Something a bit left field - A Gemini :)

[Sammy]

well not knowing when to stop has gotten the better of me and i have embarked on another project which i have been thinking about for quite some time.

Yes you guessed it a Gemini ....



BUT .... not your average gemini, well atleast not when im done with it. To start with i found this mostly good condition beast for $100, no motor/gearbox and no seats, but other than some bumpers and grill its pretty much complete.

not a problem with those missing bits because i have others to replace them with ....

basic plan layed out is this.

* shoe horn 202 motor with trimatic in there
* fit suitable commodore diff with full spool and rear discs
* fit some form of commodore front disc brakes (possibly hoppers twin piston kit)
* strip all un needed bits, interior, dash, underlay, seats etc
* fit drag racing bits in their place .... oh bugger i gave it away

so pretty much i want something different, hense the 202 (i love 202's) and i want something that i can do burnouts in and hopefully be able to drag race in a cheapish/fun thing, i don't want to break any speed records, just fullfil a desire to punt something down the strip and have fun doing it.

one of the first things i did was to remove the welded centre in it so it was a little easier to push around! and while i was at it i decided to throw a commodore axle in there and test fit a commodore chaser rim ....



pretty much fits sweet, about 1 inch clearance inside and outside of the rim to the guard, so this means i should be able to run an 8 inch drag slick with maybe just some lip rolling.

i have already collected a pro comp fuel pump with regulator and this will be working with a 465 holley which will hopefully be able to run methanol into the 202 for some extra giddey up.

the engine looks like it should fit ok with a few inches taken out of the firewall which is fine by me as i want to get the engine as far back as possible for better weight distribution.

the stock weight of this car is about 950kg, so im hoping with all my removal of un-needed bits along with the heavier engine if i can come in under 1 tonne i will be happy.

now before you all say why not go for a v6 or v8 ... the answer is NO! i want it to be a 202 and i have been thinking seriously about a eaton m90 supercharger maybe later down the track too!!

[mrs ratbox]

red six's go in pretty easy it's been done plenty of times

[blue ute]

or a Holden jackaroo

[oldnek]

Sammy,

Why don't you just finish your ute first.

[Sammy]

red six's go in pretty easy it's been done plenty of times

yeah i have seen a few, namely one very wild one in newcastle at the hill climb, its a beast and goes like the clappers ...

from the quick look i have had i should be able to mod the firewall then the hardest bit will be making the engine mounts .. oh and maybe some exhaust mods ... need to get the engine in to confirm that though.

Why don't you just finish your ute first.

well once my shed gets built i'll be devoting my time to the ute don't you worry

this car has other uses, i have the engine for it on a stand with vn efi wiring loom all over it, once i finish wiring it up i want to get the efi running on that motor and half decently tuned before i go and stick it in the torana which i have to drive everyday so it will give me an outlet to do that with .... too hard to start an efi motor on the engine stand!

the plan with the gem is going to be a little bit here and there and hopefully over a few yrs or more it will slowly come together.

[mrs ratbox]

god you must have patietance, i could never do a car looking in years if i can't have it done yesterday i'm not interested, that's what's happening now the few things i have looked at will take too long and they should only be two or three months

[Sammy]

yeah i know what you mean, i sometimes wish it would go quicker, but money and time just doesn't allow for it ... or maybe im just slack

the main reason the gemini is gonna be a slow bit by bit thing is the FB and also theres no local drag strips here anyways, the closest is sydney which with a car on a trailer is probably 2hrs atleast ... so its not easy for me to do it, but if the new strip in raymond terrace gets the green light im hoping i'll be there ready to go when its done!

[mrs ratbox]

as far as i'm concerned i'de like some of yor patienance, i hate wanting everything done yesterday

[Devilrod]

Sorry Gemini not doing it for me.......Am I missing something?

Nah

[Sammy]

Sorry Gemini not doing it for me.......Am I missing something?

hahahah you must have missed the bit where i said its a bit left field and im being different

[Sputzwagon]

Here's different Sammy,...weld FB or EK tail fins on it!
Scotty.

[mrs ratbox]

that would be a SERIOUS waste of FB/EK tail lights, possably could even be considered a crime against humanity

[Malcolm]

SAMMY,

SLAP, SLAP now concentrate Get to work on the ute.

Must admit it will be fun when done.

I built a 74 Galiant with a mid mounted 318 chrysler for racing rally cross & dirt drags. That was fantastic fun. Just added a couple of picks for you



Just don't let anyone else drive it or it may end up like mine. It did recover.




Now get back to work on the ute

Cheers

Mal

[Sammy]

actually speaking of my Ute Mal, i had the concrete bloke visit on friday and hes sussed out what he needs to do for the slab for my shed, so hopefully in the next week or so there should be some work begin on the shed .... geez im stinging for it let me tell you!

as far as fins and the like .... i don't want to have to do any body mods more than necessary to this gemini

[Sammy]

well i had to buy a VL Commodore diff for other parts i needed for the Torana diff upgrade so now i have a spare diff housing which just so happens to be the perfect thing for this little toy of mine

so the biggest issue with the diffs in the gemini is that they have no upper control arms which makes diff conversions some what of an issue ... so with that in mind i have decided to fit upper control arms to the gemini diff, then i can remove the torque tube and it will all be apples.

the plan is to tack weld the mounts onto the diff and mount them into the rear seat/floor area, and then remove the gemini diff, set it up in a jig and then transfer the mounts to the VL diff which will also be shortened at the same time.

so far i haven't done alot, i spent half the day lying under the car holding up commodore diff parts to try and work out the best way to attack it.... in the end this is what i've come up with.





the theory i'm working on is to try and get both arms parrallel when the car is sitting where it would when its on the ground, so hopefully this should mean that the minimal movements that its going to encounter when drag racing or doing burnouts should mean it wont change the diff angle too much.





don't stress when you see this mount as its not going to be used, its more just for a template to work out where everything is going to sit, i plan to use some thick plate to make the bracket, then re-enforce it to the floor with plates around where the hole is etc. i'm also thinking about adding some cross braces to it from the inner guards and maybe even from the roll cage when i get to that

oh and for those that want me to be working on the Ute, the concreter should be here on wednesday to start forming up for the slab .... glad theres finally some action happening!!