V8 Mk2 Zephyr Ute
by Kevin
Murray
( Member of the Zephyr and Zodiac Owner’s Club of Melbourne, ZZOCM)
Before my interest in Zephyrs, I owned many hobby cars over
the years, mainly Fords, the best of them being a genuine Silver Fox XW GT Falcon
and a genuine Trak Red XY GT Falcon. When kids came along, sadly the cars had
to go. When the kids grew up, the passion for a hobby car was again feasible.
When I checked out the prices of GT Falcons I was staggered. The focus turned
back to a car my dad owned when I was an impressionable teenager, a Mk2 Zephyr.
I decided that I must get one. Being a bit of a rev head, it had to have a V8.
I knew they existed because I had read several articles on them in Street
Machine magazines and the like. So the search began. Little did I realise how
scarce they were. 12 months later I stumbled across the grey Mk2 sedan seen
below.
It had a 302 Windsor, C4 auto, 9 inch diff etc and
had been built by Pace brothers. It was a fantastic car in every way. I sold
this to a fellow ZZOCM member and still see it regularly.
I was getting the Zephyr bug well and truly by now and
decided a V8 Mk2 ute would be great. I tracked down the blue and white one seen
here.
I paid far too much for it but there weren’t any
others around. It was fairly rough but looked saveable. It had a 289 Windsor,
C4, 8 ¾ diff. The further I got into it, the greater the disaster became apparent.
In the end I gave up, sold off what I could and scrapped the rest.
Still keen, I came across my current ute, the yellow one.
The guy who owned it had it for 15 years, full of good
intentions, but admitting that it would never be finished. It had a brand new
custom interior, the body was perfect, not a spot of rust, the underbody had
all been tarred, and it had a 302 Cleveland, 4 speed single rail gear box and 8
¾ diff. I took it to a place called Hopper’s Stoppers on the outskirts of
Melbourne. Whereas they are mainly known for brake modifications and upgrades,
they also build hot rods, custom cars, you name it, they do it.
To tell you the whole story would take forever, but in
short, since the time of buying the ute, I have also owned an original British
import, Mk2 Zodiac. Rare single tone Goodwood Green in colour as seen in the
photo.
Again a beautiful car. It is currently owned by a
fellow ZZOCM and is a regular on Club runs.
I also bought the green ute seen in the photos which had
front panel damage after hitting a kangaroo. It had a 302 Windsor, C4 auto and
8 ¾ diff. I patched it up, converted it to gas only to sell it. Again it was a
fantastic car, but I haven’t seen it since. A guy on the opposite of Melbourne
bought it. Some of my fellow ZZOCM members have since seen it and say it’s
looking good.
I sold the green ute to finance another passion I’ve always
had, Mk1 Cortinas.
I have only just got it on the road. It’s all black (the
bonnet will soon be painted), has a Holden Commodore V6 engine and auto, 9 inch
diff, wheel tubs, big Borbet alloy wheels, runs straight gas, power steering,
air con, cruise control, custom interior. Now that I have finished that I can
again focus on the yellow ute which is now my only Zephyr. More on that in my
next instalment.
Kevin Murray
V8 Mk2
Zephyr Ute ( Part 2 )
by Kevin
Murray
By word of mouth, I was fortunate enough to track down my
ute. The previous owner had spent the best part of 15 years on the car but had
not made much progress. When it was put to him, he admitted he was never likely
to finish it, so I quickly pushed a wad of cash into his hand and it was mine.
As you can see in the pictures, it was covered in dust from sitting in his shed
all those years. The positives were that the body was absolutely perfect,
something almost impossible to find these days. The interior had been custom
designed and totally retrimmed.
As well as paint, I believe these are the most
important things to look for when taking over someone else’s project. As a
bonus, it had a brand new grille still wrapped in paper. The running gear in it
was a 302 Cleveland and 4 speed single rail gear box with an 8 ¾ diff. The
motor and gearbox were only there for fitting purposes and their condition was
not known, although believed to require reconditioning. The diff was OK and it
had Mk3 Zephyr front disc brakes.
Below: the original Cleveland 302.
Before embarking on my mission, I consulted an engineer for
advice. I wanted to put a 351 Cleveland but he said he would not approved it
due to it being too powerful (laugh laugh; a turbo rotary has more power) and
too heavy ( had to concede that to him). Anyway, as the Cleveland I had needed
a reco, and it was a fairly tight fit, I thought I might as well go with the
tried and proven Windsor. The engineer was OK with that decision, as he had
passed several Windsor into Mk2 Zephyr conversions. He said the 302 Windsor was
considerably lighter than the original 6 cylinder. I then asked him if he could
recommend someone to do the work, which lead me to my association with Hopper’s
Stoppers in Melbourne’s outer western suburbs.
From here, I will cut a very long story as short as
possible because it is spread over almost 2 ½ years. The engine bay and tray
area was sprayed Polynesian Green (came out on ’93 – ’94 Falcon), which will
eventually be the colour of the whole car.
I bought a fully recoed mild 302 Windsor. The single
rail that came with the car was stuffed so that got a complete reco.
302 Windsor
Brand new clutch and pressure plate. I replaced the diff with
a 9" disc brake diff from an XC Falcon that had an XB GT Falcon 3.0 :1
centre. This had to be narrowed to fit. To link these, a custom-made tail shaft
was fitted. The front brakes were upgraded to a Hadfield kit resulting in XB
Falcon ventilated discs with HQ Holden callipers. The whole car never had a
wire in it so a total rewire was done including electronic ignition.
Custom made telescopic rear shocker assembly. The
front suspension was totally rebuilt with the original struts being shortened
to lower it. Nolothane bushes throughout. All brake plumbing renewed. Custom filler
flaps for petrol (I considered running dual fuel at first but changed my mind)
and LPG. New complete twin exhaust system. Electric wipers. XY GT Falcon
mirrors. I also installed XF Falcon bucket seats.
Straight LPG system fitted. Custom made radiator with
twin thermo fans.
After driving it around for 3 years looking half finished,
I have decided to start again. I know this is riddled with madness and don’t
ask me to explain, but any of you who have the car bug like me will understand.
After much research, the plan basically consists of fitting a Mitsubishi L300
front end, Lexus all alloy, 4 litre, 32 valve, quad cam V8 incorporating the
power steering, air con and cruise control. More updates will be posted as they
become available.
Much time has passed since
the last instalment on the fate of my Ute. As stated previously, despite a lot
of time and money being already tipped into having a 302 Windsor V8, 4 speed
single rail and 9 inch diff installed, in a moment of madness I decided to
replace the running gear with a 4 litre Toyota Soarer V8 and auto.
As with most projects, it’s
amazing how it grows along the way. The car has now been off the road for 2 ½
years and has undergone some major surgery and is still nowhere finished.
The car was gutted back to a
rolling shell, including the removal of the Zephyr front end. This has been
replaced with the hot rodders popular choice, the Mitsubishi L300 front end.
The Commodore rack and pinion steering fits nicely to it, and a Hoppers
Stoppers BA falcon callipers with Leyland P76 rotor brake package has been added.
Next came the scary part
where the firewall was cut out as well as the entire dash.
This would enable the engine
to sit well back, and being a lightweight engine, would greatly improve
handling. When I saw the mess I wondered what ever drove me to this crazy idea.
Too late to turn back now.
The whole firewall was
completely re-fabricated as well as the frame for the fitting of the Toyota
Soarer dash and interior.
A Commodore steering column
was joined to the rack.
A lot of fabrication took place in the engine bay with the upper
part of the strut towers being retained for cosmetic purposes as the L300 front
end doesn’t have the usual struts.
The transmission tunnel had
to be custom made to suit the Soarer 4 speed auto.
The next major task was to
fit the Soarer dash, instruments and console. It required a lot of trial and
error, trimming and shaping and the skills of a plastic welder to get it to
happen.
The running gear was sourced
from a smashed Toyota Soarer. A lot of interest is developing with these motors
and a lot of them are starting to find their way into all sorts of cars.
They are a lightweight, all
alloy motor, quad cam, 32 valve, 6 bolt main bearing and the bottom end is said
to be almost unbreakable. Their life expectancy is said to be easily 300,000
klms and the fuel economy is excellent. In standard form they are rated at
about 195 kw and all sorts of modifications are possible without having to pull
them apart, including turbo and supercharging. More and more performance parts
are beginning to find their way onto the market. One of the most outstanding
features is the factory balancing and the super smoothness of the motor. There
are stories circulating that a 50-cent coin can be stood on its edge and the
motor revved to 6000 rpm without the coin falling over. I’ll believe it when I
see it.
All the belts and seals were
replaced on the motor as well as the electronics on the twin distributors. As
the car will be running straight LPG gas, a Gas Research throttle body was
fitted. A new tank was fitted as well as a reserve tank where the spare wheel
usually sits (170 litres of LPG all up). There is a gas filler neck on both
sides of the car and Datsun 1600 fuel caps that were grafted into the bodywork.
I have had a pair of 31
spline billet axles custom made to fit the XB GT Falcon disc brake 9-inch diff
that I kept after the first re-build, but I changed the ratio to 3.7: 1. Plenty
of go off the line, but also good for cruising thanks to the 4 speed auto. The
purpose of this car was for good all round features, e.g.; cruising,
performance when I choose, handling (light weight engine set well back, rack
and pinion with power steering). If it drives even vaguely driving like a
Toyota Soarer I’d be happy.
The next biggest nightmare
will be the wiring.
The wiring loom was removed
from the smashed Soarer and I’m not kidding would fill a brickie’s wheelbarrow.
There are so many gadgets
and gizmos in a Soarer, it is a mammoth task to sort out what is required and
what is junk when it is put into a Zephyr. Hopefully my man Gary Stott at
Hoppers Stoppers can work it out.
Obviously there is a heap to
go before my Ute ever hits the road so I will update you in the next
instalment.