Leaderboard

Bit of an update. Sent the R154 away to get a freshen up and new hydraulic release bearing. She turned up today so ready to bolt back onto the engine and bolt on place. Next step is to get driveshaft measurements and get that under way. Also while waiting on the box I bought 2 driveshaft hoops, an Altezza F series LSD and a nice new S15 radiator. Once the engine is back in I'll re check the intake manifold height and hope the bonnet still shuts. If it doesn't I'll have to either make a new intake or go ITBs. Also got one of the original pulleys machined down and ran a new belt to eliminate what I don't need. I have kept the air con and powersteering this time.

Summertime, and the livin' is easy Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high Oh, your daddy's rich and your ma is good-lookin' So hush little baby, Don't you cry What: Overnight fun, secret santa/lucky dip, throwing rocks till your arm falls off, flying kites, drinking beers, getting burnt When: Saturday December 12th Where: Otaki Forks Campground Who: You and your 'mates'. Kids (even big kids like Al) are welcome as well, bring the whole family!* So yep, pretty self explanatory really. A day of suns and guns (the fleshy kind) follwoing by a evening and night of festivities and yarns (some sharns). Camp out for the night, suckers can bring the tents. I propose a lucky dip where everyone brings a little gift (or piece of crap) and we have a free for all. Early Christmas!! KK even told me he will wear a santa hat** Will add some more details closer to the time (timing and meeting points etc). * - But seriously, all are welcome. Just use a bit of common sense, there will be drinking and shenanigans, but its a huuuuge palce so no reason why the little ones cant be set up away from the action. ** - This may or may not be true One of these mornings you're gonna rise up singing And you'll spread your wings and you'll take to the sky But 'til that morning, there ain't nothin' can harm you With Daddy and Mammy standin' by UPDATE#$%^&@)#(*&@^ Right, for people wanting a bit of this Meet at the Plimmerton Weighstation (see start of map below) at 1pm. We can hit up Otaki for lunch/supplies/novelty items before heading off the main drag and out to camp. For those that want to head straight to camp, aim for the South Side (see end of map below) https://www.google.co.nz/maps/dir/-41.0766995,174.8736483/-40.8829408,175.2215174/@-40.8901475,175.2125656,4910m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!4m1!3e0 Long range forecast is shit but we will see how it goes later in the week. In light of the forcast, I am revising the meeting time to 1pm at the plimmerton weigh station for those that want to convey out. Looks liek it will be a somewhat bleak afternoon so no point sitting around all day.

Been pretty slack with updates. Have been busy though. Although it seems I start something, hit a bit of a road block then start something else before finishing the last, so lately I have been trying to get those unfinished bits done before starting anything else. So Im still yet to finish the rear section of the exhaust. With the new raised height of the exhaust, when the diff is at full droop, it will be sitting on the exhaust. Original plan was just to get some cheap shocks that were short enough to clear, but I may wait and get a set of coilovers for the rear. USD sucks right now though! With the exhaust manifold off, repaired and improved (hopefully), I turned my attention to the turbo. The exhaust housing had a broken stud in it, so this was the perfect oppurtunity to get that sorted. Removed the housing and set it up in the mill. Dropped a carbide endmill in the hole to remove the stud then went and tapped it for a M8 Helicoil insert... Sorted. I noticed that the internal wastegate, which had been welded shut, had started to crack a little. Probably nothing to really worry about, but I machined out the internal waste gate valve/shaft, and machined up an insert to go in the now gaping hole. I made the insert longer than it needed to be so that it protruded into the port of the housing, to remove the "trough" for the internal wastegate valve. Once I had welded the insert in, i got the die grinder out and removed the protrusion and blended it in with the port. Reassembled, ready to bolt back up. With the manifold back on the engine, I could make up some braces to support the weight of the turbo and manifold. If you can remember, I welded some tabs on the manifold for this earlier. Machined these up. 6061 Aluminium, and some bronze lined left/right hand rod ends. Front brace installed (also got a secondary cam belt tensioner from Barry Manon) I decided I needed to add an oil cooler, so I purchased a 180x350x73mm core from AdRad. They only had the 350mm wide core in 73mm thick, which is a bit overkill, atleast I know it will be more than enough. Ended up cutting the core down to 100mm, so it will fit nicely under the intercooler. I was busy at work, so I got my mate Adam from C's Garage to fold up and weld some end tanks onto the core for me, as well as the mounting bosses I had machined up. Finished product: Purchased a Grex thermostat oil cooler sandwich plate from NST. I was very limited for space, and for options mounting it, either with the ports facing to the front, or to the rear. Had to machine up a new union bolt to mount it as well, the Grex one was too short. I made a start on making the oil lines, but I need to mount the cooler to get the lines exactly right, theres some work in the front end of the chassis I want to do which is stopping me from mounting it, but more on that later. I wanted to delete the brake booster, to get a better brake feel, and as a bonus free up some space in the engine bay. Was originally going to use the standard brake master and bias valve etc. But for a couple hundred bucks I could have a Wilwood master and bias valve, so fuck it, bought that, which will get rid of all the messy brake lines on the strut tower. Machined up an adaptor plate to mate the Wilwood master to the firewall. Mounted the bias valve on there too. I dont think I'll need the in-car adjustment, just set and forget. Had to machine up a longer clevis for the brake pedal too, complete with weight reduction pockets. Just need brake lines to finish off the new master setup now. Last item on the update. Welded some -10 fittings to the valve covers to make a proper catchcan setup, then painted them with wrinkle black. Pretty happy with how these turned out. Discussion //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/48043-pedrac3rs-1985-ae85-levin-discussion/

so, less than 24 hours ago i went on national TV and said my M "wouldn't die" Ha. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA 2015-11-07_08-27-55 by sheepers, on Flickr

And now playing around with the front guard flares. In all honesty they didn't look quite right with the dimensions. What we have now done is notch back the rear section leaving the back of the wheel exposed, gives it a bit of a more Rocket Bunny style look but i think it has come out all good. Obviously it still needs to trimmed back and sit more flush on the guard but it gives you an idea. The rears have turned into a real headache now so not 100% on how it is going to be approached. We should be able to get away with the whole flare bolted on but the main concern is where it splits for the door to be able to open and close. The issue is maintaining strength after cutting it up and also expansion from heat and having part of it popping out and looking odd. Wish I had a 2 door, would have made things a lot easier. With the ride height we are aiming for around 150mm, would love to go lower but if you have seen my driveway you will realise that will be impossible. Will see how it goes anyway... Also on the look out for a ducktail style wing if anyone knows where I can source these please let me know. Pretty open with options atm but steering away from the Hakosuka style wing as it could look pretty meh. Thanks for looking. Tai

Went vamping, new setup works a treat

Installed new cap but still really difficult to start when cold, takes 5 mins at least of cranking, stop, check etc. Usually cranks after I get the battery jump pack so perhaps battery is poor. Or spark is poor from coil? Once warmed up she's all good. I've also learned some of the Z cars use an electric pump to prime the mechanical one, could be a fuel problem perhaps taking too long for fuel to get to the mechanical pump as I'm pretty sure no electric pump in this. This is what the dizzy looks like, guessing still points? Sorry, old old car stuff is still new to me. I've read about the ignition upgrade and some people are saying use later 280ZX distributor and some other bits, still not quite confident on what's required there.. more research required. Also, quick vid of idle when it's warm. Sitting around 900rpm here, not super smooth though >_< https://vid.me/qTDu I'll look at a new coil next because not sure when depot one will arrive/it's not new anyway. Discuss: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/49704-mlracings-hakosuka/page-5#entry1613852

Jetboat?! Surely after Hawkes Boes, you'd have a new standard in water craft?

so, in an act of total and utter futility ill get the head planed and put a new gasket in it. ha haha ha…………………………………………………………………… ha.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA 2015-11-09_08-01-39 by sheepers, on Flickr 2015-11-09_08-01-47 by sheepers, on Flickr 2015-11-09_08-32-01 by sheepers, on Flickr 2015-11-09_08-32-10 by sheepers, on Flickr 2015-11-09_08-32-19 by sheepers, on Flickr

Kapow. This is some next level shit if I do say so myself. Still needs finishing touches but you get the idea. Main box area will be cladded and need a few more slats for the top. Top hinges up for storage underneath, and plenty off room down the side for hauling bikes etc. When its party time, the top slides out to reveal double bed. Matress will be split down the middle but still atatched so it will just fold in half.

I drove the Starion for a few weeks once the WOF was done, then headed to Europe for 5 weeks on holiday, and now I'm back again. The new shocks completely transform the car (the original shocks were totally fucked). It's now sitting slightly higher in the back and slightly lower in the front (which looks pretty spot on). The front tyres seem to just be catching the guard lip at full lock so I'll take a look at that when I get a moment. Other wise it's running beautifully. Hopefully I'll be able to get to a couple of meets this summer.

https://www.instagram.com/p/94b6OLCttU/?taken-by=midnightupholstery

No, wasn't me driving it on Friday. Turned up to auction on Saturday morning, interested in getting a Imp with a mate, but it wasn't to be. Checked the Mr2 over, very little rust, supercharged and little interest from others. Couldn't leave without it at that price.

bit of an update got a phone call saying engine was ready. so picked up engine. got busy with work so worked my ass off today i had a lazy day and ended up assembling my engine so i can run it back out to the vw shoppe to put on there little engine stand and do what they do best. all together and ready for a drive outa town in the morning. this weekend im off to nelson so next week the aim is to get it all running and fix the air shock leak. also paint the front wheels and put the hub cap clips back on. this could also go all whack if the engine goes capoot yet. oh its now a 1600 twin port and the only good carb i had was my old single port one. turns out they habe diferent carb bolt holes..... so i got out the drill to slot the holes a little bit. ended up using a file which then broke in my hand which i continued with jamming the file in the drill nice little milling peace if i dont say myself

Keen beans on this shit

That's a bargain! I think I saw you driving this on Friday afternoon? If so, I assumed this was already your car and that you were looking at getting parts from the others. PM me if you want a lead on some manual conversion parts (pedal box, master and slave, lines etc) as I have a friend in Napier who might be willing to part with those bits.

After going back and forth over the filter I decided to go with a shorter one and keep it all under the bonnet so I ordered a 3.5" tall one. The big advantage of this for me at the moment is that I can just put the old bonnet back on without modifying it or having to repair and repaint the one that I have already cut, so I can spend the time finishing up some of the other jobs. New filter fitted and with the bonnet back on Now I figured it was time to get the roll cage fitted, I actually need this to pick up the upper seatbelt mount as the existing mount is too low for the race seats and the original seats don't fit anymore as the tunnel is so much wider (I was thinking of just fitting the old ones once again to try and speed things up and get it on the road) anyway there were some other options to get around the height of the seats but I was going to fit the cage anyway and that solves the problem. first up the main hoop, oh yeah and to complicate things a little more I decided to make the cage removable for later on if I want to do the interior etc. So after lots of measuring and cutting and trimming I got the main hoop in next up is the rear stays which are going to tie into the wheel tubs, these are a little tricky as they are curved and I didn't have a bender that would do 3mm, but I do have a shop press (one of those little ones from supercheap that I got on special) so I made this which goes in the press along with a bit of flat bar like this So now I can bend 3mm plate, it is going to take some time to get the curve to match so that is my job for the week

Old mate American Dan came around and did some great work while I was cursing other vehicles and getting sunburnt working in the driveway. getting to look serious now "Great Node of Justice" still a bunch more to do but most of the longer tricky ones out of the way.

Not quite. Mrs in the compartment, and me and Joes mum in the double bed

The AX has run out of spark for some reason, so whilst waiting on a few parts I spent the evening cutting bits from this so i could ride it to work tomorrow. I reckon they have a nice looking motor

I bought a reconditioned electronic dizzy from the US on ebay. wasnt too expensive and cured all my ignition problems. make sure you get the one with the right ignition module. i found all the information on google -actually that link richy sent you is what i followed

zang! push caravan into sea and buy a jetboat to tow it up the forks. keen but cant commit just yet either.

Quite possible. The factory seals are made for warranty periods and thats about it. mine was dead below about 3k, but post seals pulled like a train throughout the rev range.

BMWs are gross, but at least you have spares. I do like your goal of a cheap fun car. BBS' suit it more tbh imho. Surely for a hoon car you want the light wheels and tyres with some sidewall.

i have a big old 2 jaw one suitable for up to 12 inch should anyone want one in the future just came back to offer it but see you got it sorted

I would cut it to length and thread both ends, and make up a threaded sleeve that joins the two together, that way you dont need heat. Alternatively, welding a sleeve over the top of the joint would be my next option.

Oh boy that sure is a hilarious self burn

The metal on the face of the drum is typically fairly thin and more susceptible to heat and can warp (which is the part you will need to heat as that is the part that is sticking) whereas the outer circumference where the brake shoes run is thicker and the heat dissipates more easily.

Progress today. Trevor, the panel beater was getting really embarrassed about how long the car has been in his shop. It got moved onto the hoist Friday with the promise that there would be progress. This morning I went down and we started mounting the new fuel tank. Trevor had one idea on how it would fit and I had a different idea. What we ended up was a third idea that ended up being better than I had envisaged. The tank is well up, perfect for getting the car down low, and well forward. Everything misses and there is space to run dual exhausts. The only issue is the space for the spare wheel has gone unless anyone knows where I can get a space saver with HQ stud pattern. No matter, I've only had to use the spare tire twice in the 30 something years I've been driving, and the last time was 20 years ago (could be tempting fate). I'll get photos up tomorrow.

If the brakes are backed off then the drum should come off without too much hassle. (I presume the drum rotates freely?) But if the locating hub is damaged then heat ain't going to do shit except make it worse by fucking up the drum, If the hub is damaged then push/whack the drum back on, then carefully file/grind off any burrs or ridges on the hub. Once the hub is clear of burrs then spray a dose of CRC around the locating hub and drum face. Also clamp off the brake hose on the side you have the drum off (or put the drum back on) and whack the brake pedal a few times to centralize the drum. Then give it a solid whack with a decent club hammer (a sledge may damage shit so be a bit careful with that) I would hit it about as hard as energetically hitting a nail in home - perhaps a little more but not running up and swinging spec.

I started cutting out the rust and replacing that shit. Now I weld all day err day but have very little experience with panel work so let me know if you see something stupid Left side if windscreen before Patch 1 Patch 2 Patch 3 And patch 4 I killed the rust before each patch went on and have finished it off with an etch primer. Just needs a touch of spray filler before I paint. I then did the same with the left rear wheel arch Before. After. Basically the same to do on the opposite side, then alot of repair needed around the boot seal part. I've also realized that I'm totally not rich enough to bag it this time round. So that will have to wait. Chur

So i have been making a list of stuff to improve on this, fixing annoying things and stuff id been meaning to do for ages. last time i drove it down to my brothers place i got sick of it bouncing off the bumpstops all the time so i wound the front up slightly, that made a big difference to how it drives (surprise, durr) so i thought id make some more bumpstop clearance by a couple of easy mods to the lower arm. I bought a cotton reel engine mount that i can chop in half and make some new bumpstops out of, as the original ones are quite soft, already trimmed and are now a bit hammered. However after checking how much total travel it has, the upper balljoints bind if the bumpstop is any shorter than what they currently are anyway so flag that idea, ill just make the new bumpstops and leave it at that. Might be a job for later if i make new upper arms for the brown car with less balljoint angle, i might make 2 sets. other things were the torsion bars, i never got around to putting V8 bars in it even though i had a set sitting under the house, there are 2 different size bars for aussie valiants, .850" for 6 bunger sedans and .870" for V8/pacer/charger/utes. I never got around to this cause i thought they were going to be difficult to remove but it took about 5 minutes to remove them I also put new wheel bearings in. While it was on the hoist at a mates shop on saturday while i swapped wheels over yet again, i measured the difference in height of the steering drag link side to side, the left inner tie rod end is 15mm higher than the rh one. i knew it was a bit on the piss but had never worried about it and just assumed it was usual chrysler standard of workmanship, although looking at the idler arm, it may be that is either damaged or was made incorrectly as the bush isnt in the right place by the looks of it. While the torsion bars were out i thought id do a bump steer check to see how bad it was, expecting it to be less than impressive. So i made a cobbled together arrangement of wood i had laying around and came up with this. 23 mm of toe change over most of its travel, which is pretty yuck, but not a surprise. explains some of its behaviour which i have got used to/ignored. 20mm is regarded as a lot for an old car, more modern stuff, 10mm is a lot. i think there are 3 reasons why it sucks so much- 1- the idler arm issue, i will try to get the tie rod ends at the same height. one out of this car on the left 2- it needs a proper wheel alignment, last time i had it done i set it up roughly by winding the rear adjuster right in and the front one half way which resulted in a fair bit of negative camber, and probably heaps of caster. i was expecting the wheel alignment guy to set it up properly but these are difficult to do an alignment on so he just set the toe. The problem with too much caster or it being miles away from factory spec is it tips the steering arm down which can make the toe change problem worse. these are meant to have negative caster originally 3- its a valiant. not much i can do about that one...

Lot 74 was one of those things I'll never forget. Was chatting to Bigfoot and Chris R about this whilst the bidding was going on, asking about costs for re-reg, as I was really interested in it but thought it'd go over budget; I'd looked over it the day before and it seemed solid. Bigfoot mentioned the 'on hold' writing in the windscreen, which I'd forgotten about, so I turned round to put up my hand to bid but the winning bidder was putting his bidding number up a few people in front and the auctioneer didn't see me, so it went for $500, which was a bargain; the whole camper interior was still in the back, etc. Anyway, I got home and saw my overly full driveway despite being one car down at the moment and thought that I'd probably dodged a bullet, in all honesty. Being amongst so many projects yesterday also made me realise that the junk I have isn't actually that bad.

I bought the red AW11 (auto + on hold). Picked it up today, threw a battery in it and it runs! Lots of smoke and sounds lazy, but it goes. Time to do a few autocrosses in it before pulling it to bits .

Bought one of these! I have been waiting for a while for a good hoist to come up for sale. Missed out on a few on TM as i was too slow, but this came up in taupo from a place that was downsizing so i grabbed it. 3.5T heshbon. in great condition. Its 10mm from the roof and just forward enough so the arse end of the car clears the roller door.

Oh and who the FUCK CHANGED MY NAME TO NODDY HOLDER, Imma gonna stab one of yous Pricks!!!!!!

Engine sitting in hole now with gearbox attached. Very happy how it sits with plenty of clearance so far for headers, mounts, starter etc. Even the gear lever lines up (almost) with the hole in the tunnel. Pushed it outside with the engine and box in place and the front didn't drop much, indicating the V8 weights approx 50-60KG heavier than the I4 4 cylinder.

Very nice work there So the mrs sleeps in the compartment and you get the double bed to yourself?

Plimmerton is my favourite beach meet spot. The sunset is so bromantic.

Righto so fabrication is finished bar final welds when frame is stripped down again and the rear calliper mount. Made a start on the wiring today. Gonna buy some micro switches and a new speedo with warning lights in it this week. Getting it done!

Got the engine in its final place but had a headers issue hitting the steering box. So sectioned the 3 pieces out to clear it. Few welds to go and it will be finished. Its all bolted on and in place now

Picked this bad boy up a few weeks ago. 1GZ-FE from a Toyota Century 5.0 V12 These things make 480nm and 400 of that from 1200rpm!!!!! This should be fun. So next mission once work slows a bit is to whip the M series out and dummy fit this in. If it doesn't clear the bonnet I'll look at going down the ITB route. So far the plans are going to be to run a link and R154 and try and run it stock otherwise to see what it's like. Then later start playing with the engine. But as said before if it doesnt fit height wise I'll have to start playing earlier. Here we go again.

Not shared this one in here as yet... Another one I had to leave behind...doh!! I have kept the wheels though, Mmm I wonder what to put them on?? Cheers...

Did anyone see this one I just sold... Was real nice when I was finished...gutted its gone!! Happy Days!

My old girl is also coming back. Had a few runs out in the UK and still going strong! Cheers...

and this was just a week before I left, what a car this was by the way... I wish I had been able to bring Tango with me, it was an animal!!

Aww bless yas! Is that the picture of me that you say is beautiful? LOL... Nah, I doubt it! Costs of build to date are 26K for the Mk2 and probably 30K for the Mk1, it also cost me 2K each to ship them over from the UK with me. So I suppose on the two cars I am sitting on bills for 60K, thats in stirling by the way...dont tell my mrs!! I was crazy enough to work overseas for many years in dodgy places so saved a few bob up, never won anything or been given any handouts, all hard earnt and well spent I say. Got bugger all left now though, even after selling 6 other cars before I left for NZ. Got me a nice house though so it aint all bad. Just before I cry over my old babies, have a look at these... All gone to new homes now, hope they are all doing well..sniff, sniff...