1972 Lj Torana

[cuzzo]

You didnt happen to make it to the blacktown macdonalds torana show back on mchappy day?

[orangeLJ]

Well its been a while since Ive been on RC, Lost my job at the end of last year (two weeks before christmas... real nice of them)

 

so things have been a bit tight round home (mortgage comes first) and the net wasnt a priority, so had to cut back on forums! haha.

 

I'm still only working part time, trying to find some full time work in my field (marketing) but havent had much luck.

 

But Ive bought a few things here and there for the LJ and I'll be pulling the motor out in the next few weeks/months to do a quick upgrade.

 

Bigger cam

Heavily ported head, biggest valves possible, higher compression (currently 9.5:1, going to be around 10- 10.2)

Custom set of extractors (old man did it for a living for 30 years, so they are his domain!)

and finally a retune.

 

The clutch has started to slip under big loads and the front bearing in the box (guessing) sounds a bit noisy, so it will come out at the same time for inspection and maybe replacement. I'm working at Bursons at the moment though, so parts are alot cheaper than they used to be!

 

With all that done, it should see be even more potent than it currently is :)

 

as it sits-

 

In other news, took my racecar down to wakefield for a test run, had heaps of teething issues, but it was the first time its ever been driven more than up and down the street (built from scratch)

 

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2011 by orangeLJ

[RAT AS]

great job mate(Y)

looks so good:)

[rollaround]

loving the passion you put into ur toranas, i have allways wanted one, my dad had a nice sea blue lc but we sold it when i was 6 :/

oh and might i say i love the stance on ur purple track car looks angry. :D

[ninja-philbo]

the lj is just sexual man i love tories u and ur old man are very lucky guys to own such nice cars

[abbott]

Ahhh wanted a Torana as long as I can remember! I think they were my first love haha!

[orangeLJ]

 

 

 

Had a shoot for extreme holdens mag (for both my race car and my street car)

 

 

 

 

Secret mens business-

 

going lappin'

 

 

family business :)

 

 

The torry was featured in Xtreme Holdens a month or two ago, and also had a "young guns" write up done for Street Machine a month or two prior to that :)

 

just some sample photos from the shoots-

 

SM-

 

 

 

XH-

 

 

 

 

 

[orangeLJ]

And me being me, I couldnt leave it together for too long....

 

So I pulled the engine, box and front crossmember out for a rebuild.

 

Plans as follows-

 

BIG solid camshaft

New head- massive valves, throated, heavily decked, pinned studs etc(should see 11.3:1 static compression)

Head studs

 

Gearbox rebuild- all new bearings

New Exedy uprated clutch kit

 

New front brakes- Hilux four piston calipers and BMW rotors, WRX four piston caliper pads

Braided brake lines

 

Front end re-bushed (didnt need it really, BUT while its out I thought I'd do it) with nolathane gear all round again.

Front end sandblasted, hi-filled and painted gloss black

New ball joints, tie rods etc etc.

 

New inlet manifolds (warnerford long runners :) )

New extractors (custom made, similar to HM9c's but with bigger primaries and better port angle)

HPC coat new extractors

2.5" exhaust (currently 2.25") centre resonator and single rear chamberless muffler, flanged at the extractors and at rear muffler as per old exhaust.

 

More Dyno time :)

 

Hoping for 220-250hp this time around, should hit 220 easy.

 

Some piccys!

 

Stripping it down-

 

 

 

 

 

 

empty-

 

new head vs old (right-left)

 

Notice just how much material has been removed from the head (casting prints etc)

 

 

New lifters :)

 

supplies-

 

 

New camshaft and lifters in (new timing gears too :) )

 

Head studs-

 

 

sump gasket on (few little tricks with sealant to ensure no leaks)

 

 

sump rubbed and back on-

 

Painted-

 

 

modified my thermostat housing-

 

I brazed up the heater holes and then smoothed the whole lot. Should look a bit trick and different from what most people do (loop a bt of hose)

[orangeLJ]

While all this was going on I also stripped the front end down, had all the control arms and main crossmember sand blasted and etch primed.

 

I had to weld up a crack in one of the outrigger arms that showed up after blasting (common place for cracking)

 

I veed it out, and filled with weld to ensure decent penetration, then ground it semi flat (don't want to take too much out of the weld)

 

(in etch primer)

 

 

 

Then I proceeded to blast the hell out of everything with hi-fill primer :)

 

 

 

 

Then gloss black-

 

Next on the list are the brakes-

 

 

New rotors versus original sized rotors (The ones I was running are a little bit thicker as they were UC torana, but the rusty ones shown here are original fitment to LJ torana)

 

 

Trial fitting rotors-

 

Turning down diametre

 

New caliper Vs old calipers (these are the actual calipers from the car, UC torana, single piston, decent sized pad though, but nothing flash)

 

 

Split the calipers, stripped them, acid bathed, wire wheeled and painted-

 

Have kits here to go in them when I'm done trial fitting everything. I had to mill the centre faces of the calipers out to accept a larger thickness brake rotor, but apart from that they are a bolt up fit.

 

 

And thats pretty close to where I'm up to at the moment.

 

The front end has been trial assembled, all bushes fitted etc etc. and is now sitting in one piece waiting for everything else to be finished.

 

Ive got to add some material to the hubs to ensure a tight fit with the rotors (to ensure zero runout and full balance) and have them machined, but thats only a preference thing, I could get away without it, but Id rather not.

 

So once thats done I'll bolt the crossmember up and measure brake lines etc to get them made.

 

Drop it out again and hopefully by then I should be ready to re-fit the engine and box.

 

I had some header flanges laser cut during the week, so I'll start on the new extractors in the next week or so.

 

Next sunday I'll be stripping the gearbox down to replace the bearings. Hopefully I don't find anymore surprises, but I have 3 spare boxes, so it wont be a big drama.

 

Next after this round is adjustable control arms for the diff so I can lower it more in the bum lol then a commodore BW 28 spline LSD conversion :)

[orangeLJ]

 

 

 

Got a bit more done over the last week

 

Rebuilt my calipers-

 

outer seals in-

 

pistons and top seals in

 

Caliper done-

 

+ rotor

 

Front end is all loose assembled

 

 

I'll put the springs and shocks in next week, but everything (all control arms etc)is always left loose until its under tension (weight of the car) then tightened up.

 

Everything shiny shiny

[kickn5k]

Very very nice 4door.

You might have seen my mates old hot house green 2door lc that we built. Now resides in NSW and apparently new owner is highly involved in the Torana club.

 

Stu.

[orangeLJ]

there is a heap of hot house green LC/LJs around, youd have to be more specific! lol.

 

Stripping the box this weekend, replacing all the bearings and giving it a general tighten and tidy up.

 

Then I'm basically ready to put it all together on the front crossmember and slide it back under!

 

Then its time to start building my new extractors.

[kickn5k]

there is a heap of hot house green LC/LJs around, youd have to be more specific! lol.

lol even if I was more specific it wouldn't help much.

13" sprintmasters, triple webers and gtr guard flutes. Just like every other 2door LC/LJ.

It did have a black and grey velour custom interior with monza race style seats with rear trimmed to match. But when he sold it to the new owner he was looking at changing it to a more STD type interior. He bought the car because he was sick of using his genuine amethyst metallic XU-1 at track days. I'll see if Mick remembers his name.

Remember your feature in extreme holdens. So refreshing to see a cool 4door. don't see to many nice ones these days.

 

Stu.

[orangeLJ]

hmmmmm, if you hadnt of said anything about track days and the interior, I would have almost put money on it being my uncle.

 

I'm not a member of any specific club though, too much politics and bullshit (like most car clubs)

 

The only torana related clubish thing I'm a member of is gmh-torana.com.au and have been since I was 14 haha.

 

Wish me luck for pulling this box down! hopefully no nasties inside!

 

 

Also! thanks for the positive comments man! I was over the moon with the XH shoot and feature.

Edited November 4, 2011 by orangeLJ

[kickn5k]

Also! thanks for the positive comments man! I was over the moon with the XH shoot and feature.

No worries, credit were credit is due. My mate did most of his himself and spent 40k. It was probably almost as nice as yours and could have been in a mag too. But the little touches this has like the shift boot and the rocker cover set it apart from most.

I was nearly cutting backflips when I noticed my KE-11 in hot4's and that was only two small photos not even a feature. Makes all the hard work worth it I think.