Some pics of my Torana upgrades so far..

[OzHemi]

I've owned the car for ages (I bought it and brought it over in 2000...had brought over the Charger a couple years before that) and had it as the factory 308/4 speed for all this time, until about a year ago. Decided to go for some updates... I've went with, LS1 and 6 speed, air conditioning, power windows and locks, brand new 9" with 31 spine axles and new Strange 3rd member, disc brakes all around (13" on all corners) and some 1 off 18" wheels...

Engine bay at the moment.... The A/C bracket should be here any day now and will get that mounted next...wiring is nearly done under the dash with all the LS1 stuff joined into the Torana loom. Have all the front end stuff rebuilt and ready to go on. Built a set of 1.75" headers in stainless from scratch, that took a while but they are done and have an X pipe under the car too..just no mufflers yet. Soon as the A/C compressor mount is in, will order the radiator and a/c condensor and start working out all the plumbing.

I am also going to upgrade to an Edelbrock LS1 intake..it is taller then the factory one by a few inches, and is good for abit of power over the LS6 intake even. Can take a 90mm throttle body even as well.






Here is inside as of a couple days ago...column and dash are all apart to make room for doing wiring, air, etc,etc..




Oh, and the wheels I am building for it...18" x 10" for the back and will go with 7's or 8's up front. (older pic when I was doing the power window swap..)










And from a few years ago (same as my sig pic) how it looked for around 8 years or so...

[Big Bopper Bart]

No offence OzHemi,But taking the 308 out and dropping in an LS1 kinda took the uniquness outta the car. Also ands again no offence,But the why stick a set of huge rims on a small car like that? Its your car and you can certianly do as you wish to it. I was just saying that without the 308 imho ,it loses its uniquness.

[OzHemi]

Why an LS1 ? A few reasons... one, stock they are 320 horsepower and get 27 mpg (my daily driver is a '00 SS convertable Camaro)
As well, they have the potential to make more power than a 308 could, hands down. (I had built up the 308 the car had before as it was) Even with making alot of power the Gen III engines still get great milage. I built a Kenne Bell-supercharged LS1 powered Camaro and it makes about 440 rwhp and gets about 25 mpg still easy.

Out at the SEMA I saw Edelbrock had a LS1 with factory bottom end, and thier top end package..intake, heads, and cam and was making 540 hp... Let along what turbo guys and supercharged guys are doing with the engines.

As well, the T56 transmission is a thousand times the trans the old Aussie 4 speed is. 2 overdrive ratios is hard to beat.

As for the wheels...there are no decent tires out there any more really in 15" if you want a sticky road tire (aside from purpose designed Hoosier racing tread,etc) in 18" I can get a wheel and tire package that will out handle the BFG's and Hotwires without even trying. As well, it gives me the clearance to run the 330 mm discs all around. I drove the car hard with the factory brakes and no thanks...I will take technology over that any day.
A buddy of mine in Oz road races a Torana...he runs a carburated 350 (no EFI in his class) and 8 piston AP Racing calipers on 13" ? rotors...never fades, and will haul the car down from any speeds all day long. I don't have the calipers, but could always upgrade to a Brembo,etc type caliper setup down the track if the need arrises.

The car will still be unique, and MUCH nicer to drive...which is why I am building it.. I've had other Toranas, but kept this one all along and it's time to make it more then it ever was..

[Big Bopper Bart]

I am quite aware of the power an LS motor can make.And I wasn't trashing your build just to me since there is but a handful of these cars in the USA I figured it would've been better all original,but its your car and to each his own.Good luck on your project.With the LS motor and the sus. upgrades I'm sure it will handle and move like a 2010 Camaro SS

[OzHemi]

I owned a 2010 Camaro too actually (SS2/RS) and they are a heck of a car...Australian designed actually and are basically a VE Commodore underneath.







I've brought 3 Toranas over here...and realize there are not alot around, but I still want the car more enjoyable to drive. I built my VH Charger the same way with adding the rack and pinion, 5 speed, etc. I hear what you are saying too...but something about having a car with so much more potential then they originally had just speaks to me.

[Max_Van]

Very Nice mate. Don't matter what ya do cause it can always be changed back at a later date if needed. Bottom line is it's still a hatch torana in the US, ain't much cooler than that.

Cheers

[OzHemi]

ain't much cooler than that

If one is good....is 2 better?



I had another white one ages ago...this one was a more recent one. It was a super solid car, no rust anywhere. I ended up putting the 308/4 speed out of my red Torana into this white one (it was a 202/4 speed car) and added my hot wires and ended up sending the car back to Oz and sold it! ha ha... (after adding flares that is, to suit the 10" hot wires..)
Was just a shame someone had cut the sunroof into it at some point in time, along with swapping in the LH headlights. I bought it off a guy into Falcons actually...he was going to V-8 the Torrie himself but never got around to it and needed some cash (had just got let go from a panel shop he was working at from memory)

Here is another pic of it.. (had a mate's XB over to do some work on it you can see as well)




And as for the red one.... It's still progressing ! Done a bunch more wiring and got all the a/c underdash stuff wired up and done, have the a/c compressor mount sitting on it, have the radiator coming, and some of the a/c stuff too. Just been working out how to route all the a/c and heater lines now to make it look tidy under the bonnet and have room for it all as well..

[Big Bopper Bart]

[quote="OzHemi"]I owned a 2010 Camaro too actually (SS2/RS) and they are a heck of a car...Australian designed actually and are basically a VE Commodore underneath.


Thought the new design was American as its loosly based on the 69 Camaro design? I knew the platform was Holden based becuase GM N.A the only platforms are for shitbox fwd's

[draknoir2]

You're making me drool, Oz!

Ya know, they now have a kit to convert the EFI LS1 to carbureted. Something cool about making new tech old school. Here's where I saw it.

http://www.spike.com/full-episode/460-payoff-ls1-carb/32439

At the very least I'd replace the plastic intake with a performance cast aluminum, if for no other reason than aesthetic. And unlike Bart, I think the fender flares give it a Night Rideresque appeal. All in all, an extremely cool and unique ride.

[OzHemi]

Yep, the Edelbrock carb kit for the LS1 has been out for a while now actually! I sent one to Oz for a mate of mine putting a 6.0 liter into a '57 Buick (engine came from me too, lol) The kit was the intake, computer to run the coil packs,etc) and he is going with a T700 behind it instead of the 4L80E to save some cost in buying a trans controller...he already had a fresh 700 so made sense.

As for an intake for me, I am changing it for sure and that is on my "soon to order list", an Edelbrock pro flo-XT one...



With the Torana's hood scoop I should be ok for clearance..it's a pretty tall intake. Soon as I get a Spal fan setup for cooling and the a/c condenser makes it, the intake is next up to buy (as far as bigger dollar stuff goes...still lots of little stuff I keep picking up...a few hundred to spend on plumbing too)