Gemini for sale? --(Ben J)

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Hi,i am currently in the process of looking for my first car. Is there anyone here that has aTG for sale and lives in the adelaide area? I am also considering a panno but am told that they are rare, especially the TG pannos.
What would have to be done to a gemini to cane off a commo so i can get some respect from some mates. Cheers

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Ben,

It's Dave mate - thought I'd answer the question regarding the caning of Commodores.

1) rebuild and a turbo - my mate's black TD panelvan has a Garrett T3 on a worked 1600cc and it goes pretty hard - even though it's only carby fed. Bore it out (or drop in a G200 SOHC - they bolt in) and wack injection on it and it'll fly
2) Piazza turbo engine - not that easy to put in but pretty fast - basically part of the RB Gemini engine family turned around for RWD - it's a 2 litre SOHC so it might just be easier turboing as in no. 1
3) this is what I'm going to do - a wise man once said to me "there's no replacement for displacement" and it was on those words I decided that I'm going to purchase a kit (Castlemaine Rod Shop, among others do this) and drop in a dirty big VN Commodore 3.8. That will go hard and have the grunt to pull a house behind it too. Not too hard to get past Regency and I reckon the insurance people will smile down on you more than if you had a turbo. My friend had a VN wagon manual and it was pretty fast for a bloody massive bus - put the same engine in a Gemini that weighs about 500kg less and you're going to pull 13" quarters providing you can get traction.

Dave

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When u say rebuild and add a turbo, What has to be changed from stock to accomodate a turbo? i mean, would the stock bits and pieces be too weak to handle it? HOw much would i be looking at to rebuild and add a turbo to a 1600????

Do u mean 13's with a 3.8?
Cheers dave

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Ben,

Yeah, 13 second quarters, not 13" quarters! 13"=13 inch! Whoops.

Not sure what you'd have to do to the engine myself as I'm not really an authority on turbos. It does cost a bit though. You could probably put a turbo on a standard engine, but the boost would have to be really low (4 psi or under) and it wouldn't last that long anyway. I think a head spacer is in order to lower compression. But really, it's going to cost a fair bit whatever way you go. You'd need a big carby which would cost about $300-$400 especially if it needed a recon (EFI would add another $1400 or so including computer). Plus all the plumbing to make the turbo work. I'm gonna stick in a big engine flat out so I haven't done much research into the old turbs - sorry.

Dave

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Heres some info on turbos for you. A good quality carby fed turbo setup will set you back about $2000. Ive rebuilt my motor got the pipes, turbo, fuel pump and carby for mine and it owes me $700 max. If you can do some or all the work your self its a lot cheaper.
Mine is a relatively standard 1800, the exceptions being a double row timing chain for reliability ( $100 ), mild bowl porting, and a small cam. It suns 15 psi boost all day every day, it doesnt ping and in nearly two years hasnt broken anything in the motor.
I run a T03/T04 hybrid sized turbo off a 13b turbo rotary motor and a 40mm sidedraft solex of a toyota twin cam motor. the turbo was $250 from a jap importer and the carby was $50 from a wreckers. cheap as. its good for 13.7@104mph on the quarter and its legal and fun.
The problem with a v6 is if you could get it "legal" which is very doubtful, the steering geometry and suspension all has to be changed due to the extra weight of the motor, need fuel pumps and surge tanks, need custom mounts and aftermarket fuel injection. I have two of these v6s at my house. One was 300 and the other 800, both complete runners. It was way too much effort for me to fit them when I tried so I let it go and moved onto the next project. It was going to cost over $5000 even when I already had a motor! hope this all helps

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I've consulted an engineer and all that's required to make the Commo V6 legal, in my 1978 TD panelvan, in South Australia, is some big brakes. Which I've got and are on the car.

Suspension changes would include tougher springs and shocks, should the need arise. Aftermarket EFI and computer aren't necessary as the Commodore wiring diagram is readily available. The computer from the series 1 VNs is simply an EFI computer, not a body computer from the VN series 2s and VPs onwards. Fuel pumps and surge tanks will be necessary on all EFI conversions, regardless of the engine. A VL item will do fine. Steering column I'm not sure about, but something can be done. I estimate about $4000 once the engines are purchased, but it'll be worth it.

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You are right about the standard efi computer from the series 1 VN motor not having a body control module, unfortunately that means you can only use a series 1 VN motor, as a VS motor etc, will not run without the BCM.
That leaves you with a series 1 VN motor, and if you do find one that hasnt had the shit cained out of it, you will be disappointed. They had about 120kw as opposed to the VS which has like 160kw. Big difference. Its worth spending the extra to fit aftermarket fuel injection, because for the extra $1500, your getting a much nicer motor with an extra 40kw. Itll cost you a lot more than $1500 to get an extra 40kw out of the series 1 VN dunger. You may as well go out and but a fuel injected camira or an EA falcon. The series 1 was shit, thats why the series 2 came out so quickly, to fix all the problems. Poor motor design led to many oil leaks, breaking camshafts and warping crankshafts. The later motos werent perfect, but they were a lot better.
I have driven in a v6 gemini, a green TG sedan from Keppera (QLD), and it steered like a bucket of shit. The extra weight over the front wheels makes the tail real loose on fast turns, steering is real heavy when going slow, and it just never feels right. Half the fun of a gemini is being small and light and being able to hang em out around corners and stuff. Youll find the v6 will ruin all that.