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Discuss After crashing my motorbike I have pussied out and bought a car for running to work in. Anyway it is a 1980 Mk1 Golf, would have loved a 2 door but couldn't pass this up. Running a 16V 1.8L from a MK2 GTi and has had a recent bare metal respray in very dark gunmetal grey metallic Plans: New front tyres New carpets Tidy stereo wiring Replace tie rods Tidy/semi-wire tuck engine bay and I'd like to swap out the current VMaxx coilovers for something better and track down a set of genuine BBS rims Advert photos:

I bought this car as a rolling body the week my oldest son was born. The agreement with the wife was it could come home as soon as the bathroom was finished. Another son, house renovations and life got in the way and the car got ignored for about 6 years. I did occasionally think about the car and put a plan into place. I saw an article in Street Machine mag about a guy who put an LH Torana front end under an EK Holden. It didn't look too difficult and one turned up on trade me a couple of weeks later. That was the start of buying bits to fix the car and a good friend came over and we ripped into it. We found lots of good stuff, like the floor pans the were rotten and had sheets of steel pop riveted and braised in place. Thank you Holden for the built in rust traps of rubber flooring with sound deadening underneath to hold moisture and make rust. Amazingly the rest of the car and the usual rust spots are really good. The car has been off the road since 1989 and that is what saved it. Back to the plan. The LH Torana front is in the car, there is an injected 5Litre from a VT commodore sitting on my engine stand waiting for the HQ sump and pickup to be fitted. The engine has a 4 speed auto with it. I found a narrowed HZ ute diff that is under the car. The steering column is out of a LC Torana, its the column auto one. In my world the right place for the gear lever with a V8 and auto is the column, especially with a bench seat. Here is what I started with

Sooooo, been a busy past couple months but been chipping away at this. Since I made some big dog radiators for it the nose cone failed to fit anymore. But in true race car you must modify everything with no allowance for body work and then make the body fit. So i ended up cutting the nose cone in half horizontally and adding in about 80mm to lower the chin. Then i fixed all tthe cracks from the crash i had a few years ago, then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded then bogged and sanded untill it was correct and back to where i wanted it. Then I primed it and wet and dried it, Then I primed it and wet and dried it again. Then i waxed it then i painted it with tooling coat then i fibreglassed over that to make a mould. Then finally today i got to actually make a finished product from it! Its come out pretty good. So i might just run it as is for now. Looks quite cool in white i think.

Finally got around to replacing the rear wheel cylinder and fixing a few minor things with that Devon was able to pass her warrant. Shakotom managed to sell the Heros Racing wheels around the same time i came across a set of 14" Manaray Turbina. Went and had a geeze, liked them so I came home with them. I'm stoked with how the actually look on the starlet. JUST NEED MORE LOW! so now i'm seriously going to start to have a look into getting this thing lowered and some new tyres for the rims. ^ would be ideal

An update,,,,with pictures.... Clambered underneath her to mark out the floor mounts, and found the floor didn't follow the chassis properly, dammit. so chop chop Remember its done with gasless Mig so it looks horrid. Heres the plates that the body will sit on pushed her outside, pics with the new 17" wheels on it

Removed the spec/QC stickers from the inner barrels as such (gotta retain these details right?) IMG_0770 by SnoozinRichy, on Flickr They're kept in a book, in the hope they'll stay flat on the backing of an old sticker I found laying about the place. So then it was time to get rid of the grotty old golden hue. One trip to the acid dipper (recommend Kwik Strip, on Patiki Rd if you need anything done!) and a couple of hours with some coarse sandpaper evening out some pits and depressions and these are now ready to have the lips attended to and polished to that mirror shine! IMG_0750 by SnoozinRichy, on Flickr Thanks for looking.

Some slightly better shots now that the sun isn't 420 blazin' Couple of close ups OS reppin' Nissan Prince Kyoto Sticker all up in thurrr.

I vote second peephole in the adjacent panel so one for each eye /balance it out..

i feel like the loose caboose was highly likely the issue, however wont be able to give any closure untill??? some testing time. Iirc there is a testntune midweek at meremere so might go before nats hampton. in more interesting news, the rear diff is now welded and provided double smiles on test drive.

I have nothing constructive to add, but I find it ironic that your avatar is a picture of a caravan and you have opened up a can of worms. disclaimer: my experience may have been altered by inhalation of aluminum corrosion and alcohol.

Your peephole has three slats on one side and four the other. So unbalanced. Otherwise, good work Chris!

Coming along nicely

I'll jump now to where the car has got to. The body has been sand blasted. It would have been cool to have kept the original patina by it was rusting too much under the paint and the previous owner had got carried away with PA10 and a brush. The floor pans have been replaced, there is still some finishing to do, the trans tunnel might have to come out to get the 4L60E to fit. The Torana front is bolted in still with the Torana disks. The original 13 inch wheels are there to push it round on. It will get HQ disks and WB statesman callipers. The doors and guards have been panelled and primed. Next stop is the panel beaters, I have a new LHS sill to go on, the original is rotten and wavy. The new one was bent up by a crowd in Wellington and goes right through to the inner sill. I also have a new rear panel to go on. Like all EJ,EH Holden's the original was rotten, no paint from the factory. The factory cutout for the exhaust is gone to give me options for where the dual exhaust will exit. Here is the latest photo

I cheated and put a new washer bottle/pump assembly in, It looks tidy enough and doesn't have the water lies running through the firewall. I set the idle mixture and now it actually idles and starts. Just need to take it for a spin and see how it behaves now

Progress has been made. (only because I paid someone to do it) Fresh engine built - 1256cc "big block" Chevette motor - to replace the 48 year old original 1159cc unit. This project kind of got a little out of hand. It started as a simple clean and machine, fresh rings and bearings type job, but then a whole lot of things happened. The bores were too worn so it needed oversized pistons - luckily I had some 30 thou over pistons, which would have been sweet, except one had a broken ring land when it was pulled out of the block they were in. Nothing available in NZ, so off to eBay UK to help me, and a lovely set of 20 thou over high compression Heopolite pistons were found, as was a new oil pump. 3 days later they were in NZ. The guys at Custom Works were machining and assembling the short block for me, but as we'd missed out on getting parts before the xmas break, I really had no time to finish it off, and they were mostly there so I got them to finish it off for me. Pretty happy with the end result, except they painted it black and I wanted it dark blue because I prefer that colour (and I think I've seen somewhere that was the colour the Blydenstein engines were). A can of VHT quickly fixed that problem. Next problem, was the oil pump I got was the centre drive type, not the offset drive type so none of my distributors would fit it. Again, back to the UK to get a NOS Bosch distributor for it, these only came on 1981-onwards Chevettes so wasn't a common part here. It's the same innards as many other Bosch JFU4 dizzys (Escort, VW, etc), so parts are everywhere and it's not a crappy Delco unit which will have the shaft wear out and will go wrong. It's also got a ground cam in it (thanks to Voldo at Kelfords), and with the higher compression, might go a little better. I then added the last bits - water pump, clutch, etc from my hoard of NOS Viva parts. So, for the price of a Japanese engine repower package, I now have a pushrod engine that might make 60 bhp and will leak in about 3 days. Need a few little bits (oil filter, thermostat, plug leads, etc) and will check my carb jetting (Weber 28/36 DCD - I sold the dual carb setup I had shown before as I decided not to use Strombergs on it) before I make some time to fit it and run it in. (oh, and the steering rack shat itself so it's out and getting overhauled, so engine will follow that being replaced and getting a new WOF)

yes but torsen type. im considering welding this week it for unrelated reasons/dohnuts.

cup-o-concrete?

Where did you get that paneling from? Looks great!

"Don't worry honey, fifty miles isn't that far to walk..." "If only I'd bought that reliable Corolla instead of this stupid heap.." Forgot to add some more stuff I've done with the car since my 2013 update. Went hooning in the hills with an Alfa Sprint: Official flower transporter for my sister's wedding (that was fragrant): Actual groom transporter for another friend's wedding.. Apparently black car + no air conditioning + tuxedo + summer + stress = bad idea.. Signs that your car is oldschool after all: The WOF inspector starts the engine in order to turn the steering wheel (there's no power steering) You could stand there indefinitely watching the panelbeater trying to start it from cold, or you could tell him he needs to pump the accelerator and use the manual choke Anyway, the panelbeaters fixed the rust. Also, new steering wheel today: http://www.axys.co.nz/ben/alfa33/suedewheel3.jpg I fitted my previous one in 2005 and it was always a bit small (320mm), but in recent years its urethane / vinyl surface had begun to wear at 9 and 3 o'clock. Perfect excuse to upgrade to 350mm - now I can see all of the instruments again and park easily in the supermarket with fat semi-slicks fitted. Only the brakes to be done before I can get my WOF for Nats.

Most of the project was done before the 2013 E.D.R. but now I have to repair the jammed forks thanks to the shipping company and make it compliant. Cheers

Hey! Im Aimee, I'm Shakotoms little sister. About 6 months back i went to a street culture meet with my brother to have a geeze, wandering around the meet i saw a KP Starlet and since then i fell in love. Saw this pop up and went to have a look at it, could see too much wrong with it so a couple of days later came home with it. And yes, this is Berjs' old Starlet. Meet Devon Discussion thread

just thought i would share this as im sure there are a few vw foamers floating around on the page more info on face book if you want https://www.facebook.com/events/488347494638260/?fref=ts

my rwd wagon collection is getting there these days isn't it haha r31 skyline wagon and my sigma wagon both a bit of family fun

Earth the sheild with your ecu earths at ecu leave other end not connected at plug end but take it as close as possible to plug. All it does is act as a small antenna to drain and noise to earth before it gets a chance to mess with your signal wires

yeah sweet shit! as above, all going to plan. directions are as follows: goin up the left side, channel 15

West Auckland Wheels of Terror. "Evil waits. With the motor running."

I approve, this is all.

This is the source vehicle/inspiration.

does it always try to kill you with the same wall? or does it try to kill you with both sides of the track.

Whoa. What just happened? Can you translate for us?

I have just acquired WOF and 95% chance of my leave being approved. In which case I will tag along with you fine gentlemans. Leaving on the 28th, yeah?

As per Clint's example on his Ute, I will be sealing up the plenum area once I have completed the rust repairs. This one has a fair bit of rust and previous repairs in that area and is a poor design when it comes to channeling water and leaves etc away.

So the wagon was running and driving but the braking left a lot to be desired. When the master cylinder returned from being reconditioned, I installed it, gave the rest of the braking system a general going over and quickly bled the air. What I didn't realise was that the brake pipe running to the rear axle actually runs through the inside of the car, coming through the firewall and making its way down past the lower kick panel on the drivers side. I noticed that I had a major fluid leak, but couldn't see where it was. It was only when I removed the kick panel that I realised the brake pipe behind it was cracked. Being hit in the face with brake fluid when standing on the brake pedal is not something I need to experience again. I was busy with other things so left the Valiant to sit for a while. But today I dropped her off to have a new brake pipe fitted. Sure, I could do it myself but it would take me a very long time to get around to it. So now it will come back and brake properly, hopefully motivating me to carry out more work on it and get it on the road sooner. While on the way to the workshop, I stopped in at the petrol station to inflate the tyres and top up the fuel. A group of guys emerged from a nearby VT Commodore (ex Police car of course) and gathered around the Valiant. I ended up firing it up on the trailer and drowning out the forecourt with the sweet music that is a 265 Hemi six. The exhaust is in need of repair which made it even louder and is another job that is being taken care of by the workshop.

making some more progress with well side started bare metalling the left hand side, bit of bog was hiding in there but its not to bad pretty happy really, after i have finished stripping the sides ill flip it back over and paint the inside and get it bolted on, might make a new loom to duck down the chassis for the fuel tank and lights, love how simple these things are sorry for the sideways photos no idea why it keeps doing that

So much jealous Have some sausages for me and some cooked tubular meat products off the bbq

Hoping to. Kinda blew all my dosh getting the car going and not much left to actually drive it.

Its alive just in time Nats track Day

That pic was on the way back out as I had to move my lifting strap. Drivers engine mount will need to be changed for something more compact so I can run the triumph power steering pump maybe one of those poly bush types would work?

BC is correct, according to the new manual also 1.5 * size of thread screwed in. I went with ¬40mm for the 1" thread I used.

we will start with a good note car looks pretty cool!!! on the bad side of things what a flippen lemon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i thought my brakes needed a bit of adjusting with a little squeak squeak... ended up in a crunch and tuns out yea wheel bearing didnt want to cooperate any more.... smashed and then miniman cut the rest of it out went to buy a new one and brought the wrong one...... so then pulled the other side out so yeah pain in the bum but ahh well i will sort it out.

Update! JZA70 R154 from Yahoo Auctions Japan. Massive thanks to Alex and his crew at mlracing.co.nz for getting this to me. (for the same price as I sold my smelly old w55 for) Mrs kicked me out of the lounge, so I took over the dining room instead. New seals, reverse switch, Marlin Crawler bearing retainer, thrust washer (already installed in this pic), shift fork, shifter seat etc - Thanks to kpr for clearing up my confusion. Swapped the LSD back into the supra housing and also put in a Weir performance kit to hopefully help the shitty Toyota LSD lock a bit better The Weir kit comes with shims and replaces the coil spring that pushes against the clutch packs with a solid spacer and 2 spring washers, which has doubled the breakaway torque The reason I went back to the Supra center is because it has an extra mount at the front. These cars tend to rip the factory centers out of the subframe with a little abuse even behind stock 7Ms lol Subframe out The subframe needed modifying to fit the Supra center, here's a pic of the front mount I made. it's basically 4mm plate welded to the subframe with some tube and nuts welded to the top Reinforced the rear section where the diff mounts with 4mm plate Solid diff and subframe bushes Painted bits and installed diff bushes So while the subframe was out I also ripped the fuel tank out and started preparing for the new fuel setup. Walbro 400lph e85 pump next to the factory pump. It was a little longer but wasn't too hard to install. The ID of the pump outlet was slightly smaller than the original Toyota fuel line (but bigger than the Toyota fitting ID), so the fuel now comes out of the pump, through the original hardline, then cut before the original (small) fitting and now has a -8 compression fitting with -8 line all the way up to the fuel rail. I'm hoping this won't effect flow too much using the hardline? Forgot to take pics I also tested the compression fitting up to the pumps relief pressure (70psi?) and it seems to be fine, although a lot of people warn not to use them for injection. It is hidden up above the tank where it can't get knocked and is away from heat so should be safe? -8 ptfe line, was much cheaper than buying a decent 37 degree flaring tool for hardline. Will this be ok for cert? It is mostly protected by the subframe and then plastic covers most of the way up front ID1000s More dining room madness! Wired in an Emanage Ultimate (lol), which was cheap, but some times I regret buying and wish I had gone with a standalone. We'll see how it goes first as I can't afford to change at the moment. Turns out I can ditch the distributor cap and run individual coils with it so may also try that later on if funds allow I also tidied up a lot of the loom and moved some plugs to suit the new inlet manifold, and changed to bosch injector plugs Engine bay looks a little like this at the moment, I had to pull the wiring loom apart again as the plastic bit around the injector plugs didn't fit with the new manifold and looked super ugly, so now it goes underneath and looks a lot tidier I've also mounted a couple of oil catch cans and made lines for them aswell as a -12 oil drain etc

Just don't put any in, puuuhuhuhhu.

i got my R888's put onto my spare rims for the track day. unfortunately the fronts are rubbing a tiny bit so I'm not sure what to do there. 15x8s and 15x9s with 205 50 15's on them. Untitled by sheepers-ra28, on Flickr Untitled by sheepers-ra28, on Flickr Untitled by sheepers-ra28, on Flickr Untitled by sheepers-ra28, on Flickr

^cannot resist that song

Drop it on a marina....

Pictureless update. will sort that out latter. Big thanks to Sam and the team at lineside auto electrical for sorting out my poor attempt at wiring a car up. It has life !!!!!! Light's, spark, fans, the works, and all done to perfection. Can't recommend them highly enough. Next, exhaust and fluids.

Car landed, first port of call (technically second lol) was fitting some better wheels - the steelies which looked good sans tyres turned into a massive fail once I stuck some crazy donut tyres on. Anyways - poor pics as it is tucked away but modgie and eager combo sit quite nice

..yes buck teef.

cheers bro, gotta just keep going! kids keep asking the wife who that strange man in the garage is!