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Sigh, It seems like my life is a never-ending cycle of messing with KJet fuel pressures. But hopefully, this will help My quality German made KJetronic pressure testing setup arrived. Huge thanks to MissingParts on eBay, as this is some proper quality gear, and for less than I paid for the other setup. Nicely crimped ends, with quality rubber and fabric braided hoses The seller has a great sense of humour. "For oldtimer cars" I hooked the new setup up, which was a lot easier with the banjo fittings, rather than the generic screw fittings Now it was time to confirm the readings from the old gauge. Previously the cold control pressure was stone dead on the gauge, at near enough zero psi. This gauge, not so much. We want cold pressure here, near the green line (depending on ambient temp), otherwise it's too lean when cold So, what about the system pressure, which wouldn't go over 5bar, no matter how thick of a shim I fitted? Off the gauge; over 6bar And we want that at 5-5.5bar, on this green line. Too high and the control pressure will be too high also. Well damn. No wonder it still wasn't happy. I pulled the two additional shims out, and we dropped to 5bar system pressure. Better, but not perfect. I knocked the adjustment on the WUR to get the control pressure down to the required half bar, but the car wasn't running right. The next step was to step back, reset everything and presume that everything I had done with the old gauge was buggered. Because the system pressure was a tad low I wanted to add my small extra shim and see how that increased pressure (i carefully measured it when I made it, to add 0.5bar). Hah, perfect! I found this amazing step by step guide, which I followed and it worked perfectly. Big thanks to the author of that. The first step was to make my WUR adjustable. This is so that if I knock the pressure adjustment down too far I can use a nut to pull the pin back out, instead of having to remove and disassemble it to tap the pin back out by hand. I drilled and tapped the pin to M5x0.8 and using a screw, nut and washer, made it adjustable. The guide that I used is here. The basics of the mod are that you screw the screw in tight (or Loctite it in so it cant turn) and then tighten the nut down to pull the pin out of the body. To push it back down you wind the nut completely out, against the head of the screw and then use a punch and hammer to tap the screw/pin down again. It would be a lot easier to use if the screw didn't have a flange as there is limited space when mounted on the car, but its what I had on hand. With the WUR apart again I replaced the O-Ring for the diaphragm and flipped the thin metal diaphragm to the other side to even up any wear. Following the guide, I found that my initial pressure with no springs/strip was OK, and the pressure could be increased to the correct level by hand. Good. The next test had me checking the heater works, which when holding it in my hand with power applied, I could confirm it did get warm to the touch. Good. Next was to test the pseudo-warm pressure by reassembling the WUR with the springs, but without the heater/strip. This applies pressure to the mexican hat and diaphram, to emulate the warm pressure. This should be 3.5bar or HIGHER. I had just under 3bar. Not enough. This is where I had to get creative and work out how to adjust this. On other WUR, there is an adjustment screw under a brass cap on the base. You drill through that cap, and there is a hex screw to raise or lower the platform the springs sit on. I tried drilling what I thought was the cap, but turns out the base for my platform is actually a pin pressed into the housing. Its the recessed circle with a hole drilled in it. So, with callipers in hand, I tested/measured to see if I could use a hammer and punch to also adjust that like you do the cold pressure pin. Sure enough, some careful whacks of the adjustment tool, and I had raised the platform, thus increasing pressure on the springs. 4bar is perfect. I fully reassembled the WUR, heater/strip and all, and reinstalled on the car to test/adjust the cold pressure. I got this easily down to a solid 0.7bar (within the margin of error for the ambient temps, I didn't want to mess around too much getting it lower) I connected the heater and watched as the pressure slowly increased. The heater and strip were working perfectly. I got it near the required 2.9bar, but it was still a tad low with the engine running at temp, so I used the one last adjustment available; tapping the main circular unit on the WUR down. This is the part that the two fuel hoses bolt onto. This is also pressed into the body, and like the other two adjustments can be carefully tapped down with a punch. This takes very little to increase the pressure, but be very careful not to punch it down too far or the WUR had to come completely apart again to tap it back out. I alternated tapping the punch on both sides, where the arrows are pointing. This resulted in a nice 2.9bar when warm. Excellent. After some tweaking of the idle and CO screws, the results were immediate and obvious. The car ran and idled better than ever, including idling under 2000rpm for the first time. I set the idle to about 1000rpm, which is higher than factory spec, but it felt happier there than the 800-900rpm recommended. http://youtu.be/3VVylMr5BVI The only thing left to do was to put on my big boy pants and try taking it for a run. The last time it was on the road it constantly tried to die on me and left me blocking intersections. Not ideal, and no wonder I was nervous. This time, it started and was driving perfectly. It was pulling strong and felt good... until the hesitation kicked in again at high RPM under load. The exact same issue as before I rebuilt the Kjet system. I came home with mixed emotion. The car ran and drove well unless I got on the throttle. Kind of a win, but also a fail. Mrs Petrol and I were discussing the issue and she reminded me that her old Alto used to buck and hesitate if the fuel was too low... Surely that's not the issue? Nooooo If you look at the design of the tanks, the feed to the pump is at the front of the tanks, toward the front of the car. It's possible that under acceleration the little fuel in the tanks was sloshing away from the outlet and starving the pump. Maybe. The orange arrow is pointing to the fuel outlet on that tank, the other is on the other tank in the same location. Well, I guess I limp the car to the gas station and chuck some gas in and see what happens. Well, what does happen is that if you don't have both fuel caps open when you try to put any fuel in the tanks it all comes rushing back out and pukes down the side of the car and onto the ground. Oops. I added 20L to each tank, at great expense, and guess what, my Wife was right (like usual), the hesitation is completely gone, and it will happily rev out to redline under WOT. Amazing. The sound and feel of the car is crazy. It's so loud, but makes a great noise. You sit so low, but the car feels big. Even when it's not moving everyone is breaking their necks to see what it is. It's not a car for the shy. It does leave me wondering a little, if I had just filled the tanks when I first got the car, would it all have been OK anyway? The main issue I had before I rebuilt it all was that hesitation issue. In saying that, it's starting, running and driving better than it ever has since I got it, so the work was well worth it regardless. I'm stoked. Still some things to tidy, but it is almost ready to go for a WOF check.

in the last couple of days ive been doing a bit more. i dont actually know if im supposed to be or if its doing any damage but everything feels great and my back is super good so fuck it im going to play cars. so, last part of the fuel supply puzzle was making clamps for the fuel rail. today i did that. only made two because the belt on my linisher shit itself and i had to go get another one. i took some photos of how i did that. 2019-11-27_07-48-54 by sheepers, on Flickr 2019-11-27_07-48-46 by sheepers, on Flickr 2019-11-27_07-48-38 by sheepers, on Flickr 2019-11-27_07-48-30 by sheepers, on Flickr 2019-11-27_07-48-20 by sheepers, on Flickr 2019-11-27_07-48-12 by sheepers, on Flickr

Ready for paint. The panel journey has ended and the quality is just outstanding. Thanks Greg at R3 Fabrications.

Wow, what a mess this thread is. Anyway. I washed this the other day so it seemed like a good time for an update. Things I have done. . . Replaced the safety valve in the fuel tank, inadvertently inhaled quite a bit of LPG and felt quite dizzy for a few minutes. Would not trade again. The new safety valve did solve the cutting out issue so that was nice. Fitted this CB Performance black box timing control unit. But it turned out to be a bit of a dick and wouldn't work as I hoped so out it came, in went a stock distributor to get it going. This Link G3 has been purchased and will be wired over Christmas with a view to getting it tuned early next year. Other things I have done include fitting a set of LN??? Hilux 4 piston calipers to the front of the Valiant. As mentioned on OS previously they take the same pads as R32 GTR skyline but skyline pads were $400 trade vs good Bendix pads at $40. Regardless of pad choice they fitted nicely with minor modification, clear my 14 inch steels, I even managed to reuse my VG brake hoses, bled up nicely, and have made a great improvement to the cars braking. I did a few other things , ordered a new boot rubber and a couple of rubber ends to hold the sun visor up, re routed the exhaust a little as it was banging on the drive shaft loop (cert guys wrecking the hobby) etc etc. Nothing exciting. Drove to Hanmer this September via Kaikoura and the inland scenic route, back to Christchurch and all over the Port Hills. Did a couple of circular engine load tests, fun was had by all. looking forward to getting the tuning sorted so I can cut the bottoms off the rear quarters and attend to the rust there and get the dented front guards sorted. I've only had the car 15 years so no rush there. Obligatory washed car photo. Happy days

IMG_20191111_174007 by John Bell, on Flickr

The unstoppable Bort Sumpson, shortly after hitting a large rock

Well I ignored it for 6 months, but the ‘rust forming in rad support’ that was commented on the last WOF sheet, failed to fix itself. I bashed the support out today and reassembled, the under-bonnet was a month back. i was trying to hold out to do the roof and all other repairs and paint it again before it’s next warrant.. But life got in the way and it’s been non-stop. I decided I needed it back in daily use ASAP. The datsun club nationals took place on labour weekend so the Mrs and I raced up and had a thrash round the private Rodin track with about 40 other cas. Went real well but brakes faded. i had a Frankenstein speedway A15 carb on I borrowed from Brendan. it was great fun on cam but temperamental around town and flat-spotted before climbing to the moon. Now I’ve got the twins back on but seems flat. I snapped a throttle cable and had another made.. it has a totally different feel and probably needs investigating. I put a brand new set of tyres on it too. They are nice, same Nankang AS1 as before but not shot and cracked!

So over 18 months and 100% of not much achieved. Was hoping to use this thing as wedding car, didn't leave myself enough time to do anything substantial. What to do? How about the bare minimum? Pulled the rims off, they'd been painted over the original cream, with the body colour turquoise, was looking kinda shitty. IMG_20191031_082525 by John Bell, on Flickr The old retreads were pretty nasty and mostly tore to bits coming off. Glad to see the back of them. Had the rims blasted and painted close enough to factory cream. On closer inspection 1 rim is a different style/offset. It is now the spare. Might keep an eye out for another correct one. IMG_20191109_115330 by John Bell, on Flickr Mounted the tyres, went tubeless, which may not be advised on tube style rims. Fuck tubes though right? IMG_20191109_160709 by John Bell, on Flickr Got some fasteners for the spare on the bonnet. IMG_20191110_182034 by John Bell, on Flickr Gave the insides a clean out, decades of farmer stuff, dozens of earplugs, gloves, matches, boot polish, all sorts. Found a 1985 pocket calendar behind one of the vents. IMG_20191110_180321 by John Bell, on Flickr IMG_20191110_180330 by John Bell, on Flickr IMG_20191110_180335 by John Bell, on Flickr There was also this shaft and repaired, and destroyed gear, unsure if Land Rover or just farm trash. IMG_20191110_155444 by John Bell, on Flickr Put some new cheap repro mirrors on, secured the battery. Scrubbed the insides and badly recovered one seat base. Got both vents freed up/attached and working nice. Flex out, might get a bit more with a good weight on the back. IMG_20191118_121605 by John Bell, on Flickr IMG_20191118_121418 by John Bell, on Flickr Still a bad fit with much travel, and as manky as ever. IMG_20191118_121511 by John Bell, on Flickr Went to a wedding received_2427387784166746 by John Bell, on Flickr Have gotten a bit of a kick out of using it, so will try and keep the ball rolling. Although its driveable, basically everything needs touching up to some extent, time to chip away as funds and time allows. Talky link https://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/56349-johnnyfives-land-rover/

Ha Left it till the last minute before drag day, finally got around to getting some 50 thou shorter pushrods 5 years later. Put them in tonight but a bit late for road testing and waking up all the neighbors, but it did start, and didn't rattle Also rock auto to the rescue again, got a distributor with a vac advance so in another 5 years I might get around to putting it in

I'll probably copy this sort of brace for the upper mount

Whilst digging around the internet a few months back I came across a listing for my Thames dated around the end of 2010. This was just before the PO bought it and embarked on the bare metal restoration. At that stage the van was still in its original blue paintwork with heaps of patina. The wording for the listing is in pdf format so I'm unable to upload it, but it makes for interesting reading so I'll transcribe it into a posting when I get a chance. In the mean time here are some pics of the van as it looked back in 2010.

threw the seal kit into the carbs and no more leaks and no more lean spitting. (also put new O rings in the soft mount kit) went for a drive around the block and it cruised great but any time you tried to accelerate quickly it would hit the wall hard and sound like a rev limiter. not something you could drive through. clearly a major issue in the carb setup. Luckily i took photos off all the jets and tubes while i was rekitting them. Went inside for a coffee and looked up some suggested specs. found all the jets to be similar enough to the suggested specs that they were probably within tune, except for the venturi chokes, the were 30mm and suggested was around 35mm. Included with the car was a set of 34mm chokes, im not sure why the 30s were swapped in but i doubt it ever drove well. fitted the 34mms and it woke right up! still not perfect, but it runs pretty bloody strong! comes on cam (i heavily suspect its hiding something fun under the cam cover) pretty hard and sounds like the apocalypse at about 5000rpm. wof very soon and then ill have to try get some video. only new photo i have is of the grill i had a play around with painting. quite like it.

New radiator support panels and lower crossmember in. Rust repairs done and new front panel all spot welded on. Happy days !

While all you hard ppsc cunce were sleeping in the lake us FOAMERS were living it large in our Chalet

Just because I've been playing with the Saab, doesn't mean the TVR has been neglected. If anything, I've hit the TVR with some renewed vigour this weekend and got a couple more jobs sorted. After having issues with the KJet system from the previous post I've left the poor TVR alone for over a month and just ignored it. Motivation has been very low, and to be honest I got to a point where I loathed seeing the car sitting in the garage. Not a good place to be. This weekend though, I found some motivation. I started by taking the Saab out and grabbing some more fuel to add to the tanks of the TVR, just so I'm ready to take it out on the road and see if it runs OK or not. I didn't get that far today, but I did fire her up and got the engine up to temp. Amazingly even after sitting untouched for over a month, the engine started first turn of the key, before a complete revolution of the engine was completed. A very good cold start indeed. Since I wasn't taking the car out for a run I decided to jump into a couple of other jobs I needed done. First was to install the replacement interior mirror. You don't realise how important one if until you don't have one, even if your rear window is cloudy. The original came with the car, but had been knocked off the windscreen and was badly cracked It looks like it had been glued on with super glue or something I don't know what the original mirror was from. I had been told it was a MK5 Cortina mirror, but the Cortina mirror I purchased isn't the same, although it does work fine (and has dip, which the original mirror doesn't). In future though I'd look for a mirror with curved glass, as the Cortina flat glass doesn't give a very wide field of view (guess its made to view through a 4 door sedan, not a very short 2 door). The mirror I purchased came with a pair of "mirror pads" used to stick the mirror to the screen. They appear to be normal double sided foam tape, but maybe of the VHB (Very High Bond) type. The only instructions on the pack were to make sure both surfaces were warmed thoroughly, with a hairdryer or similar. I used a heat gun to gently heat the mirror base up before sticking the pad to it, and then gently warming the screen up to attach it. Seemed to work, it's still on the screen and seems well enough stuck. Time will tell if it holds up long term. At least this is one less thing on the list to do As you may spot, one other thing I changed was to go back to the leather Momo wheel. As much as I love the Futura, the wood rim is a bit slippery when you only have armstrong steering, and the leather gives much-needed purchase to turn the wheels. The last job for the day was one I had been putting off as it didn't seem like much fun; replacing the weather seal strips around the door and roof openings. The old seals were well buggered, with the D shaped sealing surface being torn from the U shaped mounting section in multiple places. No doubt this was the reason for the car being a swimming pool when I got it, the seals weren't keeping anything out. Someone had tried to use glue under the seal to help hold it in place. It didn't work. They had also tried to supplement to the destroyed seal with other random bits of seal... that too didn't work. I had ordered 10M of the seal from Racetech in the UK. In hindsight, this is a pretty generic sealing strip, and probably could have sourced it locally or from eBay for less, but oh well. Its this profile I started on the rear hoop, as it was the shorter section and easy to access and work with It's as easy as gently pressing the channel into place over the edge, and gently tapping it in with a soft face hammer until you feel/hear it bottom out. The corners are a little fiddly but on the rear hoop its good practice for the harder ones around the screen. There are a few places where it gets a bit tricky. One of them is the back of the door opening. It has a vertical piece, which meets at the bottom with the horizontal piece. I followed what the seal I removed did, and trimmed the ends of the new seals at about 45 degrees, and forced them into place. The seal can be cut/trimmed with a set of decent side cutters. It does have a metal spine which makes it a bit harder to cut. The rest of it is a case of going around and tapping the seal into place. I used one continuous run from the back of the door opening, up and over the screen and down to the opposite side door opening. No joins, no less leaks. Its a time consuming job, especially around the 90 degree turns at the top corners of the windscreen frame, which is a place you need to be very careful of as it can take a bit of extra force to get the seal to seat, but take your time and it should go well. The new seal is much nicer and makes far better contact with the doors, roof panel and windows. It might even keep some water out. I'm not kidding myself though, the seal is a last resort; this is a summer car. From the 10M roll, I have enough left over to do the top and sides of the boot opening, but not enough for the whole thing. Maybe order another 1M if you want to do that too. So today was a good day. A couple more jobs off the list. I'm waiting on a flash new hand made German Kjet tester to arrive, and then I will try to set the pressures again. If I still can't, it'll be back to the drawing board. I'm quickly running out of time to go for a WOF inspection to get the car roadworthy, so I'll need a good solid push over December to get the car ready. In the mean time, everything is closed up, with the roof on, to bed the new seals in. First time the roof panel has been on in ages.

Heck yes that was great fun. I had a million percent better time this year with a bike that wasn't a complete turd Big thanks to J5 and the support vehicle drivers for making it all happen And stoked with this thing for hauling me and my junk all over some pretty rough roads with zero issues even with a decent helping of dust and mud everywhere. I lost count of how many oh shiiiit moments I had on gravel including coming within a couple of inches of driving off the side of a cliff while looking at the scenery but managed to avoid any incidents

So I've had surgery on my back about 3 weeks ago and everything is going great. Lots of walking mainly. I have ticked a couple of little things off though. Injectors. So the stock height injector made the fuel rail clash with the supercharger mount plate. I got some "shorty" injectors that allowed me to drop the fuel rail by about 30mm. I had to mod the bottom O ring seat to take the stock Toyota crush style o ring and now is all working. Need to make clamps to hold the rail down and it's done. 2019-11-20_05-19-33 by sheepers, on Flickr 2019-11-20_05-19-22 by sheepers, on Flickr also, WHY THE HORSE FUCKING CUNT CANT YOU LINK A FLICKR IMAGE ON A PHONE???????????????????

PPSC shakedown run went alright yesterday, i loaded up with gear just to make sure it stayed on the bike, great success. Ridge road - Apiti pub - pohangina loop from palmy. Bikes were neck and neck matched. Mine was rich, couldnt figure out why, pulled carb apart one more time and whilst doing so found a rag jammed in the piece of the casing that connects the carb housing to the airbox from when i paint stripped the engine. that explains it being flat as hell until 8000rpms Gr8 success

Outer camtree patterns 2 of 2

All footage acquired. Lemme see what magic I can conjure up. Aim to have it out late tomorrow night. But end of the weekend at the latest. Cheeeeeeers people for being amazing.

The cylinder head for this thing is a later 8V one from a Euro Spec Starion. It's a good one because it doesn't have any jet valves which usually lead to cracking issues. I've done some simple port work to this one, just de-shrouded things and decreased the short side radius on the intake port, and smoothed things out. When I did this I didn't have any access to flow-bench gear, so its just common sense stuff with no measurement to back it up. I took it to Kelfords, and they tidied it up further for me, and ground the cam to 272/272 @ 0.1mm (230/230 @ 1mm), 10.5mm net valve lift. Should get me enough air flow for the power I want to make, where I want to make it :-). Another historic Repco purchase was a set of new valves. The original ones could probably have been cleaned up, but these were on clearance, so only a few bucks a valve at the time. They've all lapped in really nicely. I vapor blasted the head at work (its a new piece of gear we've just got, and I had to commission it ), so it's really clean. Currently with a local engine machinist getting a quick skim. Then I can assemble it and get the long block finished.

I took a picture today. Rode the tyres off it m8

With the engine and trans in I started to look at what I was going to do for an exhaust I can choose 2 of the following 3 items Rh torsion bar Oil filter An exhaust that actually flows So I think the best option is to put coil springs in it and get rid of the torsion bars. I knocked up a dummy coilover using parts I had kicking around. I'll go see autolign this week and see if they can make a bilstein shock with a circlip adjustable lower platform and I can use the threaded one at the top. If this plan works I'll need to modify the lower arm inner pivot bush and strengthen the shock mount to cope with the weight

This ute has been a constant fixture in my life for many years now, and its pretty easily my favorite vehicle I've ever owned. It's never let me down, when something does break its so simple you can fix it on the side of the road, and it just gives you 'feel good' vibes when you drive it :-). I bought it from the original owners year ago, and it had never been more than 20k's from Sheffield (where it was sold new) in its life. It's in good nick for one of these, with no major rust issues to speak of. The cab corners are all good, and the wellside is also rust free and pretty much dent free inside too. The canopy has never been off it, and the tray has always had a ply-wood spoil board in place. The interior shows its age though, with dash cracks and worn out bench seat. I've done a bit of work to it over the years. Did a major overhaul of all the suspension and brakes a couple of years ago. Everything under there is brand new or rebuilt. 2" blocks in the back, 2" drop spindles in the front with 2nd gen vented brakes. 1/2 a coil off the front to get it sitting even. Everything poly-bushed, wheels are $50 cheapies from trademe I tidied up. They're probably due another tidy up by now, but I think i'll be changing them out for something else (wider) in the near future. For the first years of owning the truck it was just a weekend vehicle, used for taking the garden waste to the refuse station, helping people move things around, etc. I had euro-diesels as I was commuting big k's each week for work... However at the beginning of 2019 I scored a fantastic job in Christchurch, so I no longer have to spend 12.5 hours a week commuting to and from work. When you add that into your work hours each week, its just too much time being idled away. As of a few months ago the euro-diesels are sold and the truck is performing daily duties. I love dailying it, but the thing is just awful on gas. The old 4g52 is pretty much knackered (I suspect 300,000k's +), and the carb is just so worn out that I can't tune it for any better mileage than around 18l/100k's, pretty awful. It's being bore-washed into oblivion, and is most definitely down on power. So, its time for the second round of major modifications: 4g63 SOHC 8V. TD05 Big 16G turbo (EVO III). Galant MPI injection. 2nd Gen 5 Speed gearbox (possibly with a Starion gearset, if the ratio's are better). 3.54:1 gears, with and LSD center. Starion seats fitted general interior update. I'm hoping for a good 200 buff horses to the rear wheels. Truck weighs in at around 1250kg's, mostly at the front I assume, so it should make it pretty lively with an LSD and 195's. Should be able to get better economy too, with the 5 speed (currently its a 4 speed) and the taller gears, and better fuel system. Not for the first few months I'm sure, as I'll be deep in the loud pedal a lot I'd say, but after that I'm hoping things improve ;-).

Late to the party as have been rekt for the last couple of days. a huge thanks to j5/shadow garage crew for organising the ride. What a route! A+ for ratio of gravel to tarmac, scenery (coming from a city, you forget how beautiful NZ really is) and fun/challengingness of route. Certainly the most amount of gravel I’ve ever ridden consistently. I really enjoyed it, and my bike was not to bad to ride, bar constant bottomed out forks and a seat that punished my butt. Thanks to the support drivers for following us around, providing quality roadside dining, good yarns, and being able to produce any tool required at the drop of a hat -mobile workshop was great! Thanks to the rest of you lot for making it a great weekend. Also waking up to this view in the middle of the Te Uruweras ain’t bad Do it again soon?

Sooooo pretty much there, have had first cert check, small amount of remedial to do (mostly done) but will be legal before Christmas, but wont make the drags unfortunately... Anyway, I have a persistent code that the ecu is throwing that is doing my head in, new trans feels weird and is currently overly violent, but it goes like fuck... which is nice. Had to change wheels also... have to say they are kinda growing on me, and its nice having some sidewall. Then Feb, its off to the panel beater to sort some of the gnarly bits out, and probably clear coat it for winter running.

Same shit as the last few posts. skip to 1:30 if you just want to see some skids. Have heard many horror stories tuning itb turbo setups. But was pretty straight forward once had it setup in the right mode and got bugs ironed out. Fuel equation set as MAP, with main fuel map spanned in tps vs rpm. this takes into account the manifold pressure and adds fuel with boost. Also an afr target table set in map vs rpm, so it knows what percentage fuel to add at given manifold pressure. Still little bits and peices to finish and bugs to iron out. otherwise runs good

Couldn't just let this absolute gold go to waste. Filmed by @anglia4. @Beaver Dam Sharns.

The most fun i have had on two wheels! A massive thank you to J5/shadow garage crew for organizing the epic ride! Big thanks to @MopedNZ for supplying parts and advice, cheers! I have linked some photos that i took. sorry for the shit/hazy spec pictures my phone has had a rough life. https://imgur.com/a/KL4QYC3 Very pleased with Gemima the GN125 for hauling my ass 581kms. She has done well. Not sure what bike i will get for next year but keen for something different.

I think you'll find they were already ruined.

Not much to update, except I’m back on the road again. Thanks @Shakotom. Somehow for a guy that never used to like red on cars, I’ve ended up with 3!

I made it to the ferry. Just about to go mighty night in my cabin. But before I do, i wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who was a part of this magnificent event. Extra special thanks must go to John and Amy for opening up their home to a bunch of weirdos off the internet. Mark @Thphantum for feeding me better than I eat at home, and feeding me generous lashings of bourbon at gizzy. And Ben for driving me 1100+kms in his van so I could be a part of it. A+ would trade again!

Also got the proper NTC sender.. The one I had was a PTC sender which was only used in the very early G1's which explains the problem.. This was set up for the first time in about 1997 on the cheapest link at the time which I assume was an lemv1. They switched to NTC after that.. Anyway, temp reads properly now. Got a new 40 amp relay but even that sticks on after I switch the ignition off although tapping this one solves the problem. Did try to get a 50 amp but repco/supercrap = shit selection. Might just go all out and get a 100 amp. Plumbed up the fpr last night, she's pretty tight in there so might have to reassess the plumbing as the outlet sits directly over the tank return line, which means a straight hose that puts pressure on the fittings /fpr mount when the engine rocks.. Doesn't hold pressure for very long so somethings amiss there.. Set it to run about 38psi, got no idea what they run at factory as I can't find any info at all on the egi MA.. Cunt Also managed to take her for her maiden drive today, Went really well.. Then didn't. Developed another fuel related issue with the pump somehow sucking air out of the tank, also now that the pumps cycling more fuel it's pulling more shit out of the tank. Went hard for about 100m then started missing/surging and eventually dying.. Typical. After sitting there trying to get the pump to prime I realised the vacuum line for the brakes was off and sucking a fair amount of air. Made fuck all difference once I reconnected it although I was able to limp home. Have one of those glass fuel bowls plumbed up just after the tank so I can see what's going on.. Looks like a fucking sodastream. All teething problems I guess but at least the pumps now not overheating..

So, still chugging away on this, finding all sorts under the paint. Nothing major, just annoying. All in all, very straight and rust free. I have been getting some spray gun tips from a friend, so far so good. A few patches of paint from one of the old resprays reacted weirdly, so had to re-strip back further in those areas. Front guards and both sides of the bonnet are primed and looking good. The rest of the car is all masked up, hoping to get it primed this week. Not very exciting really, but will be a big milestone for me to have it all covered and one colour again. Starting to feel like the end is in sight. Also I figured that while it's still a garage queen for a wee bit longer I might go ahead and get some of these. Will get the paint done, everything back together and warranted. Then, when that's done, fit these and sort out the new suspension.

Well, Page 3... Rest assured heaps of work has been done on this, I'm just not sure how good I have been at taking photos. Got the body mounts all tacked up, and the tray welded back together Loaded them both up on the Lexus tow rig and dragged them into work one Saturday a few weeks back. Dropped the tray off to our resident sandblaster, had the whole thing blasted and epoxy primed, cost a grand total of 1x bottle of Jack Daniels, cheers work/Ian. Haha (Have since got it back, prepped it and as of yesterday is fully coated in black Raptor liner, loooks goooood, but forgot to grab a pic) Got the mounts welded in by a ticketed welder Bill from work (I know the ticket isn't so important/relevant but he is a much better welder than myself) took it by Shane Speight on the monday and got the ok on them, so I could go ahead and paint it. Got the flywheel and new clutch on, and finally got the engine in mated (ish, still need the last of the proper bolts) to the gearbox and one passenger side mount. Drivers side doesn't line up, only off by a little bit so will just make up a bracket between the block and factory mount, one of the jobs for this weekend. For the moment it is chocked up with an appropriate length of wood, custom yo. Put the body back over the top to do a final check for clearance, took a bit more off after this to make sure there is plenty of room for things to move. Put the intercooler pipes/joiners in to se what clearance issues I had for them. Cut as necessary, fold up patches, weld em in. Still more to do. That's part of this weekends jobs, worked on it last weekend but was doing paint stuff during the week (on the tray) so couldn't do any more because dust. Also semi-finished the removable rad support section, needs some more bits welded which are a lot easier to do now it is out. Got crush tubes welded in the rad support itself which I forgot to take photos of. Plans for the weekend are to finish the tray by cutting the aluminum checker (chequer?) plate to size as I have shortened the tray, and siliconing/riveting and screwing it down to finish it up. Other than that just more cutting, folding, welding, grinding etc, on panel steel. Might even make a start on the engine cover/firewall if I am lucky. Wish I had a bead roller to get some extra strength in this, but realistically it is probably all stronger than what I am cutting out as is. Chur, Hayden

Click the link to make Prius/Leaf owners shudder (video): https://photos.app.goo.gl/uRc2eN1EWPMey9Jp7

So entered this ol thing at the Smash Palace Bike show this yesterday. Seen a bike show near Gold coast earlier in the year and all the bikes had thier own displays so took some inspiration from it and I created a display that was fitting to and a Monty Python skit Im a LumberJack and im ok. I work all night and sleep all day. Quite fitting for me as ive worked night shift the whole time ive been building this bike. So I scored some wood chip from work and a few rounds and put a Axe and Saw into them and had this as my displaye. I won MVP of the show for my display which I was quite surprised about.

Years and years ago I made up a little bracket to go on the end of a home-made clamp, for valve collet removal / installation. It was a case of 'I'll buy a proper one, one day...'. However, this thing still persists, and still does the job :-). A bit more mucking around trying to remember how this goes back together and which way around things go, and its all sorted. Just need to torque up the cam bolt and it's ready to pop on the motor. Have set all the valve lash really roughly, hopefully it'll sit in the right position to get the cam belt on, otherwise I'll loosen all the rockers off again, get it timed right and then re-set. They'll need to be re-set hot anyway. As mentioned the cam was ground at Kelfords, pretty standard specs, should pep it up a bit Waiting on some parts from Amayama, an oil pump gasket and the head dowels being the bits really needed to pop the rest of the motor together. Its great being able to get good prices on factory parts, but the shipping time is pretty extreme. Oh well, no rush eh? The engine has been sitting under the bench for years as it is.

Me to @h4nd: "Im at home in an empty house smashing chinese takeaways!" H4Nd: "Excellent! Time for Saab!!" Me: : (UUUmmmmmmmmmmmmm).......Yeah, yeah........" I worked out tonight that back in 1968, a Swedish engineer said "I know! Ven za stupid englisher swine goes to take of ze handbrake cable, I'll put a sharp as fuck bracket in ze vay!! Wundabar!!" (Why the Swedish engineer was speaking Commando Comic german I'm not sure...) So after much head scratching, exertion, time under the car getting rained on by swedish under coatings and general all round good times, I got to this: Which left me with this: Getting the handbrake cable out caused a bit of grief for about half an hour and the Haynes manual was no bloody use ("2. Remove the Hand Brake Cable...." WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M TRYING TO DO, FUCKTARD!!!) . Anyway, I'll be able to get this onto the workbench to disassemble and generally zush up a bit, luckily most of the bits you see here are available as spares for pretty cheap. Right, next goal is to get the wishbones, shock and spring off and gain access to the main diseased bit ready for hacking and welding. For those who might be interested, I'm starting a "Give a Little" page to fund a barrel of heavy duty handwash, shares in a company that produces anti-rust primer and to purchase the 40 CD box set of "How to Swear fluently in Swedish....in under 2 weeks!". Any donations will be gratefully received.

Damn keen to be a part of this next year bit im gonna ride there and back from Christchurch I reckon

Not long after the above post i purchased a house so drove the car through to Central for what was supposed to be a few months until i built my shed. Approx 12months later it returned Took it for a wof, put on my new wheels (pics to come, due to the below it was only on the road one day) Turns out the rear main seal decided it didnt want to be a seal anymore and started leaking more than a British Car should Gearbox was a mess Cleaned up alright Appears to be the problem Took the sump off as thought ill do the gasket while im in there, found a lovely surprise This also cleaned up pretty good Taking out the whole rear end to do all the bushes and will underseal while everything is out. Reassemble and new exhaust just in time for summer hopefully!

I thought I was well prepared starting a bike build months in advance turns out it ain’t changed shit, and I’m still leaving everything to the last minute

I've got a large lump of Italian fiat sports vehicle exotica in for work right now...