Torana SS

[VK_3800]

Hi all

As you can probably guess from my username I joined this forum when I was building a VK Commodore with V6 conversion. The VK is now long gone but it sowed the seed for a slightly different EFI V8 conversion in my Torana, with the wealth of info on here and using OSE 12P.



The Torana has a few of the usual modifications, plus a custom power steering conversion and a number of tweaks to the suspension. It actually drives really well and lately I've been working toward making it more refined and driveable. The carb was good but EFI would be even better.

I had previously considered a VN V8 swap but I'd really rather keep it more traditional looking with the early heads; it has a nice set of alloy valve covers, header fitment is hard enough already, etc. So the usual late night Trademe browsing resulted in buying a few second-hand-but-unused parts and I hatched a plan to do a Delco conversion using the early heads.

Holley throttle body


Stripmaster manifold


Stainless surge tank

[HQ355]

That is nice ! Tell us more about the drivetrain

[VK_3800]

While I was procrastinating and trying to figure out the best way to tackle machining the manifold to fit injectors, a friend who is an engineer and has access to suitable equipment offered to get me started. Awesome!

The injectors are angled toward each other and laid back toward the throttle body slightly to get the best shot into the port and at the back of the intake valve. Not quite perfect but pretty close.


From there I could index the holes on my mini mill, and machined a step to retain some inserts at a suitable height


Made up the inserts which are a slight interference fit, epoxied them in as well which filled any minor gaps and ensures they're not coming out!


Shaped with the die grinder on the inside, with enough length to ensure a good o-ring seal


Fuel rails are machined to suit from a length of blank extrusion


And somehow it all fits together

[VK_3800]

That is nice ! Tell us more about the drivetrain

Thanks, standard stroke (for now) 308 with TKO600 gearbox and R31 Borg Warner diff with 3:45:1 gears and Truetrac

[HQ355]

Nice work, there's a few hours invested there ! End product is well worth it though

[VK_3800]

Many months later motivation returned to me, and the second fuel rail was machined; I really don't have the patience for doing things twice, sometimes I wish cars weren't so symmetrical!

Now I needed to figure out a way of bolting the rails down that wasn't too ugly, and placed them on the correct 5 degree angle to match the injectors. Machined flats on the corners of the throttle body base and made a complex jig to drill holes square to the surgface


Which were then threaded and these jiggers screwed in


It works!


The internal diameter of the fuel rail was ideal for 3/8" NPT fittings, getting a tapered thread tap started straight required some thinking


I can't stand blue and red fittings!


Much better, just uses a short length of 3/8" bundy to connect the rails


And the factory regulator is used with a slightly oversized o-ring

[VK_3800]

More blue fittings, and this one doesn't even fit! Using a thermostat housing with no heater hose connections, so needed an elbow in the manifold itself. This was too long to screw in without hitting the runner, and the OD wasn't the 5/8" as advertised so the hose was loose. Chopped it down and sleeved to correct diameter


and removed the blue


Drilled and tapped holes in the front for CTS and the dash gauge sender


MAT sensor discretely tucked away at the rear of the manifold


Making sure the injector retaining clips all fit

[VK_3800]

You may have noticed that the manifold was partially sanded back, it came like this and I assume someone was planning on polishing it. Shiny is not really my thing though, and now I had grey epoxy to cover up too. So, wrinkle black


On to the fuel system. My plan was to remove the original supply line (it had seen better days), use the charcoal canister vent line for the return, and run a new supply line. That didn't leave a vent line for the canister though - so I made a new canister which fits down the back beside the tank (the Torana has side exit exhaust in front of the wheels)




The ulterior motive for this was to satisfy my need for symmetry with the surge tank filling the same space on the other side (and I really didn't want it inside the car). Unfortunately it was slightly too tall and the fittings weren't in the right place - easy fixed, just cut it up


Turns out MIG welding stainless isn't quite as easy as I thought and the result is nowhere near as pretty as the original TIG, but now it will work where I want it

[VK_3800]

The car already had a Carter electric pump which was re-routed to be the lift pump to the surge tank, and added a Walbro 255 external high pressure pump and a filter at the front of the fuel tank


Decided there should probably be some sort of pressure damper but with the new supply line being 3/8" (future proofing) I couldn't find anything inline. Spotted this on a Toyota fuel rail in my Internet travels which simply has an o-ring fit and made a bracket to hold it in place


I already had an Accel distributor (another Internet purchase) which had been good for some years. It has the facility to lock up all advance and has a magnetic pickup (the internal module was removed years ago to run it straight to the MSD 6A) so ideal for a Camira ignition module. Didn't quite fit straight to the distributor body so a small adapter plate does the trick


It also occurred to me that it would be a good idea to use a wider rotor tip to allow for advance so I adapted a factory one that was lying around

[VK_3800]

Manifold fitted to the engine, with some wiring added


Not so bad with the air cleaner on


Made a massive hole for the wiring loom!


And installed, MAP sensor is tucked in there too


Installed the check engine light in the stereo surround so as not to cut up any more of the dash, just chopped the silkscreen and tinted lense out of an old VN one




The TKO has a reluctor pickup similar to T56 in addition to the cable drive already running the speedo which is kind of handy, but needed a converter for the ECU