way too much negative camber just to get a wider wheel to fit.

 

Both of these things will see your picture on the wall of the local tyre shop as "Customer of the Month"... every month!

 

...

Front guards are almost inconsequential, aside from the coin to buy replacements. You could even buy a pair to cut and put the originals away with the running gear for resale (suitably rustproofed of course). Ditto for the rear doors.

 

And I reckon if you knew what you were doing, and could make just one precise cut inside & out in the rear quarters, I'd say it's not impossible to un-flare a Torana years later? I'm not saying it'd be easy, just not impossible.

 

I don't think they are "gouges in the tyres". It looks like he's in the paddock at a race track and I think it's had the tyres hot enough to pick up someone else's R spec rubber deposits, lol.

 

I'm sure that car has some clearance limitations and would camber wear the tyres if all you did was nanny it along straight roads, but it doesn't take much flogging around corners to get some wear on the outside of tyres with a few degrees of camber. This blue car has literally better stance than probably any other Torana I've ever seen, and good aesthetics sometimes come with a compromise. Nobody's car that can drive at full lock while at full bump is going to look any good, for example.

 

...

 

But what you said isn't wrong. If he wants it flared, he should flare it. It's just that it is quite difficult to un-do IMO on a sedan if he cares about that. Cutting them out and then welding the same sections back in later would... not be a great way to do a repair but it could be made to work. You can't panel beat that area to planish it, so it would be pretty messy under the paint!

[RallyRed]

...Mabo...  Luv it.

[RIM-010]

What I'd do?

Exactly Heath's pic but in LH SL/R5000 paint, minus the stickers and spoilers, in Barbados Green

With Mawers and a 308/5 speed/BW78 diff.