red motor automatic combo

[GMHwagoon]

can anyone point me to a  fc project finished or on the go that has a red 6cyl and automatic combo
would like to read up and decide on which way to go
                thanks greg

[mcl1959]

My last project was a 186 with Trimatic from a donor Torana UC. Very nice car to drive.
I can provide you with all the build details.
Some details,
Torana mastervac was fitted to the firewall
Torana front brakes, Torana rear with 3.08 diff
EJ column with Torana Prindle, lockout and safety switch adapted on.
Cable accelerator with Torana pedal and kick down adapted to fit.
Shortened tail shaft

Ken

[GMHwagoon]

thanks ken
       car runs a 186 3spd crash box at the moment  daily driver
       will be doing a strip down and rebuild soon ,body and motor
        car has a hr disc  frontend ,hr rear at the moment
        was going for an easy aussie four speed floor shift behind the red
         but thought l might go trimatic floor shift. then not  having to worry about steering column change
          thanks greg

               has anyone on the forum done one like this  would like to look at rebuild pics
         

[surferboy]

G'day Greg

My wagon is my daily driver and has a 202 motor with a trimatic auto
(But that's a BIG secret    I have a whole story about my Canadian Grey motor and floor shifted 3spd manual .....   so you will have to eat this message after you have read it  )
I know it has an HR front and Torana disc brakes (so I could keep original FC rims)
I have no idea what Diff or tailshaft mods it might have.
I think it still has FC drums on the rear and maybe an EH Diff
I don't do any mechanical stuff. ( I pay other people lots of money to get their hands dirty  )

When I bought it 15 years ago it had a grey motor and 2spd powerglide
we then fitted the HR front and discs ( it needed some mods to make it fit though)
we later fitted a blue 173 and the trimatic
then later fitted the 202 block (and I don't know why but the 173 head went back on.. causing me all kinds of "pinging" issues  )

If you would like me to crawl under it and take some photos, I will be happy to

 
surferboy

[RET]

The modified FE I owned for many years first had a 186 and a 4-speed from a Datsun 1600. It came out a bunch of times, because the 186 used to eat the 180B clutch plates. When it eventually blew up, I replaced it with a T-bar Powerglide, and it ran with that for about 15 years. Bulletproof, but thirsty. For the last 5 years or so I had it, it had a Trimatic in it, which gave it a new lease on life - a lot peppier from a standing start, and much less thirsty around town. I used the same T-bar, mounted back to front (because the linkages are on opposite sides of those boxes). I'm pretty sure the T-bar came out of the same HK/HT that donated the Powerglide and the front floor and hump.

Like most others who've posted, it had HR front/rear ends. It was a great car to drive.

[GMHwagoon]

thanks boys for the input
             the car at the moment has an engineers certificate in victoria for the 186 , hr frontend
             seat belts and  wipers etc
             so didn't want to go overboard on the modifications when l do the strip down this time  only adding the trimatic
             
             and mostly just cleaning the whole body up checking everywhere for rust
         
            wanted to know 1  what trimatic to source (will l need one with gear linkage on drivers side )
                                    2  what tbar shifter to use
                                    3 what radiator will l need ( running a red motor  radiator now)
                                    4 what other parts needed for the fit 
                                    5 can l run a trans cooler
     thanks greg
             
             

[JOX515]

G'day Greg,

When I had the 186 red motor in my wagon, I ran a trimatic from a HQ, t-bar from a Cortina, a standard red motor radiator from an Torana from memory, made my own gearbox crossmember to suit and ran a trans cooler in front of the radiator.

I had to swap the internals of the t-bar around to suit the auto as I think the Cortina t-bar suited a left hand gearbox linkage.

I also ran a 2.78 diff centre as I was doing lots (1500 k's a week) in the wagon.

Cheers, Graeme

[mcl1959]

Definitely get a Trimatic with linkage on the drivers side. Any 3 speed T bar shifter should be fine, it's just a matter of making the shift rods to suit the length and angle. A more expensive but easier option is to use a cable operated shifter. Check out Lokar shifters.
Red motor radiator will be fine, I was running one with an inbuilt transcooler but would have fitted a separate cooler eventually.
The rear mount needs to be fabricated. You don't say what gearbox you currently have. Original?
If it is original you will need some form of chassis to mount the rear of the trans on.
I used an EK auto floor pan which has the required side rails and then adapted a HR trans mount to fit. EK auto floor pans are a little thin on the ground now so a couple of side rails are fairly easily installed.
If you have a 4 speed now then it's just a matter of changing the rear mount to suit.
Tail shaft length is shorter
You will need a kick down switch on the accelerator.

Ken

[hsv-001]

Sometimes I doubt what I did believe to be standard on these mods. I'll try not to get too involved in long drawn out discussions [part of my new years resolution] . I have been told that the later trimatics are better [not a big fan of 3 speeds] . I would check the LC LJ Torana tailshaft length . Linkages and selectors can be modified to face either way and most that you will find at the wreckers have an isolator switch on the side of the stick [put a relay on the purple start wire and switch it with isolator] . Linkages may have to be altered to the display and isolator on the selector and its a good idea to lift the rear of the vehicle onto chassis stands when you are doing this [I nearly put a new door in the back of the shed adjusting mine ] .I use after market trans coolers on 2 of my vehicles,  the radiator should be fine . Never happy with the large loop of cable under the floor that seems to be the way to install those after market shifter kits . You will have to lift the floor hump and remake the subframe section over the box [PM me if you want some handy ideas on this] if you are not installing chassis rails you can just put short rails on either side of the box .I did this with rhs on my van [five speed] .If you are planning to stay with the auto then you can move the brake pedal to the clutch position and put a wider pad on it [makes it easier to put a booster on the firewall] .Saying that ,its always tight between the brake pedal ,the dimmer switch and the new lifted hump so be careful there . Like I said you can PM me for ideas . Cheers ,Haydn.

[GMHwagoon]

thanks haydn ,ken

                    At the moment l have a 3spd crash box , rear mount for the gearbox runs across the rails as standard
                    l will be putting in side chasis rails along the sills so l can then make up a cross member for the
                    auto box
                    preferable it would be nice to pick up a wreck  with trimatic installed then swap it out  using all the linkages
                    that go with it , changing it up to suit the fc

                    what year did trimatics start ?
                     what would be the best model to chase up
             
                    tails shafts no worries have a mate who does them
                                               
                     
                   

[mcl1959]

Trimatic started in HG and ran into Commodore so plenty about. If you are using rails right out near the sills, then pick up a HQ - HZ mount.
Ken

[GMHwagoon]

ken
      on pedros al cheapo build page 12
        he has put these rails on his .Thats the sort l was thinking of .then make up a cross member for the auto
         
       
       

[hsv-001]

Just be careful of the gearbox cross member being in the way of the exhaust .Sometimes there is not enough room over the top and underneath could be too low . Haydn