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[sheepers]

Discussion; viewtopic.php?f=18&t=15998

i have finally got off my skinny arse and taken some photos of my 51.
its a 1969 and was imported into New Zealand in the early 80's from singapore.
it has all the standard features of the 50 series crowns (electric windows, heater, combination clock, central locking, boosted brakes etc)

some interesting points to note,
1) white paint applied with a vacuum cleaner spray attachment
2) not one straight panel, all panels fill of bog and very poorly finished.
3) no two parts of the car match, no lines straight, no door or boot/bonnet fitted correctly.
4) tyres also sprayed in "bathroom coverings" white.
5) front lower valance panel is rustier and more bent than the Bismarck.
6) factory tinted glass.
7) original engine and gearbox.
un-cut dash and original radio.
9) NO rust, plenty of bog, but i have examined behind every panel,sill and skin and it has no rust.
10) factory manual trans.
11) Jap spec front, complete and in pretty good condition.

enough waffle.

i have the lenses for the headlights but the buckets need re-plating so they have been taken off.
also, check out my sweet Lambretta, genuine Italian GP, TS1 225. ive had that bike for almost as long as ive had crowns.





in this pic you can almost see the rear seat divider thingy, its a broad plastic part with a speaker in it which that comes down between the top of the rear seats. not all MS51's had this.






i have collected a disk brake diff and TRD LSD for it, power steer, and a few other bits.
the stock motor has a new carb and an electronic dizzy which allows it to start and idle perfectly.
the chassis has been completely re-built, every nut and bolt is new, and all replaceable parts are new.

i also have a 2JZ GE which ill stick in when i get around to it.

this car is last on the list. i have my RA28 to finish before i do any work on this so dont expect any updates ini the next year but i thought id just stick it up so you can have a laugh.

i kind of like the way it is so shit now, when ive re-built it ill be able to look at these photos, see what i started with and wish id never bought it.


sheepers.

[sheepers]

so what the fuck have you been doing with this car sheepers?????

the answer is- not much.
Until NOW!!!!!!!! (actual truth and time frames may vary)

new disk brake diff. altezza LSD, new everything and best of all its red so it will go faster.
its fitted to the car and works fine.



also, new electric fuel pump installed.
new remote booster installed.
new brake master acquired (thanks KY for giving it to me for a box of beers that i never gave you because im a bastard)

and now for the piece of resistance!

finally got the Jap spec front end finished and installed,


this features all brackets sandblasted and re coated. headlight buckets stripped, bead blasted and recoated with high phosphorus electroless nickel. after i adapted them to take replaceable halogen bulbs and park lights (original headlight bulbs were silver soldered in, so to replace a bulb you bought a whole new headlight) and all fasteners replaced with stainless steel cap screws.
in the photo the chrome headlight surrounds are missing because i didnt have time to fit them.
i think the passingers side headlight is on the piss so i will adjust it to be true to the car.

what else? i hear you demand!!!!!!!!

well, just this,



14" charger centers re-set into 15 x 7 bands. powder coated and super sweet.
also, wheel nuts are for fags.



also,
W50 to be installed ASAP.
that, my friends, is the current state of affairs.

sheepers.

[sheepers]

brakes are all now working sweet.
i had to adapt a new master cylinder, adapt a new remote booster and make all new brake lines.
the master is probably off an early datsun and only needed a 10mm spacer to bolt directly up to the original mounting flange. its 7/8 bore and alloy. apart from that it looks very much like the original.
i tucked the booster down inside the guard on the drivers side and ran a steel vacuum line from the manny down to the booster.
so the brakes are now working and feel good.
i also gave it an oil change. the old fuel pump had a split diaphragm and spent that last part of its life filling the sump with petrol, which explained why the total loss oil system this car seems to be fitted with never actually used any oil, and why it used more fuel than the space shuttle for the very short periods it was running.
the oil was like water and smelled very much like petrol indeed. it runs a million times better new.

what's next? the instillation of the W50 is the next job on the very,very very long list.

sheepers.

[sheepers]

progress.
gearbox is installed and tested OK so far.
I've also installed a huge relay for the lights and they now shine very brightly indeed (i modified the back of the housing to take a halogen bulb). the indicators work thanks to Nick the sparkey, umm, what else.
I've taken the front apart to clean up the engine bay, it was a fucking mess to put it mildly so the inner guards and rad support panel are off to be powder coated, along with a few odd brackets and whatnot. ill also do the rocker cover, air cleaner and zorst manny to try to make it look presentable.
there is some rust in the bottom corner of the sills where the firewall/sills meat so ill attack that too.







sheepers.

[sheepers]

did a bit more on this over the weekend. the inner guards and radiator support panel are at HPC getting a coat of gloss black.
while I'm on the topic of HPC, they will strip and coat your parts. this means you can take your dirty shit covered car parts to them and they will do the lot!! makes life very easy indeed and i don't think many people know they have a stripping service too.

anywho, I've also taken the zorst manny off and a few other little bits and pieces to go to HPC next weekend. and I've started cleaning the chassis for a coat of paint.

i need a few engine bits if anyone has a 4/5M laying around. I'm after the water pipe and water pump housing that has the water pipe running under the exhaust and around the back of the block to the inlet manifold.
if you have any of these spare hit me up.
cheers,
sheepers.

[sheepers]

chassis sandblasted and primed.
coat of gloss black tomorrow night.

[sheepers]

chassis (and most of the floor) is black, engine is red.






now for the mass powder coating of things.

sheepers.

[sheepers]

lots of parts are at HPC getting coated.
i should see them back early next week. and thanks to Jordan with the V12 MS55 i now have a much better set of seats for the car.
i went to my local toyota wrecker to scrounge some nuts and bolts and he had heaps, he gave me a bucket full of randoms so i got them re passivated.
bit of a gay update but things are still progressing.



sheepers.

[sheepers]

got my bits back from HPC and I've dummied them up.
this is the most blinging 2M on the planet.












sheepers.

[sheepers]

right then.
Peter the pannel beater has had a look at the state of the sills and he declared "those are fucked, ill make you some new ones".
so, with the deft flick of his marker pen he drew a line showing me where to cut the old sills out and I'm going to do that this week. new sills ahoy!!

in other news, all this guff is going to be dipped and stripped monday.


the stuff in the back of the truck is the bonnet, both front guards, the boot lid, lower valance and the scuttle panel.
ill get them acid dipped and primed.

next update will probably have less shit pics.

sheepers.

[sheepers]

fire wall is done.
had to make a new mount for the wind screen wiper motor because the old one was rusty in the back.



you can't really see much but this is the new panel i made, its thicker than the original one and will do the job well.
i welded the bottom lip onto the patch because it looked crap when i tried to make it one piece and fold up the lip.
I'm happy with how it came out.






in other news I've got all the parts back from the acid strippers and they are not as bad as i thought they would be. they are dented to fuck (thanks largely to the idiot mongrel that filled everything with bog) but not very rusty.
bonnet is good and should come up well with a skilled (not mine) hand, guards are pretty good too.
but the next job on the list is to re-make the sills. ill be doing that next.
also,
imma just chuck this here, would be cool to hear your thoughts.
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=15998&p=829524#p829524
sheepers.

[sheepers]

continuing to put the front back together.
id like to get the motor going again before i cut the sills out of it.



reco'ed the heater blower.



and I'm going to put the coil here to make shit a bit tidier





other stuff





so the next job is to re-wire it. I'm going to try to make it so you can see any wires. see how i go.....
and i bought a new wind screen wiper motor because there was one for sale on ebay.

sheepers.

[sheepers]

so, don't give an idiot (me) an angle grinder.
because if you do ill cut something into pieces.
like this,







the inner sills are pretty shot and ill have to make new ones , but TBH i thought it would be worse than it is.
and, in my defense i have started trying to fix it. so its not all cut cut cut and no weldy weldy weldy,









and this is the current state of play,


lots more weldy weldy to go but you have to start somewhere.

sheepers.

[sheepers]

so today i did some more.

finished the inner part of this bit,




and fixed the rust on the outer panel,




ill get that panel acid dipped now and paint it then stitch it back on.


sheepers.

[sheepers]

being a member of the MS51 owners club is a pretty lonely existence.
there aren't many people to talk to and loneliness can do strange things to a man, things like this.






































































so now I'm a member of a yet more exclusive club "people who own two MS51's"
the new one is in pretty excellent condition. its complete and the few bits that are missing i have. it has a 265 valiant motor in it with some 3 speed auto. i drove it today and the motor pulls really well and the box changes very nicely but its coming out.
the madness that is putting a 2M in anything is just one of the side effects of the derangement.
my old 51 will be going to a guy down the line to help him finish his.

ill take heaps more pics latter but this will do for now.


sheepers.

[sheepers]

old car is gone now to help another guy get his one back on the road.
i stripped it before it left which turned out to be a good thing.
the installation of the valiant motor in my new car all those years ago required the destruction of the firewall and the moving of the heater box. all of this was done without to much care and finesse.
examples, the hoses that go to and from the heater box were moved so that every time you use the hand brake it cuts through the hose a little more.
the ducts that take hot air under the front seats to the rear passengers also mount the center console. this didn't fit any more so they just didn't put it in.
only small problem with that is the whole center console was floating and the car would only start in gear, either forward or reverse, but not nuteral or park.
a few other interesting things were done too,
you couldn't change the oil filter without taking the motor out.
the steel bracket that was molded to the rubber part of the engine mount was welded to the crossmember, so you couldn't change them without cutting them off and welding (thereby fucking them) new ones on.
the list goes on but lets move on.
i cut a piece out of the firewall of my old car to fix the new one and I've been working on getting that stitched in. obviously I've removed the 245 and all the front end.

as it was,










and this is the first steps of putting the new piece back in. its far from finished but its getting there.

[sheepers]

I've been working towards getting the fire wall finished so i can paint it and put the motor back in.
I decided i don't like the remote booster so I've made it so the booster and clutch master mount on the fire wall.
i used half of a celica pedal box and half of a crown one. the crown half bolts to the bottom of the dash and the celica half has the pedals and the bolt plate for the two masters.
it now looks like this,











I've also re-shaped the fire wall to suit the new pedal box.
it now looks like this,









and all bolted up it looks like this,






there is about a mill between the booster and the windscreen wiper motor.


a couple more photos of the finished firewall, it was a bit to cold to put the etch on so its gone spastic but you get the idea.

[sheepers]

i now have an airbag setup for the car.
Ive got a ride tech digital height control system running air pressure and height sensors.
Ive still got a bit of work to do before i can start sizing/installing bags but the bulk of the system is procured.
pics when the stuff gets here (which will be a while because its going through our office in the states then on to me).

also, the twin carb setup has arrived and when its all rebuilt ill chuck up some pics of that too.

sheepers.

[sheepers]

primed the firewall today.
its done in durepox 2 pak.
i had a hair drier going inside the car for about 2 hours before i started and its still going now. it was so cold today it would have all turned to shit really quick.
anywho, I'm happy with how its come out. ill give it a week or so to harden up a bit then block it back ready for some colour.



and the boys had to wait outside while we painted in the shed.



sheepers.

[sheepers]

OK, so colour.
i quite like the green with black roof - this,



but i reckon the margin for getting the wrong green is pretty large. i think it will look poos if its the wrong green and getting the wrong green is the most likely outcome at the moment.

so, what other colour?? how about blue? like the same factory blue as my 23 - this,






think this blue with a black vinyl roof.
thoughts?????


sheepers.