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Turned out the vibration was tyres. I took the fronts off and chucked them on the balancer to check the balance and straight away you could see they both had big lumps in them. Weird. Because all 4 tyres did it at pretty much the same time. Fuck knows. Anyway it's fixed and here's a picture of a tyre so you've got a picture to look at.

Fixed the Steering clearance issue with some Altezza/crown/jzx parts. All surprisingly similar to ls400. But fit 15inch wheels much better. Fuel Tank is still slowly coming along nicely. Just a bit more welding to go. Rear Bumper back on using factory irons. Cardboard air tank also in place. Alloy version should be ready this week. 8 weeks after ordering. Fitted Grill and Front bumper today. New bumper "iron" made up to work with the lack of room. Time will tell if it was a good idea to weld to the spring steel. haha Almost have most of the air fittings I need. Possibly enough to just mock it up temporarily to be able to push her outside for a proper look at how everything is sitting.

First thing I did when I got home was pulled the speedo cable out and cleaned it. Now the speedo doesn't jump around any more. Second thing I did was drop one of the screws holding that mirror onto the door into the door frame, never to be seen again. Third thing I did was lose the keys and then successfully use the Starlet's key on it. (I found the keys again, but left them at home after) Then I went to the fuel station and found the Starlet key doesn't work in the fuel cap. So I'll fill it up tomorrow.

Back on topic, it started to make a bad ticky type sound the first time I boosted it hard, it was also only making about 5psi. I had a look underneath and there was a lot of oily shit all over the place. I went into full panic thinking it had popped something important, but then realised that it was mostly diesel from the pump swap over mixed with oil coming out of the front cover where the speedo sensor sits that had decided to be a holey bitch. For whatever hydrodynamic reasons that pooey mix ends up on the cross member at the back of the engine..... I cleaned everything up then put a gasket in the sensor. Then I figured to check the exhaust manifold and it was fully pissing soot out everywhere. I pulled it off and took it to mean machine who faced the whole thing. This is something I had been intending to do for a while cos it was still mill scale on the face and clearly not sealing well. This seems to have cured the ticking and the low boost problems. I have not really driven it since but it seemed much livelier. No pics cos all that is boring as fuck. Edit; runs good but more drips, it turns out the spill rail or #1 injector is leaking. Should be an easy sort out ...

Sold to Mr Anton ... I will change thread title but couldnt ask for a more understanding buyer. I have never had wet eyes watching a car leave my house

Advhoneymoon

Rolled it off the trailer and thought I'd better start a list of stuff it needs. Starting with the no start. Plug was very wet and had a black ring around the ceramic, so it's proba ly pretty old and stuffed, gn125 plug is too small, DR200 fits just right (although I later found some new ones in the parts box) with known good plug it started right up, runs very nicely, which given my experience with gn250 engines is pretty surprising. He was changing the oil every 3 hours so the top end and chain is probably as good as can be, the engine has a legitimate 7000km on it. With the engine running I did a loop of the house and it all feels happy. The brakes are fantastic, no suspension noises, the fork seals are not that old, seat must have been recovered. Gave a walk around and have a few issues. Rego is on hold and now in my name, but he lost the plate, so will have to go get a new one. Tail light is smashed and the parts are lost, same as old dr125/ts250s and is fitted with the cheapest of the 3 options, so I ordered a new lens. One front and one rear indicator is broken. I think I can fix the rear one back onto the flex stalk, but the front is smashed to bits and missing half. On close inspection the indicator body is the same as a gn250. So I ordered a full set of black ones and may just swap the whole lot. They won't be flexy, but they never actually flex do they. Missing it's tool box lid Came with a probably dead battery new in box, will see if it comes back to life, needs a strap and is apparently missing some plastic box thing, I think just a tray but I will check the parts diagram. I don't think it's important. Tank has that big dent, I think I can push it out fine. There's a couple of little stone dents/chips and surface rust forming. It's also rusty inside. Not bad yet(just) but I'm gonna drain it and put vinegar inside probably when I do the dent. Master cylinder sight glass is about 19seconds away from springing a leak. Needed one for the DR200 anyway so I ordered a few and will change it. Fuel line is split, should order a couple meters for all the others I need to replace too. Fork gaiters, one is split in half and both are faded. Seems an odd size but I think I can force the lower part onto the fork from a standard size. Headlight bulb is blown. Frame It's been near the ocean and its just on the verge of being rusty but not too rusty to come up nice with a respray. So I'm gonna repaint it blue, and redo the black and silver parts. The yellow parts are not too bad, I think the tank would come up OK, but the fenders are bleached white so I might cive the a thick coat of something to give some structure back, and then paint yellow.

And look at this fully OG Dynafari from some weird parallel universe/thought processes;

1st attempt at topcoat, was spraying the door and going well, there weren't any major runs, moved on to the door sill and that went well, but the front of the van didn't go so well, looked like it went through lipo haha flabby runs everywhere (diddnt even want to take a picture) But I wet sanded that all flat again, only going through to primer in couple spots, no bare metal, so next couple coats I'll be a little more careful, might leave the door as I put quite a few coats on and it should polish up just fine!

My shed is pretty yellow right now. 2 owner 1986 DR250S. That's right, a Gn250 engine in a dual sport frame. This is the S model which means steel swing arm, fuel efficient CV carb and much less suspension than the other models that were surprisingly raced to some effect until anything decent came out. First owned by what is now MPI where it was used to pop down from the office to the yards to inspect the wild caught deer before processing. That's where it got the dent in the tank. Then on to the guy I got it from, who had it for 25 odd years, until recently when his two sons got a hold of it (one was the one who got it road registered to get to work, then lost the job 6 months later) who left it outside, and dropped it, so now it's mine. Bike failed to run when I picked it up, despite the sharn of always starting 2nd try and it having never done that before, oh and the fuel line was pissing fuel out very effectively. He also showed me the rust holed old exhaust and told me how to weld it all up cos the new one it's got was $600 So I paid the guy and loaded it up, its an old suzuki you can't really expect any better than that

Brushed all the alloy panels today and think they come up alright. im going to see how much it would be to anodise them black, was thinking all black interior might be a nice change from standard alloy panel interiors.

Leak test identified that the rear v-band on the drivers side was not sealing. I tried cutting and realigning with no luck. I changed the design to use only one v-band. Hopefully it's all good now.

Bought a 49cc Moped and spare with big bore kit Couldn't resist as it is live rego and 17" wheels and runs a 4-speed step-thru. surprising has some grunt but I bet my Grabdaughter oops i meant granddaughter will want it as she prefers one of these than my R33 Skyline..... go figure. I might get to keep the skidder a bit longer. Oh and as I bought these off the importer it came with a few NOS parts so I can keep them running for a few more years or maybe make a Molesworth survival kit from them!

Just starting to get the interior all sorted. black etched around the windows and dash. dash will need a bit of work we’re I filled the holes in

Have you considered making an extra LWB version?

its coming along. im just tidying up all the little things that need doing. ive got some generic belt line rubbers coming for it then i can put the door cards back on. the bumpers are away being chromed and ill get them back in a week or so. not sold on the black center caps and i have another set on order should be here middle of next month. i drove it up the road to get some milk and i fucking love driving this thing, its fucking slow but its cool to just cruze along in and i can see myself doing a bunch of Ks in this as soon as i tidy u the last few things. believe it or not its still got a warrant! 2021-03-18_07-56-27 by sheepers, on Flickr 2021-03-18_07-56-37 by sheepers, on Flickr 2021-03-18_07-56-45 by sheepers, on Flickr 2021-03-18_07-56-52 by sheepers, on Flickr 2021-03-18_07-56-58 by sheepers, on Flickr 2021-03-18_07-57-04 by sheepers, on Flickr

Front and rear struts test fitting before welding up. Car at lowest position. 30mm to front sill, 10mm to rear sill, from the ground. Still trying to get my hands on some Moon discs to cover up these. But loving the progress. Welding next, then will be sent away for Non Destructive Testing in New Plymouth.

For this one yeah, might be on a honeymoon haha (plans for that not confirmed but it's likely)

This was on tm a couple of years back; It must be the only factory beam axle 4x4 dyna in NZ, they wanted moonbeams.

Wof man said I need new leaf bushes, so decided to give cruiser a birthday and do full suspension overhaul. Settled on an Old Man Emu kit - ordered mid December 3 months later full list of parts still hasn't shown up which is pretty dumb. Enough to make a start though, which I did today and found this when I pulled out the first front spring: The eagle eyed will notice that the leaf eye has sheared off and the only thing keeping the spring captive was the wrap of the next leaf. This would give probably 20mm of side play - and quite glad the diff didn't decide to go for a walk while going around a corner at 100kmh. Thought it had shit wandering steering but just put that down to #cruiserlife, Wof man probably missed also as pretty hard to see hidden inside spring hanger box. Anyway, im thinking it might drive quite a lot better. Will chuck up a pic when all installed, is a 2" lift but will probably get 3 or maybe given how flat old springs were.

A minor operation and the arrival of a new pup have kept me out of the shed for a few weeks. With my stitches now out I managed to sneak in an hour on the Thames in between puppy sitting duties. Earlier in the week I received a small parcel from the UK containing a few bits and bobs, so I thought I'd fit the new rubber grommet for the fuel tank neck. A relatively small step, but it looks heaps better so I thought it was worthy of a post.

The front and gaurd clearance The rears, gaurd sits alot lower, but again , so long as offset is ok , there is all the room in the world inside the gaurds Cavernous. And these are the rims and tyres i bought, LOLOLOLOL

Reassembled and ... off to the paint shop just over 3 years in the shed!!!

Tidied up the front end over the weekend. Painted up the corner bezels with new insert bits. Still on the hunt for a coupe or later ke20 lower grill trim piece though. Trying to get it on the road for a Jap day in April, here in brisbane. Also have a front lip on the way.

Clean sheet. Might go ride it further than 20m and see how it goes You want it? I'll sell it for the price of a new one cos how often do you see one of these that's road legal (i checked the fleet data just quickly and theres 4 of this model on it, pre 1991 is what i think it is, so a rare bird)

3d printed some mock strut bottoms to check clearance, and heights. Then cut up some 4mm wall thickness pipe and milled out the adjuster dial, and plug weld holes. (first time using a mill in 9 years) \ The 3d printed bottoms showed that the rear bush needed to be offset to allow for clearance for the upper control arm. 4 jaw chuck on the lathe made quick work of that. Matt Tig welded the base together for me. And then I tacked them all together for their first trial fitment. Just need some wooden bushings to centre the bolt. Also stripped the loom that feeds the cruise control motor, brake master cylinder and wipers all under the bonnet. Pulled the Wiper wires back through the firewall into the cabin, and then up through the mess under the dash, back to the wiper motor. Since the wiper motor is now going to be sealed behind the new firewall, inside the passenger air space.

If you tidied up that snub nose so it was more of a defender look in terms of lamps, I reckon that'd be pretty decent!

Sure it didn't have something to do with that massive chunk outta your rim?

You could try a DIY electrolysis setup or even evaporust to get the rust off if the vinegar isnt enough. Electrolysis is pretty easy and effective, and neither will damage the metal.

Best option is to ask the certifier what they want you to do. They'll all have their own preferences.

Yeah safe to say it will be. Next year we might run it ou n reverse order.

Chuck the back end of a HiAce on it and make a limo

Before the start. how little did we know what before us...

Hatch repairs and some fill and final prime

More of a placeholder for me.... Got the car on corner scales, full tank of gas, battery in the right side of the boot and me in the drivers seat gave the best results without getting carried away. Found a younger sibling parked up in a paddock, couldn't resist the photo op WOF expires in a month or so, time to dig into some major work over the winter, possibly ambitious, but I need to start somewhere.

Finished the runner system pattern. So now all the sump patterns are complete, waxed and ready to go! . Only took 4 months.haha

Some primer on and final sanding coming soon then couple coats white

Did an awesome trade today. I now have a T57 crankshaft. Pretty lucky that it was less than 2hours away from me and the guy was awesome. Traded a bunch of my Lotus stuff + few $, he definitely did me a solid! Crankshaft from Engine #210 Rods from Engine #293

Boots all stone chipped and sprayed out ready for the fuel tank and battery to be installed.

Managed to fit it all in. I had to put the v-band flanges in the lathe to make it shorter. Need to scribe around it, then cut those spot welds and whittle out a hole

Happy to have the engine back in the hole. Good motivating thing to get to this point.

While the engine was still out I decided to finish up the steering. I have a borgeson universal at the column and and my old torana racks universal was really stiff and worn out. I was on an Aussie v8 forum and they made a comment about borgeson doing a universal for holdens with a cotter pin so I tracked one down. If anyone is looking for one they are not loaded on their website so you need to call them direct for it. It has the Holden end and a 3/4 dd shaft. My mate had a piece sitting in the garage, said I could have it so now that’s another thing ticked off.

Its Toyota, they are metric race cams. .750 race