Gtb 351 - 1983 To Now And Beyond!

[neptune blue]

Originally Posted by GTB 351

I could'nt agree more Brute 33, but we are heavily outnumbered in our clubs. Sometimes it feels like being in a historical society.

Going to jump ahead to now for a bit and show off the new diff -
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It was made by Pat Larizza at Extreme Drivelines.
Its a full floater 35 spline alloy housing just a wee bit narrower than standard. I've got a Strange pro case, Detroit locker etc thats been waiting for a number years for this diff.
I knew my old diff would not take much when I first got the car on the road and started getting organised to do the diff about 5 years ago. I was getting some grief about the blown budget (again!) So the diff was forgotten for a while, after all, I could drive the GT now so that would do would'nt it? Just had to keep the tune soft and not let the right foot play up - easy?!?!
All went to plan until a few months before Echuca when I decided to step it up a bit. I did'nt want to be embarassed at Heathcote so built the new pipes, put the cam position and wide band lamba sensors on, got a good sequential tune etc. Decided I'd run the car with exhaust and street tyres to be on the safe side - did'nt matter, as many of you know the first launch killed the diff. I was a bit surprised as I thought I was taking it easy. I would have been happy with one clean run to see my mph through the traps, but it was not to be. It turned out I did some engine damage too, but thats for later, cheers for now.

I've been reading your thread and its a great read
Nice to still own you first car
I know exactly how you felt about wanting a coupe
My coupe is also my first car which I have owned since 1979

Cheers Tony R

[GTB 351]

Thanks for the comments!

Spent about 2 hours on the Black Coupe instalment sat night and about 10 mins from submitting the power went out - lost the lot so I think I'll break it into shorter pieces.

In 93 I was running Barossa Auto Wreckers and picked up a Mulberry Metallic Fairmont Coupe which I used for occassional transport and towing. It had the GS grill and spotties, 302, t-bar but no other GS options. I became the 2nd registered owner.
At happy hour one friday a friend kept getting into me that his monaro could easily beat the GT so I decided to put the running gear from the GT into the coupe.
I had a disc brake 9 inch on the shelf so this was fitted with 3.7 gears and new clutches, I used a wide ratio toploader not the close ratio box you saw in the earlier pics as it would work better on the dragstrip and fitted my 4V motor, a GS dash and bonnet.
It was a rush job but we met up at an AIR street meet and it was on.







I beat the monaro by 0.1 seconds with a disappointing 14.1. I did about 12 runs before I stripped the linings off the modified F100 clutch. I carefully drove the car back to the Barossa, ordered a new clutch and had the motor tuned properly (I ran out of time and tuned it myself the first meet).
I was hooked, the coupe ran a 13.2 at the next meet.

[GTB 351]

The vinyl roof was removed and the usual rust repairs done and any black paint I could find in the workshop was mixed together( I think this included killrust,auto enamel and acrylics) and thinned with general purpose thinners. It took 2 days to dry and still looks just as bad today as it did then!

[GTB 351]

The car was slowly developing, over time the heads got more work and a solid flat tappet cam was chosen to suit. An 830 annular went on, v-gate shifter and 4.56 gearing. I was still running toploaders but breaking input shafts on a regular basis. I had spied a comaro in an american hot rodding mag with a wierd add on to the rear leafs so myself and good mate Marshy tried to work it out from the tiny pics and make it. It allowed the leafs to be preloaded and worked a treat. A year or 2 later we found out it was a cal tracs system when it started appearing on other cars but Marshy's worked better. It stopped the car moving around on gear changes and allowed it to launch much better. 60' times 1.60 or better, not bad for 4000lbs of car.
I was running 285 McGrearys on the back and radials on the front which always seemed to upset the scrutineers..........

[bionic2006xr6t]

I remember the pictures of this hanging in the workshop at Barossa Auto Wreckers all those years ago... Makes me feel old now...... .. and the top loaders with broken input shafts......Do you still own her Glen.....

Cheers Ryan

[GTB 351]

I then bought some nice light welds, goodyear slicks and moroso frontrunners and found out why they don't like radials on the front with rags on the rear: the car behaved so much better - you could hold it in the burnout - it did'nt wander all over the track, and boy did it hook up better!
I solved the toploader blues thanks to Mick Agius who always ran a manual in his gassa monaro, he put me onto a guy who built me a killa clutch which was also so streetable compared to my old button set up. The car could now lift both front wheels at launch -











The car had run a 12.1 at 117 with the old clutch. This was with breaking the toploaders input shaft changing into 4th ( I think it usually went thru the traps doing 6800 rpm in top?). It was always shifted at 7300-7500 and limited at 7500. I was sure that the car had an 11.7 in it with this set up but threw a rod on the run where the photo was taken with air under the front tyres. The car had run at nearly every street meet for the previos 3 years and the motor was to get a freshen up for xmas. The motor I have been running in the GT since I got it on the road was identical to the one in the black coupe except I dropped the comp to 10.2, dry sumped and injected it.

I could'nt afford to build a new motor at this time so the 460 and C6 from my F100 was borrowed. Ron at the 4,6 & 8 Shop got me some hurricane headers, pan and engine mounts and it all fell straight in (tailshaft from the close ratio box was ferfect fit). The C6 had a shift kit but standard converter, the tunnel ram and gas carbs were removed and a std manifold fitted and the 830 from the GT motor fitted.The 3.7 gears went back in and the result - 12.1's all day and I found shifting at over 5000 rpm was a waste of time. The 60 foots were a terrible 2.0 and the auto took all the fun out of it. This was how the car stayed until drag racing died at AIR. I did build a warmer 460 for it but its still sitting on the engine stand next to the car in my shed.

I will resurect the old girl one day!

[cob115]

Great read just spent this morning reading every thing instead of working
Be good to see her on Anzac day

[GTB 351]

OK, its now 1997 and the GT is back at the paint shop.

Steve was not in the industry anymore so the paint work was done by Craig McGregor at Wayne Marschall Crash Repairs. As you can see I changed the blackouts a little (the factory should have blacked out behind the bumpers) and all the stainless was done in black. The rear window moulds on my car were black from the factory so I finished off that job too.











This photo was taken in april 98 when the GT came home and sat next to the Black Coupe.



A lot of people who remember the Black Coupe getting around the Barossa think its been mocked up and is the GT now, but I'm very lucky to still have them both.

[GTB 351]

Heres a fairly recent shot taken by Chad Litchfield-



Yes, its my avatar.

[GTB 351]

I did a bit of work on the GT today with the help of the Marshman.

ITS OUT WITH THE OLD!





AND IN WITH THE NEW!





We spent a lot of time getting the pinion angle right and getting the diff central. I would have put the saddles an equal distance in from the hubs on both sides but Marshy wanted it on the ground with the wheels on and lots of measuring. He said its pretty normal for the panels and chassis to be out by 10mm or more on cars from this era. Lo and behold getting the wheels central in each wheel well yielded some measurements I wouldnt have expected: saddles a few mm different on each side and the lhs wheel has more clearance between both the spring and rear quarter than the rhs.
Marshy makes a lot of rollcages and says that if he makes them perfectly square (which he mostly does) that the gaps between the cage mount and the sides of the car will be all over the place.















Saddles tacked and tomorrow we will work on the top bars. Thinking about making them adjustable and leaving the factory ones on the old diff.

[GTB 351]

Heres what happened at the Hardtop Anniversary





Nake engine bay Ruurrrrr



Dropped the block off monday for a sleeve and will use a piston from the original engine that let go at AIR many years ago; same part no and sized forged flat top. I'm still waiting for lots of bits from the states for the stroker so getting the old motor with the new heads together so I can hopefully make it to the coupe cruise.

[bionic2006xr6t]

Hey Glen,
Tell Marshy its about time he washed his E38!

Cheers Ryan

[GTB 351]

I don't think I'll tell him that because he'll get toey if he finds out theres pics on here that show his cars (and his ugly mug).

[Saraco]

Wouldn't be a Cleveland, if it didn't split bores, eh?!

[GTB 351]

Be nice Nick! LOL
Piston had nowhere to go with half an exhaust valve on it; mushroomed the bore and went into water jacket in the head. Same heads that survived a 7500 rpm blowup in the 90's, just needed some valves replaced.

Still ****ed off I did'nt get to have some brews with you boys at the Falcon Hotel! But glad I didnt have to put up with a bunch of drunk netballers wanting to climb on your bonnets!

Who won the race?

[brad24]

How do you find the wilwood master cylinder?
What size bore is it?
What sort of disk/drum caliper set up do you run?
Cool car, clevo's forever
Cheers Brad

[Saraco]

Originally Posted by GTB 351

Be nice Nick! LOL
Piston had nowhere to go with half an exhaust valve on it; mushroomed the bore and went into water jacket in the head. Same heads that survived a 7500 rpm blowup in the 90's, just needed some valves replaced.

Still ****ed off I did'nt get to have some brews with you boys at the Falcon Hotel! But glad I didnt have to put up with a bunch of drunk netballers wanting to climb on your bonnets!

Who won the race?

Sorry 'bout that chief, it'll never happen again! Who won the race to the Falcon, you mean? Err.....on the way up, I guess it was me. On the way back, I was right up James' twin turbo'd XC's clacker...damn thing almost melted the XA's grille, when he backed off and popped the waste gates open.....shooting 2 metre flames, out the tail pipes!p.s Those ****ed netballers, could've jumped on top of something else, if they wanted to.....no arguement from me there!LOL!

[GTB 351]

brad24 How do you find the wilwood master cylinder?
What size bore is it?
What sort of disk/drum caliper set up do you run?
Cool car, clevo's forever
Cheers Brad

Hi Brad,
I love the Wilwoods, great value for money.
The master cyl is a 1.12 inch which required a pedal ratio change - trial and error until it felt right. A good thing about them is you can run the hoses out either side - great for Aussie cars.
I've been running SL6's on the front with 13.06inch GT48 rotors and 1.88inch backspacing hats for 5 years or so. I am using the original hubs, they just needed slight machining and EF or EL studs. Adjustable proportioning valve is next to the shifter.
I think I listed this setup incorrectly on here previously but have the old invoices out as recently ordered brakes for the rear.
I've been running the std disc drake rear with better rotors until recently, but am putting SL4's on the back with 12.6 inch rotors and 2 inch backspacing hats. Also going to use 2 tiny wilwood mechanical calipers for the handbrake. Its all ordered, just waiting for them to come from the US. I can recomend a great shop in the states, usually only a 5 day wait if they have the parts in stock if your interested, pm me.
The friend you see helping me with the diff has been doing brake upgrades on cars for 25 years and uses Wilwood a lot. He fitted a kit for a 67 Comaro onto a LH Torana recently, only had to make caliper mounts and it bought in the track by 15mm. He's fitted them to Aussie and US Chargers as well to name a few.
Hope this helps.

Saraco Sorry 'bout that chief, it'll never happen again! Who won the race to the Falcon, you mean? Err.....on the way up, I guess it was me. On the way back, I was right up James' twin turbo'd XC's clacker...damn thing almost melted the XA's grille, when he backed off and popped the waste gates open.....shooting 2 metre flames, out the tail pipes!p.s Those ****ed netballers, could've jumped on top of something else, if they wanted to.....no arguement from me there!LOL!

Wish I'd made it, next time for sure!

[xbrules]

One month to go until the Coupe Cruise Glen, Progress is looking good. That diff = WOW.... Can't wait to see it in the flesh!!! keep up the awesome work...

[GTB 351]

Ta mate, should have the old block back by the end of the week , getting a sleeve fitted and hopefully all the brake bits will turn up around the same time. Started cleaning up the pro case and putting the centre together today. Had it all on the shelf for years and missing some bits, probably used them on the pickup, so on the phone tomorrow and get them expressed out.
Cheers

[Flogginit]

Just Found this thread Nice coupes mate. Do I spy an RT Charger in the Back ground? Is that yours or a customers?

[GTB 351]

I'm using a friends hoist, its one of his.

[corty76]

Originally Posted by GTB 351

I'm using a friends hoist, its one of his.

omg what a nice coupe you ve got def hope to see this on a cruise

[darkside]

cant say i am a fan of the colour yellow but you have made it look very smart its a credit to you and the wheels set it off what are the brand of wheels ?...doc

[GTB 351]

Boyd Coddington Junk Yard Dogs. When I was building the car everyone was telling me they wouldnt suit the car, now everyone says they do: I'm thinking off changing them now because I see them on too many other cars.

[GTB 351]

Next Installment

Not a lot of serious work happened on the GT for a long time, just a bit of "dicking around" and the accumulation of more parts. Steve Baum from Stateside Trim did my hoodlining(top bloke)and started on the rest of the interior. I was changing it from brown to black. I picked up a new M48 MoTec ECU and ignition controller when they were having a sale and Mal Woods set me up with a TKO 5 speed box. I'd use the scattershield from the black coupe and I brought a Moroso 4 stage dry sump pump and 15 litre tank from Rocket Ind. A replacement short motor was source and given to Mark Obst to check over. It was a DOAE block with no front stamping and came out of a RX4 drag car. I had originally got it for a friend but it was stored in my shed and the friend owed me some money so a deal was done. It was 30 over with forged flat tops and had originally been built by Chris Milton to a very high standard - unfortunately the racer must not have owned a torque wrench as subsequent maintanance was poor and getting the clearances right was near impossible. The massive Ford Motorsport cam was tossed and a comp 294b was fitted. My highported 4V heads got some more work done and were fitted and the Holley Strip Dominator was modded by Marshy for 50lb MSD injectors.








You can see the tunnel rammed 460 from the 65 Effie in the above pics. It was about to be fitted to the black coupe after the GT's engine threw a leg out of bed. Previously explained in the black coupe section.

[GTB 351]

I've got a bunch of shots on my old CDMA phone I can't get onto the computer - anyone know how I can down load them?

I'll jump ahead a little to the pics I can access.

Work on the car got frantic in 2006 because my Nephew Nigel (the MoTec guru) was getting married and wanted the GT in his wedding. This was the opportunity I was waiting for - a license to go a little overboard!
The GT was moved to Marshy's workshop and Just about lived there for the next 3 months or so.














The boyds didnt arrive in time so the old brakes went back on (other wise I had no wheels that would clear) and the street rims from the black coupe were changed from black to Ford wheel silver and fitted. We were still putting the car together on the day of the wedding and the front sheet metal and seats were fitted while I was showering and dressing. Thanks to Marshy, Baumy, Ralph, Jarrad and Royston I made it with only minutes to spare!





And this is my nephews pride and joy

[GTB 351]

I was absolutely rooted at the wedding reception and fell asleep during the main course (comatos?) I can hardly remember any of it. The GT was still far from being finished and I didnt actually have lights or wipers etc and snuck the car home in darkness by following my brother in laws Monaro closely. I ran out of fuel 2.5km from home as the wedding party had photos taken at about 5 different locations all over the Barossa Valley and I wasnt expecting to clock up so many k's. The brakes were shocking(had refitted the single spots remember) with the Wilwood m/cyl. But over the next year work progressed and she was slowly getting sorted.
07 was the GT's first all ford day and she got lots of comments - good and bad. Had one knob jockey ask if was a real GT, I told him it was and he went on to tell me what a shame it was what I had done to the car. Somebody else wanted to know if I had a still fitted in the boot LOL. Enjoyed the drive to Seaview with the Barossa Valley Ford Club and entered it into their show and shine that year -

Parked next to Scotty's new GT.


And Werners Allan Moffat Special.



I hadnt yet trimmed the boot. Would get done before the GT Nats in Adelaide.

[gossy]

Thanks so much for the updates and history.
The car is amazing and your attention to detail and upgraded performance in all areas is outstanding.

[greenjgs]

Did you have any drama's fitting and sorting the dry sump set up? I'm debating whether to spend the money on a race sump or bite the bullet and go for a dry sump set up.