................................. 2 TOUGH. Hilborn Injected Chev Powered 1976 LX Holden Torana.................................

The A9X Torana is one of the best Aussie Muscle Cars ever built. It was General Motors race track weapon, to which Ford had no answer at the time. The combination of a compact body, agile handling, 5 litre V8 motor and tough stance has made it a motor sport favourite, with many records still to its credit today.

The following clip of John Harveys A9X Torana black-tracking through a corner on 3 wheels during an historic race meet at Phillip Island Raceway, shows why we love V8 Torana's so much:

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Background

A9X Torana's were released in 1977, but because the powerful L34 motor of the LH Torana could not comply with the much more stringent emissions regulations that came into law in June 1976, road registered A9X's were fitted with a 255 horsepower 308 cu in Holden V8 motor which provided only average performance. New race regulations that were designed to curtail the production of factory built homologation specials meant that race teams were allowed to use L34 parts, and that then made them extremely competitive on the track, with race teams achieving over 400 hp with a twin crossflow Weber carburettor setup.

The problem was that it was virtually impossible to have a heavily modified motor in an A9X which was street legal and met the post June 1976 emissions regulations.

Therefore a Torana that was manufactured before June 1976 was needed as the base for the "2 TOUGH" project so there could be the maximum amount of latitude for motor modifications, whilst keeping the vehicles emissions within legal limits.

By using the latest engine management electronics such as a sequential motorsport computer, 8 port electronic fuel injection and full electronic ignition, a motor producing over 500 reliable horsepower that was great to drive on the street and which complied to the pre-June 1976 emissions regulations was achievable.

A March 1976 build Torana was found in Qld, and in early 2002 it was bought. It was already a tough street performer with a 350 Chev, 750 Holley , Victor Junior manifold, 4 speed Toploader gearbox and a Ford 9 inch diff.

However, it's first trip to Wakefield Park Raceway showed it lacked the braking, grunt and grip needed to be a weapon on the track. It was then decided to concentrate on these 3 areas (braking, grunt & grip) during the rebuild, and to achieve those goals by focussing on integrating modern motorsport technologies with the classic styling of the A9X Torana. 2 TOUGH was built to be an eye catching, high performance, street legal car.

2 TOUGH before the rebuild:

The rebuild was completed in August 2004, and was further refined over the next few years, the replacement of the Tremec manual gearbox with a 4 speed automatic in 2007 being the latest major change.

The motor was designed to be a reliable and strong street driveable unit with a good torque curve. Even though horsepower was not being chased, 2 TOUGH was dynoed with 396 hp (295 kW) at the rear wheels on 98 octane pump fuel. This equates to around 536 hp (400 kW) at the flywheel.

Despite being built to be driven rather than shown, 2 TOUGH has won 13 trophies in the 9 shows that it has been displayed in. Awards included Best Sedan, Best Engine Bay, Car of the Day and Peoples Choice.

Motor

A normally aspirated V8 motor was planned in keeping with the Torana's racing tradition. It also had to be different to the normal "four barrel" V8, put out over 500 reliable horsepower, and it had to be suitable to be driven legally on the street.

The motor that was chosen for power and reliability was a 350 cu in Chev V8 with Trickflow alloy heads and a Crane roller cam. This combination had been successfully used on speed boats and was capable of maintaining high power output over a lengthy duration. Induction was originally via a 750 Holley and Victor Junior manifold, but this was changed to a 8 stack Hilborn Electronic Fuel Injection unit, but more about that later.

Motor before Hilborn Injection was added:

The Trickflow alloy heads have 64cc CNC profiled chambers, dual valve springs with titanium retainers, ARP rocker studs and Yella Terra roller rockers. Valves are 2.01" inlet and 1.60" exhaust.

The Crane hydraulic roller cam has 296 degrees (inlet) and 304 degrees (exhaust) duration @ .004 lift and valve lift of .558 (exhaust) and .539 (inlet). RPM range is 2800 to 6800. This was matched with Crane hyraulic roller lifters, Crow 5/16" chrome moly push rods and a Crow heavy duty timing set.

The motor is a balanced and blueprinted small block Chev V8 built by Autotech Engineering of Granville NSW. The 4 bolt main bearing 010 block was decked to 10.5:1 compression allowing the use of 98 octane BP Ultimate fuel for the street.

The block was bored to 4.040" and fitted with a 3.750" Eagle stroker crank which brought the total capacity up to 384.6 cubic inches or 6.302 litres.

Motor componentry includes Scat rods, Speed Pro dished pistons, Chrome Moly rings, Clevite bearings, Miloden studs and freeze plugs, ARP bolts, High Energy oil pan, Fel-Pro gaskets, Romac 7" Steel/alloy balancer, Edelbrock two section timing chain cover, CSI high torque starter, MSD Pro Billet Distributor and Magnecor competition ignition cables.

Lubrication is Penrite SIN 5 SAE 5W-60 full synthetic motor oil circulated by a Clevite oil pump with welded pickup through a remotely mounted Moroso Race oil filter.

Temperatures are kept under control by a custom built Aussie Desert Cooler aluminium radiator, an Ice 2800cfm electric fan and a CSI electric water pump circulating Tectaloy Vplus coolant.

Engine Management

2 Engine management programs are employed, one for the street on 98 octane fuel and the other for performance work on 110 octane Martini racing fuel. Engine management computer program change is simply achieved by the flick of a "missile" switch. The "performance" program is designed to provide even more grunt through the midrange, whilst maintaining the top end power.

An EMS 8860 sequential motorsport computer controls the electric water pump, thermo fan, fuel pumps, ignition and injection. With such a demand on the electrics, and the necessity to provide a constant level of power to the computer, a Bosch 120W alternator with an integral voltage regulator was installed, and additional high quality earth and battery cables were fitted.

The engine bay has had all wiring, lines and hoses removed, the MSD "Blaster coil" and MSD 6AL ignition controller are positioned under the dash The radiator overflow bottle and horns are hidden under the front mudguards, and the alloy windscreen wiper fluid reservoir was placed in the boot.

The MSD Ignition Controller is a Capacitive Discharge unit capable of delivering multiple sparks to a spark plug, instead of the usual single spark. It also has a "smooth" rev limiter to protect the engine in case of missed gear shifts.

The EMS computer operates with 3D software and has data logging. Being lap top programmable, it can be tuned whilst being driven - this has been very useful for converting dyno horsepower into something that is street and track drivable. Accurate engine timing is relayed to the ECU by a Hall effect sensor taking its signals from the Romac crankshaft pulley.

Fuel System

The motor is fed by a specially imported Hilborn electronic fuel injection system that breathes through eight 55mm diameter intakes. The manual Hilborn system is used on sprint cars and results in over 800 horsepower from a small block Chev. The electronics that controll the Hilborn unit are able to "tame" such a high flowing system so that it is able to be driven on the street, and produce emmissions that comply with legal requirements.

2 TOUGH is displayed at Car Shows fitted with tall 55mm intake "stacks" that do not contain any air filtering, as shown in the pic below:

For street and track use the Hilborn manifold is fitted with a Custom Cold Air Box and Turbo Porsche K&N Filter. Built by Leon Sokalski of Performance Metalcraft, the cold air box sits up in the bonnet scoop and takes full advantage of the cold air that flows in from the high pressure area at the base of the windscreen. This set up provides a noticable improvement in power, particularly on cool days.

Chromed 55mm Hilborn ram tubes are visible inside the cold air box in the below pic:

A custom Performance Metalcraft 100 litre, street legal alloy drop tank feeds the fuel injection system through a Carter low pressure fuel pump into a surge tank mounted in the boot. A Bosch high pressure fuel pump is mounted behind the diff.(pictured below) and draws fuel from the surge tank which feeds the Bosch injectors in the Hilborn manifold via a Malpassi regulator.

Exhaust

A mandrel bent exhaust system was custom fabricated by Stuart Vale of Racers Choice. HPC coated 1 3/4" primary pipes feed into twin 3" merge collectors. The internal merge design can be seen in the below pic. This design reduces turbulence and improves the scavenging effect (hence power) by increasing exhaust gas velocity.

To achieve the required tuned length within the tight confines of the Torana's engine bay, the system was fabricated in multiple sections as shown below:

When assembled, the extractor system is bolted together by means of small metal tabs like those in the below pic:

This design enabled a complex extractor system to be routed through the engine bay and front end components, achieving good clearances as well as providing the ability to remove the extractors with a minimum of difficulty:

The remainder of the system maintains the 3" pipe diameter, and is of a "cross over" design. Twin free flow mufflers have been custom built to keep noise volumes within legal limits whilst maintaining very low gas restriction. This system resulted in an increase of more than 60 rwhp over the "off the shelf" system that was originally installed.

The exhaust system is 3 inch all the way through...

Drivetrain

Power is transmitted via a GM TH700R4 4 speed transmission and a 2,800 rpm stall convertor. This combination was built to "Extreme" specifications to handle the 500+ horsepower reliably. Changes are via a B&M Quicksilver ratchet shifter which enables clutchless sequential shifts to be made. It also prevents missed shifts. The torque convertor stall was kept to 2,800rpm to provide an acceptable level of "streetability" - the trade off being slower launches :-( The transmission also has a dash mounted torque convertor lockup switch, and an extra large alloy cross-flow transmission fluid cooler mounted in front of the radiator.

A 3.5" custom thickwall tailshaft passes though a safety hoop onto a Jeff Holland custom built extra heavy duty diff. housing with Superior axles. Competition Warehouse boxed trailing arms fitted with nolathene bushes keep things tightly under control.

A Detroit TrueTrac 9" clutchless torque proportioning differential was chosen instead of a "locker" as smooth power-to-wheel transition is necessary for powering out of corners on the track. Even though fitted with 4.3:1 gears, the 17" wheels and 0.70 overdrive 4th gear means that 2 TOUGH can reach 260 kph (>160mph) at a safe 6,300rpm.

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Body & Interior

The body retains the A9X theme and has been sprayed in two pack GMH "Sting Red", with "Brilliant Black" bonnet and engine bay. Clear coats over both colours enhance the shine.

The flares, spoilers and reverse bonnet scoop are all of original factory design.

Interior is A9X Torana with plush pile carpet. The B&M ratchet shifter and the UC Torana centre mounted handbrake and console can be seen in these pics.

The front Recaro seats have a pneumatic lumbar support system, and the rear seats were custom trimmed by Roman Autotek to match.

Autometer guages (including a calibrated electronic speedometer), Momo steering wheel and dual fire extinguishers complete the interior. Autometer tacho has a very handy shift light, manual overide "missile" switches for fuel pumps, water pump and cooling fan enables a good cool down protocol after hot track laps. Safety is enhanced with a dash mounted fused battery cut-out switch, and the sound system is by Chevrolet and Hilborn and is located under the bonnet. No other audio is necessary ;-)

An Optima "Spiracell" 800 CCA non spillable battery was mounted in the boot. The rear number plate hides the fuel filler, and is operated by a remote electronic (Ford) locking mechanism. The fuel surge tank, mounted behind the spare wheel together with it's associated plumbing, can just be seen in the below pic too.

Chassis

The body has been made rigid with a Hadfield chassis kit. The Torana's standard good handling has been enhanced with Koni gas shocks, K-Mac custom lowered heavy duty springs, custom made adjustable 24mm front and 20mm rear stabiliser bars and nolathene bushes all round.

Brakes

The braking system has been completely replaced by a custom system with stainless steel lines and braided hoses. The brake lines and proportioning valve have been hidden. The foot controlled parking brake has been replaced with a centre floor mounted handbrake which connects to 293 mm DBA slotted rear disks and colour coded WB Statesman calipers. These rear disks are the same diameter as the original A9X Torana's front disks. This setup enables handbrake application to get around tight corners :-) Try doing that with the foot operated unit!

At the front, 330mm DBA slotted and curved vane vented disks with 4 piston Brembo Calipers and custom alloy hats are mounted on WB Statesman stub axles. Race brake fluid and pads have been used because of the high temperatures experienced.

Wheels & Tyres

17" wheels were required to clear the large diameter disks. Cragar Supersport were selected, 8" wide on the front and 9" wide on the rear. Bridgestone RE540S ZR17 race rubber is fitted on one set of wheels for the track. A second identical set of wheels is fitted with street tyres, 225/35/ZR17 Pirelli P Zero Nero's on the front and 265/40/ZR17 Falken 451's on the rear.

Both the track and street tyres proved hopeless at the drags, with the rear wheels still spinning in 3rd gear half way down the strip. To help fix this, a set of street legal 275/40/R17 Mickey Thompson ET Radial drag tyres, and a set of Pedders 90/10 front shocks are now fitted when 2 TOUGH goes to the drags.

2 TOUGH at the drags 10/10/2007 - 11.90 secs @ 114 mph:

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2 TOUGH at home.....

2 TOUGH at the gym .....

To see a Video Clip of 2 TOUGH working out, click on the below pic:

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2 TOUGH Show History .....

EH Anniversay Show Silverwater Park, NSW August 2004 Trophies: Best Sedan, Peoples Choice

Toranafest Newcastle Foreshore, NSW September 2004 Trophies: Best Sedan LH/LX/UC

Sydney Torana Club Annual Show McGraths Hill, NSW November 2004 Trophies: Best Overall Sedan, Best Presented Torana, Car of the Day

Central Coast Show 'n' Shine Tuggerah, NSW February 2005 Trophies: Best Engine Bay

20th All Holden Day Hawkesbury Showgrounds, NSW August 2005 Trophies: Car of the Day

2005 AME Hi-Performance Motor Show Sydney Olympic Park, NSW September, 2005 Trophies: Street Machine Championship, 3rd place

Fathers Day Charity Event Sydney Olympic Park, NSW September, 2006

Sydney Torana Club's Annual Show McGraths Hill, NSW November 2006 Trophies: Best Overall LX, Best Overall Torana

22nd All Holden Day Hawkesbury Showgrounds, NSW August 2007 Trophies: Car of the Day

Sydney Torana Club's Annual Show McGraths Hill, NSW November 2007 Trophies: Best Overall LX, Runner Up: Best Sedan, Best Modified, Car of the Day.

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2 TOUGH - Top Overall CarDomain Rated

Rated #1 Top Overall Ride, June 2007

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Rated #1 Top Holden Overall, November 2007

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2 TOUGH was also featured in Street Machine Magazine July 2005 edition ...

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2 TOUGH Featured in Sydney's Daily Telegraph 11 Jan 2008:

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2 TOUGH was displayed at the Sydney Car Festival 29/30 January 2005, in the Elite Hall at Rosehill Gardens. Pic appears on page 25 of the April 2005 edition of Extreme magazine.

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Below is a pic of 2 TOUGH parked in the pits at the Wakefield Park Raceway in NSW, Australia, with Howard Bells legendary LITRE 8. Very few sedans, even modern ones with turbochargers and all wheel drive, can keep up with these two beasties on the track :-)

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This is a picture of Peter Brock and 2 TOUGH's previous owner, Ian Williams after Brocky had taken Ian on several hot laps around the Oran Park race circuit. Click on the following link to check out Ian's upcoming HSV Clubsport: HSVLS3

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Previously engineered and registered in Queensland, 2 TOUGH has been engineered to the much tougher NSW requirements, and was NSW Street registered in 2005.

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2 TOUGH in Bed .....

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CREDITS

Ian Williams: For having the vision and persistence to make 2TOUGH what it is today - thanks Ian!

Engine building and management systems, Fuel injection and dyno tuning: Autotech Engineering, 18-20 George Street, Granville NSW Australia 2142 Phone (02) 9897 1378
www.autotechengineering.com.au

Body, Paint & Interior: RSV Repair Special Vehicles, 12 Berry Street Granville NSW Australia Phone (02) 9637 8349

Mechanical Engineering: E & D Koutalis Repco, 19 George Street, Granville NSW Australia Phone (02) 9897 1180

Exhaust System: Racers Choice, Unit 2, 17 Artisan Road, Seven Hills NSW Australia Phone (02) 9624 4555

Automatic Transmission: Wholesale Automatics, 1/58 Barry Street, Bayswater, Victoria Phone (03) 9762 8004 www.automatictransmission.com.au

Auto Electrics & Electronics: Steve Attard Mobile Automobile Electrics, Phone 0408 217 432

Supply of Motor and Performance Parts: High Performance World, 1 Bourke Street, North Parramatta NSW Australia 2151 Phone 9630 2333
www.highperformanceworld.com.au

Thanks for visiting this page, hope you liked the project, and we wish you well with yours.

Page 2 shows a few "before and after" the rebuild comparison pics ...