LH Torana 173 mods?

[adz000]

Hi, i currently own a LH Torana (173), and want more power. The engine is currently stock with a 2" sports exhaust. I was either thinking of doing up the 173 red motor or buying a v8. Im not all that keen on having to change the gearbox, diff ect, if i put a v8 in though. I was looking to spend $2000- $3000 with doing most of the work myself.

Has anyone done up a 173? What sort of power do they produce? Is it just a waste of time?

Adam.

[browny]

What about none of the above?

My thoughts:

Option 1 - If was going to put a V8 in an old Holden I would use something new(ish) and injected. Might be hard to fit in your budget tho.

Option 2 - IMO this is probably the best option for your budget, however after spending your money its still a pretty old 6cyl motor that you have done up. Even though there are gazillions of red motors around, you can still spend money pretty quick when you start doing them up.

Option 3 - Engine is cheap and plentiful, however as with any conversion your budget may be a problem.

[Jim]

hmmm...I agree with none of the above also.

how about a Nissan VH45 front cut which is an all alloy quad cam V8 with 200kW. Gets you everything you need including an auto gearbox. then it's a case of engine and gearbox mounts, tailshaft, radiator hoses (use a V8 torrie radiator) and exhaust. everything else will be labour.

or the same thing with a 1JZGTE toyota six turbo front cut.

really unless you want to keep it original the old 70's stuff is pretty ordinary even when modified, particuarly on a budget.

[VHDREAMS]

If it were me id go for the 253 or 308 you can find a complete 253 torana for under $1000 (my uncle just sold one so you just missed out there)

then do the work yourself to get it in and itll only cost whatever you break, if you go the 253 I would only spend money on external/bolt-on/common to the 308 bits and get a 308 later, you can get very decent power out of them but it does cost money,

if you went the 308 id buy the cheap Sydney Speed Supply's Stroker kit through it ($1150) and while you have it opened replace anything not looking so good, or if you can do everything yourself or know someone who can do it cheaply rebuild it using their rebuild kit ($660- but it does have some parts in common with the stroker kit so you may get it cheaper)

you wont have any problem at all reaching 300hp with an old carbied 308/355 (with a few breathing mods)

and if you really feel the need you can go efi later with just VN heads and injection gear and keep you current emissions laws....

the benefit of sticking with a pre 76 motor is your emissions laws will be much, much easier.

Cory

[datsqik]

Not much of a budget but you should be able to get a 50% increase on power.I would stick with the holden 6 and spend a couple of months chasing up some second hand performance parts from the trading post etc.If the bottom end is in good condition then all you need to do a find a big valve ported head,some triple strombergs or maybe a holley,extractors,a regraphed electronic gm dizzy and coil, a decent cam and lifters,and some compression.A hi volume oil pump is also good insurance.With a bit more comp,head flow and cam duration and lift than a XU1 motor its should give you a good increase in power.Sometimes you can find a complete motor setup from some unfinished project.I picked up a well prepared 202 with a good billett cam,stage 5 head,roller rockers with heaps of other goodies for $500 about a year ago and fitted it into a mates EH.With a large cain manifold,a 500 holley ,some extractors and a trimatic it would easily beat his 5L calais.

[oldenholden64]

1ufze

[hcca]

Guys, he said he wants to spend $2-3k. Most of the conversions you're mentioning would cost that or more just to get the engine let alone the cost of conversion.. for $2-3k, you could do just about any of the factory engines but that's about it.